Fails the Bechdel test
Near Dark
1988. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow, written by Eric Red and Kathryn Bigelow.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 2 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
A mid-western farm boy reluctantly becomes a member of the undead when a girl he meets turns out to be part of a band of southern vampires who roam the highways in stolen cars. Part of his initiation includes a bloody assault on a hick bar.
- Released
- 08 Jan 1988
- Genres
- Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 78 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Caleb 179 lines, man
- Mae 98 lines, woman
- Jesse 45 lines, man
- Loy 38 lines, man
- Severen 31 lines, man
- Sarah 22 lines
- Homer 13 lines, man
- Diamondback 6 lines, woman
- Sevden 6 lines
- Levon 4 lines, man
Full cast, 32 people
- Adrian Pasdar as Caleb Colton
- Jenny Wright as Mae
- Lance Henriksen as Jesse Hooker
- Bill Paxton as Severen
- Jenette Goldstein as Diamondback
- Tim Thomerson as Loy Colton
- Joshua John Miller as Homer
- Marcie Leeds as Sarah Colton
- Kenny Call as Deputy Sheriff
- Edward Corbett as Ticket Seller
- Troy Evans as Plainclothes Officer
- Bill Cross as Sheriff Eakers
- Roger Aaron Brown as Cajun Truck Driver
- Thomas Wagner as Bartender
- Robert Winley as Patron in Bar
- James Le Gros as Teenage Cowboy
- Jan King as Waitress
- Danny Kopel as Biker in Bar
- Billy Beck as Motel Manager
- S.A. Griffin as Police Officer at Motel
- Bob Terhune as State Trooper
- William T. Lane as State Trooper
- Gary Littlejohn as State Trooper
- Paul M. Lane as State Trooper
- Eddie Mulder as State Trooper
- Don Pugsley as Truck Driver #2
- Neith Hunter as Lady in Car
- Theresa Randle as Lady in Car
- Tony Pierce as Highway Youth
- Gordon Haight as Highway Youth
- Leo Geter as Caleb's Friend
- Gary Wayne Cunningham as Caleb's Friend
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 16% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 25
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 1 | 0 | 7 |
| 2 to 2 | 29 | 33 |
| 3 to 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 5 | 6 | 8 |
| 6 to 6 | 35 | 81 |
| 7 to 7 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 to 8 | 9 | 6 |
| 9 to 9 | 4 | 7 |
| 10 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 11 | 2 | 17 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 13 | 2 | 6 |
| 14 to 14 | 4 | 19 |
| 15 to 15 | 1 | 9 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 12 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 2 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 4 |
| 20 to 20 | 7 | 59 |
| 21 to 21 | 0 | 11 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 to 23 | 5 | 35 |
| 24 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 25 | 1 | 5 |
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, 24 are women's.
106 lines from women, 327 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 23 men in the cast. 2 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 14 of 516.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 43 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 20% of the words (727), men 80% (2,984). Women have 24% 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
1
Two men
34
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Kathryn Bigelow (woman)
- Written by
- Kathryn Bigelow (woman), Eric Red (man)
- Produced by
- Steven-Charles Jaffe (man)
- Shot by
- Adam Greenberg (man)
- Edited by
- Howard E. Smith (man)
- Music by
- Christopher Franke (man), Edgar Froese (man), Paul Haslinger (man)
- Production design by
- Stephen Altman (man)
- Costumes by
- Joseph A. Porro (man)
- Cast by
- Karen Rea (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 18 men, 15 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 12 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 9 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 10 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 26 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jenny Wright 25, Jenette Goldstein 27
Men
Joshua John Miller 12, Adrian Pasdar 22, Bill Paxton 32, Tim Thomerson 41, Lance Henriksen 47, Edward Corbett 55
Exhibit G: the money
It made 68% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $5 million
- Box office
- $3.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 25 scenes and 516 lines of dialogue. How the test works
