Fails the Bechdel test
Oppenheimer
2023. Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Christopher Nolan and Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
A dramatization of the life story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the physicist who had a large hand in the development of the atomic bomb, thus helping end World War 2. We see his life from university days all the way to post-WW2, where his fame saw him embroiled in political machinations.
- Released
- 21 Jul 2023
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 90 / 100
- Awards
- Won 7 Oscars. 370 wins & 378 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Oppenheimer 579 lines, man
- Strauss 173 lines, man
- Robb 123 lines, man
- Groves 119 lines, man
- Kitty 77 lines, woman
- Rabi 54 lines, man
- Senate Aide 53 lines, man
- Lawrence 47 lines, man
- Garrison 39 lines, man
- Tatlock 38 lines, woman
Full cast, 80 people
- Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer
- Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer
- Matt Damon as Leslie Groves
- Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss
- Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock
- Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence
- Casey Affleck as Boris Pash
- Rami Malek as David Hill
- Kenneth Branagh as Niels Bohr
- Benny Safdie as Edward Teller
- Jason Clarke as Roger Robb
- Dylan Arnold as Frank Oppenheimer
- Tom Conti as Albert Einstein
- James D'Arcy as Patrick Blackett
- David Dastmalchian as William Borden
- Dane DeHaan as Kenneth Nichols
- Alden Ehrenreich as Senate Aide
- Tony Goldwyn as Gordon Gray
- Jefferson Hall as Haakon Chevalier
- David Krumholtz as Isidor Rabi
- Matthew Modine as Vannevar Bush
- Scott Grimes as Counsel
- Kurt Koehler as Thomas Morgan
- John Gowans as Ward Evans
- Macon Blair as Lloyd Garrison
- Harry Groener as Senator McGee
- Gregory Jbara as Chairman Magnuson
- Ted King as Senator Bartlett
- Tim DeKay as Senator Pastore
- Steven Houska as Senator Scott
- Petrie Willink as Dutch Student
- Matthias Schweighöfer as Werner Heisenberg
- Alex Wolff as Luis Alvarez
- Josh Zuckerman as Rossi Lomanitz
- Rory Keane as Hartland Snyder
- Michael Angarano as Robert Serber
- Emma Dumont as Jackie Oppenheimer
- Sadie Stratton as Mary Washburn
- Britt Kyle as Barbara Chevalier
- Guy Burnet as George Eltenton
- Tom Jenkins as Richard Tolman
- Louise Lombard as Ruth Tolman
- Michael Andrew Baker as Joe Volpe
- Jeff Hephner as Congressman
- Olli Haaskivi as Edward Condon
- David Rysdahl as Donald Hornig
- Josh Peck as Kenneth Bainbridge
- Jack Quaid as Richard Feynman
- Brett DelBuono as Concerned Scientist
- Gustaf Skarsgård as Hans Bethe
- James Urbaniak as Kurt Gödel
- Trond Fausa Aurvåg as George Kistiakowsky
- Devon Bostick as Seth Neddermeyer
- Danny Deferrari as Enrico Fermi
- Christopher Denham as Klaus Fuchs
- Jessica Erin Martin as Charlotte Serber
- Ronald Auguste as J. Ernest Wilkins
- Máté Haumann as Leo Szilard
- Olivia Thirlby as Lilli Hornig
- Jack Cutmore-Scott as Lyall Johnson
- Harrison Gilbertson as Philip Morrison
- James Remar as Henry Stimson
- Will Roberts as George C. Marshall
- Pat Skipper as James Byrnes
- Steve Coulter as James Conant
- Jeremy John Wells as AAF Officer
- Sean Avery as Weatherman
- Adam Kroeger as Army Captain
- Drew Kenney as Soldier
- Bryce Johnson as AAF Officer 2
- Flora Nolan as Burn Victim
- Kerry Westcott as Laughing Woman
- Christina Hogue as Kissing Woman
- Clay Bunker as Kissing Man
- Tyler Beardsley as Weeping Man
- Maria Teresa Zuppetta as Consoling Woman
- Kate French as Presidential Aide
- Gary Oldman as Harry Truman
- Hap Lawrence as Lyndon Johnson
- Meg Schimelpfenig as Senator's Assistant (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 280
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 6 | 0 | 29 |
| 7 to 12 | 0 | 32 |
| 13 to 18 | 0 | 36 |
| 19 to 24 | 0 | 36 |
| 25 to 30 | 0 | 36 |
| 31 to 36 | 20 | 51 |
| 37 to 42 | 1 | 36 |
| 43 to 48 | 4 | 34 |
| 49 to 54 | 26 | 63 |
| 55 to 60 | 2 | 29 |
| 61 to 66 | 3 | 71 |
| 67 to 72 | 0 | 35 |
| 73 to 78 | 0 | 33 |
| 79 to 84 | 3 | 34 |
| 85 to 90 | 2 | 45 |
| 91 to 96 | 0 | 23 |
| 97 to 102 | 0 | 49 |
| 103 to 108 | 0 | 49 |
| 109 to 114 | 0 | 16 |
| 115 to 120 | 8 | 15 |
| 121 to 126 | 5 | 20 |
| 127 to 132 | 0 | 22 |
| 133 to 138 | 0 | 14 |
| 139 to 144 | 2 | 34 |
| 145 to 150 | 5 | 48 |
| 151 to 156 | 0 | 71 |
| 157 to 162 | 0 | 79 |
| 163 to 168 | 3 | 20 |
| 169 to 174 | 0 | 27 |
| 175 to 180 | 0 | 8 |
| 181 to 186 | 0 | 5 |
| 187 to 192 | 0 | 0 |
| 193 to 198 | 0 | 2 |
| 199 to 204 | 3 | 28 |
| 205 to 210 | 3 | 13 |
| 211 to 216 | 0 | 6 |
| 217 to 222 | 0 | 25 |
| 223 to 228 | 2 | 40 |
| 229 to 234 | 0 | 37 |
| 235 to 240 | 4 | 37 |
| 241 to 246 | 1 | 19 |
| 247 to 252 | 0 | 71 |
| 253 to 258 | 0 | 60 |
| 259 to 264 | 28 | 49 |
| 265 to 270 | 0 | 59 |
| 271 to 276 | 2 | 36 |
| 277 to 280 | 0 | 20 |
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, 7 are women's.
127 lines from women, 1602 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
13 women and 66 men in the cast. 6 women and 56 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 208 of 1,817.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 207 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (1,487), men 93% (21,183).
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
2
Two men
157
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Written by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Produced by
- Christopher Nolan (man), Emma Thomas (woman), Charles Roven (man)
- Shot by
- Hoyte van Hoytema (man)
- Edited by
- Jennifer Lame (woman)
- Music by
- Ludwig Göransson (man)
- Production design by
- Ruth De Jong (woman)
- Costumes by
- Ellen Mirojnick (woman)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
10 women, 11 men, 30 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
11 women, 3 men, 25 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 20 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 12 men, 8 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 15 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 7 men, 8 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 5 men, 10 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 5 men, 5 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
Florence Pugh 27, Emily Blunt 40
Men
Benny Safdie 37, Rami Malek 42, Josh Hartnett 44, Cillian Murphy 47, Casey Affleck 47, Matt Damon 52, Robert Downey Jr. 58, Kenneth Branagh 62
Exhibit G: the money
It made 9.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $100 million
- Box office
- $952 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 280 scenes and 1,817 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
