Fails the Bechdel test
Kill the Messenger
2014. Directed by Michael Cuesta, written by Peter Landesman and Gary Webb and Nick Schou.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 9 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb. The film takes place in the mid-1990s, when Webb uncovered the CIA's past role in importing huge amounts of cocaine into the U.S. that was aggressively sold in ghettos across the country to raise money for the Nicaraguan Contras' rebel army. Despite enormous pressure not to, Webb chose to pursue the story and went public with his evidence, publishing the series "Dark Alliance". As a result he experienced a vicious smear campaign fueled by the CIA. At that point Webb found himself defending his integrity, his family, and his life.
- Released
- 09 Oct 2014
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Webb 391 lines, man
- Sue 77 lines, woman
- Anna 61 lines, woman
- Fenster 49 lines, man
- Ian 38 lines, man
- Weil 32 lines, man
- Dodson 29 lines, man
- Ceppos 28 lines, man
- Coral 23 lines, woman
- Quail 19 lines, man
Full cast, 32 people
- Jeremy Renner as Gary Webb
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Anna Simons
- Michael Sheen as Fred Weil
- Ray Liotta as John Cullen
- Robert Patrick as Ronny Quail
- Andy Garcia as Norwin Meneses
- Paz Vega as Coral Baca
- Michael Kenneth Williams as Ricky Ross
- Rosemarie DeWitt as Sue Webb
- Tim Blake Nelson as Alan Fenster
- Barry Pepper as Russell Dodson
- Oliver Platt as Jerry Ceppos
- Richard Schiff as Richard Zuckerman
- Jena Sims as Quail's Girlfriend
- Joshua Close as Rich Kline
- Yul Vazquez as Danilo Blandon
- Lucas Hedges as Ian Webb
- Matt Lintz as Eric Webb
- Gil Bellows as DEA Agent Miller
- Steve Coulter as Anonymous Agent
- Dan Futterman as Leo Wolinsky
- Susan Walters as Los Angeles Times Editor
- David de Vries as Washington Post Editor
- David Lee Garver as Doug Farah
- Rhoda Griffis as Female Anchor
- Jen Harper as Ricky Ross Trial Judge
- David Alessi as DEA Agent (uncredited)
- Grace Baine as Reporter Washington Post (uncredited)
- Shaira Barton as DC Business Woman (uncredited)
- Nancy Reagan as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Parker Douglas as Christine Webb
- James Lewis as Jaguar Driver
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 108
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 | 6 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 32 |
| 7 to 9 | 11 | 14 |
| 10 to 12 | 3 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 14 | 21 |
| 16 to 18 | 17 | 23 |
| 19 to 21 | 14 | 41 |
| 22 to 24 | 15 | 26 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 1 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 55 |
| 31 to 33 | 12 | 87 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 28 |
| 40 to 42 | 3 | 39 |
| 43 to 45 | 9 | 13 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 24 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 12 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 2 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 3 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 7 |
| 67 to 69 | 1 | 15 |
| 70 to 72 | 9 | 13 |
| 73 to 75 | 3 | 14 |
| 76 to 78 | 4 | 36 |
| 79 to 81 | 6 | 16 |
| 82 to 84 | 11 | 8 |
| 85 to 87 | 4 | 66 |
| 88 to 90 | 6 | 8 |
| 91 to 93 | 14 | 11 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 25 |
| 97 to 99 | 13 | 15 |
| 100 to 102 | 6 | 13 |
| 103 to 105 | 2 | 15 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
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, 22 are women's.
196 lines from women, 703 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
11 women and 20 men in the cast. 9 women and 22 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 50 of 1,032.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 142 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 19% of the words (1,855), men 81% (8,026). Women have 22% 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
1
Two men
64
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Michael Cuesta (man)
- Written by
- Peter Landesman (man)
- From the novel by
- Gary Webb (man), Nick Schou (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Scott Stuber (man), Naomi Despres (woman), Jeremy Renner (man)
- Shot by
- Sean Bobbitt (man)
- Edited by
- Brian A. Kates (man)
- Music by
- Nathan Johnson (man)
- Production design by
- John Paino (man)
- Costumes by
- Kimberly Adams (woman), Doug Hall (man)
- Cast by
- Avy Kaufman (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 6 men
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 1 men
-
Art
0 women, 1 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 36 on average. Men: 51 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Mary Elizabeth Winstead 29, Paz Vega 38, Rosemarie DeWitt 42
Men
Jeremy Renner 43, Michael Sheen 45, Michael Kenneth Williams 47, Tim Blake Nelson 50, Robert Patrick 55, Andy Garcia 58, Ray Liotta 59
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $5 million
- Box office
- $5.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 108 scenes and 1,032 lines of dialogue. How the test works
