Fails the Bechdel test

Hold the Dark

Name: Hold the Dark
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Jeremy Saulnier, written by Macon Blair and William Giraldi.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 4 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

Retired naturalist and wolf expert Russell Core journeys to the edge of civilization in northern Alaska at the pleading of Medora Slone, a young mother whose son was killed by a pack of wolves. As Core attempts to help Medora track down the wolves who took her son, a strange and dangerous relationship develops between the two lonely souls. But when Medora's husband Vernon returns home from the Iraq War, the news of his child's death ignites a violent chain of events. As local cop Donald Marium races to stop Vernon's vengeful rampage, Core is forced on a perilous odyssey into the heart of darkness.

Released: 28 Sep 2018
Genres: Action, Crime, Drama
Rated: TV-MA
IMDb: 5.6 / 10
Metascore: 63 / 100
Awards: 1 win total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Core 166 lines, man
Marium 110 lines, man
Medora 59 lines, woman
Slone 57 lines, man
Cheeon 26 lines, man
Shan 24 lines, man
Arnie 18 lines, man
Illanaq 14 lines, woman
Bailey 12 lines, man
Innkeeper 12 lines, woman

Full cast, 36 people

Jeffrey Wright as Russell Core
Alexander Skarsgård as Vernon Slone
James Badge Dale as Donald Marium
Riley Keough as Medora Slone
Julian Black Antelope as Cheeon
Tantoo Cardinal as Illanaq
Macon Blair as Shan
Jonathan Whitesell as Arnie
Peter McRobbie as Hunter John
Beckam Crawford as Bailey
Michael Tayles as Clerk
Issac Bird as Yup'ik Teen
Joseph Whitebird as Yup'ik Man
Zandus Snow as Yup'ik Boy
Conor Boru as Corporal
Anabel Kutay as Iraqi Woman
Emmanuel Imani as Medic
Clarence Hoof as Yup'ik Prayer #1
Savannah Bird as Yup'ik Prayer #2
Karen Powderface as Yup'ik Prayer #3
Eric Keenleyside as Big Deputy
Ryan Irving as Young Deputy
Brian Martell as Coroner
Sean Hoy as Old Timer Deputy
Savonna Spracklin as Susan
Makambe Simamba as Nurse
Gabriel Cross as Crying Cop
Lonni Olson as Angry Cop on Radio
Barb Mitchell as ER Doctor
Vanessa Holmes as Frantic Wife
Maureen Thomas as Innkeeper
Amanda Burke as Slone's Mother
Bobbi Jaye as Amy
Nicholas Asbury as Doctor (uncredited)
Mark Beswick as Doctor Hecks (uncredited)
Lorette Clow as Core's Wife (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 178

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	5
9 to 12	0	1
13 to 16	3	0
17 to 20	0	6
21 to 24	0	0
25 to 28	24	22
29 to 32	22	21
33 to 36	0	0
37 to 40	0	0
41 to 44	8	9
45 to 48	0	0
49 to 52	0	1
53 to 56	0	2
57 to 60	2	7
61 to 64	0	67
65 to 68	0	0
69 to 72	0	17
73 to 76	0	10
77 to 80	5	0
81 to 84	0	9
85 to 88	0	7
89 to 92	0	3
93 to 96	0	45
97 to 100	0	23
101 to 104	0	0
105 to 108	0	4
109 to 112	0	7
113 to 116	3	9
117 to 120	3	0
121 to 124	0	0
125 to 128	12	9
129 to 132	0	11
133 to 136	8	27
137 to 140	0	24
141 to 144	1	35
145 to 148	1	9
149 to 152	0	8
153 to 156	0	0
157 to 160	0	12
161 to 164	0	0
165 to 168	0	12
169 to 172	0	9
173 to 176	1	2
177 to 178	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, 18 are women's.

93 lines from women, 435 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

10 women and 20 men in the cast. 4 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 9 of 559. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 112 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 24% of the words (1,156), men 76% (3,713). Women have 18% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 37% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Jeremy Saulnier (man)
Written by: Macon Blair (man)
From the novel by: William Giraldi (gender not listed)
Produced by: Eva Maria Daniels (woman), Neil Kopp (man), Russell Ackerman (gender not listed), John Schoenfelder (gender not listed), Anish Savjani (man)
Shot by: Magnus Nordenhof Jønck (man)
Edited by: Julia Bloch (woman)
Music by: Brooke Blair (man), Will Blair (man)
Production design by: Ryan Warren Smith (man)
Costumes by: Antoinette Messam (gender not listed)
Cast by: Avy Kaufman (woman)