Fails the Bechdel test
My Friend Dahmer
2018. Directed by Marc Meyers, written by Marc Meyers and John Backderf.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
3 women characters. 1 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 1 out of 3.
The film
A young Jeffrey Dahmer struggles to belong in high school.
- Released
- 02 Mar 2018
- Genres
- Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 68 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jeff 249 lines, man
- Derf 162 lines, man
- Lionel 69 lines, man
- Neil 58 lines, man
- Joyce 57 lines, woman
- Kent 47 lines, man
- Mike 35 lines, man
- Bridget 22 lines
- Figg 22 lines, man
- Dave 14 lines, man
Full cast, 41 people
- Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer
- Alex Wolff as John 'Derf' Backderf
- Anne Heche as Joyce Dahmer
- Dallas Roberts as Lionel Dahmer
- Liam Koeth as Dave Dahmer
- Nancy Telzerow as Carol Backderf
- Tommy Nelson as Neil
- Harrison Holzer as Mike
- Brigid Naughton as Melody
- Cameron McKendry as Moose
- Katie Stottlemire as Penny
- Brady M.K. Dunn as Bossy
- Jake Ingrassia as Gooch
- Michael Ryan Boehm as Shorty
- Benjamin Zgorecki as Bully Jock
- Dontez James as Charlie Smith
- Miles Robbins as Lloyd Figg
- Gabriela Novogratz as Lisa Watkins
- Jack DeVillers as Oliver Zlatka
- Dave Sorboro as Steven Hicks
- Joey Prines as Snarky Slacker
- Kris Smith as Ms Bowles
- Adam Kroloff as Mr Burlman
- Christopher Mele as Mr Fedele
- Joey Vee as Mr Hicks
- Tom Lepera as Mr Lapolla
- Vincent Kartheiser as Dr Matthews
- Maryanne Nagel as Mrs Woodard
- Sydney Meyer as Bridget
- Lauren Rhodes as Aide
- Tom Luce as Vice President Walter Mondale
- Carmen Gangale as Grocery Store Manager
- Shane Patrick O'Neill as Restaurant Manager
- Joe Fishel as Market Shopper
- Andrew Gorell as English Teacher
- Susan Bennett as Musical Director
- Nicholas Hulstine as Prom Photographer
- Zachary Davis Brown as Freshman Boy
- Lily Kozub as Freshman Girl
- Clayton Frank as Bus Student 1 (uncredited)
- Lou Consolo as Mall Shopper (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 14% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 195
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 | 8 |
| 6 to 10 | 4 | 14 |
| 11 to 15 | 4 | 21 |
| 16 to 20 | 12 | 19 |
| 21 to 25 | 3 | 22 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 13 |
| 31 to 35 | 4 | 24 |
| 36 to 40 | 1 | 8 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 12 |
| 46 to 50 | 3 | 18 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 29 |
| 56 to 60 | 4 | 29 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 25 |
| 66 to 70 | 1 | 44 |
| 71 to 75 | 6 | 12 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 46 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 22 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 25 |
| 91 to 95 | 3 | 39 |
| 96 to 100 | 3 | 2 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 23 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 29 |
| 111 to 115 | 1 | 29 |
| 116 to 120 | 4 | 8 |
| 121 to 125 | 1 | 4 |
| 126 to 130 | 1 | 13 |
| 131 to 135 | 3 | 10 |
| 136 to 140 | 1 | 4 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 35 |
| 146 to 150 | 1 | 31 |
| 151 to 155 | 5 | 38 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 33 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 17 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 13 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 4 |
| 176 to 180 | 2 | 3 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 42 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 6 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 8 |
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, 8 are women's.
67 lines from women, 782 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
3 women and 18 men in the cast. 1 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 16 of 988.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 116 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 9% of the words (583), men 91% (5,674). Women have 8% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
0
Two men
90
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Marc Meyers (man)
- Written by
- Marc Meyers (man)
- Produced by
- Marc Meyers (man), Michael Merlob (man), Jody Girgenti (gender not listed), Adam Goldworm (man), Milan Chakraborty (man)
- Shot by
- Daniel Katz (man)
- Edited by
- Jamie Kirkpatrick (man)
- Music by
- Andrew Hollander (man)
- Production design by
- Jennifer Klide (woman)
- Costumes by
- Carla Shivener (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Stephanie Holbrook (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
1 women, 6 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 48 on average. Men: 26 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Anne Heche 48
Men
Tommy Nelson 19, Alex Wolff 20, Ross Lynch 21, Cameron McKendry 21, Dallas Roberts 47
Exhibit G: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $1.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 195 scenes and 988 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
