Passes the Bechdel test
In Fabric
2019. Directed by Peter Strickland, written by Peter Strickland.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 196. -
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
A lonely woman, recently separated from her husband, visits a bewitching London department store in search of a dress that will transform her life. She's fitted with a perfectly flattering, artery-red gown--which, in time, will come to unleash a malevolent curse and unstoppable evil, threatening everyone who comes into its path.
- Released
- 06 Dec 2019
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 81 / 100
- Awards
- 11 wins & 31 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sheila 175 lines, woman
- Reg 81 lines, man
- Babs 74 lines, woman
- Miss Luckmore 60 lines, woman
- Vince 43 lines, man
- Stash 41 lines, man
- Clive 29 lines, man
- Zach 26 lines, man
- Gwen 25 lines, woman
- Adonis 18 lines, man
Full cast, 41 people
- Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Sheila
- Sidse Babett Knudsen as Jill
- Julian Barratt as Stash
- Richard Bremmer as Mr. Lundy
- Fatma Mohamed as Miss Luckmoore
- Gwendoline Christie as Gwen
- Hayley Squires as Babs
- Caroline Catz as Pam
- Jaygann Ayeh as Vince
- Steve Oram as Clive
- Leo Bill as Reg Speaks
- Barry Adamson as Zach
- Susanna Cappellaro as Miss Lullworth
- Anthony Adjekum as Adonis
- Terry Bird as Bananas Brian
- Sara Dee as Cinnamon Bra Customer
- Simon Manyonda as Neal the Deal
- Gavin Brocker as Clipper
- Eugenia Caruso as Charity Shop Shopper
- Pano Masti as Vlassis the Waiter
- Derek Barr as Edwin the Mechanic
- Antonio Mancino as Sandro the Waiter
- Kim Benson as Charity Shop Cashier
- Guido Adorni as Disc Jockey
- Zsolt Páll as Lonely Heart on Horseback
- Deborah Griffin as Miss Kolliston
- Catherine Backhouse as Miss Brimblecombes
- Gabriel Nwonu as Lonely Heart
- Ed Dowie as Lonely Heart
- Guido Adorni as Zinzan's Jockey
- Adam Bohman as Pitcroft
- Ashley Foster as Dog Walker
- Linda Turner as Charity Shop Shopper
- Justin Turner as Charity Shop Goth
- Jonathan Chamberlain as Skidsy
- Derek Barr as Gary the Mechanic
- Graham Martin as Cottrell
- Wendy Cooper as Ladies' Boutique Chorus
- Gina Keeney as Catalogue Model (Gina Keaney)
- Karl Farrer as Ribs
- Rachel Sophia-Anthony as Young Mother
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 196
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 | 1 | 0 |
| 6 to 10 | 6 | 2 |
| 11 to 15 | 6 | 7 |
| 16 to 20 | 11 | 5 |
| 21 to 25 | 6 | 4 |
| 26 to 30 | 48 | 0 |
| 31 to 35 | 10 | 5 |
| 36 to 40 | 6 | 7 |
| 41 to 45 | 31 | 15 |
| 46 to 50 | 0 | 0 |
| 51 to 55 | 6 | 4 |
| 56 to 60 | 17 | 8 |
| 61 to 65 | 2 | 2 |
| 66 to 70 | 27 | 21 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 0 |
| 76 to 80 | 2 | 1 |
| 81 to 85 | 8 | 9 |
| 86 to 90 | 19 | 11 |
| 91 to 95 | 6 | 9 |
| 96 to 100 | 8 | 12 |
| 101 to 105 | 12 | 17 |
| 106 to 110 | 14 | 13 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 0 |
| 116 to 120 | 4 | 7 |
| 121 to 125 | 11 | 23 |
| 126 to 130 | 20 | 21 |
| 131 to 135 | 10 | 8 |
| 136 to 140 | 2 | 4 |
| 141 to 145 | 6 | 4 |
| 146 to 150 | 4 | 4 |
| 151 to 155 | 11 | 13 |
| 156 to 160 | 10 | 33 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 12 |
| 166 to 170 | 9 | 2 |
| 171 to 175 | 14 | 0 |
| 176 to 180 | 2 | 0 |
| 181 to 185 | 15 | 0 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 0 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 1 |
| 196 to 196 | 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.
SHEILA: Now where were we? GWEN: Your turn, Don Juan. GWEN: My God, what is that? SHEILA: What?
MISS LUCKMORE: Such an intimate document of finesse and joy. BABS: Nice to see a catalogue with ladies bigger than me for once. MISS LUCKMORE: In whispers from the canary to the owl. Pray tell, your measurement would be? BABS: Guess.
MISS LUCKMORE: Instantly. JOCELYN: Excuse me, I was here first.
MISS LUCKMORE: Such a fascinating item of marvel. Its touch to the skin, its contour on the body. JOCELYN: I will be served first! There’ll be this cinnamon bra, thank you very much. MISS LUCKMORE: I have a coin that will spin and decide.
JOCELYN: I was at this tray and you shove in with that ghastly dress of yours. So if you don’t mind, wait your turn! FRIEND OF JOCELYN: You alright there, Jocelyn? JOCELYN: Yeah, just some idiot woman who doesn’t know how to queue. MISS LUCKMORE: Blame! .. Blame!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 56 are women's.
364 lines from women, 284 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 25 men in the cast. 6 women and 12 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 39 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 (3,724), men 44% (2,886).
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
13
Two men
23
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 8 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 49% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Peter Strickland (man)
- Written by
- Peter Strickland (man)
- Produced by
- Andrew Starke (man)
- Shot by
- Ari Wegner (woman)
- Edited by
- Matyas Fekete (gender not listed)
- Production design by
- Paki Smith (man)
- Costumes by
- Jo Thompson (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Shaheen Baig (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
5 women, 6 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
6 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 53 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Hayley Squires 30, Gwendoline Christie 40, Fatma Mohamed 43, Caroline Catz 49, Sidse Babett Knudsen 50, Marianne Jean-Baptiste 51
Men
Steve Oram 45, Julian Barratt 50, Richard Bremmer 65
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 196 scenes and 687 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
