Fails the Bechdel test

In the Tall Grass

Name: In the Tall Grass
Released: 2019

2019. Directed by Vincenzo Natali, written by Vincenzo Natali and Stephen King and Joe Hill.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
3 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

When siblings Becky and Cal hear the cries of a young boy lost within a field of tall grass, they venture in to rescue him, only to become ensnared themselves by a sinister force that quickly disorients and separates them. Cut off from the world and unable to escape the field's tightening grip, they soon discover that the only thing worse than getting lost is being found.

Released: 04 Oct 2019
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Rated: TV-MA
IMDb: 5.5 / 10
Metascore: 46 / 100
Awards: 2 wins & 3 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Travis 208 lines, man
Becky 199 lines, woman
Cal 169 lines, man
Ross 100 lines, man
Tobin 75 lines, man
Boy 13 lines, man
Natalie 13 lines, woman
Operator 4 lines
Tobin In The Grass 4 lines, man
Woman 4 lines, woman

Full cast, 7 people

Laysla De Oliveira as Becky DeMuth
Harrison Gilbertson as Travis McKean
Avery Whitted as Cal DeMuth
Will Buie Jr. as Tobin Humboldt
Patrick Wilson as Ross Humboldt
Rachel Wilson as Natalie Humboldt
Tiffany Helm as Gas Attendant

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 86

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 2	0	0
3 to 4	14	12
5 to 6	22	21
7 to 8	19	25
9 to 10	5	6
11 to 12	5	26
13 to 14	8	13
15 to 16	0	0
17 to 18	0	2
19 to 20	0	2
21 to 22	0	5
23 to 24	0	0
25 to 26	0	0
27 to 28	0	1
29 to 30	0	38
31 to 32	17	20
33 to 34	0	0
35 to 36	3	14
37 to 38	4	23
39 to 40	0	1
41 to 42	0	7
43 to 44	0	0
45 to 46	6	11
47 to 48	5	20
49 to 50	25	63
51 to 52	16	86
53 to 54	13	35
55 to 56	2	22
57 to 58	7	15
59 to 60	2	3
61 to 62	4	6
63 to 64	8	5
65 to 66	0	6
67 to 68	0	0
69 to 70	2	2
71 to 72	1	1
73 to 74	1	3
75 to 76	8	8
77 to 78	5	13
79 to 80	0	24
81 to 82	0	4
83 to 84	11	21
85 to 86	5	5

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, 28 are women's.

218 lines from women, 569 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

3 women and 4 men in the cast. 3 women and 5 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 797. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 55 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 25% of the words (1,613), men 75% (4,911). Women have 28% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Vincenzo Natali (man)
Written by: Vincenzo Natali (man)
From the novel by: Stephen King (man), Joe Hill (man)
Produced by: Steven Hoban (man), Jimmy Miller (man), Matt Riley (man), Mark Smith (man)
Shot by: Craig Wrobleski (man)
Edited by: Michele Conroy (woman)
Music by: Mark Korven (man)
Production design by: Oleg M. Savytski (gender not listed)
Cast by: Chelsea Ellis Bloch (woman), John Buchan (man), Jason Knight (man)