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Passes the Bechdel test

Palm Springs

2020. Directed by Max Barbakow, written by Andy Siara and Max Barbakow.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    10 women characters. 8 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 12 scenes out of 144.
  3. 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.

Poster for Palm Springs

The film

While stuck at a wedding in Palm Springs, Nyles (Andy Samberg) meets Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the maid of honor and family black sheep. After he rescues her from a disastrous toast, Sarah becomes drawn to Nyles and his offbeat nihilism. But when their impromptu tryst is thwarted by a surreal interruption, Sarah must join Nyles in embracing the idea that nothing really matters, and they begin wreaking spirited havoc on the wedding celebration.

Released
10 Jul 2020
Genres
Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Rated
R
IMDb
7.4 / 10
Metascore
83 / 100
Awards
16 wins & 43 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Nyles 324 lines, man
  2. Sarah 251 lines, woman
  3. Roy 53 lines, man
  4. Misty 39 lines, woman
  5. Howard 23 lines, man
  6. Abe 22 lines, man
  7. Pia 21 lines, woman
  8. Jerry 17 lines, man
  9. The Officiant 16 lines
  10. Tala 15 lines, woman
Full cast, 31 people
  • Andy Samberg as Nyles
  • Cristin Milioti as Sarah
  • J.K. Simmons as Roy
  • Peter Gallagher as Howard
  • Meredith Hagner as Misty
  • Camila Mendes as Tala
  • Tyler Hoechlin as Abe
  • Chris Pang as Trevor
  • Jacqueline Obradors as Pia
  • June Squibb as Nana Schlieffen
  • Tongayi Chirisa as Jerry
  • Dale Dickey as Darla
  • Conner O'Malley as Randy
  • Jena Friedman as Daisy the Bartender
  • Brian Duffy as Spuds
  • Martin Kildare as Ted the Bartender
  • Lilli Birdsell as Jamie
  • Ryan Sturtz as Cop
  • Clifford V. Johnson as Professor
  • Calki Garcia as DJ Nice Height
  • Michelle Johnston as Nosy Neighbor
  • Isla Sellers as Roy's Daughter
  • Matt Smith as Out of Town Dad
  • Rebecca Smith as Out of Town Mom
  • Jake Smith as Out of Town Older Son
  • Noah Smith as Out of Town Younger Son
  • Rocky Bonifield as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
  • Erin Flannery as Wedding Guest (uncredited)
  • David Hutchison as Biker (uncredited)
  • Mark Kubr as Biker (uncredited)
  • David Philip Reed as Truck Driver (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 144

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 346
4 to 61819
7 to 92223
10 to 1236
13 to 1555
16 to 1898
19 to 2143
22 to 2420
25 to 27135
28 to 301617
31 to 3376
34 to 3602
37 to 3916
40 to 4210
43 to 451510
46 to 481033
49 to 51011
52 to 5414
55 to 5701
58 to 601220
61 to 6332
64 to 66611
67 to 691615
70 to 7293
73 to 7500
76 to 7823
79 to 8143
82 to 8400
85 to 8726
88 to 9000
91 to 9311
94 to 961822
97 to 9900
100 to 1022928
103 to 1051114
106 to 10823
109 to 111844
112 to 114913
115 to 11705
118 to 120437
121 to 12333
124 to 126113
127 to 1293928
130 to 13200
133 to 135100
136 to 13857
139 to 14108
142 to 1441822

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.
MISTY: ... hashtag LifeGoals. So, this was supposed to be three minutes and I’m going on like ten. Sorry, not sorry. MISTY: To wrap things up... Tala, girl, you’re the sister I always wanted. TALA: Love you, babe!
MISTY: Oh, wait, there’s still another page. I’ll make this quick. MISTY: I decided to Google the two most important things about marriage. Love and Commitment. SARAH: Jesus Christ. MISTY: Love is “to feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone.” We know they’re fine in that department.
SARAH: YOU! SARAH: What the fuck did you do to me? SARAH: Tell me what the fuck is going on! TALA: Sarah!
PIA: Tala should be done with her make- up soon, so you need to be ready. SARAH: I need a minute. PIA: She made a specific order for you girls, and we already moved Misty up because we couldn’t find you. SARAH: This is really happening, right?
SARAH: It was real. It felt so real. PIA: Are you on drugs again?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 43 are women's.

353 lines from women, 466 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

10 women and 13 men in the cast. 8 women and 11 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 43 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 42% of the words (3,631), men 58% (4,977). Women have 43% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 17 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 40% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Max Barbakow (man)
Written by
Andy Siara (man)
Story by
Andy Siara (man), Max Barbakow (man)
Produced by
Andy Samberg (man), Jorma Taccone (man), Becky Sloviter (woman), Dylan Sellers (man), Akiva Schaffer (man), Chris Parker (gender not listed)
Shot by
Quyen Tran (woman)
Edited by
Andrew Dickler (man), Matthew Friedman (man)
Music by
Matthew Compton (man)
Production design by
Jason Kisvarday (man)
Costumes by
Colin Wilkes (woman)
Cast by
Allison Jones (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    4 women, 14 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    6 women, 5 men, 11 not listed

  • Production

    8 women, 8 men, 5 not listed

  • Camera

    3 women, 7 men, 9 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    10 women, 0 men, 8 not listed

  • Sound

    2 women, 7 men, 7 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 5 men, 10 not listed

  • Directing

    3 women, 1 men, 1 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 47 on average. Men: 47 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Camila Mendes 26, Meredith Hagner 33, Cristin Milioti 34, Jacqueline Obradors 53, June Squibb 90

Men

Tyler Hoechlin 32, Chris Pang 35, Andy Samberg 41, Peter Gallagher 64, J.K. Simmons 65

Exhibit H: the money

It made 36% of what it cost.

Budget
$5 million
Box office
$1.8 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 144 scenes and 876 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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