Passes the Bechdel test
Mimic
1997. Directed by Guillermo del Toro, written by Donald A. Wollheim and Matthew Robbins and Guillermo del Toro.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 1 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 99. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
A pair of scientists create genetically modified insects, to battle a disease affecting children due to cockroach infestation. The scientists presume that the genetically modified insects will not survive because the specimens they released to kill the cockroaches were all females and designed with a lifespan of only six months ensuring that the breed would die off after a single generation. But to their dismay the insects rapidly evolve and begins hunting humans.
- Released
- 22 Aug 1997
- Genres
- Horror, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6 / 10
- Metascore
- 56 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Susan 162 lines, woman
- Peter 158 lines, man
- Leonard 79 lines, man
- Manny 44 lines, man
- Siri 24 lines, woman
- Josh 23 lines, man
- Ernest 11 lines, man
- Ricky 11 lines, man
- Chuy 9 lines, man
- Davis 9 lines
Full cast, 30 people
- Mira Sorvino as Susan Tyler
- Jeremy Northam as Peter Mann
- Giancarlo Giannini as Manny
- Charles S. Dutton as Leonard
- Josh Brolin as Josh
- Alexander Goodwin as Chuy
- Alix Koromzay as Remy
- F. Murray Abraham as Dr. Gates
- James Costa as Ricky
- Javon Barnwell as Davis
- Norman Reedus as Jeremy
- Ho Pak-Kwong as Preacher
- Glenn Bang as Yang
- Margaret Ma as Chinese Woman
- Warna Fisher as Bag Lady
- Alan Argue as Skeletal Bum
- Charles Hayter as Homeless Man
- Julian Richings as Workman
- James Kidnie as Subway Repairman
- Eve English as Homeless Woman
- Bill Lasovich as Long John
- Doug Jones as Long John
- Roger Clown as Long John
- Greg Bronson as Reporter (uncredited)
- Marian Caparrós as SWAT arrival bystander
- Rocco Salata as SWAT leader
- Paul Shottner as NYPD Officer
- Napo as Homeless
- Vanessa J. Daniel as Subway rider
- Tara Shelley as Young girl
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 99
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 | 1 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 6 | 5 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 13 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 to 15 | 13 | 9 |
| 16 to 18 | 14 | 11 |
| 19 to 21 | 7 | 8 |
| 22 to 24 | 24 | 7 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 18 |
| 28 to 30 | 8 | 5 |
| 31 to 33 | 4 | 2 |
| 34 to 36 | 5 | 9 |
| 37 to 39 | 2 | 3 |
| 40 to 42 | 4 | 21 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 9 |
| 46 to 48 | 13 | 9 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 3 | 9 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 3 |
| 58 to 60 | 5 | 8 |
| 61 to 63 | 6 | 18 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 10 |
| 70 to 72 | 1 | 20 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 3 | 29 |
| 79 to 81 | 23 | 45 |
| 82 to 84 | 11 | 28 |
| 85 to 87 | 12 | 30 |
| 88 to 90 | 3 | 3 |
| 91 to 93 | 3 | 5 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 3 | 4 |
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.
SUSAN: I'll be late. SUSAN: Siri, sandblast that thing. It looks like Trump Tower. Those mounds are supposed to be made of dirt and excretions... SIRI: Just like Trump Tower, then.
SIRI: Ten dollars? SUSAN: Alphabet City kids- there's much worse things they could be selling. SIRI: I hate this fucking window...
SUSAN: Hold on a second... SIRI: What? SIRI: Susan? SUSAN: Call security.
SIRI: Susan? SIRI: I'm sorry. I think...I need... SUSAN: Siri... SUSAN: Siri!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 35 are women's.
189 lines from women, 352 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
6 women and 17 men in the cast. 1 women and 14 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 586.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 33 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 33% of the words (1,310), men 67% (2,665). Women have 35% 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
6
Two men
36
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Guillermo del Toro (man)
- Written by
- Matthew Robbins (man), Guillermo del Toro (man)
- Produced by
- Ole Bornedal (man), Bob Weinstein (man), B.J. Rack (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Dan Laustsen (man)
- Edited by
- Patrick Lussier (man), Peter Devaney Flanagan (man)
- Music by
- Marco Beltrami (man)
- Production design by
- Carol Spier (woman)
- Costumes by
- Marie-Sylvie Deveau (woman)
- Cast by
- Suzanne Smith Crowley (woman), Billy Hopkins (man), Kerry Barden (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 12 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 1 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 5 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 39 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Alix Koromzay 26, Mira Sorvino 29
Men
Alexander Goodwin 9, Josh Brolin 29, Jeremy Northam 35, Charles S. Dutton 46, Giancarlo Giannini 55, F. Murray Abraham 57
Exhibit H: the money
It made 85% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $30 million
- Box office
- $25.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 99 scenes and 586 lines of dialogue. How the test works
