Passes the Bechdel test
Just Mercy
2020. Directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, written by Destin Daniel Cretton and Andrew Lanham and Bryan Stevenson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 146. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
A powerful and thought-provoking true-story, "Just Mercy" follows young lawyer Bryan Stevenson (Jordan) and his history-making battle for justice. After graduating from Harvard, Bryan might have had his pick of lucrative jobs. Instead, he heads to Alabama to defend those wrongly condemned, with the support of local advocate Eva Ansley (Larson). One of his first, and most incendiary, cases is that of Walter McMillian (Foxx), who, in 1987, was sentenced to die for the notorious murder of an 18-year-old girl, despite a preponderance of evidence proving his innocence and the fact that the only testimony against him came from a criminal with a motive to lie. In the years that follow, Bryan becomes embroiled in a labyrinth of legal and political maneuverings and overt and unabashed racism as he fights for Walter, and others like him, with the odds - and the system - stacked against them.
- Released
- 10 Jan 2020
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 68 / 100
- Awards
- 9 wins & 19 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bryan 316 lines, man
- Walter 95 lines, man
- Eva 78 lines, woman
- Ralph 56 lines, man
- Tommy 48 lines, man
- Herbert 31 lines, man
- Jeremy 21 lines, man
- Henry 19 lines, man
- Sheriff Tate 17 lines, man
- Anthony 16 lines, man
Full cast, 58 people
- Michael B. Jordan as Bryan Stevenson
- Brie Larson as Eva Ansley
- Jamie Foxx as Walter McMillian
- O'Shea Jackson Jr. as Anthony Ray Hinton
- Rafe Spall as Tommy Champan
- Rob Morgan as Herbert Richardson
- Tim Blake Nelson as Ralph Myers
- Rhoda Griffis as Judge Pamela Bachab
- J. Alphonse Nicholson as Henry Davis
- Karan Kendrick as Minnie McMillian
- Hayes Mercure as Jeremy Doss
- Lindsay Ayliffe as Judge Foster
- Dominic Bogart as Doug Ansley
- Tim Hooper as Charles Cooper, Office Manager
- Andrene Ward-Hammond as Brenda
- John Lacy as Bill
- Michael Harding as Sheriff Tate
- Ron Clinton Smith as Woodrow Ikner
- C.J. LeBlanc as John McMillian
- Kelly Mumme as Stella Taylor
- Mallory Hoff as Alice Brooks
- Terence Rosemore as Jimmy
- Charlie Pye Jr. as Charlie the Tree Expert
- Christopher Wolfe as Jim Wilkes
- Adam Boyer as Prison Guard
- Jacinte Blankenship as Christy Stevenson
- Bryan G. Stevenson as Howard Stevenson, Jr.
- Brad Sanders as Howard Stevenson, Sr.
- Charmin Lee as Alice Stevenson
- Sebastian Eugene Hansen as Kris Ansley
- David Garlock as Prison Interviewee
- Robert Caston as Prison Interviewee
- Talmedge Hayes as Prison Interviewee
- Kuntrell Jackson as Prison Interviewee
- Tatom Pender as Tracy
- Scarlet Olivia Dunbar as Jackie McMillian
- Denitra Isler as Evelyn McMillian
- Darryl W. Handy as Bernard
- Darrell Britt-Gibson as Darnell Houston
- Al Mitchell as Uncle Leo
- Pete Burris as Local Male Witness
- Susie Spear Purcell as Local Female Witness
- Deadra Moore as Deb
- Ryan Dinning as Young Officer
- Carl Palmer as Older Officer
- Greta Glenn as Doris Miller
- Alex Van as Chamber Guard
- Leydi Morales as Female Death Row Guard
- Ben Peck as Holman Warden
- Ted Huckabee as Bailiff
- Ryan Girard as Clay Kast
- Tim Ware as Psychologist
- Norm Lewis as Newscaster (voice)
- Claire Bronson as Mrs. Chapman
- Desmond Phillips as State Officer
- Drew Starkey as Young Guard
- Steve Coulter as Judge Buren
- McDaniel Austin as Inmate
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 146
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 4 | 0 | 5 |
| 5 to 8 | 7 | 63 |
| 9 to 12 | 10 | 15 |
| 13 to 16 | 25 | 28 |
| 17 to 20 | 8 | 15 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 46 |
| 25 to 28 | 10 | 37 |
| 29 to 32 | 4 | 3 |
| 33 to 36 | 14 | 35 |
| 37 to 40 | 1 | 46 |
| 41 to 44 | 12 | 15 |
| 45 to 48 | 3 | 3 |
| 49 to 52 | 10 | 24 |
| 53 to 56 | 2 | 41 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 55 |
| 61 to 64 | 9 | 18 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 16 |
| 69 to 72 | 3 | 6 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 10 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 15 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 1 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 25 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 49 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 14 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 20 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 1 |
| 117 to 120 | 1 | 3 |
| 121 to 124 | 1 | 18 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 23 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 19 |
| 133 to 136 | 9 | 28 |
| 137 to 140 | 4 | 17 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 16 |
| 145 to 146 | 0 | 4 |
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.
EVA: I know. BRENDA: EJI. This is Brenda. One sec.
BRENDA: EJI, this is Brenda. EVA: The clerk from the Supreme Court said their ruling in the McMillian case is ready to be picked up.
EVA: You mean now that there’s no seats left? MINNIE: It’s okay, we’ll find room.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 16 are women's.
140 lines from women, 739 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 34 men in the cast. 10 women and 30 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 20 of 932.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 64 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (2,516), men 82% (11,457). Women have 16% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
8
Two men
61
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Destin Daniel Cretton (man)
- Written by
- Andrew Lanham (man), Destin Daniel Cretton (man)
- From the novel by
- Bryan Stevenson (man)
- Produced by
- Michael B. Jordan (man), Gil Netter (man), Asher Goldstein (man)
- Shot by
- Brett Pawlak (man)
- Edited by
- Nat Sanders (man)
- Music by
- Joel P. West (man)
- Production design by
- Sharon Seymour (woman)
- Costumes by
- Francine Jamison-Tanchuck (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
6 women, 12 men, 16 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 4 men, 15 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 7 men, 13 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 14 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 12 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 5 men, 7 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 11 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Brie Larson 30, Rhoda Griffis 54
Men
O'Shea Jackson Jr. 28, Michael B. Jordan 32, J. Alphonse Nicholson 34, Rafe Spall 36, Rob Morgan 46, Jamie Foxx 52, Tim Blake Nelson 55
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $50.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 146 scenes and 932 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
