Passes the Bechdel test

Passing

Name: Passing
Released: 2021

2021. Directed by Rebecca Hall, written by Rebecca Hall and Nella Larsen.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
9 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 10 scenes out of 98.
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

Mixed-race childhood friends reunite in middle-class adulthood and become increasingly involved in each other's lives and insecurities. While Irene identifies as African-American and is married to a Black doctor, Clare "passes" as white and has married a prejudiced, wealthy white man.

Released: 10 Nov 2021
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.6 / 10
Metascore: 85 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 4 BAFTA Awards. 34 wins & 126 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Irene 291 lines, woman
Clare 148 lines, woman
Brian 143 lines, man
Hugh 41 lines, man
John 30 lines, man
Ted 18 lines
Felise 16 lines, woman
Junior 14 lines, man
Zulena 14 lines, woman
Dave 11 lines, man

Full cast, 32 people

Tessa Thompson as Irene Redfield
Ruth Negga as Clare Kendry
André Holland as Brian Redfield
Alexander Skarsgård as John Bellew
Bill Camp as Hugh Wentworth
Gbenga Akinnagbe as Dave
Antoinette Crowe-Legacy as Felise
Justus Davis Graham as Ted
Ethan Barrett as Junior
Ashley Ware Jenkins as Zulena
Amos J. Machanic as Ralph Hazelton
Stu S. Becker as Cabbie
Tom White as Attendant
Margaret Daly as Woman #1
Kerry Flanagan as Woman #2
Buzz Roddy as Officer
Derek Roberts as Guest
Amber Barbee Pickens as Dancer
Samuel Coleman as Dancer
Tatiana Marie Barber as Dancer
Carmen Carriker as Dancer
Leroy Church as Dancer
Brian Davis as Dancer
Zuri Foreman as Dancer
Abeni Jewel as Dancer
Malik Kitchen as Dancer
Ivan Phillip Owens as Dancer
Donna Hayes as Dancer (uncredited)
Shaun Hudson as Saxophone Player (uncredited)
Sienna Jeffries as Looper (uncredited)
Doris McCarthy as Pedestrian (uncredited)
Rahim Rosen as Garbage Man (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 98

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	16	2
4 to 6	5	3
7 to 9	0	0
10 to 12	95	22
13 to 15	3	6
16 to 18	12	15
19 to 21	6	5
22 to 24	29	32
25 to 27	1	2
28 to 30	7	0
31 to 33	45	0
34 to 36	26	0
37 to 39	15	1
40 to 42	18	1
43 to 45	16	14
46 to 48	8	5
49 to 51	5	3
52 to 54	33	41
55 to 57	0	0
58 to 60	7	6
61 to 63	32	10
64 to 66	22	4
67 to 69	10	10
70 to 72	0	0
73 to 75	2	2
76 to 78	16	11
79 to 81	26	12
82 to 84	10	6
85 to 87	3	0
88 to 90	0	0
91 to 93	11	9
94 to 96	10	24
97 to 98	4	5

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.

IRENE: That’s enough, thank you. CLARE: Oh, have a drop more, you’ve hardly had any.

IRENE: Actually, it’s Mrs. Redfield. CLARE: Of course, I didn’t even ask - !

ZULENA: You want grapefruit, ma’am? IRENE: Uh-huh. Thank you.

ZULENA: Mrs. Redfield, you forgot one. IRENE: Thank you.

IRENE: It’ll just be us for dinner. ZULENA: Just as well. I don’t have anymore for more. CLARE: Well! They were the cowboys and I was the Indian and they captured me in front of the fort. But I think I just made my escape.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 66 are women's.

493 lines from women, 251 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

9 women and 7 men in the cast. 4 women and 6 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 9 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 69% of the words (4,562), men 31% (2,082). Women have 66% 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

11 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 61% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Rebecca Hall (woman)
Written by: Rebecca Hall (woman)
From the novel by: Nella Larsen (woman)
Produced by: Forest Whitaker (man), Margot Hand (woman), Nina Yang Bongiovi (woman), Rebecca Hall (woman)
Shot by: Eduard Grau (man)
Edited by: Sabine Hoffman (woman)
Music by: Devonté Hynes (man)
Production design by: Nora Mendis (woman)
Costumes by: Marci Rodgers (woman)
Cast by: Laura Rosenthal (woman), Kim Ostroy (woman)