Passes the Bechdel test

Origin

Name: Origin
Released: 2024

2024. Directed by Ava DuVernay, written by Ava DuVernay and Isabel Wilkerson.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
20 women characters. 16 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 118.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

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

The film

The unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.

Released: 19 Jan 2024
Genres: Drama, History
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.2 / 10
Metascore: 75 / 100
Awards: 8 wins & 32 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Isabel 289 lines, woman
Marion 60 lines, woman
Brett 40 lines, man
Kate 34 lines, woman
Amari 29 lines, man
Ruby 26 lines, woman
Suraj 25 lines
Allison 18 lines, man
Elizabeth 16 lines, woman
Nigella 16 lines, woman

Full cast, 70 people

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor as Isabel Wilkerson
Niecy Nash-Betts as Marion Wilkerson
Jon Bernthal as Brett Hamilton
Emily Yancy as Ruby Wilkerson
Finn Wittrock as August Landmesser
Victoria Pedretti as Irma Eckler
Jasmine Cephas Jones as Elizabeth Davis
Isha Blaaker as Allison Davis
Vera Farmiga as Kate Medina
Audra McDonald as Miss Hale
Connie Nielsen as Sabine
Blair Underwood as Amari Selvan
Nick Offerman as Dave the Plumber
Stephanie March as Binky Urban
Myles Frost as Trayvon Martin
Suraj Yengde, Ph.D as Himself
Donna Mills as Mrs. Copeland
Michael "Spike" Topoozian as Sales Executive
Cristin König as Nazi Librarian
Franz Hartwig as Erich Kästner
Jakob von Eichel as Pastor
Thai Douglas as Teddy
Matthias Miller as Berlin Librarian
Daniel Lommatzsch as Joseph Goebbels
Max Schimmelpfennig as Nazi Student Organizer
Mieke Schymura as Nigella Dunkley
John Hans Tester as Ulrich Kostlin
Leonardo Nam as Nathan Kostlin
Bryan Terry Shell as Pest Control Guy
Ann-Sophie Heier as Museum Curator
Ingo Hülsmann as Eduard Kohlrausch
Holger Handtke as Fritz Grau
Felix Goeser as Bernhard Lösener
Luis Lüps as Achim Gercke
Konstantin Lindhorst as Roland Freisler
David Bredin as Karl Klee
Matthew Zuk as Burleigh Gardner
Hannah Pniewski as Mary Gardner
Jessica Fontaine as Essie
Steven Allen as Red Haired Man
Gigi Pereira as Traveler/ Restaurant Patron
Will Baker as Traveler / Restaurant Patron
Wyatt Werneth as Sheriff
Monica Patankar as Conference Leader
Zing Ashford as Cousin Patrice
Akil Jackson as Cousin Andre
Malachi Malik as James Hale
Gissette Valentin as Gina the Realtor
Prakash Dhingra as Tuk-Tuk Driver
Abhishek Arun Bhalerao as Professor Ram Rawat
Shahid Khan as Scarf Vendor
Jyotsana Siddharth as Indian Woman Docent
Ishaan Yadav as Young Ambedkar
Dhrubo Jyoti as Himself
Snehalata Siddharth Tagde as Dr. Jajula Valicharla
Sarah Navratil as German Lady in Powder Room #1
Tatiana Harman as German Lady in Powder Room #2
Abigail London as August & Irma's Daughter
Danielle Burr as Jewish Woman
Raphael Allan as Jewish Son
Lennox Simms as Al Bright
Allan Jones as Coach
Emerson Smith as Young Al's Friend
Avery Gibson as City Champ #3
Allan Wilayto as Adult Al's Friend
Bryan McClure as Park Worker
Keller Fornes as Lifeguard
Carmen Halphen as Airplane Passenger
Barack Obama as Self (archive footage)
Martin Luther King Jr. as Self (archive voice)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 118

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	3	4
4 to 6	33	4
7 to 9	6	7
10 to 12	8	1
13 to 15	13	13
16 to 18	13	6
19 to 21	31	20
22 to 24	10	11
25 to 27	0	0
28 to 30	1	0
31 to 33	0	1
34 to 36	5	0
37 to 39	1	1
40 to 42	35	0
43 to 45	26	0
46 to 48	10	14
49 to 51	5	11
52 to 54	39	11
55 to 57	2	3
58 to 60	7	7
61 to 63	11	4
64 to 66	31	0
67 to 69	24	14
70 to 72	42	0
73 to 75	19	1
76 to 78	23	0
79 to 81	0	0
82 to 84	8	0
85 to 87	7	1
88 to 90	5	3
91 to 93	9	1
94 to 96	24	12
97 to 99	19	0
100 to 102	2	0
103 to 105	12	11
106 to 108	8	0
109 to 111	6	4
112 to 114	6	3
115 to 117	9	0
118 to 118	2	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.

ISABEL: Irma Eckler. A Jewish woman. IRMA: An unexpected treat. You're early.

MARION: Isabel Wilkerson's office. KATE: Hello. Hi. This is Kate. I'm Isabel's editor and I... MARION: I know your name. Hi, Kate. This is her cousin. Marion. KATE: Marion, hi. My condolences for your family's losses. I don't have the words. Unfathomable. Unthinkable.

LIBRARIAN: What are you studying? ELIZABETH: We work with Dr. Diedrich Westermann.

NIGELLA: Everything Hitler is gone. They paved right over it all. And built new things. SABINE: You can literally walk right over Nazi places and not know it was ever there.

NIGELLA: Isabel, we passed it on the way. ISABEL: We did? NIGELLA: You'd never know. It looks like nothing. It was 30 feet underground and protected by reinforced concrete. Now it has a Volkswagen or somethi… ISABEL: A very different approach than in the States.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 75 are women's.

515 lines from women, 168 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

20 women and 28 men in the cast. 16 women and 25 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 764. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 12 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 81% of the words (8,488), men 19% (2,011). Women have 75% 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

5 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Ava DuVernay (woman)
Written by: Ava DuVernay (woman)
Produced by: Ava DuVernay (woman), Sarah Perlman Bremner (gender not listed), Paul Goodwin Garnes (man)
Shot by: Matthew J. Lloyd (man)
Edited by: Spencer Averick (man)
Music by: Kris Bowers (man)
Production design by: Ina Mayhew (woman)
Costumes by: Dominique Dawson (woman)
Cast by: Aisha Coley (gender not listed)