Passes the Bechdel test

Maria Full of Grace

Name: Maria Full of Grace
Released: 2004

2004. Directed by Joshua Marston, written by Joshua Marston.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 22 scenes out of 106.
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

María Álvarez, an independent, feisty, underpaid 17-year-old Colombian rose-packager is stuck in a tedious life and a dead-end relationship with her good-for-nothing boyfriend Juan. Things get even worse when an unexpected pregnancy and an ugly altercation with her unfair boss tempt her to accept the risky offer to become a drug mule, smuggling drugs from And as if things weren't bad enough, an unexpected pregnancy and an ugly altercation with her unfair boss will tempt María to accept the risky offer to become a drug mule, transporting drugs from Bogotá to New York City. As things rapidly spiral out of control, the option of an early retirement and a peaceful future for María and her unborn baby begins to fade away. Is there a way out of this hopeless predicament?

Released: 06 Aug 2004
Genres: Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.4 / 10
Metascore: 87 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 Oscar. 41 wins & 35 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Maria 346 lines, woman
Blanca 75 lines, woman
Carla 63 lines, woman
Javier 45 lines, man
Juan 41 lines
Franklin 34 lines, man
Inspector 31 lines
Don Fernando 30 lines
Female Inspector #2 25 lines
Lucy 24 lines, woman

Full cast, 32 people

Catalina Sandino Moreno as María Álvarez
Yenny Paola Vega as Blanca
Jhon Álex Toro as Franklin
Guilied Lopez as Lucy Díaz
Patricia Rae as Carla
Virgina Ariza as Juana
Rodrigo Sánchez Borhorquez as Supervisor
Charles Albert Patiño as Felipe
Wilson Guerrero as Juan
Johanna Andrea Mora as Diana Álvarez
Fabricio Suarez as Pacho
Mateo Suarez as Pacho
Evangelina Morales as Rosita
Juana Guarderas as Female Pharmacist
Jaime Osorio Gómez as Javier
Victor Macias as Pellet Maker
Hugo Ferro as Pharmacist
Ana María Acosta as Stewardess
Ada Vergara De Solano as Carolina
Maria Consuelo Perez as Constanza
Ed Trucco as Customs Inspector
Selenis Leyva as Customs Inspector
Juan Porras Hincapie as Wilson
Oscar Bejarano as Carlos
Singkhan Bandit as Gas Station Attendant
Patrick Rameau as Taxi Driver
Fernando Velasquez as Pablo Aristizábal
Orlando Tobón as Don Fernando
Monique Gabriela Curnen as Receptionist
Lourdes Martin as Doctor
Bobby Plasencia as Enrique
George Smith

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 21% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 106

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 3	11	0
4 to 6	18	0
7 to 9	0	0
10 to 12	14	0
13 to 15	34	0
16 to 18	13	6
19 to 21	4	2
22 to 24	24	4
25 to 27	19	20
28 to 30	23	23
31 to 33	35	0
34 to 36	27	0
37 to 39	7	3
40 to 42	43	25
43 to 45	11	0
46 to 48	32	0
49 to 51	5	0
52 to 54	6	0
55 to 57	1	0
58 to 60	2	0
61 to 63	7	0
64 to 66	8	3
67 to 69	5	4
70 to 72	19	2
73 to 75	37	0
76 to 78	4	0
79 to 81	18	0
82 to 84	20	0
85 to 87	32	0
88 to 90	23	0
91 to 93	23	0
94 to 96	30	0
97 to 99	32	0
100 to 102	1	0
103 to 105	2	0
106 to 106	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.

MARIA: I'm Maria. This is Blanca. BLANCA: Oh my god.

BLANCA: ... OK. MARIA: Juan, I want to dance. MARIA: What's wrong with you?

JUANA: I don't understand. You're going all the way to Chiquinquira? To work as a secretary? MARIA: I already told you ... JUANA: Well tell me again. MARIA: I got it through Blanca's aunt.

MARIA: I didn't know you were going again. LUCY: I didn't either. It just happened. MARIA: You know we're not the only ones. LUCY: That's how it works. They send a bunch of us so if one gets stopped it makes it easier for the rest to slip through ...

LUCY: I don't feel well. MARIA: What are you going to do? MARIA: Calm down. As soon as we arrive we're going to get you to a doctor. You're going to be fine. LUCY: I know. I know. Thanks.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 87 are women's.

591 lines from women, 92 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

13 women and 5 men in the cast. 11 women and 3 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 867. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 7 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 83% of the words (5,068), men 17% (1,046). Women have 87% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Joshua Marston (man)
Written by: Joshua Marston (man)
Produced by: Paul S. Mezey (man)
Shot by: Jim Denault (man)
Edited by: Anne McCabe (woman), Lee Percy (man)
Music by: Leonardo Heiblum (man), Jacobo Lieberman (man)
Production design by: Debbie DeVilla (gender not listed), Mónica Marulanda (gender not listed)
Costumes by: Sarah Beers (woman), Lauren Press (gender not listed)
Cast by: Ellyn Long Marshall (gender not listed), Maria E. Nelson (gender not listed), Maria Eugenia Salazar (gender not listed), Jorge Valencia (gender not listed)