Fails the Bechdel test
From Dusk Till Dawn
1996. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, written by Robert Kurtzman and Quentin Tarantino.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
The Gecko brothers, two dangerous outlaws on a wild crime spree, kidnap a father and his two kids and head south to a seedy Mexican bar to hide out in safety. Soon they realize that they're not in a typical bar, as the entire place begins to teem with vicious, blood-sucking vampires. With the odds stacked greatly against them, the Geckos are forced to team up with their hostages in order to make it out alive.
- Released
- 19 Jan 1996
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 48 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 13 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Seth 260 lines, man
- Jacob 121 lines, man
- Richard 97 lines, man
- Kate 62 lines, woman
- Scott 32 lines, man
- Kelly Houge 23 lines, woman
- Sex Machine 19 lines, man
- Pete 17 lines, man
- Carlos 12 lines, man
- Frost 11 lines, man
Full cast, 45 people
- George Clooney as Seth Gecko
- Quentin Tarantino as Richard Gecko
- Harvey Keitel as Jacob Fuller
- Juliette Lewis as Kate Fuller
- Ernest Liu as Scott Fuller
- Salma Hayek Pinault as Santanico Pandemonium
- Cheech Marin as Border Guard / Chet Pussy / Carlos
- Danny Trejo as Razor Charlie
- Tom Savini as Sex Machine
- Fred Williamson as Frost
- Michael Parks as Texas Ranger Earl McGraw
- Brenda Hillhouse as Hostage Gloria
- John Saxon as FBI Agent Stanley Chase
- Marc Lawrence as Old Timer
- Kelly Preston as Newscaster Kelly Houge
- John Hawkes as Pete Bottoms
- Tito Larriva as Titty Twister Guitarist & Vocalist
- Peter Atanasoff as Titty Twister Saxophonist
- Johnny Vatos Hernandez as Titty Twister Drummer
- Aimee Graham as Blonde Hostage
- Heidi McNeal as Red-headed Hostage
- Ernest M. Garcia as Big Emilio
- Greg Nicotero as Sex Machine's Buddy
- Cristos as Danny
- Mike Moroff as Manny
- Michelle Berube as Bar Dancer
- Rosalia Hayakawa as Bar Dancer
- Neena Bidasha as Bar Dancer
- Janine Jordae as Bar Dancer
- Veena Bidasha as Bar Dancer
- Jacque Lawson as Bar Dancer
- Ungela Brockman as Bar Dancer
- Tiffany Granath as Bar Dancer
- Madison Clark as Bar Dancer
- Janie Liszewski as Bar Dancer
- María Díaz as Bar Dancer
- Tia Texada as Bar Dancer
- Michael McKay as Monster
- Jake McKinnon as Monster
- Walter Phelan as Monster
- Wayne Toth as Monster
- Cecilia Montiel as Herself
- Annette Harper as Bar Dancer
- Lawrence Bender as Man in Diner (Uncredited)
- Robert Rodriguez as Band Member (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 34
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 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 to 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 50 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 to 5 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 7 | 11 | 19 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 8 |
| 10 to 10 | 1 | 8 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 to 12 | 4 | 18 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 to 14 | 9 | 0 |
| 15 to 15 | 2 | 0 |
| 16 to 16 | 12 | 41 |
| 17 to 17 | 5 | 3 |
| 18 to 18 | 2 | 4 |
| 19 to 19 | 4 | 48 |
| 20 to 20 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 to 21 | 5 | 54 |
| 22 to 22 | 3 | 8 |
| 23 to 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 24 to 24 | 0 | 9 |
| 25 to 25 | 4 | 77 |
| 26 to 26 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 to 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 to 28 | 0 | 27 |
| 29 to 29 | 8 | 103 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 31 | 7 | 61 |
| 32 to 32 | 4 | 27 |
| 33 to 33 | 9 | 15 |
| 34 to 34 | 4 | 24 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 13 are women's.
94 lines from women, 616 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
18 women and 23 men in the cast. 5 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 64 of 735.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 92 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 9% of the words (860), men 91% (8,624). Women have 13% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
50
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Robert Rodriguez (man)
- Written by
- Quentin Tarantino (man)
- Story by
- Robert Kurtzman (man)
- Produced by
- Gianni Nunnari (man), Meir Teper (man)
- Shot by
- Guillermo Navarro (man)
- Edited by
- Robert Rodriguez (man)
- Music by
- Graeme Revell (man)
- Production design by
- Cecilia Montiel (woman)
- Costumes by
- Graciela Mazón (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Johanna Ray (woman), Elaine J. Huzzar (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
9 women, 39 men, 13 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 15 men, 18 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 7 men, 21 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 9 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 6 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Juliette Lewis 22, Salma Hayek Pinault 29
Men
Ernest Liu 17, Quentin Tarantino 32, George Clooney 34, Cheech Marin 49, Tom Savini 49, Danny Trejo 51, Harvey Keitel 56, Fred Williamson 57
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $19 million
- Box office
- $25.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 34 scenes and 735 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
