Passes the Bechdel test
Loving
2016. Directed by Jeff Nichols, written by Jeff Nichols and Nancy Buirski.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 171. -
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
Richard Loving, a white construction worker in Caroline County, Virginia, falls in love with a local black woman and family friend, Mildred Jeter. Upon Mildred discovering that she is pregnant, they decide to marry, but knowing that interracial marriage violates Virginia's anti-miscegenation laws, they drive to Washington, D.C. to get married in 1958. Richard makes plans to build a house for Mildred less than a mile from her family home.
- Released
- 04 Nov 2016
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 25 wins & 91 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Richard 124 lines, man
- Mildred 111 lines, woman
- Bernie Cohen 59 lines, man
- Phil Hirschkop 24 lines, man
- Sheriff Brooks 23 lines, man
- Raymond 22 lines, man
- Garnet 21 lines, woman
- Lola 16 lines, woman
- Grey Villet 13 lines, man
- Laura 13 lines, woman
Full cast, 74 people
- Joel Edgerton as Richard Loving
- Ruth Negga as Mildred Loving
- Michael Shannon as Grey Villet
- Marton Csokas as Sheriff Brooks
- Nick Kroll as Bernie Cohen
- Bill Camp as Frank Beazley
- Sharon Blackwood as Lola Loving
- Alano Miller as Raymond Green
- Terri Abney as Garnet Jetter
- David Jensen as Judge Bazile
- Jon Bass as Phil Hirschkop
- Christopher Mann as Theoliver Jeter
- Winter-Lee Holland as Musiel Byrd-Jeter
- Michael Abbott Jr. as Deputy Cole
- Chris Greene as Percy Fortune
- Will Dalton as Virgil
- Matt Malloy as Chet Antieau
- Andrene Ward-Hammond as Laura
- D.L. Hopkins as Alex
- Jennifer Joyner as Hope Ryden
- Lance Lemon as Cousin Davis
- Marquis Adonis Hazelwood as Cousin Gerald
- Brenan Young as Older Sydney
- Dalyn Cleckley as Older Donald
- Quinn McPherson as Older Peggy
- Jevin Crochrell as Middle Sidney
- Jordan Williams Jr. as Middle Donald
- Georgia Crawford as Middle Peggy
- Micah Claiborne as Toddler Sydney
- Devin Cleckley as Baby Sydney
- Pryor Ferguson as Infant Sydney
- Karen Vicks as Clara - Cashier
- Scott Wichmann as Reporter #1
- Benjamin Loeh as Construction Worker
- Bridget Gethins as Court Secretary
- Mark Huber as Store Pedestrian
- James Matthew Poole as Drag Race Spectator
- Coley Campany as Secretary
- Sheri Lahris as Secretary
- Jordan Dickey as Construction Worker
- Coby Batty as Telephone Man
- Chris Condetti as Drag Race Spectator / Bar Patron
- Logan J. Woolfolk as Richard's Racing Crew
- Robert Haulbrook as County Clerk
- Keith Tyree as Bricklayer
- James Nevins as Spectator
- W. Keith Scott as Prisoner
- Tom Lancaster as Photojournalist
- Lonnie M. Henderson as Street Walker
- Thomas Brian Wise as Court Audience Member
- Ken Holliday as Drag Race Spectator
- Terry Menefee Gau as Antieau's Secretary
- Marc Anthony Lowe as Driver
- Jay SanGiovanni as Racetrack Spectator
- Tyrell Ford as D.C Teen
- James Atticus Abebayehu as Baby Boy #1
- Jim D. Johnston as Phil's Dad
- Derick Newson
- Miles Hopkins as Boarding House Boy
- Kenneth William Clarke as Construction Worker
- Robert Furner as Reporter
- Victoria Chavatel Jimison as Secretary
- Darrick Claiborne as Field Hand / Drag Strip Attendee / Shot Gun Shack Attendee (uncredited)
- Raymond H. Johnson as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
- Dean Mumford as Drag Race Driver
- Rebecca Turner as Pregnant Girl
- Mike Shiflett as Magistrate
- Greg Cooper as County Jailer
- Michael Abbott Jr. as Deputy
- A. Smith Harrison as Supreme Court Reporter
- Keith Flippen as Press Conference Reporter
- Jason Alan Cook as Soundman
- Lucas N. Hall as Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
- Benjamin Booker as Shotgun Shack Musician #1
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 171
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 | 1 | 6 |
| 5 to 8 | 5 | 8 |
| 9 to 12 | 11 | 13 |
| 13 to 16 | 12 | 6 |
| 17 to 20 | 5 | 4 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 3 |
| 25 to 28 | 2 | 5 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 13 |
| 33 to 36 | 2 | 7 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 7 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 15 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 2 |
| 49 to 52 | 2 | 1 |
| 53 to 56 | 4 | 16 |
| 57 to 60 | 7 | 11 |
| 61 to 64 | 7 | 1 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 2 |
| 69 to 72 | 2 | 4 |
| 73 to 76 | 3 | 2 |
| 77 to 80 | 5 | 2 |
| 81 to 84 | 2 | 4 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 8 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 to 96 | 11 | 2 |
| 97 to 100 | 13 | 3 |
| 101 to 104 | 17 | 11 |
| 105 to 108 | 8 | 25 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 2 |
| 117 to 120 | 6 | 8 |
| 121 to 124 | 1 | 5 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 2 |
| 129 to 132 | 7 | 32 |
| 133 to 136 | 7 | 24 |
| 137 to 140 | 2 | 17 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 9 |
| 145 to 148 | 7 | 2 |
| 149 to 152 | 3 | 18 |
| 153 to 156 | 7 | 19 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 5 |
| 161 to 164 | 1 | 8 |
| 165 to 168 | 4 | 0 |
| 169 to 171 | 1 | 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.
LOLA: Fetch me that wood. GARNET: Thank you for this.
GARNET: ...and Sue and Terry send their love. They just had a little girl too. MILDRED: Really? GARNET: Their second. MILDRED: Oh.
LAURA: Just go on. MILDRED: Thank you.
MILDRED: I never can get mine to rise. LOLA: It’s not you. It’s the humidity. Just thick.
MILDRED: Peggy. LOLA: She’s fine. LOLA: What you want from your Meme?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.
170 lines from women, 332 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 24 men in the cast. 9 women and 16 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 521.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 27 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 24% of the words (1,103), men 76% (3,553). 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
12
Two men
33
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 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
- Jeff Nichols (man)
- Written by
- Jeff Nichols (man)
- Produced by
- Colin Firth (man), Sarah Green (woman), Ged Doherty (man), Nancy Buirski (woman), Marc Turtletaub (man), Peter Saraf (man)
- Shot by
- Adam Stone (man)
- Edited by
- Julie Monroe (woman)
- Music by
- David Wingo (man)
- Production design by
- Chad Keith (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Erin Benach (woman)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
5 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 9 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 7 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 4 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 3 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 50 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ruth Negga 35, Sharon Blackwood 64
Men
Alano Miller 35, Nick Kroll 38, Joel Edgerton 42, Michael Shannon 42, Marton Csokas 50, Bill Camp 52, David Jensen 64
Exhibit H: the money
It made 100% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $9 million
- Box office
- $9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 171 scenes and 521 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
