Passes the Bechdel test
Nickel Boys
2025. Directed by RaMell Ross, written by RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes and Colson Whitehead.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
6 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 123. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
A powerful friendship develops between two young Black men as they navigate the harrowing trials of reform school together.
- Released
- 28 Feb 2025
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 91 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 61 wins & 180 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Turner 131 lines, man
- Elwood 129 lines, man
- Hattie 48 lines, woman
- Adult Elwood 36 lines, man
- Blakeley 27 lines, man
- Adult Chickie Pete 24 lines, man
- Spencer 24 lines, man
- Harper 17 lines, man
- Rodney 13 lines, man
- Mr. Hill 11 lines, man
Full cast, 41 people
- Ethan Herisse as Elwood
- Brandon Wilson as Turner
- Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Hattie
- Hamish Linklater as Spencer
- Gralen Bryant Banks as Blakeley
- Fred Hechinger as Harper
- Jimmie Fails as Mr. Hill
- Luke Tennie as Griff
- Bryan Gael Guzman as Jaime
- Ethan Cole Sharp as Young Elwood
- Sam Malone as Percy
- Najah Bradley as Evelyn
- Jase Stidwell as Boy at Playground
- Legacy Jones as Girl at Playground
- Ky'druis Follins as Lincoln High School
- Gabrielle Simone Johnson as Elwood's Girlfriend
- Peter Gabb as Mr. Marconi
- Bill Martin Williams as Old Man with Cane
- Taraja Ramsess as Rodney
- Zachary Van Zandt as White Boy
- Zach Primo as White Boy
- Sean Papajohn as White Boy
- Sean Tyrik as Corey
- Bryant Tardy as Desmond
- Trey Perkins as Chickie Pete
- Robert Aberdeen as Mr. Goodall
- Escalante Lundy as Earl
- Noah Craig as Young Boy at Dining Hall
- Ja'Quan Monroe-Henderson as Black Mike
- Mike Harkins as Butcher
- Nicholas Stevens as Citrus Grove Stilt Boss
- Daveed Diggs as Adult Elwood
- Rachel Whitman Groves as Nurse Scarlet
- Billy Slaughter as Dr. Cooke
- Lucy Faust as Mrs. Hardee
- Tanyell Waivers as Denise
- Craig Tate as Adult Chickie Pete
- Sara Osi Scott as Millie
- LeBaron Foster Thornton as Larry (uncredited)
- Ellison Booker as Older Guy (Protest)
- Alexander Bello as Boy (voice)
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 123
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 | 7 | 7 |
| 4 to 6 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 3 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 11 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 1 | 5 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 5 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 8 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 6 |
| 28 to 30 | 4 | 3 |
| 31 to 33 | 1 | 8 |
| 34 to 36 | 1 | 20 |
| 37 to 39 | 4 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 6 | 5 |
| 43 to 45 | 1 | 8 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 11 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 12 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 16 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 5 |
| 58 to 60 | 4 | 6 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 6 |
| 64 to 66 | 9 | 47 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 3 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 24 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 6 | 28 |
| 79 to 81 | 1 | 8 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 50 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 12 | 10 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 18 |
| 94 to 96 | 10 | 25 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 51 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 4 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 11 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 15 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 8 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 5 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 30 |
| 118 to 120 | 0 | 3 |
| 121 to 123 | 3 | 2 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
EVELYN: I said I'd do the washing up, Mama. HATTIE: At least tell the child you're leaving.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 15 are women's.
87 lines from women, 489 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
6 women and 23 men in the cast. 5 women and 21 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 607.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 81 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 (1,232), men 80% (4,953). Women have 15% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit E: 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
2
Two men
46
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 23% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- RaMell Ross (man)
- Written by
- RaMell Ross (man), Joslyn Barnes (woman)
- Produced by
- Joslyn Barnes (woman), Dede Gardner (woman), Jeremy Kleiner (man), David Levine (man)
- Shot by
- Jomo Fray (man)
- Edited by
- Nicholas Monsour (man)
- Music by
- Scott Alario (man), Alex Somers (man)
- Production design by
- Nora Mendis (woman)
- Costumes by
- Brittany Loar (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Victoria Thomas (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
7 women, 9 men, 13 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 16 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 4 men, 14 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 12 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 14 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 10 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 55 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor 55
Men
Ethan Herisse 24, Fred Hechinger 25, Jimmie Fails 30, Luke Tennie 30, Brandon Wilson 31, Hamish Linklater 48, Gralen Bryant Banks 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 13% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $23.2 million
- Box office
- $3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 123 scenes and 607 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
