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Passes the Bechdel test

Molly's Game

2018. Directed by Aaron Sorkin, written by Aaron Sorkin and Molly Bloom.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    21 women characters. 14 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 5 scenes out of 192.
  3. 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.

Poster for Molly's Game

The film

Molly Bloom, a beautiful young Olympic-class skier, ran the world's most exclusive high-stakes poker game for a decade before being arrested in the middle of the night by 17 FBI agents wielding automatic weapons. Her players included Hollywood royalty, sports stars, business titans, and finally, unbeknownst to her, the Russian mob. Her only ally was her criminal defense lawyer Charlie Jaffey, who learned that there was much more to Molly than the tabloids led us to believe.

Released
05 Jan 2018
Genres
Biography, Crime, Drama
Rated
R
IMDb
7.4 / 10
Metascore
71 / 100
Awards
Nominated for 1 Oscar. 8 wins & 51 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Molly 783 lines, woman
  2. Charlie 217 lines, man
  3. Father 59 lines, man
  4. Reardon 43 lines, man
  5. Judge Foxman 32 lines, man
  6. Harlan 30 lines, man
  7. Downey 28 lines, man
  8. Player X 28 lines, man
  9. Stranger 16 lines, man
  10. Douglas 14 lines, man
Full cast, 98 people
  • Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom
  • Idris Elba as Charlie Jaffey
  • Kevin Costner as Larry Bloom
  • Michael Cera as Player X
  • Jeremy Strong as Dean Keith
  • Chris O'Dowd as Douglas Downey
  • J.C. MacKenzie as Harrison Wellstone
  • Brian d'Arcy James as Bad Brad
  • Bill Camp as Harlan Eustice
  • Graham Greene as Judge Foxman
  • Justin Kirk as Jay
  • Angela Gots as B
  • Natalie Krill as Winston
  • Stephanie Herfield as Jesse
  • Madison McKinley as Shelby
  • Joe Keery as Trust Fund Cole
  • Michael Kostroff as Louis Butterman
  • Claire Rankin as Mother
  • Victor Serfaty as Diego
  • Whitney Peak as Stella
  • Jon Bass as Shelly Habib
  • Joseph Brooks as Eli
  • Samantha Isler as Molly (age 13-15)
  • Piper Howell as Molly (age 7)
  • Kjartan Hewitt as Player
  • Khalid Karim as Neal
  • Chris Hoffman as Derrick
  • Matthew D. Matteo as Bobby
  • Jacob Blair as Jeremy Bloom
  • Chris Boyle as Jordan Bloom
  • Duane Murray as Agent Delarosa
  • Jeff Kassel as Donnie Silverman
  • Dan Lett as David Sagen
  • Timothy Mooney as Reggie
  • Moti Yona as Iliya Gershen
  • Leo Vernik as Alex Gershen
  • John Nelles as Ski Coach
  • Jason Weinberg as John G
  • Rachel Skarsten as Leah
  • Linette Doherty as Court Clerk
  • Robert B. Kennedy as Alexander Rosenfeld
  • Morgan David Jones as Brennan
  • Elisa Moolecherry as Bankruptcy Lawyer
  • A.C. Peterson as Stranger
  • Dov Tiefenbach as Club Customer
  • Bo Martynowska as Club Girl
  • Amy Rutherford as Doctor
  • Frank Falcone as Pit Boss
  • Kris Siddiqi as Guest
  • Jonathan Purdon as Jonathan Hirsch
  • David Reale as LA Player
  • Jake Goldsbie as LA Player
  • Todd Thomas Dark as LA Player
  • Chris Owens as LA Player
  • Gary Brennan as LA Player
  • Tom Black as LA Player
  • Ken Linton as LA Player
  • Zachary Goodbaum as LA Player
  • Tony Stellisano as LA Player
  • Tommy Julien as LA Player
  • Jason Pithawalla as LA Player
  • James Hurlburt as LA Player
  • John Krpan as LA Player
  • Shane Harbison as LA Player
  • Vasilios Pappas as LA Player
  • Rae Anne Stroeder as EMT #1
  • Alanna Macaulay as EMT #2
  • George Tchortov as Mike Davidoff
  • Thomas Hauff as Mr. Sernovitz
  • Ari Cohen as NY Player
  • David Lafontaine as NY Player
  • David Gingrich as NY Player
  • Jeffrey Parazzo as NY Player
  • Bruno Verdoni as Pat
  • Rico Tudico as Paul
  • Mary Ashton as Tracy
  • Lizzy DeClement as Skate Rental Woman
  • Catherine Burdon as Female Agent
  • Laura Cilevitz as Jeremy's Girlfriend
  • Amy Stewart as Jordan's Wife
  • Steve Brandes as Court Marshall
  • Phil Primmer as Ski Patrol Leader
  • Gurdeep Ahluwalia as Commentator #1
  • Dan Duran as Commentator #2
  • Vladimir Tsyglian as Arthur Azen
  • Dennis Drummond as Azen's Lawyer
  • Nicholas Banks as Sigel's Lawyer
  • Michael Cohen as Sigel
  • Karl Danhoffer as Habib's Lawyer
  • Daoud Heidami as Hot Dog Vendor
  • Maria Lerinman as Waitress
  • Alyssa Veniece as Bartender
  • Robin Read as Frederick
  • Randy Noojin as Plaza Doorman
  • Dave Alaimo as Poker Player (uncredited)
  • Brian Cranstone as Technician (uncredited)
  • Gregory Falatek as Rocker (uncredited)
  • Mariah Owen as U.S.A. Ski Team Athlete (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 192

