Fails the Bechdel test

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Name: Mission: Impossible - Fallout
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie, written by Bruce Geller and Christopher McQuarrie.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
11 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

Poster for Mission: Impossible - Fallout

The film

Two years after Ethan Hunt had successfully captured Solomon Lane, the remnants of the Syndicate have reformed into another organization called the Apostles. Under the leadership of a mysterious fundamentalist known only as John Lark, the organization is planning on acquiring three plutonium cores. Ethan and his team are sent to Berlin to intercept them, but the mission fails when Ethan saves Luther and the Apostles escape with the plutonium. With CIA agent August Walker joining the team, Ethan and his allies must now find the plutonium cores before it's too late.

Released: 27 Jul 2018
Genres: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.7 / 10
Metascore: 87 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 26 wins & 42 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Ethan 294 lines, man
Luther 119 lines, man
Benji 108 lines, man
Walker 95 lines, man
Ilsa 70 lines, woman
Hunley 52 lines, man
Widow 45 lines, woman
Sloane 41 lines, woman
Lane 39 lines, man
Julia 31 lines, woman

Full cast, 53 people

Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt
Henry Cavill as August Walker
Ving Rhames as Luther Stickell
Simon Pegg as Benji Dunn
Rebecca Ferguson as Ilsa Faust
Sean Harris as Solomon Lane
Angela Bassett as Erika Sloane
Vanessa Kirby as The White Widow
Michelle Monaghan as Julia
Wes Bentley as Erik
Frederick Schmidt as Zola
Alec Baldwin as Alan Hunley
Liang Yang as Lark Decoy
Kristoffer Joner as Nils Debruuk
Wolf Blitzer as Wolf Blitzer
Raphael Acloque as Rowdy Frenchman
Andrew Cazanave Pin as Rowdy Frenchman
Christophe de Choisy as Rowdy Frenchman
Raphael Desprez as Rowdy Frenchman
Jean Baptiste Fillon as Rowdy Frenchman
Maximilian Geller as Rowdy Frenchman
Olivier Huband as Rowdy Frenchman
Vincent Latorre as Rowdy Frenchman
Thierry Picaut as Rowdy Frenchman
Alexandre Poole as Rowdy Frenchman
Guy Remy as Rowdy Frenchman
Alix Bénézech as French Policewoman
Joey Ansah as Henchman
Velibor Topic as Henchman
Dean Ashton as French Policeman
Harvey Djent as DJ Harvey
Grahame Fox as Grand Palais Bouncer
David Mumeni as Marine Sergeant
Charlie Archer as Delivery Man
Caspar Phillipson as The European
Lolly Adefope as Woman at Desk
Ffion Jolly as Woman at Desk
Russ Bain as British Agent
Ross O'Hennessy as British Agent
Nigel Allen as CIA Agent
Tracey Saunders as CIA Agent
Alicia Mencía Castaño as CIA Agent (uncredited)
Lady Conny Sharples as Julie Bar Woman (uncredited)
Jessie Vinning as Navy (uncredited)
Stuart Davidson as Nightclub VIP (uncredited)
Julianne Binard as Paris Guest (uncredited)
Hiten Patel as Train Commuter (uncredited)
Jag Patel as Mourner (uncredited)
Godiva Marshall as Passer-By (uncredited)
Robert Ryan as Office Manager (uncredited)
Pamela Cook as Funeral Mourner (uncredited)
Stephen Erhirhi as Henchman
Christopher McQuarrie as Mission Brief (Voice) (Uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 7 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 311

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 7	1	23
8 to 14	0	46
15 to 21	8	102
22 to 28	0	19
29 to 35	29	42
36 to 42	9	8
43 to 49	21	39
50 to 56	0	1
57 to 63	0	0
64 to 70	0	0
71 to 77	0	0
78 to 84	0	0
85 to 91	0	5
92 to 98	0	4
99 to 105	0	13
106 to 112	8	39
113 to 119	24	66
120 to 126	1	6
127 to 133	0	95
134 to 140	3	35
141 to 147	0	0
148 to 154	0	2
155 to 161	0	2
162 to 168	3	24
169 to 175	17	37
176 to 182	9	46
183 to 189	4	12
190 to 196	0	5
197 to 203	3	8
204 to 210	4	18
211 to 217	7	14
218 to 224	0	0
225 to 231	0	1
232 to 238	3	5
239 to 245	1	2
246 to 252	1	6
253 to 259	0	1
260 to 266	0	0
267 to 273	5	12
274 to 280	0	0
281 to 287	1	2
288 to 294	0	0
295 to 301	0	16
302 to 308	2	11
309 to 311	23	25

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, 19 are women's.

187 lines from women, 792 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

11 women and 37 men in the cast. 4 women and 17 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 17 of 1,041. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 158 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 (1,697), men 82% (7,958). Women have 19% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 18 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie (man)
Written by: Christopher McQuarrie (man)
Produced by: J.J. Abrams (man), Tom Cruise (man), Dana Goldberg (woman), David Ellison (man), Don Granger (man), Christopher McQuarrie (man) and 3 more
Shot by: Rob Hardy (man), Hugues Espinasse (man)
Edited by: Eddie Hamilton (man)
Music by: Lorne Balfe (man)
Production design by: Peter Wenham (man)
Cast by: Mindy Marin (woman), Toby Whale (gender not listed)