Fails the Bechdel test

Nosferatu

Name: Nosferatu
Released: 2024

2024. Directed by Robert Eggers, written by Robert Eggers and Henrik Galeen and Bram Stoker.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
10 women characters. 8 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

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

The film

Wisborg, Germany, 1838. Saddled by his superior with the urgent task of sealing a land deal, newlywed estate agent Thomas Hutter reluctantly abandons his worried wife, Ellen, in hopes of securing his position in the firm. However, the mesmerising sight of lustrous gold is a deadly trap; as the ambitious young realtor arrives at the mysterious Count Orlok's isolated castle in the Carpathian Alps, the ghastly embodiment of pure horror begins to haunt Ellen's unspoken nocturnal imaginings. With the light succumbing to darkness, who can ease the suffocating stranglehold of ancient evil? After all, few have gazed into the abyss and lived to tell the tale. Can willing sacrifice rid Wisborg of the Nosferatu?

Released: 25 Dec 2024
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.1 / 10
Metascore: 78 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 4 Oscars. 62 wins & 198 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Ellen 163 lines, woman
Thomas 149 lines, man
Von Franz 118 lines, man
Harding 84 lines, man
Sievers 81 lines, man
Orlok 67 lines, man
Anna 52 lines
Knock 39 lines, man
Image 7 lines
Novice 6 lines, woman

Full cast, 35 people

Lily-Rose Depp as Ellen Hutter
Nicholas Hoult as Thomas Hutter
Bill Skarsgård as Count Orlok
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Friedrich Harding
Willem Dafoe as Prof. Albin Eberhart von Franz
Emma Corrin as Anna Harding
Ralph Ineson as Dr. Wilhelm Sievers
Simon McBurney as Herr Knock
Adéla Hesová as Clara
Milena Konstantinova as Louise
Stacy Thunes as Head Nurse
Gregory Gudgeon as Hartmann
Robert Russell as First Clerk
Curtis Matthew as Second Clerk
Claudiu Trandafir as Innkeeper
Gherghina Bereghianu as Innkeeper's Mother-in-Law
Jordan Haj as Vampire Hunter
Kateřina Bílá as Virgin on Horseback
Maria Ion as Old Roma Woman
Tereza Dušková as Orthodox Novice
Liana Navrot as Orthodox Schema Nun
Mihai Verbintschi as Orthodox Priest
Karel Dobrý as Captain Yusou
Andrei Sergeev as First Mate
Matěj Beneš as Vomiting Sailor
Marek Pospíchal as First Deck Hand
Jan Filipenský as Second Deck Hand
Alex East as Sailor
Christian Dunkley-Clark as Hospital Orderly / Raving Maniac
Andrea Miltner as Hospital Nurse
Robin Finesilver as Hospital Porter
Paul Maynard as Dockhand
Charles Horne as Drunkhard
Ella Bernstein as Clara (voice)
Meredith Digings as Louise (voice)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 156

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 4	13	10
5 to 8	0	1
9 to 12	16	42
13 to 16	6	26
17 to 20	0	7
21 to 24	3	0
25 to 28	1	3
29 to 32	0	1
33 to 36	0	0
37 to 40	5	32
41 to 44	9	0
45 to 48	0	30
49 to 52	0	0
53 to 56	0	0
57 to 60	0	1
61 to 64	2	8
65 to 68	4	14
69 to 72	1	27
73 to 76	6	19
77 to 80	0	3
81 to 84	0	9
85 to 88	12	31
89 to 92	7	52
93 to 96	1	3
97 to 100	4	5
101 to 104	2	14
105 to 108	6	21
109 to 112	9	3
113 to 116	15	25
117 to 120	11	18
121 to 124	2	38
125 to 128	32	28
129 to 132	5	28
133 to 136	9	12
137 to 140	0	6
141 to 144	0	8
145 to 148	1	2
149 to 152	0	27
153 to 156	3	4

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, 25 are women's.

185 lines from women, 558 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

10 women and 19 men in the cast. 8 women and 17 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 37 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 23% of the words (1,635), men 77% (5,353). Women have 25% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Robert Eggers (man)
Written by: Robert Eggers (man)
From the novel by: Bram Stoker (man)
Produced by: Jeff Robinov (man), John Graham (man), Chris Columbus (man), Eleanor Columbus (woman), Robert Eggers (man)
Shot by: Jarin Blaschke (man)
Edited by: Louise Ford (woman)
Music by: Robin Carolan (man)
Production design by: Craig Lathrop (man)
Costumes by: Linda Muir (woman)
Cast by: Kharmel Cochrane (woman)