Passes the Bechdel test

Monster

Name: Monster
Released: 2004

2004. Directed by Patty Jenkins, written by Patty Jenkins.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 24 scenes out of 125.
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.

The film

The true story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos who was convicted of luring men to their death and eventually executed in 2002. In 1989, she was working as a prostitute and finally makes a friend when she meets and begins a relationship with a young woman, Selby. Determined to straighten out her life, she tries to find legitimate work but with little education and limited social skills, she fails at every turn. She starts working as a hooker hitching rides along the local interstate highway and after robbing a few clients has an encounter with a vicious client whom she kills in self-defense. After that however she just takes to killing clients taking their money and car. Once arrested she claims self-defense but is eventually convicted.

Released: 30 Jan 2004
Genres: Biography, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 74 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 31 wins & 26 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Lee 410 lines, woman
Selby 277 lines, woman
Aileen 48 lines, woman
Thomas 27 lines, man
Debbie 18 lines, woman
Justine 18 lines, woman
Humphrey 17 lines, man
Richard 15 lines
Will 9 lines, man
Cop 8 lines, man

Full cast, 37 people

Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos
Christina Ricci as Selby Wall
Bruce Dern as Thomas
Lee Tergesen as Vincent Corey
Annie Corley as Donna
Pruitt Taylor Vince as Gene / Stuttering "John"
Marco St. John as Evan / Undercover "John"
Marc Macaulay as Will / Daddy "John"
Scott Wilson as Horton / Last "John"
Rus Blackwell as Cop
Tim Ware as Chuck
Stephan Jones as Lawyer
Brett Rice as Charles
Kaitlin Riley as Teenage Aileen
Cree Ivey as 7-Year-Old Aileen
Catherine Mangan as Justy
Magdalena Manville as Bar Lap Girl
T. Robert Pigott as Bartender
Romonda Shaver as Employment Agent
Glenn R. Wilder as Restaurant Manager
Elaine Stebbins as Wife at Accident
Kane Hodder as Undercover Cop
Christian Stokes as Undercover Cop
Lyllian Barcaski as Bar Girl
Nonalee Davis as Bar Girl
Bubba Baker as Cubby
Al as Himself
Cannonball as Himself
Chad Vaccarino as Trevor
Gene R. Stephenson as Judge
Jesse Stern as Skate Rink Attendant
Billy Boylan as Police Chief
Jim R. Coleman as Newscaster
Chandra Leigh as Cute Teenage Attendant
Lori McDonald as Attendant
Adam Brown as Attendant
Ed Donovan as State Prison Guard (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 125

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	5	0
4 to 6	5	0
7 to 9	3	0
10 to 12	49	0
13 to 15	35	0
16 to 18	6	9
19 to 21	69	2
22 to 24	2	0
25 to 27	12	0
28 to 30	2	0
31 to 33	32	2
34 to 36	4	0
37 to 39	13	0
40 to 42	1	0
43 to 45	10	5
46 to 48	20	0
49 to 51	29	3
52 to 54	5	4
55 to 57	36	6
58 to 60	11	9
61 to 63	17	0
64 to 66	8	0
67 to 69	20	1
70 to 72	8	4
73 to 75	9	0
76 to 78	23	0
79 to 81	23	0
82 to 84	33	0
85 to 87	21	0
88 to 90	16	0
91 to 93	35	0
94 to 96	17	0
97 to 99	39	8
100 to 102	47	13
103 to 105	1	1
106 to 108	8	10
109 to 111	10	8
112 to 114	2	0
115 to 117	33	0
118 to 120	4	4
121 to 123	42	5
124 to 125	13	0

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.

LEE: Yer not coming back right? SELBY: Nahhh. LEE: So fuck you asshole. Yer lucky yer behind that bar or I'd beat yer ass. Who the fuck you think you are, ya shitkickin' pansy.

LEE: I'm sorry I ...called you a fat dyke. LEE: Yer fun. Pretty too so ... you know, I was just being mean. LEE: Okay, well nice ta- SELBY: You wanna ... you wanna stay with me?

AILEEN: "So if you've got something for me in this world you had better bring it on." AILEEN: And sure enough there she was. SELBY: Honey ... Aren't you corning to bed? SELBY: Sorry, uh ... just a sec. Debbie?

SELBY: Sorry. LEE: That's alright. Thanks for letting me crash. LEE: When you leaving? --When are-- SELBY: Tuesday •••

SELBY: No, it was me .•. I fell out of bed. DEBBIE: I hope your packed.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 89 are women's.

778 lines from women, 94 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 14 men in the cast. 3 women and 9 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 919. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 5 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 89% of the words (9,494), men 11% (1,178).

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Run the other way, for men, the film scores 1 out of 3.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

7 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Patty Jenkins (woman)
Written by: Patty Jenkins (woman)
Produced by: Charlize Theron (woman), Brad Wyman (man), Clark Peterson (man), Donald Kushner (man), Mark Damon (man)
Shot by: Steven Bernstein (man)
Edited by: Arthur Coburn (man), Jane Kurson (woman)
Music by: BT (man)
Production design by: Edward T. McAvoy (man)
Costumes by: Rhona Meyers (woman)
Cast by: Ferne Cassel (woman), Kimberly Mullen (woman), Mark Mullen (gender not listed)