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Passes the Bechdel test

Margaret

2012. Directed by Kenneth Lonergan, written by Kenneth Lonergan.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    21 women characters. 20 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 35 scenes out of 173.
  3. 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.

Poster for Margaret

The film

Lisa Cohen witnesses a devastating traffic accident after distracting bus driver Maretti moments before impact. When police arrive, she supports Maretti's version of events, helping close the case without consequences. As guilt intensifies, Lisa reverses her statement and searches for another path toward accountability. Her efforts draw her into the life of Emily, a woman connected to the victim, while tensions grow at school, at home, and within herself. Joan Cohen struggles with her own personal disappointments, leaving mother and daughter emotionally disconnected. As legal action advances, Lisa becomes increasingly determined to force a reckoning, only to discover that justice, responsibility, and personal redemption rarely move in the same direction.

Released
01 Jun 2012
Genres
Drama, Mystery
Rated
R
IMDb
6.5 / 10
Metascore
61 / 100
Awards
10 wins & 18 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Lisa 660 lines, woman
  2. Joan 224 lines, woman
  3. Emily 119 lines, woman
  4. Paul 72 lines, man
  5. Ramon 61 lines, man
  6. Mr Aaron 59 lines, man
  7. Abigail 52 lines, woman
  8. Deutsch 49 lines, man
  9. Maretti 46 lines, man
  10. Dave 44 lines, man
Full cast, 50 people
  • Anna Paquin as Lisa Cohen
  • J. Smith-Cameron as Joan
  • Mark Ruffalo as Maretti
  • Jeannie Berlin as Emily
  • Jean Reno as Ramon
  • Sarah Steele as Becky
  • John Gallagher Jr. as Darren
  • Cyrus Hernstadt as Curtis
  • Allison Janney as Monica Patterson
  • Kieran Culkin as Paul
  • Matt Damon as Mr. Aaron
  • Stephen Adly Guirgis as Mitchell
  • Betsy Aidem as Abigail
  • Adam Rose as Anthony
  • Nick Grodin as Matthew
  • Jonathan Hadary as Deutsch
  • Josh Hamilton as Victor
  • Rosemarie DeWitt as Mrs. Maretti
  • Glenn Fleshler as 1st Man
  • Stephen Conrad Moore as 2nd Man
  • Gio Perez as Kid
  • Matthew Broderick as John
  • Jake O'Connor as David
  • David Mazzucchi as Lionel
  • Jerry Matz as Mr. Klein
  • Kevin Carroll as Mr. Lewis
  • Hina Abdullah as Angie
  • Olivia Thirlby as Monica
  • Kenneth Lonergan as Karl
  • Enid Graham as Bonnie
  • Brittany Underwood as Leslie
  • T. Scott Cunningham as Gary
  • Michael Ealy as Dave the Lawyer
  • Renée Fleming as Opera Singer
  • Susan Graham as Opera Singer 2
  • Adam LeFevre as Rob
  • Krysten Ritter as Salesgirl
  • Matt Bush as Kurt
  • Anna Berger as Neighborhood Lady #1
  • Rose Arrick as Neighborhood Lady #2
  • Pippen Parker as Opera Fan
  • Stephanie Cannon as Woman Mourner #1
  • Kevin Geer as AIG Detective #2
  • Kelly Wolf as Annette
  • Johann Carlo as Neighbor
  • Carlo Alban as Rodrigo
  • Christine Goerke as Opera Singer "Norma"
  • Liza Colón-Zayas as Nurse
  • Jason Pendergraft as Young Cop (Not Photographed)
  • Yves Abel as "Hoffman" Conductor

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 173

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 400
5 to 81510
9 to 123326
13 to 1610
17 to 204836
21 to 24120
25 to 2870
29 to 3240
33 to 36219
37 to 401016
41 to 44177
45 to 483816
49 to 521312
53 to 5670
57 to 60173
61 to 641010
65 to 68648
69 to 722323
73 to 764645
77 to 8012
81 to 842023
85 to 88387
89 to 92350
93 to 961828
97 to 1001411
101 to 10400
105 to 1084661
109 to 112592
113 to 116207
117 to 1203326
121 to 124341
125 to 1285037
129 to 1324136
133 to 136199
137 to 140508
141 to 1449512
145 to 148249
149 to 1523322
153 to 1563228
157 to 160335
161 to 164124
165 to 1686433
169 to 172130
173 to 17300

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.
LISA: Ma'am, can you hear me? Can you hear me? MONICA: I don't know. Where am I? What is going on?
MONICA: Who are you? LISA: My name is Lisa. MONICA: Am I dead? LISA: No, you're not dead. You were in a traffic accident, but you're gonna be OK --
LISA: It's -- No -- that's my name. Is that your daughter's name? MONICA: What? What are you talking about? LISA: I'm s -- I'm not trying to be confusing. My name is Lisa: Is that your daughter's name? MONICA: Jesus Christ, would you call her? Just call her!
LISA: Nothing: I saw a woman get her leg cut off by a bus. She goes down the hall and into her room. JOAN, her mother, 40s, appears from the kitch… JOAN: Hello?
JOAN: Lisa? LISA: Just a second...! Joan comes into the bathroom. LISA: Just a second! She throws up again. JOAN: Oh my God, what happened to you?!?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 66 are women's.

1170 lines from women, 592 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

21 women and 24 men in the cast. 20 women and 26 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,815. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 12 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 65% of the words (15,364), men 35% (8,383). Women have 66% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Kenneth Lonergan (man)
Written by
Kenneth Lonergan (man)
Produced by
Gary Gilbert (man), Sydney Pollack (man), Scott Rudin (man)
Shot by
Ryszard Lenczewski (man)
Edited by
Mike Fay (gender not listed), Anne McCabe (woman)
Music by
Nico Muhly (man)
Production design by
Dan Leigh (man)
Costumes by
Melissa Toth (woman)
Cast by
Douglas Aibel (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    1 women, 7 men, 27 not listed

  • Production

    9 women, 7 men, 17 not listed

  • Art

    2 women, 5 men, 13 not listed

  • Sound

    3 women, 12 men, 3 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 5 men, 6 not listed

  • Editing

    1 women, 2 men, 7 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    5 women, 0 men, 4 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 0 men, 9 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 44 on average. Men: 41 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Sarah Steele 23, Anna Paquin 29, Allison Janney 51, J. Smith-Cameron 54, Jeannie Berlin 61

Men

John Gallagher Jr. 27, Kieran Culkin 29, Mark Ruffalo 43, Jean Reno 63

Exhibit H: the money

It made 0% of what it cost.

Budget
$14 million
Box office
$46,495

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 173 scenes and 1,815 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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