Fails the Bechdel test

Miles Ahead

Name: Miles Ahead
Released: 2016

2016. Directed by Don Cheadle, written by Steven Baigelman and Don Cheadle and Stephen J. Rivele.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
4 women characters. 3 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 0 out of 3.

The film

Inspired by events of his life, this is a wildly entertaining, impressionistic, no-holds barred portrait of one of 20th century music's creative geniuses, Miles Davis, featuring a career defining performance by Oscar nominee Don Cheadle in the title role. Working from a script he co-wrote with Steven Baigelman, Cheadle also makes his directorial debut with this unconventional biographical drama.

Released: 22 Apr 2016
Genres: Biography, Drama, Music
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 64 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 14 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Miles 249 lines, man
Dave 177 lines, man
Frances 54 lines, woman
Harper 49 lines, man
Junior 48 lines, man
Justin 26 lines, man
George 22 lines
Walter 12 lines, man
Janice 9 lines, woman
Schaap 7 lines

Full cast, 41 people

Don Cheadle as Miles Davis
Ewan McGregor as Dave Braden
Emayatzy Corinealdi as Frances Taylor
Michael Stuhlbarg as Harper Hamilton
LaKeith Stanfield as Junior
Austin Lyon as Justin
Leticia Martinez as Boxing Spectator
Morgan Wolk as Erica
Jeffrey Grover as Gil Evans
Philip Krinsky as Bicyclist
Chris Hahn as Ralph
Nina Smilow as Tami
Antonio Sánchez as Live Concert Band
John E. Brownlee as Boxing Cornerman (uncredited)
Gary Clark Jr. as Live Concert Band
Herbie Hancock as Live Concert Band
Esperanza Spalding as Live Concert Band
Robert Glasper as Live Concert Band
Wayne Shorter as Live Concert Band
Brian Bowman as Walter
Christina Marie Karis as Janice
Brent Vimtrup as Dieter
Michael Bath as Bartender
Reginald Willis as Manager
Montez Jenkins as Busboy
Chris Grays as Buddy
Amber Hawkins as Ava
Mariah Means as Nora
Ken Early as George
Jeremy Dubin as Ken
Shyra Thomas as George's Secretary
Brian Phillips as Theo / Engineer
Marissa Ford as Irene
Courtis Fuller as Harold
Drew Lachey as Choreographer
Chris Bortz as Doorman
Theron Brown as Piano Player
Mark Turkeltaub as Cop #1
Brian Cashwell as Producer
Paul Chambers as Bass Player
Ernie Royal as Trumpet Player

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 89

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 2	0	19
3 to 4	0	40
5 to 6	1	20
7 to 8	0	31
9 to 10	0	3
11 to 12	0	0
13 to 14	4	7
15 to 16	0	1
17 to 18	0	12
19 to 20	0	4
21 to 22	0	2
23 to 24	0	54
25 to 26	0	0
27 to 28	5	3
29 to 30	8	31
31 to 32	0	45
33 to 34	0	42
35 to 36	0	9
37 to 38	9	24
39 to 40	0	5
41 to 42	4	11
43 to 44	2	1
45 to 46	5	7
47 to 48	0	23
49 to 50	0	0
51 to 52	0	20
53 to 54	0	9
55 to 56	1	0
57 to 58	15	14
59 to 60	0	1
61 to 62	1	5
63 to 64	0	2
65 to 66	0	20
67 to 68	0	4
69 to 70	0	21
71 to 72	0	9
73 to 74	0	4
75 to 76	2	3
77 to 78	4	8
79 to 80	4	13
81 to 82	0	1
83 to 84	3	11
85 to 86	0	2
87 to 88	0	38
89 to 89	0	0

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, 11 are women's.

68 lines from women, 579 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

4 women and 14 men in the cast. 3 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 92 of 728. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 117 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 13% of the words (657), men 87% (4,410). Women have 11% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

4 of the 20 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Don Cheadle (man)
Written by: Don Cheadle (man), Steven Baigelman (man)
Story by: Stephen J. Rivele (man), Christopher Wilkinson (man), Don Cheadle (man), Steven Baigelman (man)
Produced by: Darryl Porter (man), Robert Ogden Barnum (man), Vince Wilburn Jr. (man), Don Cheadle (man), Daniel Wagner (man), Pamela Hirsch (woman) and 1 more
Shot by: Roberto Schaefer (man)
Edited by: Kayla Emter (woman), John Axelrad (man)
Music by: Robert Glasper (man)
Production design by: Hannah Beachler (woman)
Costumes by: Gersha Phillips (woman)