Passes the Bechdel test

Gone Girl

Name: Gone Girl
Released: 2014

2014. Directed by David Fincher, written by Gillian Flynn.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
26 women characters. 15 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 231.
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

On the occasion of his fifth wedding anniversary, Nick Dunne reports that his wife, Amy, has gone missing. Under pressure from the police and a growing media frenzy, Nick's portrait of a blissful union begins to crumble. Soon his lies, deceits and strange behavior have everyone asking the same dark question: Did Nick Dunne kill his wife?

Released: 03 Oct 2014
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.1 / 10
Metascore: 79 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 65 wins & 192 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Nick 496 lines, man
Amy 287 lines, woman
Boney 196 lines, woman
Go 133 lines, woman
Tanner 73 lines, man
Gilpin 42 lines, man
Greta 40 lines, woman
Ellen 28 lines, woman
Des I 23 lines, man
Andie 22 lines, woman

Full cast, 72 people

Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne
Rosamund Pike as Amy Dunne
Neil Patrick Harris as Desi Collings
Tyler Perry as Tanner Bolt
Carrie Coon as Margo Dunne
Kim Dickens as Detective Rhonda Boney
Patrick Fugit as Officer James Gilpin
David Clennon as Rand Elliott
Lisa Banes as Marybeth Elliott
Missi Pyle as Ellen Abbott
Emily Ratajkowski as Andie Fitzgerald
Casey Wilson as Noelle Hawthorne
Lola Kirke as Greta
Boyd Holbrook as Jeff
Sela Ward as Sharon Schieber
Lee Norris as Officer
Jamie McShane as Donnelly
Leonard Kelly-Young as Bill Dunne
Kathleen Rose Perkins as Shawna Kelly
Pete Housman as Walter
Lynn Adrianna as Kelly Capitono
Mark Atteberry as FBI
Darin Cooper as Mustached Man
Kate Campbell as Above-It-All Journalist
Brett Leigh as Nervous Intern
Antonio St. James as Security Guard
Lauren Glazier as Fashionista
Julia Prud'homme as Female Officer
Cooper Thornton as Doctor
Casey Ruggieri as Earnest Girl
Cyd Strittmatter as Maureen Dunne
Ashley Didion as Friend 1
Lexis Nutt as Friend 2
L.A. Williams as Guard
Blake Sheldon as Tweaker Teen 1
Sean Guse as Tweaker Teen 2
Ricky Wood as Jason
Fred Cross as Airport Traveler
Scott Takeda as Producer
Donna Rusch as Lauren Nevens
Kathy Sweeney-Meadows as Reporter One
Mark T Anderson as Reporter
Scoot McNairy as Tommy O'Hara
Christina Alex as Airport Passenger (uncredited)
Samuel Baca as Casino Customer (uncredited)
Bill Blair as Press Reporter (uncredited)
Thomas R. Baker as Limo Driver (uncredited)
Gregoer Boru as Needs a Fix (uncredited)
Will C. as Black Jack Dealer (uncredited)
Caroline Clements as Waitress (uncredited)
Nancy DeMars as Flight Attendant (uncredited)
Davina Joy as Reporter (uncredited)
Michael James Kelly as CSI Photographer (uncredited)
Elester Latham as High Roll Dealer (uncredited)
Aaron Massey as Sharon's Assistant (uncredited)
Orion McCabe as Coffee Cop (uncredited)
Roz McHenry as Hostess (uncredited)
Bryan McKinley as Truck Stop Cook (uncredited)
Teebone Mitchell as Dealer (uncredited)
Justin Nesbitt as Amish Musician (uncredited)
Mark Parrish as Bartender (uncredited)
Jaclyn Rose as Pedestrian (uncredited)
Sahlima as Gate Agent (uncredited)
Joel Shock as Bike Messenger (uncredited)
Robert Tarpinian as Williamsburg Musician (uncredited)
Tracy Weisert as Police Station Woman (uncredited)
Michelle Winters as Makeup (uncredited)
Tracy Brotherton as Press Reporter (uncredited)
Matilde Matteucci as Kissing Girl (uncredited)
Dale Shane as Librarian (uncredited)
Kyle Hinton as Camera Man (uncredited)
Cole Mueller as Videographer (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, 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 231

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 5	6	7
6 to 10	24	25
11 to 15	14	18
16 to 20	2	3
21 to 25	12	7
26 to 30	60	61
31 to 35	14	8
36 to 40	16	14
41 to 45	17	11
46 to 50	17	21
51 to 55	28	17
56 to 60	6	9
61 to 65	13	10
66 to 70	25	24
71 to 75	19	7
76 to 80	19	16
81 to 85	14	12
86 to 90	37	29
91 to 95	4	2
96 to 100	34	31
101 to 105	22	21
106 to 110	5	1
111 to 115	6	2
116 to 120	12	0
121 to 125	7	0
126 to 130	15	0
131 to 135	10	0
136 to 140	19	16
141 to 145	24	2
146 to 150	5	5
151 to 155	26	51
156 to 160	9	4
161 to 165	12	41
166 to 170	19	19
171 to 175	20	20
176 to 180	3	26
181 to 185	25	19
186 to 190	6	14
191 to 195	21	17
196 to 200	28	27
201 to 205	6	8
206 to 210	7	10
211 to 215	32	18
216 to 220	12	12
221 to 225	14	21
226 to 230	37	30
231 to 231	0	1

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.

GRETA: Hey, neighbor! AMY: smiles a hello. Her BRUISE is coming in nicely. GRETA: God, it’s been weeks since I’ve had anyone decent next door. AMY: I don’t know how decent I feel.

GRETA: Going to the marina? I could use some milk. AMY: Sorry, I gotta.. .take care of some work.

AMY: is in Greta’s cabin. They’re sitting on the BED. GRETA is munching chips and bean dip and a bottle of Mountain Dew. GRETA is flipping, flipp… GRETA: You been watching this too? We just found out— ELLEN: -last night’s bombshell: Amy Elliott Dunne was indeed pregnant when she went missing. Amy settles in, RAPT.

ELLEN: And so we close with a question: What kind of moral rot allows a beautiful, talented, kind, smart, loving mother to vanish without the heave… AMY: Can I bum a cigarette?

AMY: I’m not sad. I’m angry. GRETA: There you go!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 52 are women's.

783 lines from women, 717 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

26 women and 27 men in the cast. 15 women and 13 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 56 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 55% of the words (12,597), men 45% (10,241). Women have 52% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

7 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: David Fincher (man)
Written by: Gillian Flynn (woman)
From the novel by: Gillian Flynn (woman)
Produced by: Reese Witherspoon (woman), Joshua Donen (man), Arnon Milchan (man), Ceán Chaffin (woman)
Shot by: Jeff Cronenweth (man)
Edited by: Kirk Baxter (man)
Music by: Trent Reznor (man), Atticus Ross (man)
Production design by: Donald Graham Burt (man)
Costumes by: Trish Summerville (woman)
Cast by: Laray Mayfield (woman), Patty Connolly (woman)