Passes the Bechdel test
Halloween Kills
2021. Directed by David Gordon Green, written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill and Scott Teems.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
23 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 145. -
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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
Minutes after Laurie Strode (Curtis), her daughter Karen (Judy Greer) and granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) left masked monster Michael Myers caged and burning in Laurie's basement, Laurie is rushed to the hospital with life-threatening injuries, believing she finally killed her lifelong tormentor. But when Michael manages to free himself from Laurie's trap, his ritual bloodbath resumes. As Laurie fights her pain and prepares to defend herself against him, she inspires all of Haddonfield to rise up against their unstoppable monster. The Strode women join a group of other survivors of Michael's first rampage who decide to take matters into their own hands, forming a vigilante mob that sets out to hunt Michael down, once and for all. Evil dies tonight.
- Released
- 15 Oct 2021
- Genres
- Action, Drama, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 42 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 10 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Officer Hawkins 91 lines, man
- Tommy 79 lines, man
- Karen 78 lines, woman
- Lonnie 59 lines, man
- Allyson 54 lines, woman
- Laurie 46 lines, woman
- Cameron 37 lines, man
- Lindsey 29 lines, woman
- Officer Lawry 27 lines, man
- Roger 20 lines, man
Full cast, 76 people
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Laurie Strode
- Judy Greer as Karen
- Andi Matichak as Allyson
- James Jude Courtney as The Shape
- Nick Castle as The Shape
- Airon Armstrong as The Shape (1978)
- Will Patton as Officer Hawkins
- Thomas Mann as Young Hawkins
- Jim Cummings as Pete McCabe
- Dylan Arnold as Cameron Elam
- Robert Longstreet as Lonnie Elam
- Anthony Michael Hall as Tommy Doyle
- Charles Cyphers as Leigh Brackett
- Scott MacArthur as Big John
- Michael McDonald as Little John
- Ross Bacon as Tivoli
- Kyle Richards as Lindsey
- Nancy Stephens as Marion
- Diva Tyler as Sondra
- Lenny Clarke as Phil
- Brian Mays as Brian the Bartender
- Michael Smallwood as Marcus
- Carmela McNeal as Vanessa
- Omar J. Dorsey as Sheriff Barker
- Damien Lee as Concerned Brother
- Salem Collins as Christy
- Giselle Witt as Mindy
- J. Gaven Wilde as Dennis
- Tom Jones Jr. as Dr. Samuel Loomis
- Colin Mahan as Dr. Samuel Loomis (voice)
- Trenell Mooring as Laurie's EMT
- Troy Rudeseal as Laurie's EMT
- Brian F. Durkin as Deputy Graham
- Andrea Levesque as Singing Triplet
- Arianna Levesque as Singing Triplet
- Athena Levesque as Singing Triplet
- Tristian Eggerling as Young Lonnie Elam
- Beth Felice as Eyewitness
- Mark Versnick as Head Surgeon
- Jennifer Trudrung as Hysterical Woman
- Drew Scheid as Oscar
- Holli Saperstein as Oscar's Mom
- Jonathan Bruce as News Reporter
- Mike Dupree as Ventriloquist
- Naomi Ansano as Heartbroken Woman
- Kelvin Hargrove as Heartbroken Woman's Orderly
- Nicholas Pryor as Morgue Doctor
- James Northrup as Mob Doctor
- Elaine Nalee as Helpful Neighbor
- Steven Foertsch as Bar Voice (voice)
- Tatiyana Hill as Bar Voice (voice)
- Michael Mercaldi as Bar Voice (voice)
- Salem Murphy as Hawkin's Doctor
- Shayla Bagir as Hawkin's Doctor
- Shane Donovan Lewis as 1978 trick-or-treater
- Jessica Arden Napier as 1978 trick-or-treater
- Ella Dorsch as 1978 trick-or-treater
- Ryan Lewis as Deputy Sullivan
- Jacob Keohane as Deputy Tobias
- Charlie Benton as Officer Richards
- Christian Michael Pates as Young Michael Myers
- Willie Raysor as Desk Clerk
- Lauren Williams as OP Nurse
- Aaron Ashlock as Hawkin's EMT
- Angela Emerson as Onlooker
- Drew Broderick as Onlooker
- Ni'amoni Bagley as Onlooker
- Jason Garay as Laurie's Nurse
- Craig Newkirk as Allyson's EMT
- Jibrail Nantambu as Julian
