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Passes the Bechdel test

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

2020. Directed by Eliza Hittman, written by Eliza Hittman.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    11 women characters. 13 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 25 scenes out of 142.
  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 Never Rarely Sometimes Always

The film

Inseparable best friends and cousins Autumn and Skylar precariously navigate the vulnerability of female adolescence in rural Pennsylvania. When Autumn mysteriously falls pregnant, she's confronted by conservative legislation without mercy for blue-collar women seeking abortions. With Skylar's unfailing support and bold resourcefulness, money to fund the procedure is secured and the duo board a bus bound for New York state to find the help Autumn needs.

Released
03 Apr 2020
Genres
Drama
Rated
PG-13
IMDb
7.3 / 10
Metascore
92 / 100
Awards
30 wins & 105 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Autumn 213 lines, woman
  2. Skylar 118 lines, woman
  3. Jasper 79 lines, man
  4. Bleecker Street Social Worker 68 lines, woman
  5. Center Director 25 lines, woman
  6. Joan Malin Social Worker 19 lines, woman
  7. Financial Counselor 16 lines, woman
  8. Mom 14 lines, woman
  9. Hotel Person 10 lines
  10. Ted 10 lines, man
Full cast, 43 people
  • Sidney Flanigan as Autumn
  • Talia Ryder as Skylar
  • Théodore Pellerin as Jasper
  • Ryan Eggold as Ted
  • Sharon Van Etten as Mother
  • Eliazar Jimenez as Elvis Impersonator
  • David Buneta as Clean Cut Teenage Boy
  • Christian Clements as Clean Cut Teenage Boy
  • Sam Dugger as Clean Cut Teenage Boy
  • Aurora Richards as Little Sister
  • Rose Elizabeth Richards as Little Sister
  • Brian Altemus as Rowdy Student
  • Lizbeth Mackay as Receptionist #1
  • Mia Dillon as Women's Centre Director
  • John Ballinger Sr. as Guy in Supermarket
  • Drew Seltzer as Boyer's Manager
  • Amy Tribbey as Shamokin Technician
  • Bill Vila as Bus Driver #2
  • Omar Dugue as Port Authority Information Officer
  • Bryse Gregory as Security Guard #1
  • Denise Pillott as Receptionist #2
  • Sipiwe Moyo as Social Worker #1
  • April Szykeruk as Wilkes-Barre Technician
  • Ronnick McCoy as Transit Cop
  • Jingjing Tian as Bakery Employee
  • Guy A. Fortt as Security Guard #2
  • Cassandra Pogensky as Receptionist #3
  • Carolina Espiro as Financial Person
  • Kelly Chapman as Social Worker #2
  • Frank Chavez as Greyhound Bus Ticket Seller
  • Michael Erik as Bowling Alley Person
  • Salem Murphy as Doctor
  • Kim Rios Lin as Anesthesiologist
  • Sonia Luz Rose Mena as Nurse
  • Alana Barrett-Adkins as Nurse
  • Kaeta Jarkow as Dancer
  • Tate Pontone as Dancer
  • Julia Grant as Dancer
  • Tommy Kelly as Dancer
  • Nolan Schaffer as Dancer
  • Zachary Dill as Dancer
  • Tamara Lee as Dancer
  • Zachary Asnis as Dancer

Who talks, scene by scene

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

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 142

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 3203
4 to 696
7 to 900
10 to 1281
13 to 1590
16 to 18250
19 to 2150
22 to 2400
25 to 2700
28 to 3097
31 to 33213
34 to 3640
37 to 3990
40 to 4200
43 to 45160
46 to 4854
49 to 5100
52 to 5400
55 to 57110
58 to 6001
61 to 631922
64 to 6664
67 to 6900
70 to 7200
73 to 7511
76 to 78360
79 to 8190
82 to 84110
85 to 8700
88 to 9010
91 to 9310
94 to 9631
97 to 99300
100 to 1021180
103 to 10580
106 to 10830
109 to 11164
112 to 114139
115 to 1171215
118 to 1201518
121 to 1231416
124 to 12600
127 to 12911
130 to 13200
133 to 135310
136 to 138190
139 to 14100
142 to 14200

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.
AUTUMN: I don't feel well. SKYLAR: Come on. Let's go. Please...
CENTER DIRECTOR: Another cold day isn't it? AUTUMN: Yeah. CENTER DIRECTOR: We turned up the heat this morning, but no matter what we do, there's always a chill. My name is Beth by the way. Autumn? AUTUMN: Hi.
CENTER DIRECTOR: Come on in. Make yourself at home. AUTUMN: Thanks. CENTER DIRECTOR: We can sit here and talk for a minute. CENTER DIRECTOR: Can you tell me a little about the symptoms that brought you in today?
CENTER DIRECTOR: You can just go in here. I’ll be waiting right outside. AUTUMN: I’m finished. AUTUMN: Is that from the supermarket? CENTER DIRECTOR: Yes. Yes, it is.
AUTUMN: 10, 20, 30, 40. SKYLAR: 10, 20, 30, 40. AUTUMN: Wait, not at the same time. You’ll fuck me up. SKYLAR: Sorry.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 81 are women's.

508 lines from women, 116 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

11 women and 12 men in the cast. 13 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 644. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 7 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 77% of the words (3,661), men 23% (1,083). Women have 81% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

10 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 56% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Eliza Hittman (woman)
Written by
Eliza Hittman (woman)
Produced by
Adele Romanski (woman), Sara Murphy (woman)
Shot by
Hélène Louvart (woman)
Edited by
Scott Cummings (man)
Music by
Julia Holter (woman)
Production design by
Meredith Lippincott (woman)
Costumes by
Olga Mill (woman)
Cast by
Salome Oggenfuss (woman), Geraldine Barón (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    16 women, 7 men, 2 not listed

  • Sound

    8 women, 9 men, 2 not listed

  • Art

    3 women, 1 men, 5 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    3 women, 1 men, 5 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 3 men, 4 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 1 men, 3 not listed

  • Editing

    0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed

  • Lighting

    1 women, 2 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 28 on average. Men: 29 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Talia Ryder 17, Sharon Van Etten 39

Men

Théodore Pellerin 22, Ryan Eggold 35

Exhibit H: the money

What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.

Budget
Not listed
Box office
$407,807

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 142 scenes and 644 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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