Passes the Bechdel test

Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Name: Once Upon a Time in Mexico
Released: 2003

2003. Directed by Robert Rodriguez, written by Robert Rodriguez.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
3 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 43.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

Return of the mythic guitar-slinging hero, El Mariachi (Antonio Banderas), in the final installment of the Mariachi/Desperado trilogy. The saga continues as El Mariachi makes his way across a rugged landscape on the blood trail of Barrillo (Willem Dafoe), a cartel kingpin with one last score to settle who is planning a coup d'etat against the president of Mexico. Enlisted by Sands (Johnny Depp), a corrupt CIA agent, El Mariachi demands retribution.

Released: 12 Sep 2003
Genres: Action, Crime, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.3 / 10
Metascore: 56 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 6 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Sands 125 lines, man
Mariachi 50 lines, man
Belini 29 lines, man
Fbi 26 lines, man
Ajedrez 23 lines, woman
Lorenzo 22 lines, man
Billy 14 lines, man
Chicle Boy 14 lines, man
Marquez 13 lines, man
Fideo 11 lines, man

Full cast, 38 people

Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi
Johnny Depp as CIA Agent Jeffrey Sands
Cheech Marin as Belini
Salma Hayek Pinault as Carolina
Mickey Rourke as Billy Chambers
Willem Dafoe as Armando Barillo
Eva Mendes as CIA Agent Ajedrez
Danny Trejo as Cucuy
Rubén Blades as Jorge, Retired FBI Agent
Enrique Iglesias as Lorenzo
Marco Leonardi as Fideo
Troy Robinson as Romero
Gerardo Vigil as General Marquez
Pedro Armendáriz Jr. as President of Mexico
Julio Oscar Mechoso as Nicholas, Presidential Advisor
Tito Larriva as Cab Driver
Miguel Couturier as Dr. Guevera
Tony Valdes as Chicle Boy
José Luis Avendaño as Alvaro
Rodolfo De Alexandre as Omar
Natália Torres as El Mariachi's Daughter
Steve Constancio as Right Hand
Ermahn Ospina as Qui-Que
Luz María Rojas as Pistolera
Mario Simon as Cook
Bernard Hacker as Blascoe
Cecilia Tijerina as Waitress
Carola Vázquez as Hospital Administrator
René Gatica as Chief Federale
Silvia Santoyo as Bachelorette
Juan Pablo Llaguno as Bull Fighter
Ignacio Torre as Teacher
Rojo Grau as Manny
Jorge Becerril as Taco
Víctor Carpinteiro as Left Nut
Dagoberto Gama as Que Pasa
Thomas Rosales Jr. as Bartender with Gun (uncredited)
Khristian Lupo as Soldier (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 43

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 1	0	0
2 to 2	2	12
3 to 3	0	32
4 to 4	0	29
5 to 5	4	11
6 to 6	0	0
7 to 7	0	17
8 to 8	0	6
9 to 9	0	19
10 to 10	0	6
11 to 11	0	4
12 to 12	0	4
13 to 13	1	5
14 to 14	0	1
15 to 15	0	0
16 to 16	0	0
17 to 17	0	10
18 to 18	0	3
19 to 19	14	26
20 to 20	0	5
21 to 21	0	6
22 to 22	0	2
23 to 23	0	5
24 to 24	0	8
25 to 25	0	25
26 to 26	0	12
27 to 27	0	6
28 to 28	0	4
29 to 29	0	2
30 to 30	0	7
31 to 31	2	3
32 to 32	0	0
33 to 33	0	0
34 to 34	6	13
35 to 35	0	8
36 to 36	0	26
37 to 37	1	14
38 to 38	0	20
39 to 39	0	1
40 to 40	0	0
41 to 41	0	9
42 to 42	0	0
43 to 43	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 scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

AJEDREZ: Thank you. , CAROLINA: What's wrong?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 8 are women's.

30 lines from women, 361 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

3 women and 23 men in the cast. 3 women and 13 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 8 of 402. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 91 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 5% of the words (218), men 95% (3,820). Women have 8% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 16% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Robert Rodriguez (man)
Written by: Robert Rodriguez (man)
Produced by: Elizabeth Avellan (woman), Carlos Gallardo (man), Robert Rodriguez (man)
Shot by: Robert Rodriguez (man)
Edited by: Robert Rodriguez (man)
Music by: Robert Rodriguez (man)
Production design by: Robert Rodriguez (man)
Costumes by: Graciela Mazón (gender not listed)
Cast by: Mary Vernieu (woman)