Passes the Bechdel test

Infinitely Polar Bear

Name: Infinitely Polar Bear
Released: 2015

2015. Directed by Maya Forbes, written by Maya Forbes.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
12 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 20 scenes out of 142.
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

In the late 1970s, in Boston, the bipolar Cameron "Cam" Stuart lives with his wife Maggie and their daughters Amelia and Faith in an isolated house in the countryside. When Cam is fired from his job, he has a mental breakdown and Maggie is forced to institutionalize him. When he is released, he moves to a small apartment while Maggie works to support the children. She decides to apply to an MBA program to improve her income and she is accepted by Columbia University in New York. She asks Cam to take care of the girls for eighteen months and he agrees despite his fears. Maggie moves to New York and Cam is responsible for Amelia and Faith's education. Will the scheme work?

Released: 19 Jun 2015
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.9 / 10
Metascore: 64 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 9 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Cam 357 lines, man
Maggie 166 lines, woman
Amelia 153 lines, woman
Faith 96 lines, woman
Gaga 18 lines
Pauline 13 lines, woman
Kim 12 lines, woman
Thurgood 10 lines, man
Dick 9 lines, man
Murray 9 lines, man

Full cast, 31 people

Mark Ruffalo as Cameron
Zoe Saldaña as Maggie
Imogene Wolodarsky as Amelia Stuart
Ashley Aufderheide as Faith Stuart
Wallace Wolodarsky as Peter
Keir Dullea as Murray Stuart
Beth Dixon as Pauline Stuart
Georgia Lyman as Becca
William Xifaras as Bus Driver
Mary O'Rourke as Receptionist
Chris Papavasiliou as Mr. Fabrini
Liam McNeill as Young Man 1
Mark S. Cartier as Maitre d'
Alicia Love as Carol
Manoah Angelo as Thurgood
Nekhebet Kum Juch as Kim
Muriel Gould as Gaga
Paul Elias as Dick
Uatchet Jin Juch as Ali
Wendy Forbes as Maid
Tod Randolph as Ruth-Ann
Patrick Shea as Business Man 1
Brianne Siddall as Additional Voices #3 (voice)
Christopher Alan as Bar Fly (uncredited)
Christopher S. Porter as Bar Patron (uncredited)
George J. Vezina as Joe - Institution Patient (uncredited)
Michael Underhill as Young Businessman (uncredited)
Mike Jablon as Unfriendly Houseguest (uncredited)
David Weindel as Homeless Friend (uncredited)
Scout Lyons as School girl
Grant George as Additional Voices #1 (voice)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 142

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	0	2
4 to 6	9	12
7 to 9	10	13
10 to 12	6	4
13 to 15	9	12
16 to 18	18	0
19 to 21	1	3
22 to 24	12	11
25 to 27	20	9
28 to 30	18	7
31 to 33	0	4
34 to 36	50	32
37 to 39	10	13
40 to 42	7	12
43 to 45	5	13
46 to 48	7	0
49 to 51	5	8
52 to 54	11	20
55 to 57	3	5
58 to 60	0	2
61 to 63	4	7
64 to 66	8	3
67 to 69	4	2
70 to 72	2	1
73 to 75	11	11
76 to 78	13	10
79 to 81	10	4
82 to 84	7	1
85 to 87	12	7
88 to 90	12	13
91 to 93	3	4
94 to 96	9	12
97 to 99	0	1
100 to 102	2	2
103 to 105	2	1
106 to 108	1	1
109 to 111	10	6
112 to 114	14	9
115 to 117	4	3
118 to 120	29	14
121 to 123	3	3
124 to 126	8	11
127 to 129	6	9
130 to 132	3	2
133 to 135	11	30
136 to 138	23	10
139 to 141	23	19
142 to 142	22	18

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.

AMELIA: Where were you last night? Mommy was worried. FAITH: You smell like mothballs.

AMELIA: You are? FAITH: Your stomach is really big.

MAGGIE: Oh, the job. MAGGIE: I graduated from Sarah Lawrence. I can’t believe I’m doing this. MAGGIE: I forgot the laundry -- AMELIA: We’ll get it!

AMELIA: What if someone asks me where I live? I don’t want to lie. MAGGIE: Peabody is the best public school in the city -- AMELIA: I don’t care. I don’t want to lie.

AMELIA: What if my teacher finds out I’m lying? MAGGIE: Miss Kendricks loves you. You’re her best student. FAITH: They said we’d get our ‘A’ kicked by Irish kids! MAGGIE: You’re not going to get your ‘A’ kicked --

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 54 are women's.

457 lines from women, 396 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

12 women and 12 men in the cast. 11 women and 6 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 6 of 887. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 18 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 49% of the words (4,145), men 51% (4,359). Women have 54% 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

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Maya Forbes (woman)
Written by: Maya Forbes (woman)
Produced by: Benji Kohn (man), Bingo Gubelmann (gender not listed), Sam Bisbee (man), Galt Niederhoffer (woman), J.J. Abrams (man), Wallace Wolodarsky (man)
Shot by: Bobby Bukowski (man)
Edited by: Michael R. Miller (man)
Music by: Theodore Shapiro (man)
Production design by: Carl Sprague (man)
Costumes by: Kasia Walicka Maimone (woman)
Cast by: Douglas Aibel (man)