Passes the Bechdel test

Only God Forgives

Name: Only God Forgives
Released: 2013

2013. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, written by Nicolas Winding Refn.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 2 scenes out of 165.
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

Bangkok. Ten years ago Julian (Ryan Gosling) killed a man and went on the run. Now he manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drugs operation. Respected in the criminal underworld, deep inside, he feels empty. When Julian's brother murders an underage prostitute, the Police call on retired cop Chang (Vithaya Pansringarm) - the Angel of Vengeance. Chang allows the father to kill his daughter's murderer, then "restores order" by chopping off the man's right hand. Julian's mother Crystal (Dame Kristin Scott Thomas) - the head of a powerful criminal organization - arrives in Bangkok to collect her son's body. She dispatches Julian to find his killers and "raise Hell".

Released: 22 May 2013
Genres: Action, Crime, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.7 / 10
Metascore: 37 / 100
Awards: 14 wins & 22 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Julian 183 lines, man
Jenna 111 lines, woman
Chang 101 lines, man
Gordon 40 lines, man
Mai 38 lines, woman
Charlie Ling 16 lines, man
Kim 15 lines, man
Nadee 9 lines
The Lizard 8 lines, man
Gunman Three 7 lines, man

Full cast, 28 people

Ryan Gosling as Julian
Kristin Scott Thomas as Crystal
Vithaya Pansringarm as Chang
Rhatha Phongam as Mai
Gordon Brown as Gordon
Tom Burke as Billy
Byron Gibson as Byron
Sahajak Boonthanakit as Kim
Charlie Ruedpokanon as Daeng
Wannisa Peungpa as Kanita
Narucha Chaimareung as Papa San
Danai Thiengdham as Waiter / Li Po
Kowit Wattanakul as Choi Yan Lee
Wittchuta Watjanarat as Ma Fong
Pitchawat Petchayahon as Phaiban
Nophand Boonyai as Charlie Ling
Teerawat Mulvilai as Ko Sam
Aratchaporn Sathet as Po Yan Lee
Dujdao Vadhanapakorn as Concierge
Matthew Ryder as Manager
Keerati Sivakua as Porter
Sasapin Siriwanij as Liang's Sister
Nuntiya Thongnoo as Liang's Mother
Saichia Wongwirot as Gunman
Alisa Wongvisut as Singer
Byron Bishop as Burin
Joe Cummings as Bar Customer (uncredited)
Ron Smoorenburg as Muay Thai Fan (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 165

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	0	1
5 to 8	0	3
9 to 12	2	28
13 to 16	0	0
17 to 20	0	3
21 to 24	0	5
25 to 28	0	9
29 to 32	0	1
33 to 36	0	5
37 to 40	0	0
41 to 44	12	12
45 to 48	7	1
49 to 52	5	10
53 to 56	0	1
57 to 60	20	44
61 to 64	14	14
65 to 68	0	51
69 to 72	42	44
73 to 76	24	21
77 to 80	0	11
81 to 84	0	40
85 to 88	0	0
89 to 92	0	1
93 to 96	0	6
97 to 100	18	11
101 to 104	0	4
105 to 108	0	7
109 to 112	0	10
113 to 116	7	5
117 to 120	0	0
121 to 124	0	0
125 to 128	0	8
129 to 132	0	7
133 to 136	0	8
137 to 140	0	0
141 to 144	7	5
145 to 148	1	2
149 to 152	0	0
153 to 156	0	19
157 to 160	0	0
161 to 164	0	1
165 to 165	0	1

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.

JENNA: I'd like to check in now please. CONCIERGE: I'm afraid the room won't be ready until four o'clock. CONCIERGE: ... It's policy JENNA: I'd like to speak to your manager.

JENNA: I hope you find what you're looking for. 'Cause if you don't, it's going to find you and I'm not always going to be there to look after you. JENNA: Nice to meet you Mai. Hope to see you again soon. MAI: Are you alright?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 28 are women's.

159 lines from women, 399 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 17 men in the cast. 3 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 31 of 591. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 62 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 30% of the words (1,402), men 70% (3,271). 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Nicolas Winding Refn (man)
Written by: Nicolas Winding Refn (man)
Produced by: Lene Børglum (woman), Vincent Maraval (man), Sidonie Dumas (woman), Jessica Ask (woman), Jacob Jarek (man), Hanne Palmquist (woman)
Shot by: Larry Smith (man)
Edited by: Matthew Newman (man)
Music by: Cliff Martinez (man)
Production design by: Beth Mickle (woman)
Costumes by: Wasitchaya Mochanakul (woman)
Cast by: Des Hamilton (man), Raweeporn 'Non' Srimonju (gender not listed)