Fails the Bechdel test
Memento
2001. Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
5 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line moves forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.
- Released
- 25 May 2001
- Genres
- Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 83 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 57 wins & 59 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Leonard 448 lines, man
- Teddy 161 lines, man
- Natalie 138 lines, woman
- Burt 37 lines, man
- Jimmy 13 lines, man
- Mrs. Jankis 10 lines, woman
- Blonde 7 lines, woman
- Dodd 7 lines, man
- Leonard'S Wife 5 lines, woman
- Sammy 5 lines, man
Full cast, 13 people
- Guy Pearce as Leonard
- Carrie-Anne Moss as Natalie
- Joe Pantoliano as Teddy
- Mark Boone Junior as Burt
- Russ Fega as Waiter
- Jorja Fox as Leonard's Wife
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Sammy
- Harriet Sansom Harris as Mrs. Jankis
- Thomas Lennon as Doctor
- Callum Keith Rennie as Dodd
- Kimberly Campbell as Blonde
- Marianne Muellerleile as Tattooist
- Larry Holden as Jimmy
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 181
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 | 6 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 29 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 36 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 14 |
| 25 to 28 | 25 | 19 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 4 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 27 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 2 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 14 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 26 |
| 49 to 52 | 10 | 14 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 10 |
| 57 to 60 | 24 | 22 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 3 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 7 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 51 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 7 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 7 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 4 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 5 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 0 |
| 93 to 96 | 3 | 4 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 15 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 2 | 3 |
| 109 to 112 | 5 | 14 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 56 |
| 117 to 120 | 22 | 27 |
| 121 to 124 | 26 | 26 |
| 125 to 128 | 7 | 5 |
| 129 to 132 | 8 | 16 |
| 133 to 136 | 3 | 3 |
| 137 to 140 | 23 | 26 |
| 141 to 144 | 1 | 4 |
| 145 to 148 | 3 | 28 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 2 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 10 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 7 |
| 161 to 164 | 0 | 17 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 2 |
| 169 to 172 | 0 | 40 |
| 173 to 176 | 2 | 34 |
| 177 to 180 | 0 | 16 |
| 181 to 181 | 0 | 1 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.
165 lines from women, 678 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 8 men in the cast. 5 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 103 of 851.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 102 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (1,621), men 82% (7,285). Women have 20% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
36
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 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
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Written by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Produced by
- Jennifer Todd (woman), Suzanne Todd (woman)
- Shot by
- Wally Pfister (man)
- Edited by
- Dody Dorn (woman)
- Music by
- David Julyan (man)
- Production design by
- Patti Podesta (woman)
- Costumes by
- Cindy Evans (woman)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
6 women, 7 men
-
Sound
0 women, 9 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 0 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 37 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jorja Fox 32, Carrie-Anne Moss 33, Harriet Sansom Harris 45
Men
Thomas Lennon 30, Guy Pearce 33, Callum Keith Rennie 40, Mark Boone Junior 45, Joe Pantoliano 49, Stephen Tobolowsky 49
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $9 million
- Box office
- $40.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 181 scenes and 851 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
