Passes the Bechdel test
Notting Hill
1999. Directed by Roger Michell, written by Richard Curtis.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 129. -
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
Every man's dream comes true for William Thacker, an unsuccessful Notting Hill bookstore owner, when Anna Scott, the world's most beautiful woman and best-liked actress, enters his shop. A little later, he still can't believe it himself, William runs into her again - this time spilling orange juice over her. Anna accepts his offer to change in his nearby apartment, and thanks him with a kiss, which seems to surprise her even more than him. Eventually, Anna and William get to know each other better over the months, but being together with the world's most wanted woman is not easy - neither around your closest friends, nor in front of the all-devouring press.
- Released
- 28 May 1999
- Genres
- Comedy, Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 68 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 BAFTA Award. 11 wins & 17 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- William 360 lines, man
- Anna 217 lines, woman
- Spike 64 lines, man
- Max 58 lines, man
- Bella 34 lines, woman
- Honey 25 lines, woman
- Bernie 24 lines, man
- Martin 19 lines, man
- Karen 14 lines, woman
- Jeff 11 lines, man
Full cast, 41 people
- Julia Roberts as Anna Scott
- Hugh Grant as William Thacker
- Gina McKee as Bella
- Tim McInnerny as Max
- Rhys Ifans as Spike
- Emma Chambers as Honey
- Hugh Bonneville as Bernie
- Richard McCabe as Tony
- James Dreyfus as Martin
- Dylan Moran as Rufus the Thief
- Roger Frost as Annoying Customer
- Henry Goodman as Ritz Concierge
- Julian Rhind-Tutt as 'Time Out' Journalist
- Lorelei King as Anna's Publicist
- John Shrapnel as PR Chief
- Emily Mortimer as Perfect Girl
- Dorian Lough as Loud Man in Restaurant
- Sanjeev Bhaskar as Loud Man in Restaurant
- Paul Chahidi as Loud Man in Restaurant
- Matthew Whittle as Loud Man in Restaurant
- Mischa Barton as 12-year-old Actress
- Clarke Peters as 'Helix' Lead Actor
- Ann Beach as William's Mother
- Samuel West as Anna's Co-Star
- Tony Armatrading as Security Man
- Andy de la Tour as Journalist
- Rupert Procter as Journalist
- Maureen Hibbert as Journalist
- David Sternberg as Journalist
- Arturo Venegas as Foreign Actor
- Phillip Manikum as Harry the Sound Man
- Patrick Barlow as Savoy Concierge
- Yolanda Vazquez as Interpreter
- Melissa Wilson as Tessa
- Emma Bernard as Keziah
- September Buckley as Third Assistant Director
- Dennis Matsuki as Japanese Businessman
- Alec Baldwin as Jeff King (uncredited)
- Simon Callow as Simon Callow (uncredited)
- Omid Djalili as Coffee Shop Cashier (uncredited)
- Matthew Modine as Actor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 129
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 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 3 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 6 |
| 10 to 12 | 10 | 63 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 4 |
| 16 to 18 | 12 | 27 |
| 19 to 21 | 2 | 9 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 22 |
| 25 to 27 | 4 | 19 |
| 28 to 30 | 1 | 3 |
| 31 to 33 | 17 | 20 |
| 34 to 36 | 6 | 16 |
| 37 to 39 | 11 | 10 |
| 40 to 42 | 8 | 10 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 7 |
| 46 to 48 | 14 | 19 |
| 49 to 51 | 20 | 20 |
| 52 to 54 | 17 | 22 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 8 |
| 58 to 60 | 22 | 36 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 5 | 19 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 8 |
| 73 to 75 | 5 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 6 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 16 | 18 |
| 88 to 90 | 13 | 12 |
| 91 to 93 | 4 | 21 |
| 94 to 96 | 12 | 9 |
| 97 to 99 | 5 | 7 |
| 100 to 102 | 8 | 13 |
| 103 to 105 | 4 | 9 |
| 106 to 108 | 14 | 22 |
| 109 to 111 | 7 | 12 |
| 112 to 114 | 7 | 10 |
| 115 to 117 | 22 | 46 |
| 118 to 120 | 4 | 11 |
| 121 to 123 | 1 | 12 |
| 124 to 126 | 12 | 14 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 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.
ANNA: I wonder if you could tell me where the...? BELLA: Oh, it's just down the corridor on the right. HONEY: I'll show you. BELLA: Quickly, quickly -- talk very quickly what are you doing here with Anna Scott?
BELLA: What do you think of the guinea fowl? ANNA: I'm a vegetarian. BELLA: Oh God.
BELLA: On the other hand, her best friend is Anna Scott. HONEY: That's true, I can't deny it. She needs me, what can I say? BELLA: And most of her limbs work. Whereas I'm stuck in its thing day and night, in a house full of ramps. And to add insult to serious injury -- I…
ANNA: Night, night, Honey. HONEY: I'm so sorry about the loo thing. I meant to leave but I just... look, ring me if you need someone to go shopping with. I know lots of nice,… ANNA: You too -- from now on you are my style guru.
ANNA: Drink tea -- there's lots of tea. KAREN: Come and have a look...
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.
301 lines from women, 581 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
10 women and 30 men in the cast. 5 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 33 of 939.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 47 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 36% of the words (3,260), men 64% (5,677). Women have 34% 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
11
Two men
56
Exhibit F: behind the camera
1 of the 8 people in these jobs is a woman.
Across the whole crew, 44% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Roger Michell (man)
- Written by
- Richard Curtis (man)
- Produced by
- Duncan Kenworthy (man)
- Shot by
- Michael Coulter (man)
- Edited by
- Nick Moore (man)
- Music by
- Trevor Jones (man)
- Production design by
- Stuart Craig (man)
- Cast by
- Mary Selway (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
13 women, 8 men, 11 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 6 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Julia Roberts 31, Gina McKee 35, Emma Chambers 35
Men
Dylan Moran 27, James Dreyfus 30, Rhys Ifans 31, Hugh Bonneville 35, Hugh Grant 38, Richard McCabe 38, Tim McInnerny 42
Exhibit H: the money
It made 8.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $42 million
- Box office
- $364 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 129 scenes and 939 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
