Passes the Bechdel test
Mary Queen of Scots
2018. Directed by Josie Rourke, written by Beau Willimon and John Guy.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 162. -
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
This movie explores the turbulent life of the charismatic Mary Stuart (Saoirse Ronan). Queen of France at 16 and widowed at 18, Mary defies pressure to remarry. Instead, she returns to her native Scotland to reclaim her rightful throne. But England is under the rule of the compelling Elizabeth I (Margot Robbie), who wishes to reduce the perceived threat from Mary. Each young Queen beholds her "sister" in fear and fascination. Rivals in power and in love, and female rulers in a masculine world, the two must decide how to play the game of marriage versus independence. Determined to rule as much more than a figurehead, Mary asserts her claim to succeed to the English throne, threatening Elizabeth's sovereignty. Betrayal, rebellion, and conspiracies within each court imperil both thrones--and change the course of history.
- Released
- 21 Dec 2018
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 8 wins & 31 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Mary 312 lines, woman
- Elizabeth 120 lines, woman
- Darnley 89 lines, man
- Cecil 63 lines, man
- Moray 63 lines, man
- Maitland 40 lines, man
- Bothwell 35 lines, man
- Dudley 33 lines, man
- Randolph 32 lines, man
- Fleming 23 lines, woman
Full cast, 61 people
- Saoirse Ronan as Mary Stuart
- Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I
- Jack Lowden as Lord Darnley
- David Tennant as John Knox
- Guy Pearce as William Cecil
- Gemma Chan as Bess of Hardwick
- James McArdle as James, Earl of Moray
- Ismael Cruz Cordova as David Rizzio
- Martin Compston as Earl of Bothwell
- Joe Alwyn as Robert Dudley
- Brendan Coyle as Earl of Lennox
- Ian Hart as Lord Maitland
- Richard Cant as Thomas Andrews
- Guy Rhys as Earl of Kent
- Thom Petty as Earl of Shrewsbury
- Izuka Hoyle as Mary Seton
- John Ramm as Bull
- Simon Russell Beale as Robert Beale
- Maria Dragus as Mary Fleming
- Liah O'Prey as Mary Livingston
- Eileen O'Higgins as Mary Beaton
- Greg Miller Burns as Thomas Hepburn
- Aneurin Pascoe as John Hepburn
- Adrian Derrick-Palmer as George Dalgleish
- Kal Sabir as The Laird of Ramorny
- Luke Kidd as James Haliburton
- Adrian Lester as Lord Randolph
- Georgia Burnell as Kate Carey
- Alan Turkington as Thomas Jenye
- Euan Macnaughton as William Kirkcaldy of Grange
- Scot Greenan as Hector Maclean
- Karen Dunbar as Commoner
- Ian Hallard as Sir Richard Knightley
- Andrew Rothney as King James I
- Angela Bain as Snuffer Woman
- Abby Cassidy as Fotheringhay Gentlewoman
- Shalisha James-Davis as Fotheringhay Gentlewoman
- Adam Bond as Sir William Douglas
- Katharine O'Donnelly as Young Holyrood Servant
- Grace Molony as Dorothy Stafford
- Luke Hobson as Henry Killigrew
- Ben Wiggins as John Tamworth
- Eldredd Wolf as William Killigrew
- Eric MacLennan as Portrait Painter
- Nathen East as Andrew Ker of Fawdonside
- Daniel Booroff as Knox's Secretary
- Sean Buchanan as Francis Yaxley
- Matthew Pidgeon as Wedding Announcer
- Benjamin Barraclough as Officer
- Jordan Turk as James MacDonald
- Adam Stevenson as Urie Campbell
- Chris Grahamson as Moray's Drummer
- Ed Jones as William Taylor
- Owen Gorman as Bishop
- John Stahl as Fisherman
- Kadiff Kirwan as Attaché
- Alex Beckett as Sir Walter Mildmay
- Will Rowlands as Soldier
- Grant Crookes as Bothwell
- Philip Gascoyne as English Nobleman (uncredited)
- Mal Nisbett as Hunting Party (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 162
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 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 to 12 | 5 | 5 |
| 13 to 16 | 22 | 33 |
| 17 to 20 | 17 | 15 |
| 21 to 24 | 8 | 17 |
| 25 to 28 | 26 | 11 |
| 29 to 32 | 9 | 1 |
| 33 to 36 | 22 | 12 |
| 37 to 40 | 10 | 0 |
| 41 to 44 | 31 | 25 |
| 45 to 48 | 22 | 1 |
| 49 to 52 | 15 | 29 |
| 53 to 56 | 9 | 14 |
| 57 to 60 | 6 | 7 |
| 61 to 64 | 28 | 36 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 76 | 21 | 21 |
| 77 to 80 | 5 | 14 |
| 81 to 84 | 15 | 24 |
| 85 to 88 | 8 | 23 |
| 89 to 92 | 16 | 20 |
| 93 to 96 | 20 | 17 |
| 97 to 100 | 9 | 6 |
| 101 to 104 | 10 | 14 |
| 105 to 108 | 9 | 0 |
| 109 to 112 | 18 | 23 |
| 113 to 116 | 8 | 7 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 0 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 3 | 3 |
| 133 to 136 | 10 | 13 |
| 137 to 140 | 40 | 24 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 6 |
| 145 to 148 | 6 | 10 |
| 149 to 152 | 56 | 4 |
| 153 to 156 | 6 | 2 |
| 157 to 160 | 7 | 2 |
| 161 to 162 | 2 | 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.
KATE: We are having a bed brought from town. MARY: My mother’s was here? KATE: Yes, Madam. KATE: My apologies...
MARY: Yes. Hang it here. MARY: Continue. ARTIST: Chin higher.
FLEMING: Now. MARY: You look exquisite, Mademoiselle.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 53 are women's.
499 lines from women, 443 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 46 men in the cast. 9 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 951.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 25 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 53% of the words (4,392), men 47% (3,939).
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
18
Two men
36
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Josie Rourke (woman)
- Written by
- Beau Willimon (man)
- Produced by
- Tim Bevan (man), Eric Fellner (man), Debra Hayward (woman)
- Shot by
- John Mathieson (man)
- Edited by
- Chris Dickens (man)
- Music by
- Max Richter (man)
- Production design by
- James Merifield (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Alexandra Byrne (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 18 men, 27 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 8 men, 17 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 7 men, 12 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 6 men, 13 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
11 women, 1 men, 10 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 15 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 2 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Saoirse Ronan 24, Margot Robbie 28, Gemma Chan 36
Men
Joe Alwyn 27, Jack Lowden 28, James McArdle 29, Ismael Cruz Cordova 31, Martin Compston 34, David Tennant 47, Guy Pearce 51
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $46.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 162 scenes and 951 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
