Fails the Bechdel test

Monster's Ball

Name: Monster's Ball
Released: 2002

2002. Directed by Marc Forster, written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
6 women characters. 8 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 2 out of 3.

The film

Set in the Southern United States, 'Monster's Ball' is a tale of a racist white man, Hank, who falls in love with a black woman named Leticia. Ironically Hank is a prison guard working on Death Row who executed Leticia's husband. Hank and Leticia's interracial affair leads to confusion and new ideas for the two unlikely lovers.

Released: 01 Mar 2002
Genres: Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 69 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 15 wins & 23 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Hank 222 lines, man
Leticia 121 lines, woman
Buck 46 lines, man
Lawrence 40 lines, man
Sonny 28 lines, man
Tyrell 21 lines
Ms. Guillermo 12 lines, woman
Ryrus 12 lines, man
Vera 11 lines, woman
Warden 11 lines, man

Full cast, 32 people

Billy Bob Thornton as Hank Grotowski
Heath Ledger as Sonny Grotowski
Halle Berry as Leticia Musgrove
Sean Combs as Lawrence Musgrove
Yasiin Bey as Ryrus Cooper
Will Rokos as Warden Velesco
Milo Addica as Tommy Roulaine
Coronji Calhoun as Tyrell Musgrove
Peter Boyle as Buck Grotowski
Taylor Simpson as Lucille
Gabrielle Witcher as Betty
Amber Rules as Vera
Charles Cowan Jr. as Willie Cooper
Taylor LaGrange as Darryl Cooper
Anthony Bean as Dappa Smith
Francine Segal as Georgia Ann Paynes
John McConnell as Harvey Shoonmaker
Marcus Lyle Brown as Phil Huggins
Leah Loftin as Booter
Larry Lee as Co #1
Troy Poret as Co #2
Paul Smith as Co #3
Marshall Cain as Correction Officer
Anthony Michael Frederick as Billy
John Wilmot as Minister
Dennis Clements as Clements
Stephanie Claire as Nurse
James Haven as Hospital Guard
Ritchie Montgomery as Detective
Clara Hopkins Daniels as Maggie Cooper
Carol Sutton as Ms. Guillermo
Bernard Johnson as Deputy Jones

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 226

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 5	0	0
6 to 10	2	4
11 to 15	6	9
16 to 20	0	21
21 to 25	2	13
26 to 30	11	35
31 to 35	1	14
36 to 40	0	10
41 to 45	5	2
46 to 50	2	6
51 to 55	0	12
56 to 60	7	9
61 to 65	6	10
66 to 70	0	7
71 to 75	0	0
76 to 80	15	15
81 to 85	0	2
86 to 90	0	35
91 to 95	4	0
96 to 100	0	0
101 to 105	4	0
106 to 110	6	11
111 to 115	1	11
116 to 120	6	12
121 to 125	0	7
126 to 130	0	3
131 to 135	6	6
136 to 140	5	15
141 to 145	23	20
146 to 150	0	7
151 to 155	0	25
156 to 160	2	2
161 to 165	1	2
166 to 170	0	0
171 to 175	2	0
176 to 180	14	18
181 to 185	12	9
186 to 190	0	11
191 to 195	2	3
196 to 200	0	0
201 to 205	3	4
206 to 210	1	11
211 to 215	2	9
216 to 220	10	11
221 to 225	0	5
226 to 226	0	1

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, 28 are women's.

161 lines from women, 407 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 15 men in the cast. 8 women and 20 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 40 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 25% of the words (1,580), men 75% (4,666). Women have 28% 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

1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Marc Forster (man)
Written by: Milo Addica (man), Will Rokos (man)
Produced by: Lee Daniels (man)
Shot by: Roberto Schaefer (man)
Edited by: Matt Chessé (man)
Music by: Asche & Spencer (gender not listed)
Production design by: Monroe Kelly (gender not listed)
Costumes by: Frank L. Fleming (man)
Cast by: Kerry Barden (man), Billy Hopkins (man), Mark Bennett (man), Suzanne Smith Crowley (woman)