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 430
5 to 840
9 to 1272
13 to 1671
17 to 202817
21 to 2450
25 to 2883
29 to 3281
33 to 36128
37 to 4040
41 to 4464
45 to 482310
49 to 524644
53 to 56134
57 to 60926
61 to 644257
65 to 681313
69 to 721710
73 to 7697
77 to 8099
81 to 8494
85 to 882312
89 to 926260
93 to 962818
97 to 1002819
101 to 1041811
105 to 108168
109 to 1121714
113 to 11650
117 to 12051
121 to 124320
125 to 12851
129 to 13250
133 to 136227
137 to 1401311
141 to 1443020
145 to 1483329
149 to 15272
153 to 156163
157 to 16061
161 to 1643624
165 to 1681917
169 to 1721814
173 to 17662
177 to 1802227
181 to 1843129
185 to 1883541
189 to 1924332

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.
MOLLY: If they say they’re interested in poker you give them my number. I vet them. If they end up playing in the game I’ll give you a thousand dol… CLUB GIRL: Is this true?
MOLLY: I could stake her, infiltrate other games and poach their big ticket players. She could glance at a table and tell you how much money was on… JESSE: Six-hundred and forty-thousand, eight-hundred dollars. MOLLY: Not even close. JESSE: No, that’s how much is left in the bag.
MOLLY: Shelby could write code and was a decent hacker. Right now I’ve asked her to tell me my account balance at B of A. MOLLY: You got it yet or are you playing Minecraft? SHELBY: Playing Minecraft. MOLLY: Shelby--
MOLLY: Winston would be working for the CIA if she could pass a drug test. She was the daughter of an American diplomat who’s lived in nine differe… MOLLY: Who’s the biggest game in Manhattan and what are the stakes? WINSTON: On any given night it’s either Eddie Ting or Irv Gotti. 50K buy- in, blinds are one-thousand/two- thousand. MOLLY: Right.
MOLLY: Which three poems? STELLA: “Close”, “Rush” and “Walls”.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 58 are women's.

863 lines from women, 623 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

21 women and 54 men in the cast. 14 women and 38 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,552. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 18 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 64% of the words (10,983), men 36% (6,180). Women have 58% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Aaron Sorkin (man)
Written by
Aaron Sorkin (man)
Produced by
Amy Pascal (woman), Mark Gordon (man), Matt Jackson (man)
Shot by
Charlotte Bruus Christensen (woman)
Edited by
Josh Schaeffer (man), Elliot Graham (man), Alan Baumgarten (man)
Music by
Daniel Pemberton (man)
Production design by
David Wasco (man)
Costumes by
Susan Lyall (woman)
Cast by
Francine Maisler (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Sound

    2 women, 17 men, 8 not listed

  • Production

    6 women, 12 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    2 women, 10 men, 12 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    5 women, 1 men, 16 not listed

  • Other crew

    7 women, 5 men, 4 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 8 men, 5 not listed

  • Editing

    0 women, 6 men, 5 not listed

  • Lighting

    0 women, 4 men, 5 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 40 on average. Men: 47 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Jessica Chastain 40

Men

Michael Cera 29, Jeremy Strong 38, Chris O'Dowd 38, Idris Elba 45, J.C. MacKenzie 47, Brian d'Arcy James 49, Bill Camp 53, Kevin Costner 62, Graham Greene 65

Exhibit H: the money

It made 2.0 times what it cost.

Budget
$30 million
Box office
$59.3 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 192 scenes and 1,552 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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