Passes the Bechdel test
Frances Ha
2013. Directed by Noah Baumbach, written by Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
27 women characters. 16 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 19 scenes out of 120. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Frances lives in New York, but she doesn't really have an apartment. Frances is an apprentice for a dance company, but she's not really a dancer. Frances has a best friend named Sophie, but they aren't really speaking anymore. Frances throws herself headlong into her dreams, even as their possible reality dwindles. Frances wants so much more than she has but lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness.
- Released
- 17 May 2013
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 49 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Frances 475 lines, woman
- Sophie 181 lines, woman
- Benji 72 lines, man
- Lev 58 lines, man
- Colleen 36 lines, woman
- Dan 33 lines, man
- Rachel 29 lines, woman
- Patch 16 lines, man
- Andy 14 lines, man
- Nessa 13 lines, woman
Full cast, 48 people
- Greta Gerwig as Frances Halladay
- Mickey Sumner as Sophie Levee
- Michael Zegen as Benji
- Adam Driver as Lev Shapiro
- Charlotte d'Amboise as Colleen
- Patrick Heusinger as Reade "Patch" Krause
- Michael Esper as Dan
- Grace Gummer as Rachel
- Josh Hamilton as Andy
- Maya Kazan as Caroline
- Justine Lupe as Nessa
- Britta Phillips as Nadia
- Juliet Rylance as Janelle
- Dean Wareham as Spencer
- Hannah Dunne as "Ask Me" Girl
- Daiva Deupree as Waitress
- Isabelle McNally as Random Girl #1
- Vanessa Ray as Random Girl #2
- Lindsay Burdge as Dark Haired Girl
- Marina Squerciati as Waitress at Club
- Christine Gerwig as Mom
- Gordon Gerwig as Dad
- David Salem as Christmas Guest
- Isaac Salem as Christmas Guest
- Anna Salem as Christmas Guest
- Laurie Aloisio-Salem as Christmas Guest
- Daniel Roose as Christmas Guest
- Courtney Coffin-Jensen as Christmas Guest
- Kristine Jensen as Christmas Guest
- Doug Craft as Reverend
- Timothy Mickiewicz as Dentist
- Tre Borden as Home Friend
- Connor Mickiewicz as Home Friend
- Laura Parker as Home Friend
- Serena Longley as Abby
- Barbara Ross English as Dance Teacher
- Peter Scanavino as Chef
- Ryann Shane as Crying Girl
- Danish Hyder as Computer Guy
- Teddy Cañez as Security Guard
- Gibson Frazier as Catering Boss
- Cindy Katz as Congresswoman
- Cohlie Brocato as Young Man
- Finnerty Steeves as Co-Worker
- Michelle Hurst as Theater Manager
- Molly Lieber as Dance Duo
- Eleanor Smith as Dance Duo
- Alex Moore as Lighting Technician
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 120
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 51 | 33 |
| 4 to 6 | 53 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 19 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 45 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 18 | 14 |
| 22 to 24 | 4 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 13 | 16 |
| 28 to 30 | 6 | 12 |
| 31 to 33 | 8 | 5 |
| 34 to 36 | 34 | 17 |
| 37 to 39 | 83 | 27 |
| 40 to 42 | 14 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 23 | 5 |
| 46 to 48 | 37 | 25 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 98 | 33 |
| 67 to 69 | 18 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 51 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 33 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 44 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 4 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 8 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 12 | 5 |
| 103 to 105 | 28 | 4 |
| 106 to 108 | 25 | 6 |
| 109 to 111 | 52 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 3 | 0 |
| 115 to 117 | 2 | 0 |
| 118 to 120 | 8 | 5 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
FRANCES: Hey! COLLEEN: Jesus! FRANCES: Sorry. I’m here. COLLEEN: I don’t really have time to talk, I’m doing the job of three people here, but I can see you after rehearsal.
RACHEL: Do you have more gum? FRANCES: What? No. I don’t even know where this gum came from. COLLEEN: Understudies, out!
FRANCES: AHOY SEXY! AHOY! SOPHIE: AHOY SEXY!
FRANCES: We went to college together and we’re...we were born together. NESSA: Oh you’re that Frances.
FRANCES: Not really but that’s what we say. Yeah, I’m that Frances. NESSA: You should know she speaks so highly of you. FRANCES: Right. I mean, we’re best friends. She’s been to my house for Christmas three times.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 79 are women's.
804 lines from women, 213 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
27 women and 11 men in the cast. 16 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 4 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 82% of the words (6,910), men 18% (1,534). Women have 79% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
54
Two men
6
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Noah Baumbach (man)
- Written by
- Greta Gerwig (woman), Noah Baumbach (man)
- Produced by
- Scott Rudin (man), Rodrigo Teixeira (man), Lila Yacoub (woman), Noah Baumbach (man)
- Shot by
- Sam Levy (man)
- Edited by
- Jennifer Lame (woman)
- Production design by
- Sam Lisenco (man)
- Cast by
- Douglas Aibel (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 9 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 4 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
-
Writing
1 women, 1 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Maya Kazan 26, Grace Gummer 27, Greta Gerwig 29, Mickey Sumner 29, Charlotte d'Amboise 49
Men
Adam Driver 29, Patrick Heusinger 32, Michael Zegen 34, Michael Esper 36, Josh Hamilton 43
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 120 scenes and 1,026 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
