Passes the Bechdel test
How to Build a Girl
2019. Directed by Coky Giedroyc, written by Caitlin Moran.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
18 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 15 scenes out of 154. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
The novel charts the journey of teenager Johanna Morrigan (Beanie Feldstein), who reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde: fast-talking, lady sex-adventurer, moves to London, and gets a job as music critic in the hope of saving her poverty stricken family in Wolverhampton.
- Released
- 08 May 2020
- Genres
- Comedy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Johanna 292 lines, woman
- Kite 79 lines, man
- Pat 59 lines, man
- Krissi 55 lines, man
- Angie 39 lines, woman
- Rich 39 lines, man
- Mrs Belling 22 lines, woman
- Derby 20 lines, man
- Kenny 20 lines, man
- Music 11 lines
Full cast, 45 people
- Beanie Feldstein as Johanna Morrigan
- Paddy Considine as Pat Morrigan
- Sarah Solemani as Angie Morrigan
- Alfie Allen as John Kite
- Frank Dillane as Tony Rich
- Laurie Kynaston as Krissi Morrigan
- Arinzé Kene as Kenny
- Tadhg Murphy as Andy Rock
- Ziggy Heath as Derby
- Bobby Schofield as Pricey
- Chris O'Dowd as Alan 'Wilko' Wilkinson
- Joanna Scanlan as Mrs. Belling
- Emma Thompson as Amanda
- Dónal Finn as Karl Boden
- Stellan Powell as Lupin Morrigan
- Freya Perry as Morrigan Twin
- Harper Perry as Morrigan Twin
- Violet Amer as Morrigan Twin
- Andi Oliver as Donna Summer
- Michael Sheen as Sigmund Freud
- Sue Perkins as Emily Bronte
- Mel Giedroyc as Charlotte Bronte
- Alexei Sayle as Karl Marx
- Lily Allen as Elizabeth Taylor
- Gemma Arterton as Maria Von Trapp
- Jameela Jamil as Cleopatra
- Lucy Punch as Sylvia Plath
- Sharon Horgan as Jo March
- Ralph Prosser as Lee Veltman
- Johnny Mindlin as Sound Man
- Samantha Morrish as Female TV Runner
- Vicki Pepperdine as Smart DSS Woman
- Patsy Ferran as Snow Pixie
- Asheq Akhtar as Mr. Sanghera
- Edward Bluemel as Strange Cases Manager
- Hammed Animashaun as Ed Edwards
- Tobi Bamtefa as Gig Doorman
- Oliver Barrs as Hallows Drummer
- Antony Somers as Press Officer
- Bob Mortimer as Awards Host
- Ciara May Wilson as Goth School Girl
- John Peters as Cab Driver
- Sonia Goswami as Pediatrician Alex Slade (uncredited)
- Ryan Nolan as Damon Yardley (uncredited)
- Sean Coleman as Classmate (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 154
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 | 4 |
| 5 to 8 | 26 | 25 |
| 9 to 12 | 18 | 9 |
| 13 to 16 | 6 | 3 |
| 17 to 20 | 5 | 4 |
| 21 to 24 | 23 | 21 |
| 25 to 28 | 3 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 26 | 26 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 7 | 1 |
| 49 to 52 | 15 | 15 |
| 53 to 56 | 4 | 3 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 2 |
| 65 to 68 | 26 | 25 |
| 69 to 72 | 13 | 29 |
| 73 to 76 | 7 | 19 |
| 77 to 80 | 13 | 9 |
| 81 to 84 | 6 | 7 |
| 85 to 88 | 17 | 9 |
| 89 to 92 | 6 | 8 |
| 93 to 96 | 1 | 2 |
| 97 to 100 | 2 | 0 |
| 101 to 104 | 3 | 2 |
| 105 to 108 | 3 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 7 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 19 | 25 |
| 117 to 120 | 12 | 14 |
| 121 to 124 | 2 | 4 |
| 125 to 128 | 17 | 4 |
| 129 to 132 | 22 | 14 |
| 133 to 136 | 12 | 29 |
| 137 to 140 | 10 | 2 |
| 141 to 144 | 15 | 10 |
| 145 to 148 | 5 | 2 |
| 149 to 152 | 18 | 6 |
| 153 to 154 | 8 | 11 |
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.
JOHANNA: Well, I regret to say that, despite all my best intentions, today has been another dolorous one. SYLVIA PLATH: Well missy, I’ve had plenty of those. MARIA VON TRAPP: Nonsense - there’s nothing a musical number can’t cure!
JOHANNA: How you feeling, mum? ANGIE: I’m becoming evil.
JOHANNA: Still can’t sit down, huh? ANGIE: It looks like the Joker’s smile down there.
JOHANNA: No! No - I’ve BEEN CHOSEN!!!!! ANGIE: What? JOHANNA: Listen, listen.
JOHANNA: The jacket’s too tight. I don’t think it’s made for women. ANGIE: You’ve inherited the Finlayson womens’ breasts, Johanna. We can’t be contained by a catalogue bra.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 52 are women's.
378 lines from women, 344 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
18 women and 24 men in the cast. 11 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 769.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 13 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 56% of the words (4,690), men 44% (3,748). 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
26
Two men
21
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 51% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Coky Giedroyc (woman)
- Written by
- Caitlin Moran (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Debra Hayward (woman), Alison Owen (woman)
- Shot by
- Hubert Taczanowski (man)
- Edited by
- Gareth C. Scales (man), Gary Dollner (man)
- Music by
- Oli Julian (man)
- Production design by
- Amanda McArthur (woman)
- Costumes by
- Stephanie Collie (woman)
- Cast by
- Shaheen Baig (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
12 women, 6 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 0 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Beanie Feldstein 27, Sarah Solemani 38
Men
Laurie Kynaston 26, Bobby Schofield 27, Frank Dillane 29, Alfie Allen 34, Tadhg Murphy 41, Paddy Considine 47
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 154 scenes and 769 lines of dialogue. How the test works
