Fails the Bechdel test
Now You See Me
2013. Directed by Louis Leterrier, written by Ed Solomon and Boaz Yakin and Edward Ricourt.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 3 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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Four magicians each answer a mysterious summons to an obscure address with secrets inside. A year later, they are the Four Horsemen, big time stage illusionists who climax their sold-out Las Vegas show with a bank apparently robbed for real. This puts F.B.I. Agents Dylan Rhodes and Interpol Agent Alma Dray on the case to find out how they did it. However, this mystery proves to be difficult to solve, even with the insights of professional illusion exposer Thaddeus Bradley. What follows is a bizarre investigation where nothing is what it seems to be, with illusions, dark secrets, and hidden agendas galore as all involved are reminded of a great truth in this puzzle: the closer you look, the less you see.
- Released
- 31 May 2013
- Genres
- Crime, Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 50 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dylan 136 lines, man
- Michael Atlas 119 lines, man
- Alma Vargas 88 lines, woman
- Thaddeus 73 lines, man
- Agent Fuller 56 lines, man
- London 37 lines, man
- Hernandez 32 lines, man
- Alex 21 lines, man
- Lt. Thomas 20 lines, man
- Roderigo 13 lines, man
Full cast, 54 people
- Jesse Eisenberg as J. Daniel Atlas
- Woody Harrelson as Merritt McKinney
- Isla Fisher as Henley Reeves
- Dave Franco as Jack Wilder
- Mark Ruffalo as Dylan Rhodes
- Mélanie Laurent as Alma Dray
- Morgan Freeman as Thaddeus Bradley
- Michael Caine as Arthur Tressler
- Michael Kelly as Agent Fuller
- Common as Evans
- David Warshofsky as Cowan
- José Garcia as Etienne Forcier
- Jessica Lindsey as Hermia
- Caitríona Balfe as Jasmine Tressler
- Stephanie Honoré as Atlas Groupie
- Stanley Wong as MGM Grand Usher
- Laura Cayouette as Hypnotized Woman
- Douglas M. Griffin as Hypnotized Man
- Adam Shapiro as Jack's Pick-Pocket Victim
- J. LaRose as Willy Mears
- Justine Wachsberger as Paris Bank Manager
- Christian Gazio as Armored Truck Driver
- Benoit Cransac as Armored Truck Guard
- Conan O'Brien as Conan O’Brien
- Samantha Beaulieu as Mobile Command Tech Agent
- Odessa Feaster as Josepha Hickey
- Shannon Hand as Dina Robertson
- Nicki Daniels Jr. as Savoy Audience Member
- Wendy Miklovic as Dylan's Tackler
- Brad Abrell as Announcer
- Randy Rousseau as New Orleans TV Reporter
- Hunter Burke as Sazerac Bartender
- Brian Tucker as FBI Agent Baskin
- Teddy Cañez as FBI Lead Ground Agent
- Joe Chrest as Elkhorn Janitor Agent
- Kerry Cahill as Elkhorn Agent
- Diego Miró as Dylan (12 years old)
- Adella Gautier as Marie Claire
- Han Soto as Mobile Command Leader
- Jaren Mitchell as Henley's Frat Boy #1
- Scott Shilstone as Henley's Frat Boy #2
- Zac Waggener as Henley's Frat Boy #3
- Caleb Michaelson as Henley's Frat Boy #4
- Anthony Molinari as FBI Truck Driver
- Griff Furst as Stethoscope Agent
- Kateryn Swann as FBI Investigator #1
- Kevin Roy as FBI Investigator #2
- Kenneth Herrington as FBI Investigator #3
- Andy Ryan as Tressler Bodyguard #1
- Erik Blake as Tressler Bodyguard #2
- Catherine Kim Poon as Chinese Tenant
- Michael Hartson as Lead Officer 5 Pointz
- Elias Koteas as Lionel Shrike (uncredited)
- David Joseph Martinez as F.B.I. Driver (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 109
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 | 1 | 45 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 11 |
| 7 to 9 | 11 | 33 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 3 | 28 |
| 16 to 18 | 10 | 30 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 6 |
| 22 to 24 | 4 | 11 |
| 25 to 27 | 11 | 58 |
| 28 to 30 | 4 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 9 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 2 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 1 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 2 | 10 |
| 46 to 48 | 9 | 67 |
| 49 to 51 | 7 | 12 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 28 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 14 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 13 |
| 61 to 63 | 6 | 20 |
| 64 to 66 | 2 | 6 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 5 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 8 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 24 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 3 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 7 |
| 82 to 84 | 3 | 5 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 1 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 23 |
| 91 to 93 | 1 | 25 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 7 | 26 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 20 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 14 |
| 109 to 109 | 3 | 11 |
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, 14 are women's.
95 lines from women, 591 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 31 men in the cast. 3 women and 17 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 48 of 762.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 52 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 12% of the words (1,569), men 88% (11,133). Women have 14% 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
0
Two men
63
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 17 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Louis Leterrier (man)
- Written by
- Ed Solomon (man), Boaz Yakin (man), Edward Ricourt (man)
- Story by
- Boaz Yakin (man), Edward Ricourt (man)
- Produced by
- Roberto Orci (man), Bobby Cohen (man), Alex Kurtzman (man)
- Shot by
- Mitchell Amundsen (man), Larry Fong (man)
- Edited by
- Robert Leighton (man), Vincent Tabaillon (man)
- Music by
- Brian Tyler (man)
- Production design by
- Peter Wenham (man)
- Costumes by
- Jenny Eagan (woman)
- Cast by
- Carmen Cuba (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
19 women, 59 men, 118 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 12 men, 37 not listed
-
Sound
6 women, 20 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 9 men, 20 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 8 men, 16 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
11 women, 2 men, 11 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 6 men, 18 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 8 men, 10 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Mélanie Laurent 30, Isla Fisher 37
Men
Dave Franco 27, Jesse Eisenberg 29, Common 41, Michael Kelly 44, Mark Ruffalo 45, Woody Harrelson 51, Morgan Freeman 75, Michael Caine 80
Exhibit G: the money
It made 4.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $75 million
- Box office
- $352 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 109 scenes and 762 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
