Passes the Bechdel test
Nocturnal Animals
2016. Directed by Tom Ford, written by Tom Ford and Austin Wright.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
24 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 87. -
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.
The film
A "story inside a story," in which the first part follows a woman named Susan who receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband, a man she left 20 years earlier, asking for her opinion. The second element follows the actual manuscript, called "Nocturnal Animals," which revolves around a man whose family vacation turns violent and deadly. It also continues to follow the story of Susan, who finds herself recalling her first marriage and confronting some dark truths about herself.
- Released
- 09 Dec 2016
- Genres
- Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 67 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 21 wins & 158 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Tony 158 lines, man
- Andes 148 lines, man
- Ray 124 lines, man
- Susan 124 lines, woman
- Edward 39 lines, man
- Lou 29 lines, man
- Laura 28 lines, woman
- Hutton 27 lines, man
- India 19 lines, woman
- Anne 12 lines, woman
Full cast, 47 people
- Amy Adams as Susan Morrow
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Tony Hastings / Edward Sheffield
- Michael Shannon as Bobby Andes
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ray Marcus
- Isla Fisher as Laura Hastings
- Ellie Bamber as India Hastings
- Armie Hammer as Hutton Morrow
- Karl Glusman as Lou
- Robert Aramayo as Turk
- Laura Linney as Anne Sutton
- Andrea Riseborough as Alessia
- Michael Sheen as Carlos
- Bobbi Salvör Menuez as Samantha Morrow
- Imogen Waterhouse as Chloe
- Franco Vega as Driver
- Zawe Ashton as Alex
- Evie Pree as TV Woman #1 (voice)
- Beth Ditto as TV Woman #2 (voice)
- Graham Beckel as Lieutenant Graves
- Neil Jackson as Christopher
- Jena Malone as Sage Ross
- Lee Benton as Office Executive
- Kristin Bauer as Samantha Van Helsing
- Sydney Schafer as Hostess
- Evan Bittencourt as Elevator Operator
- Janet Song as Nurse
- Michele Dunn as Video Woman #1
- Lori Jean Wilson as Video Woman #2
- Peggy Fields Richardson as Video Woman #3
- Piper Major as Video Woman #4
- Moose Ali Khan as Oscar - Diner Guest (uncredited)
- Brianna Barnes as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Amanda Fields as Art Gallery Guest (uncredited)
- Joshua D. Eads as Businessman (uncredited)
- Jonathan Fredrick as UPS Man (uncredited)
- Alizee Gaillard as Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- Nick Hounslow as Party Attendee (uncredited)
- Kerstin Lechner as Kerstin - Restaurant Guest (uncredited)
- Carson Nicely as Dinner Party Valet (uncredited)
- Christopher Pinkalla as Art Gallery Waiter (uncredited)
- Tonia Marie Rosée as Art Gallery Guest (uncredited)
- Errol Sack as Trucker (uncredited)
- Brian Stivale as Art Gallery Guest (uncredited)
- Chelsea Taylor as Young Girl (uncredited)
- Jack Wallace as Old Man (uncredited)
- Jackie Zane as Red Solo Cup Girl (uncredited)
- Maria Zyrianova as Blonde Woman (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 87
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 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 9 | 8 |
| 11 to 12 | 18 | 13 |
| 13 to 14 | 19 | 1 |
| 15 to 16 | 8 | 8 |
| 17 to 18 | 4 | 4 |
| 19 to 20 | 17 | 12 |
| 21 to 22 | 26 | 110 |
| 23 to 24 | 4 | 8 |
| 25 to 26 | 1 | 25 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 6 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 5 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 6 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 30 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 2 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 2 |
| 43 to 44 | 22 | 21 |
| 45 to 46 | 20 | 18 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 1 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 12 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 2 |
| 53 to 54 | 1 | 2 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 9 |
| 57 to 58 | 15 | 24 |
| 59 to 60 | 14 | 0 |
| 61 to 62 | 9 | 0 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 25 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 75 |
| 67 to 68 | 8 | 10 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 40 |
| 71 to 72 | 10 | 9 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 36 |
| 75 to 76 | 6 | 13 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 26 |
| 81 to 82 | 0 | 0 |
| 83 to 84 | 1 | 0 |
| 85 to 86 | 0 | 0 |
| 87 to 87 | 4 | 0 |
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.
CHLOE: So I said, “well my mother always told me if you massage your pussy with Pam Cooking Spray for a month before the baby comes you won’t need … SUSAN: I’ve got to get some Pam. And she is going to get a nomination this year.
INDIA: I did. But what are we supposed to do, sing campfire songs or something? LAURA: How much longer?
SAMANTHA: But it’s not working. We need to fire her. There’s an awesome candidate that we could steal from the Hammer if we move fast. SUSAN: I agree with Linda. We hired her and we need to support her. SUSAN: New doctor? SAMANTHA: No. New haircut.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.
217 lines from women, 563 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
24 women and 19 men in the cast. 11 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 101 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 31% of the words (2,553), men 69% (5,662). Women have 28% 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
10
Two men
35
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tom Ford (man)
- Written by
- Tom Ford (man)
- From the novel by
- Austin Wright (man)
- Produced by
- Tom Ford (man), Robert Salerno (man)
- Shot by
- Seamus McGarvey (man)
- Edited by
- Joan Sobel (woman)
- Music by
- Abel Korzeniowski (man)
- Production design by
- Shane Valentino (man)
- Costumes by
- Arianne Phillips (woman)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
5 women, 14 men, 13 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 14 men, 7 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 8 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 31 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ellie Bamber 19, Isla Fisher 40, Amy Adams 42, Laura Linney 52
Men
Robert Aramayo 23, Aaron Taylor-Johnson 26, Karl Glusman 28, Armie Hammer 30, Jake Gyllenhaal 35, Michael Shannon 42
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $22.5 million
- Box office
- $29.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 87 scenes and 789 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
