Fails the Bechdel test
Lost Highway
1997. Directed by David Lynch, written by David Lynch and Barry Gifford.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 8 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
Fred Madison, a saxophonist, is accused under mysterious circumstances of murdering his wife Renee. On death row, he inexplicably morphs into a young man named Pete Dayton, leading a completely different life. When Pete is released, his and Fred's paths begin to cross in a surreal, suspenseful web of intrigue, orchestrated by a shady gangster boss named Dick Laurent.
- Released
- 15 Jan 1997
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 6 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Pete 150 lines, man
- Alice 77 lines, woman
- Fred 77 lines, man
- Renee 50 lines, woman
- Mr. Eddy 44 lines, man
- Sheila 36 lines, woman
- Warden 36 lines, man
- Bill 32 lines, man
- Al 25 lines, man
- Ed 25 lines, man
Full cast, 45 people
- Patricia Arquette as Renee Madison / Alice Wakefield
- Bill Pullman as Fred Madison
- Balthazar Getty as Pete Dayton
- Robert Blake as Mystery Man
- Robert Loggia as Mr. Eddy / Dick Laurent
- Michael Massee as Andy
- Natasha Gregson Wagner as Sheila
- Richard Pryor as Arnie
- Gary Busey as Bill Dayton
- Lucy Butler as Candace Dayton
- Jack Nance as Phil
- Jack Kehler as Guard Johnny Mack
- Henry Rollins as Guard Henry
- Giovanni Ribisi as Steve "V"
- Scott Coffey as Teddy
- John Roselius as Al
- Louis Eppolito as Ed
- Jenna Maetlind as Party Girl
- Michael Shamus Wiles as Guard Mike
- Mink Stole as Forewoman
- Leonard Termo as Judge
- Ivory Ocean as Guard Ivory
- David Byrd as Doctor Smordin
- Gene Ross as Warden Clements
- F. William Parker as Captain Luneau
- Guy Siner as Prison Official #1
- Alexander Folk as Prison Official #2
- Carl Sundstrom as Hank
- John Solari as Lou
- Jack as The Dog
- Al Garrett as Carl
- Heather Stephens as Lanie
- Amanda Anka as Girl #1
- Jennifer Syme as Junkie Girl
- Matt Sigloch as Assistant #1
- Gilbert B. Combs as Assistant #2
- Greg Travis as Tail Gate Driver
- Lisa Boyle as Marian
- Leslie Bega as Raquel
- Marilyn Manson as Porno Star #1
- Jeordie White as Porno Star #2
- Metin Bereketli as Hitman (uncredited)
- Dru Berrymore as Blonde on Staircase (uncredited)
- Bill McAdams Jr. as Bartender (uncredited)
- Lou Slaughter as Slickster (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 184
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 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 4 | 4 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 16 | 11 | 14 |
| 17 to 20 | 7 | 7 |
| 21 to 24 | 8 | 30 |
| 25 to 28 | 1 | 5 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 15 | 50 |
| 37 to 40 | 3 | 4 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 4 |
| 53 to 56 | 12 | 7 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 1 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 3 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 8 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 5 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 0 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 13 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 20 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 36 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 5 |
| 97 to 100 | 3 | 22 |
| 101 to 104 | 19 | 21 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 7 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 17 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 30 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 9 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 4 | 4 |
| 129 to 132 | 10 | 7 |
| 133 to 136 | 3 | 2 |
| 137 to 140 | 8 | 8 |
| 141 to 144 | 4 | 9 |
| 145 to 148 | 1 | 32 |
| 149 to 152 | 35 | 24 |
| 153 to 156 | 11 | 29 |
| 157 to 160 | 16 | 6 |
| 161 to 164 | 3 | 0 |
| 165 to 168 | 4 | 8 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 0 |
| 173 to 176 | 0 | 6 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 6 |
| 181 to 184 | 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, 28 are women's.
183 lines from women, 464 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
10 women and 31 men in the cast. 8 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 709.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 150 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 32% of the words (1,547), men 68% (3,227). Women have 28% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
48
Exhibit E: behind the camera
6 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Lynch (man)
- Written by
- Barry Gifford (man), David Lynch (man)
- Produced by
- Deepak Nayar (man), Mary Sweeney (woman), Tom Sternberg (man)
- Shot by
- Peter Deming (man)
- Edited by
- Mary Sweeney (woman)
- Music by
- Angelo Badalamenti (man)
- Production design by
- Patricia Norris (woman)
- Costumes by
- Patricia Norris (woman)
- Cast by
- Johanna Ray (woman), Elaine J. Huzzar (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 18 men, 16 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 18 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Natasha Gregson Wagner 26, Patricia Arquette 28
Men
Balthazar Getty 21, Bill Pullman 43, Michael Massee 44, Gary Busey 52, Richard Pryor 56, Robert Blake 63, Robert Loggia 67
Exhibit G: the money
It made 26% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $15 million
- Box office
- $3.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 184 scenes and 709 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
