Fails the Bechdel test
Let Me In
2010. Directed by Matt Reeves, written by Matt Reeves and John Ajvide Lindqvist.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 5 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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Owen is 12 years-old, his parents are no longer together and he has no friends. He's also being bullied at school and lives a dreary existence. Late one night he meets Abby, also 12, who has moved in next door. She doesn't say much about herself and doesn't go to school. Meanwhile, a detective is investigating a series of murders where people have been drained of their blood. Owen and Abby are lonely souls who find comfort in one another and Abby gives him the strength to face his tormentors. Abby has secrets as well that touch directly on the police investigation.
- Released
- 01 Oct 2010
- Genres
- Drama, Fantasy, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- 14 wins & 28 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Owen 148 lines, man
- Abby 78 lines, woman
- Policeman 36 lines, man
- Owen’S Mother 35 lines, woman
- Kenny 28 lines, man
- Girl 22 lines, woman
- Mr. Zoric 20 lines, man
- Kenny’S Brother 17 lines, man
- Mark 14 lines, man
- Man 13 lines, man
Full cast, 25 people
- Kodi Smit-McPhee as Owen
- Chloë Grace Moretz as Abby
- Richard Jenkins as The Father
- Elias Koteas as The Policeman
- Sasha Barrese as Virginia
- Dylan Kenin as Larry
- Dylan Minnette as Kenny
- Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak as Mark
- Nicolai Dorian as Donald
- Seth Adkins as High School Kid
- Ritchie Coster as Mr. Zoric
- Cara Buono as Owen's Mother
- Chris Browning as Jack
- Rebekah Wiggins as Nurse
- Ashton Moio as Lanky Kid
- Gwendolyn Apple as Girl in Pool
- Brett DelBuono as Kenny's Brother
- Colin Moretz as Video Arcade Counterman
- Rowbie Orsatti as Scottie Tate
- Brenda Wehle as Principal
- Galen Hutchison as Football Player #1
- Dean Satriano as Football Player #2
- Deborah L. Mazor as Day Nurse
- Rachel Hroncich as Admitting Nurse
- Braden Wilcox as Junior High Student (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 114
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 | 2 | 10 |
| 4 to 6 | 11 | 5 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 17 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 2 |
| 19 to 21 | 5 | 7 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 9 | 6 |
| 28 to 30 | 14 | 22 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 9 | 26 |
| 37 to 39 | 14 | 18 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 12 |
| 43 to 45 | 12 | 15 |
| 46 to 48 | 3 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 12 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 13 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 13 | 12 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 2 |
| 70 to 72 | 3 | 9 |
| 73 to 75 | 7 | 3 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 5 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 14 |
| 82 to 84 | 7 | 10 |
| 85 to 87 | 2 | 28 |
| 88 to 90 | 14 | 35 |
| 91 to 93 | 11 | 8 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 2 | 5 |
| 100 to 102 | 2 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 15 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 6 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 16 |
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, 31 are women's.
154 lines from women, 336 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 13 men in the cast. 5 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 13 of 523.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 40 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 29% of the words (1,120), men 71% (2,755). Women have 31% 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
13
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Matt Reeves (man)
- Written by
- Matt Reeves (man)
- From the novel by
- John Ajvide Lindqvist (man)
- Produced by
- Simon Oakes (man), John Nordling (man), Guy East (man), Carl Molinder (gender not listed), Tobin Armbrust (man), Alexander Yves Brunner (man) and 1 more
- Shot by
- Greig Fraser (man)
- Edited by
- Stan Salfas (man)
- Music by
- Michael Giacchino (man)
- Production design by
- Ford Wheeler (man)
- Cast by
- Avy Kaufman (woman), Barbara Harris (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 7 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 6 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 21 on average. Men: 30 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Chloë Grace Moretz 13, Sasha Barrese 29
Men
Dylan Minnette 13, Kodi Smit-McPhee 14, Jimmy 'Jax' Pinchak 14, Seth Adkins 20, Dylan Kenin 40, Elias Koteas 49, Richard Jenkins 63
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $24.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 114 scenes and 523 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
