Passes the Bechdel test
Love & Friendship
2016. Directed by Whit Stillman, written by Whit Stillman and Jane Austen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 81. -
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
Set in the 1790s, Love and Friendship centers on beautiful widow Lady Susan Vernon, who has come to the estate of her in-laws to wait out colorful rumors about her dalliances circulating through polite society. Whilst there, she decides to secure a husband for herself and her rather reluctant debutante daughter, Frederica.
- Released
- 03 Jun 2016
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 87 / 100
- Awards
- 7 wins & 54 nominations
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Susan 234 lines, woman
- Reginald 148 lines, man
- Catherine 84 lines, woman
- Alicia 77 lines, woman
- Frederica 62 lines, woman
- Charles 41 lines, man
- Lady Decourcy 41 lines, woman
- Sir Reginald 38 lines, man
- Sir James 37 lines, man
- Lady Manwaring 14 lines, woman
Full cast, 31 people
- Kate Beckinsale as Lady Susan Vernon
- Xavier Samuel as Reginald DeCourcy
- Morfydd Clark as Frederica Vernon
- Emma Greenwell as Catherine DeCourcy Vernon
- Tom Bennett as Sir James Martin
- James Fleet as Sir Reginald DeCourcy
- Jemma Redgrave as Lady DeCourcy
- Justin Edwards as Charles Vernon
- Stephen Fry as Mr. Johnson
- Chloë Sevigny as Alicia Johnson
- Jenn Murray as Lady Lucy Manwaring
- Lochlann Ó Mearáin as Lord Manwaring
- Sophie Radermacher as Miss Maria Manwaring
- Jordan Waller as Edward, Head Footman
- Ross Mac Mahon as Owen
- Kelly Campbell as Mrs. Cross
- Conor Lambert as Wilson the Butler
- Conor MacNeill as The Young Curate
- Frank Melia as Coachman
- Sylvie Benoiton as Vernon Child
- Daniel Magee as Vernon Child
- Rowan Finken as Footman at Churchill
- Dave Timbs as Footman at Churchill
- Laura Whelan as Maid at Churchill
- James Crerar as Footman at Churchill
- John Brennan as Footman at Edward Street
- Olivia Fahy as Maid at Edward Street
- Ellie Houlihan as Maid at Edward Street
- Carla McGlynn as Maid at Upper Seymour Street
- Darragh O'Connor as Stable Boy
- Frank Prendergast as Approaching Gentleman
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 81
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 2 | 1 | 2 |
| 3 to 4 | 29 | 11 |
| 5 to 6 | 7 | 0 |
| 7 to 8 | 15 | 2 |
| 9 to 10 | 30 | 0 |
| 11 to 12 | 7 | 4 |
| 13 to 14 | 5 | 0 |
| 15 to 16 | 13 | 15 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 23 |
| 19 to 20 | 14 | 7 |
| 21 to 22 | 18 | 2 |
| 23 to 24 | 1 | 1 |
| 25 to 26 | 2 | 1 |
| 27 to 28 | 15 | 14 |
| 29 to 30 | 47 | 12 |
| 31 to 32 | 9 | 5 |
| 33 to 34 | 2 | 1 |
| 35 to 36 | 10 | 10 |
| 37 to 38 | 10 | 9 |
| 39 to 40 | 2 | 3 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 to 44 | 21 | 30 |
| 45 to 46 | 4 | 0 |
| 47 to 48 | 10 | 0 |
| 49 to 50 | 1 | 1 |
| 51 to 52 | 5 | 3 |
| 53 to 54 | 15 | 1 |
| 55 to 56 | 7 | 9 |
| 57 to 58 | 16 | 1 |
| 59 to 60 | 21 | 20 |
| 61 to 62 | 27 | 16 |
| 63 to 64 | 19 | 0 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 1 |
| 67 to 68 | 12 | 8 |
| 69 to 70 | 56 | 21 |
| 71 to 72 | 15 | 1 |
| 73 to 74 | 34 | 10 |
| 75 to 76 | 0 | 1 |
| 77 to 78 | 22 | 28 |
| 79 to 80 | 1 | 1 |
| 81 to 81 | 6 | 10 |
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.
SUSAN: Good afternoon, Frederica. FREDERICA: Good afternoon, Mother. SUSAN: Excuse me. It's as I feared -- I must go to my daughter.
SUSAN: Enchanté. Please forgive this intrusion but now that I'm fixed in town I can't rest with Frederica away. CATHERINE: Isn’t such anxiety new? SUSAN: Yes, it is -- I entirely agree. But now I’m in London where the instruction Frederica needs can so readily be found. Her voice has some prom…
SUSAN: Frederica! You’re so kind to visit: Frederica will be delighted. How are the children -- especially my dear Frederick? CATHERINE: Very well, thank you-- SUSAN: Frederica, come see who’s here! I can't express my gratitude for the hospitality you’ve extended us.
CATHERINE: She’s greatly missed, by the little ones especially-- SUSAN: What a moving sentiment of cousinly regard. My concern, my obligation, is to see the defects in Frederica’s education repaired.
SUSAN: Might I confess something? Frederica and I have become such great friends it would be hard for me to part with her. You might have noticed t… SUSAN: Excuse me, are you quite well? CATHERINE: Sorry -- we'd so set our hearts on Frederica’s return. SUSAN: I understand completely. She's become an agreeable companion -- even her tendency to extreme quiet I’ve grown to find rather soothing. But t…
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 65 are women's.
529 lines from women, 284 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 9 men in the cast. 6 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 821.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 24 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 68% of the words (7,384), men 32% (3,523). Women have 65% 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
32
Two men
16
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Whit Stillman (man)
- Written by
- Whit Stillman (man)
- Produced by
- Lauranne Bourrachot (gender not listed), Katie Holly (woman), Whit Stillman (man)
- Shot by
- Richard Van Oosterhout (gender not listed)
- Edited by
- Sophie Corra (woman)
- Music by
- Mark Suozzo (man), Benjamin Esdraffo (man)
- Production design by
- Anna Rackard (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh (woman)
- Cast by
- Colin Jones (man), Kerry Barden (man), Paul Schnee (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 12 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 0 men
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Morfydd Clark 26, Emma Greenwell 27, Chloë Sevigny 41, Kate Beckinsale 42, Jemma Redgrave 51
Men
Xavier Samuel 32, Justin Edwards 43, Tom Bennett 46, Stephen Fry 58, James Fleet 64
Exhibit H: the money
It made 7.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $3 million
- Box office
- $21.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 81 scenes and 821 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
