Fails the Bechdel test
Gattaca
1997. Directed by Andrew Niccol, written by Andrew Niccol.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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
In the not-too-distant future, a less-than-perfect man wants to travel to the stars. Society has categorized Vincent Freeman as less than suitable given his genetic make-up and he has become one of the underclass of humans that are only useful for menial jobs. To move ahead, he assumes the identity of Jerome Morrow, a perfect genetic specimen who is a paraplegic as a result of a car accident. With professional advice, Vincent learns to deceive DNA and urine sample testing. Just when he is finally scheduled for a space mission, his program director is killed and the police begin an investigation, jeopardizing his secret.
- Released
- 24 Oct 1997
- Genres
- Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 64 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 6 wins & 16 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jerome 177 lines, man
- Eugene 96 lines, man
- Investigator 66 lines, man
- Irene 58 lines, woman
- Detective Hugo 38 lines, man
- Vincent 22 lines, man
- Director Josef 17 lines, man
- German 16 lines, man
- Geneticist 15 lines, man
- Lamar 14 lines, man
Full cast, 39 people
- Ethan Hawke as Vincent Freeman
- Uma Thurman as Irene Cassini
- Jude Law as Jerome Eugene Morrow
- Alan Arkin as Detective Hugo
- Loren Dean as Adult Anton Freeman
- Gore Vidal as Director Josef
- Tony Shalhoub as "German"
- Ernest Borgnine as Caesar
- Blair Underwood as Geneticist
- Xander Berkeley as Dr. Lamar
- Jayne Brook as Marie Freeman
- Una Damon as Head Nurse
- Elias Koteas as Antonio Freeman
- Maya Rudolph as Delivery Nurse
- Elizabeth Dennehy as Preschool Teacher
- Mason Gamble as Younger Vincent
- Vincent Nielson as Younger Anton
- Chad Christ as Young Vincent
- William Lee Scott as Young Anton
- Clarence Graham as Personnel Officer
- Carlton Benbry as Gattaca Hoover
- Susan Jennifer Sullivan as Sequencing Customer
- Ken Marino as Sequencing Technician
- Cynthia Martells as Cavendish
- Gabrielle Reece as Gattaca Trainer
- Ryan Dorin as Twelve-Fingered Pianist
- Dean Norris as Cop on the Beat
- Russell Milton as Gattaca Detective
- George Marshall Ruge as Beaten Detective
- Steve Bessen as Blood Test Detective
- Lindsey Ginter as Mission Commander
- Greg Sestero as Gattacan Citizen (uncredited)
- Chad Baker as Sequencing Tech (uncredited)
- Brandon Ladd Burkey as Janitor #2 (uncredited)
- Donna Cihak as Gattican (uncredited)
- Dan Griffin as Classmate (uncredited)
- Beverly Griffith as Anatomy Teacher (uncredited)
- David LeBell as Invalid (uncredited)
- Richard Yett as Employee (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 160
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 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 7 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 9 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 25 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 6 |
| 25 to 28 | 2 | 13 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 12 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 10 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 20 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 15 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 5 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 14 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 10 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 64 | 8 | 22 |
| 65 to 68 | 2 | 6 |
| 69 to 72 | 1 | 18 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 7 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 32 |
| 81 to 84 | 1 | 12 |
| 85 to 88 | 9 | 9 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 36 |
| 93 to 96 | 9 | 17 |
| 97 to 100 | 9 | 6 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 23 |
| 105 to 108 | 3 | 14 |
| 109 to 112 | 8 | 38 |
| 113 to 116 | 2 | 13 |
| 117 to 120 | 3 | 3 |
| 121 to 124 | 3 | 12 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 8 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 2 |
| 133 to 136 | 5 | 13 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 12 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 32 |
| 145 to 148 | 4 | 14 |
| 149 to 152 | 1 | 13 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 9 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 2 |
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, 12 are women's.
71 lines from women, 522 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
8 women and 25 men in the cast. 2 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 77 of 629.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 98 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 (609), men 91% (6,516). Women have 12% 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
58
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Andrew Niccol (man)
- Written by
- Andrew Niccol (man)
- Produced by
- Danny DeVito (man), Stacey Sher (woman), Michael Shamberg (man)
- Shot by
- Sławomir Idziak (man)
- Edited by
- Lisa Zeno Churgin (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Nyman (man)
- Production design by
- Jan Roelfs (man)
- Costumes by
- Colleen Atwood (woman)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 25 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
11 women, 8 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 10 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
6 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
9 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 10 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 10 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Uma Thurman 27
Men
Jude Law 24, Ethan Hawke 26, Loren Dean 27, Blair Underwood 32, Xander Berkeley 41, Tony Shalhoub 43, Alan Arkin 63, Gore Vidal 71, Ernest Borgnine 80
Exhibit G: the money
It made 35% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $36 million
- Box office
- $12.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 160 scenes and 629 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
