Passes the Bechdel test

I Saw the Light

Name: I Saw the Light
Released: 2016

2016. Directed by Marc Abraham, written by Marc Abraham and Colin Escott and George Merritt.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 9 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 135.
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 life and career of country music legend Hank Williams. We see his early career, his talent for singing and songwriting, his road to fame and the demons he had to keep at bay. We also see his romantic relationships, ailments and addictions and how these affected him.

Released: 01 Apr 2016
Genres: Biography, Drama, Music
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.8 / 10
Metascore: 47 / 100
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Hank 417 lines, man
Audrey 145 lines, woman
Billie Jean 52 lines, woman
Fred Rose 50 lines, man
Don 34 lines, man
Lillie 25 lines, woman
Bobbi Jett 22 lines, woman
Jim Denny 22 lines
James Dolan 20 lines, man
Oscar Davis 19 lines, man

Full cast, 42 people

Tom Hiddleston as Hank Williams
Elizabeth Olsen as Audrey Mae Williams
Wayne Péré as Toby Marshall
David Krumholtz as James Dolan
Wrenn Schmidt as Bobbie Jett
Bradley Whitford as Fred Rose
Josh Pais as Dore Schary
Cherry Jones as Lillie Williams
James DuMont as WB Nowlin
Joe Chrest as Oscar Davis
Charlie Talbert as Cliff Rogers
Maddie Hasson as Billie Jean
Candice Harrison as Roadhouse Patron
Cory Hart as Back Pain Doctor
NM Garcia as Ryman Auditorium / Cow Coliseum Gal
Caroline Hebert as Ellie
Justin Lebrun as Concert attendant
Casey Bond as Jerry Rivers
Joshua Brady as Sammy Pruett
Elliott Grey as Banker
Emily Marie Palmer
Vanessa Amaya
Jeff Caperton as Campbell
Erica Curtis
Jayson Warner Smith as Hank Snow
Bethany Blakey as Female passerby
Denise Gossett as Mrs. Jones
Christopher Heskey as StageHand Supervisor
Gary Teague as Pedestrian
Skyler Davenport as Hospital Nurse / MGM Pedestrian
Allison Claye as Concert goer
Rebecca Chulew as Performer / Hotel Bar Patron
Douglas M. Griffin as Howard Pill
Mattie Liptak as Charles Carr
Jillian Batherson as Bar Woman
Gretchen Koerner as Bar Waitress
Bryan Hall as Musician
Richard Jackson as Boyette
Amanda Joy Erickson as Patron
Cody Daniel as Ronald
Deadra Moore as Mrs. Ragland
Joe Manco as NYC Pedestrian (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 135

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 3	3	16
4 to 6	14	15
7 to 9	12	12
10 to 12	21	17
13 to 15	0	25
16 to 18	16	30
19 to 21	3	7
22 to 24	8	18
25 to 27	1	9
28 to 30	4	26
31 to 33	14	15
34 to 36	0	0
37 to 39	12	38
40 to 42	0	26
43 to 45	9	12
46 to 48	6	23
49 to 51	13	17
52 to 54	3	3
55 to 57	2	15
58 to 60	2	4
61 to 63	0	19
64 to 66	10	15
67 to 69	0	6
70 to 72	0	13
73 to 75	3	59
76 to 78	5	9
79 to 81	9	8
82 to 84	0	10
85 to 87	8	6
88 to 90	3	7
91 to 93	4	13
94 to 96	5	42
97 to 99	8	15
100 to 102	11	4
103 to 105	0	10
106 to 108	4	6
109 to 111	16	18
112 to 114	5	12
115 to 117	13	29
118 to 120	1	0
121 to 123	2	0
124 to 126	10	14
127 to 129	0	2
130 to 132	6	8
133 to 135	0	3

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.

LILLIE: Well that’s swell, Audrey ... AUDREY: Sounds good ... When we going, baby?

AUDREY: Friday? Mom’s bringing Lycrecia back then. LILLIE: So there you go.

TO AUDREY: on a garish Oriental sofa in the screened porch. Cigarette, a drink, and a friend sits across the room. AUDREY: Darlin’ you know the Doctors say you aren't ready. I’ll bring the kids to you.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.

266 lines from women, 656 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

13 women and 18 men in the cast. 9 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 10 of 1,027. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 68 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 21% of the words (2,189), men 79% (8,220). Women have 29% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Marc Abraham (man)
Written by: Marc Abraham (man)
Produced by: Aaron L. Gilbert (man), Marc Abraham (man), Brett Ratner (man), G. Marq Roswell (man)
Shot by: Dante Spinotti (man)
Edited by: Alan Heim (man)
Music by: Aaron Zigman (man)
Production design by: Merideth Boswell (woman)
Costumes by: Lahly Poore (gender not listed)
Cast by: Denise Chamian (woman), Tracy Kilpatrick (woman)