Passes the Bechdel test

Private Life

Name: Private Life
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Tamara Jenkins, written by Tamara Jenkins.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
21 women characters. 15 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 30 scenes out of 154.
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

Richard and Rachel, a couple in the throes of infertility, try to maintain their marriage as they descend deeper and deeper into the weird world of assisted reproduction and domestic adoption. When their doctor suggests third party reproduction, they bristle. But when Sadie, a recent college drop out, re-enters their life, they reconsider.

Released: 05 Oct 2018
Genres: Comedy, Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.2 / 10
Metascore: 83 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 19 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Rachel 238 lines, woman
Richard 224 lines, man
Sadie 192 lines, woman
Cynthia 71 lines, woman
Sam 27 lines, man
Charlie 23 lines, man
Dordick 19 lines, man
Caroline 10 lines, woman
Charlotte 9 lines, woman
Liz 8 lines, woman

Full cast, 34 people

Paul Giamatti as Richard Grimes
Kathryn Hahn as Rachel Biegler
Kayli Carter as Sadie Barrett
Molly Shannon as Cynthia Grimes
John Carroll Lynch as Charlie Grimes
Desmin Borges as Sam
Denis O'Hare as Dr. Dordick
Siobhan Fallon Hogan as Beth
Emily Robinson as Charlotte Grimes
Tracee Chimo as Caroline
Amaya Press as Trick or Treat Girl
Francesca Root-Dodson as Fiona
Samantha Buck as Psychologist
Kerry Flanagan as Receptionist
Danny Deferrari as Jonathan
Alyssa Cheatham as Caroline's Daughter
Kelly Miller as Dr. Russell
Fenton Lawless as Uncle Bob
Gabrielle Reidy as Clinic Nurse #3
Caroline Martin as Clinic Nurse
Hettienne Park as Female Doctor
Maddie Corman as Liz
Katrine Hoyt as Nurse with Devil Horns (uncredited)
Gabrielle Reid as Clinic Nurse #1
Amy Russ as Admitting Nurse #1
Nick Sullivan as Anesthesiologist
David Cale as David
Seaton Smith as Brad
Lizzy DeClement as Tiffany
Mandela Bellamy as Famous Dave's Waitress
Vincent Condurso as Trick-Or-Treater Boy
Barbara Singer as Elderly Woman at Thanksgiving
Don Guillory as E.R. Doctor
Ashley Masula as Applebee's Waitress

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 154

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	8	10
5 to 8	11	9
9 to 12	23	21
13 to 16	49	8
17 to 20	22	2
21 to 24	16	12
25 to 28	4	4
29 to 32	12	14
33 to 36	4	3
37 to 40	1	5
41 to 44	2	4
45 to 48	16	16
49 to 52	17	13
53 to 56	16	15
57 to 60	13	2
61 to 64	30	20
65 to 68	41	22
69 to 72	1	0
73 to 76	5	1
77 to 80	17	4
81 to 84	23	5
85 to 88	1	3
89 to 92	20	12
93 to 96	18	1
97 to 100	34	5
101 to 104	20	9
105 to 108	32	14
109 to 112	26	12
113 to 116	20	16
117 to 120	12	12
121 to 124	12	9
125 to 128	2	1
129 to 132	8	6
133 to 136	0	1
137 to 140	15	11
141 to 144	6	4
145 to 148	3	4
149 to 152	1	2
153 to 154	1	2

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.

RACHEL: Owww! Fuck! Richard! RICHARD RACHEL: What?! That fucking hurts!

ADMITTING NURSE: Both partners signatures are required on the second page. This is our policy regarding embryo storage. The fee schedule is on the back. You … RACHEL: There you are!

CHARLOTTE: Sadie’s on the phone. She doesn’t sound good. SADIE: Mom? CYNTHIA: Hi, honey.

CYNTHIA: I really want you to think about what you’re doing. SADIE: Mom? What’s going on?

RACHEL: No. Uh-uh. If our social worker is so uptight that she would actually deny us a child because we have a... vagina on our wall, well then... … RACHEL: I mean, just fuck it! I am so sick of these people judging us and telling us what to do all the time. Between the doctors and the social wor… BETH: Before Kyra went on maternity leave she walked me through everything, so I’m pretty up-to-date. But nothing can replace talking face-to-face… RACHEL: She’s a good friend of ours. Not the woman in the picture. The artist who made it. She’s our friend. It was a wedding present.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 64 are women's.

562 lines from women, 314 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

21 women and 10 men in the cast. 15 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 897. 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 63% of the words (5,969), men 37% (3,448). Women have 64% 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

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 10 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 48% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Tamara Jenkins (woman)
Written by: Tamara Jenkins (woman)
Produced by: Stefanie Azpiazu (woman), Anthony Bregman (man), Tamara Jenkins (woman)
Shot by: Christos Voudouris (man)
Edited by: Brian A. Kates (man)
Production design by: Ford Wheeler (man)
Costumes by: Leah Katznelson (woman)
Cast by: Ro Dempsey (woman)