- P. J. Soles as Lynda
- Bob Odenkirk as Bob
- Veronica Russell as Hospital Patient
- Josh Turner as Hospital Mob (uncredited)
- Ashley Pynn as Stabbed Woman (uncredited)
- Nancy Kyes as Annie (archive footage) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 145
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 | 1 | 16 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 65 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 8 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 7 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 31 |
| 21 to 24 | 14 | 20 |
| 25 to 28 | 5 | 2 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 2 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 15 | 7 |
| 41 to 44 | 2 | 3 |
| 45 to 48 | 14 | 21 |
| 49 to 52 | 9 | 4 |
| 53 to 56 | 11 | 12 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 8 |
| 61 to 64 | 3 | 1 |
| 65 to 68 | 8 | 10 |
| 69 to 72 | 18 | 16 |
| 73 to 76 | 15 | 14 |
| 77 to 80 | 31 | 3 |
| 81 to 84 | 3 | 4 |
| 85 to 88 | 11 | 4 |
| 89 to 92 | 9 | 25 |
| 93 to 96 | 6 | 38 |
| 97 to 100 | 13 | 25 |
| 101 to 104 | 13 | 3 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 11 |
| 109 to 112 | 8 | 3 |
| 113 to 116 | 8 | 4 |
| 117 to 120 | 15 | 22 |
| 121 to 124 | 2 | 1 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 1 |
| 129 to 132 | 8 | 1 |
| 133 to 136 | 14 | 8 |
| 137 to 140 | 3 | 1 |
| 141 to 144 | 4 | 0 |
| 145 to 145 | 0 | 0 |
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.
MARION: Oh, no, I'm too old for shots. LINDSEY: I can't drink too much.
MARION: I'll take any reason to get away from the day to day of being a nurse, I'll tell you. LINDSEY: I'll bet.
LAURIE: What's that? KAREN: No, no, no... LAURIE: NO!!! NO!!! LET IT BURN!!! Don't help it escape! Let it burn! KAREN: Mom, calm down!
VANESSA: How we gonna get home now? No taxi or Uber is gonna come for us with all this shit going on. LINDSEY: How far away do you live? VANESSA: About fifteen minutes away. Why? LINDSEY: I'll give you a ride.
LINDSEY: They've got no car, we can't let them walk the streets. MARION: I'll go with them. Make sure she's safe, kiddo. Don't worry.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 40 are women's.
270 lines from women, 399 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
23 women and 35 men in the cast. 9 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 736.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 140 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 35% of the words (2,004), men 65% (3,666). Women have 40% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
26
Two men
36
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Gordon Green (man)
- Written by
- David Gordon Green (man), Danny McBride (man), Scott Teems (man)
- Produced by
- Jason Blum (man), Bill Block (man), Malek Akkad (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Simmonds (man)
- Edited by
- Timothy Alverson (man)
- Music by
- John Carpenter (man), Daniel Davies (man), Cody Carpenter (man)
- Production design by
- Richard A. Wright (man)
- Costumes by
- Emily Gunshor (woman)
- Cast by
- Sarah Domeier Lindo (woman), Terri Taylor (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
9 women, 23 men, 15 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 15 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 21 men
-
Art
3 women, 4 men, 10 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 3 men, 12 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 9 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 10 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Andi Matichak 27, Judy Greer 46, Jamie Lee Curtis 62
Men
Dylan Arnold 27, Thomas Mann 30, Jim Cummings 34, Airon Armstrong 43, James Jude Courtney 64, Will Patton 67, Nick Castle 74
Exhibit H: the money
It made 6.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $133 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 145 scenes and 736 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
