Passes the Bechdel test
Knives Out
2019. Directed by Rian Johnson, written by Rian Johnson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 197. -
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
When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's disfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.
- Released
- 27 Nov 2019
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 52 wins & 114 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Blanc 195 lines, man
- Marta 165 lines, woman
- Lieutenant Elliott 81 lines, man
- Harlan 71 lines, man
- Ransom 62 lines, man
- Walt 52 lines, man
- Richard 46 lines, man
- Joni 35 lines, woman
- Linda 34 lines, woman
- Meg 24 lines, woman
Full cast, 32 people
- Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc
- Chris Evans as Ransom Drysdale
- Ana de Armas as Marta Cabrera
- Jamie Lee Curtis as Linda Drysdale
- Michael Shannon as Walt Thrombey
- Don Johnson as Richard Drysdale
- Toni Collette as Joni Thrombey
- LaKeith Stanfield as Lieutenant Elliott
- Christopher Plummer as Harlan Thrombey
- Katherine Langford as Meg Thrombey
- Jaeden Martell as Jacob Thrombey
- Riki Lindhome as Donna Thrombrey
- Edi Patterson as Fran
- Frank Oz as Alan Stevens
- K Callan as Greatnana Wanetta
- Noah Segan as Trooper Wagner
- M. Emmet Walsh as Mr. Proofroc
- Marlene Forte as Marta's Mom
- Raúl Castillo as Cop
- Shyrley Rodriguez as Alicia
- Kerry Frances as Sally
- Gary Tanguay as Local News Anchor
- Octavia Chavez-Richmond as Other Woman
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Detective Hardrock (voice)
- Paul Bellefeuille as Friend of Harlan Thrombey (uncredited)
- Ben Bunnag as Worker (uncredited)
- Michael Burnell as Firefighter (uncredited)
- Frankie Francois as Officer Perry interviewing Marta (uncredited)
- Marcela Jaramillo as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Gabrielle Lorthe as Waitress (uncredited)
- Rob Lévesque as Morgue Fire Spectator (uncredited)
- Paul Tawczynski as Officer Taillie (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 197
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 | 2 | 0 |
| 6 to 10 | 7 | 0 |
| 11 to 15 | 19 | 20 |
| 16 to 20 | 1 | 17 |
| 21 to 25 | 12 | 21 |
| 26 to 30 | 3 | 23 |
| 31 to 35 | 1 | 17 |
| 36 to 40 | 10 | 13 |
| 41 to 45 | 8 | 17 |
| 46 to 50 | 6 | 32 |
| 51 to 55 | 1 | 4 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 15 |
| 61 to 65 | 31 | 43 |
| 66 to 70 | 2 | 8 |
| 71 to 75 | 1 | 6 |
| 76 to 80 | 5 | 6 |
| 81 to 85 | 9 | 4 |
| 86 to 90 | 22 | 16 |
| 91 to 95 | 3 | 1 |
| 96 to 100 | 9 | 36 |
| 101 to 105 | 17 | 40 |
| 106 to 110 | 17 | 32 |
| 111 to 115 | 27 | 34 |
| 116 to 120 | 12 | 4 |
| 121 to 125 | 14 | 21 |
| 126 to 130 | 4 | 11 |
| 131 to 135 | 3 | 3 |
| 136 to 140 | 3 | 13 |
| 141 to 145 | 9 | 2 |
| 146 to 150 | 9 | 11 |
| 151 to 155 | 11 | 32 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 11 |
| 161 to 165 | 6 | 15 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 11 |
| 171 to 175 | 3 | 9 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 5 |
| 181 to 185 | 2 | 8 |
| 186 to 190 | 5 | 1 |
| 191 to 195 | 5 | 15 |
| 196 to 197 | 0 | 0 |
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.
MEG: Hey! Her name is Marta, she was granddad's nurse, she's with us. "The help?". MARTA: Not very good. Alone, lots of just, this and not knowing what to do next. MEG: Anything you need, you're part of this family Marta. MARTA: Thank you.
FRAN: Jesus. I'm gonna disappear until the politics talk is done. You want some champers? MARTA: No I'm technically working. Thanks. DONNA JONI: We're losing our way of life and our culture, there's millions of Mexicans coming and this isn't Joni don't Oh god really - yeah it's make t…
FRAN: Oh my god Marta, what? MEG: Whoa hey, c'mere, hey. What do you, you want water? Breathe. Hey. Fran have you still got your stash?
FRAN: Take em whenever you need em - they're just drying out since you gave me that Juul. MEG: Thanks Fran. MARTA MEG: I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm Stop saying you're sorry sorry Jesus MARTA: God my heart won't stop, I can't - it's just everything, no, thank you
MEG: Did you tell Marta yet? What we all talked about? WALT MEG: No, not yet, is now a good Yes a very good time. Right time? now.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.
300 lines from women, 577 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 18 men in the cast. 10 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 22 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (3,314), men 73% (8,923). Women have 34% 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
23
Two men
75
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Rian Johnson (man)
- Written by
- Rian Johnson (man)
- Produced by
- Ram Bergman (man), Rian Johnson (man)
- Shot by
- Steve Yedlin (man)
- Edited by
- Bob Ducsay (man)
- Music by
- Nathan Johnson (man)
- Production design by
- David Crank (man)
- Costumes by
- Jenny Eagan (woman)
- Cast by
- Mary Vernieu (woman), Angela Peri (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
7 women, 17 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 14 men, 11 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 16 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 6 men, 11 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 1 men, 10 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men, 12 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 10 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 53 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Katherine Langford 23, Ana de Armas 31, Toni Collette 47, Jamie Lee Curtis 61
Men
LaKeith Stanfield 28, Chris Evans 38, Michael Shannon 45, Daniel Craig 51, Don Johnson 69, Christopher Plummer 89
Exhibit H: the money
It made 7.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- $313 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 197 scenes and 892 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
