Fails the Bechdel test

John Wick

Name: John Wick
Released: 2014

2014. Directed by Chad Stahelski, written by Derek Kolstad.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

No 1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

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

The film

With the untimely death of his beloved wife still bitter in his mouth, John Wick, the expert former assassin, receives one final gift from her--a precious keepsake to help John find a new meaning in life now that she is gone. But when the arrogant Russian mob prince, Iosef Tarasov, and his men pay Wick a rather unwelcome visit to rob him of his prized 1969 Mustang and his wife's present, the legendary hitman will be forced to unearth his meticulously concealed identity. Blind with revenge, John will immediately unleash a carefully orchestrated maelstrom of destruction against the sophisticated kingpin, Viggo Tarasov, and his family, who are fully aware of his lethal capacity. Now, only blood can quench the boogeyman's thirst for retribution.

Released: 24 Oct 2014
Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.5 / 10
Metascore: 68 / 100
Awards: 5 wins & 12 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

John 163 lines, man
Viggo 52 lines, man
Iosef 31 lines, man
Aurelio 23 lines, man
Manager 19 lines, man
Captain 14 lines
Waitress 14 lines, woman
Marcus 13 lines, man
Harry 12 lines, man
Charlie 9 lines, man

Full cast, 42 people

Keanu Reeves as John Wick
Michael Nyqvist as Viggo Tarasov
Alfie Allen as Iosef Tarasov
Willem Dafoe as Marcus
Dean Winters as Avi
Adrianne Palicki as Ms. Perkins
Omer Barnea as Gregori
Toby Leonard Moore as Victor
Daniel Bernhardt as Kirill
Bridget Moynahan as Helen
John Leguizamo as Aurelio
Ian McShane as Winston
Bridget Regan as Addy
Lance Reddick as Hotel Manager / Charon
Keith Jardine as Kuzma
Tait Fletcher as Nicholai
Kazy Tauginas as Ivan
Alexander Frekey as Alexander
Thomas Sadoski as Jimmy
Randall Duk Kim as Continental Doctor
David Patrick Kelly as Charlie
Clarke Peters as Harry
Kevin Nash as Francis
Gameela Wright as Delivery Woman
Vladislav Kulikov as Pavel
Munro M. Bonnell as Priest
Patricia Squire as Elderly Woman
Vladimir Troitsky as Team Leader
Matt McColm as Club Goon (uncredited)
Scott Tixier as Violinist (uncredited)
Carolyn Blair as Red Circle Club Goer (uncredited)
Samantha Crawford as Red Circle Club Goer (uncredited)
Nadia Kay as Hot Girl (uncredited)
Natalia Kiriya as Red Circle Model (uncredited)
Tommy Bayiokos as Russian Sniper (uncredited)
J.J. Perry as Bathroom Security (uncredited)
Dennis Keiffer as Club Goon (uncredited)
Alex Ziwak as Assassin (uncredited)
Erik Martin as Russian Thug (uncredited)
Elizabeth Saint as Russian Model (uncredited)
Marija Skangale as Red Circle Cage Dancer (uncredited)
Paugh Shadow as Assassin (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 237

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	0	0
6 to 10	0	2
11 to 15	0	2
16 to 20	5	7
21 to 25	0	18
26 to 30	0	0
31 to 35	0	0
36 to 40	0	24
41 to 45	0	12
46 to 50	0	0
51 to 55	0	2
56 to 60	0	10
61 to 65	0	22
66 to 70	0	10
71 to 75	0	2
76 to 80	0	13
81 to 85	0	20
86 to 90	0	5
91 to 95	0	3
96 to 100	0	21
101 to 105	5	11
106 to 110	0	2
111 to 115	0	1
116 to 120	2	10
121 to 125	0	3
126 to 130	0	12
131 to 135	0	6
136 to 140	0	39
141 to 145	0	32
146 to 150	1	32
151 to 155	0	2
156 to 160	0	2
161 to 165	3	3
166 to 170	0	14
171 to 175	0	1
176 to 180	3	6
181 to 185	0	0
186 to 190	0	6
191 to 195	0	4
196 to 200	0	6
201 to 205	0	0
206 to 210	0	0
211 to 215	0	0
216 to 220	0	6
221 to 225	0	0
226 to 230	0	7
231 to 235	0	2
236 to 237	0	1

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, 5 are women's.

19 lines from women, 381 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

9 women and 30 men in the cast. 1 women and 15 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 458. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 195 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 3% of the words (69), men 97% (2,589). Women have 5% 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

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Chad Stahelski (man)
Written by: Derek Kolstad (man)
Produced by: Basil Iwanyk (man), Mike Witherill (man), David Leitch (man), Eva Longoria (woman)
Shot by: Jonathan Sela (man)
Edited by: Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir (woman)
Music by: Tyler Bates (man), Joel J. Richard (man)
Production design by: Dan Leigh (man)
Costumes by: Luca Mosca (man)
Cast by: Jessica Kelly (woman), Suzanne Smith Crowley (woman)