Passes the Bechdel test
Malignant
2021. Directed by James Wan, written by James Wan and Ingrid Bisu and Akela Cooper.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 12 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 25 scenes out of 165. -
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
Twenty-seven long years after the brutal Simion Research Hospital incident, abused Madison wakes up in a hospital in present-day Seattle. But with numbing visions of murder getting in the way of a normal life, more and more, Madison's obscure past emerges, baffling both herself and the local detectives. Are these explicitly violent killings figments of Madison's troubled imagination? Either way, someone, or better yet, something, links the past to the present, demanding closure and blood. Is the bogeyman real?
- Released
- 10 Sep 2021
- Genres
- Crime, Horror, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 51 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 18 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Madison 162 lines, woman
- Sydney 142 lines, woman
- Erik 137 lines, man
- Regina 88 lines, woman
- Dr. Weaver 37 lines, woman
- Jeanne 29 lines, woman
- Gabrielle 21 lines, woman
- Beverly 18 lines, woman
- Derek 18 lines, man
- Ravina 9 lines, woman
Full cast, 43 people
- Annabelle Wallis as Madison Mitchell
- Maddie Hasson as Sydney Lake
- George Young as Detective Kekoa Shaw
- Michole Briana White as Detective Regina Moss
- Susanna Thompson as Jeanne
- Ingrid Bisu as Winnie
- Jean Louisa Kelly as Jane Doe
- Jake Abel as Derek Mitchell
- Jacqueline McKenzie as Dr. Florence Weaver
- Christian Clemenson as Dr. Victor Fields
- Amir Aboulela as Dr. Gregory
- Mercedes Colon as Mendez
- Ruben Pla as Officer Rubin
- Jon Lee Brody as Officer Lee
- Paula Marshall as Beverly Woods
- Zoë Bell as Scorpion
- Shaunte Lynette Johnson as Beta
- Natalia Safran as Nurse Annie
- Mike Mendez as Hospital Security Guard #1
- Randy Haynie as Hospital Security Guard #2
- Cord Walker as Hospital Security Guard #3
- Jesus Trujillo as Research Doctor
- Lisa Catara as Research Orderly
- Danielle Nottingham as News Anchor
- Ray Chase as Gabriel (voice)
- Marina Mazepa as Gabriel
- Mckenna Grace as Young Madison
- Madison Wolfe as Young Serena
- Andy Bean as Frank
- Patricia Velásquez as Nurse Velasquez
- Patrick Cox as Mr. Stanley (uncredited)
- Gregory Garcia as Seattle Police Officer (uncredited)
- Emir García as Mustang Driver (uncredited)
- Renee Harbek as Caroline (uncredited)
- Janet Hsieh as Nurse J. De Marco (uncredited)
- Paul Mabon as Orderly (uncredited)
- Gino Montesinos as Seattle Police Officer (uncredited)
- Josh Rutgers as Referee (uncredited)
- Halston Van Atta as Child Madison (uncredited)
- Louise Van Veenendaal as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Kalina Vanska as Seattle Police Officer (uncredited)
- Christina Veronica as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Rachel Winfree as Mrs. Ryerson (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 165
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 | 7 | 10 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 to 12 | 2 | 1 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 to 20 | 14 | 4 |
| 21 to 24 | 28 | 26 |
| 25 to 28 | 16 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 6 | 4 |
| 41 to 44 | 19 | 4 |
| 45 to 48 | 18 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 1 | 0 |
| 53 to 56 | 4 | 0 |
| 57 to 60 | 10 | 5 |
| 61 to 64 | 29 | 3 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 3 |
| 69 to 72 | 23 | 5 |
| 73 to 76 | 12 | 2 |
| 77 to 80 | 22 | 12 |
| 81 to 84 | 66 | 6 |
| 85 to 88 | 13 | 0 |
| 89 to 92 | 5 | 7 |
| 93 to 96 | 6 | 6 |
| 97 to 100 | 37 | 22 |
| 101 to 104 | 8 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 12 | 3 |
| 109 to 112 | 12 | 3 |
| 113 to 116 | 26 | 12 |
| 117 to 120 | 10 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 15 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 32 | 3 |
| 133 to 136 | 15 | 2 |
| 137 to 140 | 7 | 3 |
| 141 to 144 | 5 | 4 |
| 145 to 148 | 5 | 1 |
| 149 to 152 | 8 | 7 |
| 153 to 156 | 1 | 0 |
| 157 to 160 | 15 | 1 |
| 161 to 164 | 19 | 10 |
| 165 to 165 | 1 | 2 |
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.
SYDNEY: She's been pumped full of sedative, she's barely lucid. You're not gonna get much -- MADISON: It's okay, Sydney. MADISON: I don't know how much help I'll be. But I'll answer whatever I can...
SYDNEY: Hey. Got you some groceries. Thought I'll make you your fav dish tonight, what'd say?? SYDNEY: Umm. What the hell was that? MADISON: Nothing.
SYDNEY: Madison?? MADISON. OPEN THE DOOR: Sydney shoulders the door -- again and again -- finally smashing it open and seeing an empty bed.
REGINA: It's gonna take awhile. SYDNEY: We'll wait. SYDNEY: If there's nothing there, then we're lying, lock us up. SYDNEY: If there is, you have a serial killer on your hands, Detective.
SYDNEY: Sorry... SYDNEY: ...don't mean to play with your bird. REGINA: A red neon "Silvercup" sign is an apartment building down in Boyle Heights. MADISON: That's it. It's across from it.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 76 are women's.
531 lines from women, 172 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
22 women and 14 men in the cast. 12 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 818.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 10 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 78% of the words (5,927), men 22% (1,636). Women have 76% 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
51
Two men
5
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 44% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- James Wan (man)
- Written by
- Akela Cooper (woman)
- Story by
- Akela Cooper (woman), James Wan (man), Ingrid Bisu (woman)
- Produced by
- James Wan (man), Michael Clear (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Burgess (man)
- Edited by
- Kirk M. Morri (man)
- Music by
- Joseph Bishara (man)
- Production design by
- Desma Murphy (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Lisa Norcia (woman)
- Cast by
- Kellie Roy (woman), Anne McCarthy (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
21 women, 20 men, 10 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 5 men, 9 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 7 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 6 men, 11 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Maddie Hasson 26, Ingrid Bisu 33, Annabelle Wallis 36, Jean Louisa Kelly 49, Michole Briana White 52, Jacqueline McKenzie 53, Susanna Thompson 63
Men
Jake Abel 33, George Young 41, Christian Clemenson 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 87% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $40 million
- Box office
- $34.9 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 165 scenes and 818 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
