Passes the Bechdel test

Red Rocket

Name: Red Rocket
Released: 2021

2021. Directed by Sean Baker, written by Sean Baker and Chris Bergoch.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
6 women characters. 5 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 176.
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

Finding himself down and out in Los Angeles, ex porn star Mikey Saber decides to crawl back to his hometown of Texas City, Texas, where his estranged wife and mother-in-law are living. Just as this dysfunctional family seems to be making things work, Mikey meets a young woman named Strawberry working the cash register at a local doughnut shop. He falls right back into his old habits.

Released: 24 Dec 2021
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.1 / 10
Metascore: 76 / 100
Awards: 10 wins & 35 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Mikey 428 lines, man
Strawberry 156 lines, woman
Lexi 72 lines, woman
Lonnie 71 lines, man
Leondria 41 lines
June 29 lines, woman
Lil 23 lines, woman
Manager 10 lines
Ernesto 9 lines, woman
Nash 7 lines, man

Full cast, 43 people

Simon Rex as Mikey
Suzanna Son as Strawberry
Bree Elrod as Lexi
Ethan Darbone as Lonnie
Brenda Deiss as Lil
Judy Hill as Leondria
Brittney Rodriguez as June
Marlon Lambert as Ernesto
Vickie Pearce as Manager #1
Bashir Abboud as Manager #2
Kevin Cavanaugh as Manager #3
Caressa Garza as Manager #4
Melary Jones as Leondria's Friend #1
Najeeb Hassan as Quick Stop Clerk
Leigh Ann Welch as Leondria's Friend #2
Debra Johnson as Yard Sale Seller
Alex Michell as Dancer #1
Curt Smith as Club DJ
Tsou Shih-ching as Ms. Phan
Andrew Carter as Hungry Hard Hat #1
Stanley Buffington as Hungry Hard Hat #2
Daniel Gonzalez as Hungry Hard Hat #3
Robert Gonzales as Hungry Hard Hat #4
Zachary Kemp as Hungry Hard Hat #5
Efrain Avendaño as Hungry Hard Hat #6
Shawn Harper as Hungry Hard Hat #7
David Maxwell as Lonnie's Dad
Nate Venz as Buff Veteran
Anthony Carvelli as Blonde Veteran
Parker Bigham as Nash
Brandy Kirl as Nash's Mother
Dustin Hart as Nash's Father
Allison Fuller as Homeowner
Dimitri Manetas as Club Owner
Roza Kastis as Club Worker
Alayna Polk as Dancer #2
Karren Karagulian as Arash (voice)
Darinda Fuller as Interviewee
Lindsey Fuller as Studio Reporter
Elisa Silva as Reporter
Gary Fuller as Attorney
Seward B. Lott as June's Friend 'B'
Mason Shortland as Marcus - Store Patron (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 176

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	0	0
5 to 8	33	30
9 to 12	12	20
13 to 16	1	12
17 to 20	1	1
21 to 24	2	3
25 to 28	1	8
29 to 32	0	4
33 to 36	2	25
37 to 40	0	49
41 to 44	6	4
45 to 48	5	7
49 to 52	2	2
53 to 56	0	0
57 to 60	0	1
61 to 64	18	24
65 to 68	1	13
69 to 72	23	21
73 to 76	10	14
77 to 80	4	15
81 to 84	0	8
85 to 88	11	21
89 to 92	9	19
93 to 96	4	4
97 to 100	13	9
101 to 104	3	9
105 to 108	6	8
109 to 112	3	3
113 to 116	3	2
117 to 120	14	14
121 to 124	5	24
125 to 128	13	13
129 to 132	9	7
133 to 136	22	21
137 to 140	6	29
141 to 144	1	9
145 to 148	1	2
149 to 152	0	0
153 to 156	3	1
157 to 160	1	2
161 to 164	8	6
165 to 168	7	9
169 to 172	13	12
173 to 176	17	24

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.

LIL: Lexi! LEXI: Oh, for fucksake.

LEXI: Yeah, that’s what I asked you. LIL: What do you want! LEXI: Ma. Gimme a minute.

LIL: Why’d they arrest you? LEXI: I have a feeling there’s more to this story.

JUNE: Not anymore. LEXI: Thank ya, kindly.

LIL: Good riddance, fuckwad. JUNE: Hey.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 37 are women's.

293 lines from women, 509 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

6 women and 4 men in the cast. 5 women and 2 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 882. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 70 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 26% of the words (2,289), men 74% (6,640). Women have 37% 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

4 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 39% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Sean Baker (man)
Written by: Chris Bergoch (man), Sean Baker (man)
Produced by: Sean Baker (man), Alex Coco (man), Samantha Quan (woman), Alex Saks (woman), Tsou Shih-ching (woman)
Shot by: Drew Daniels (man)
Edited by: Sean Baker (man)
Production design by: Stephonik Youth (woman)
Cast by: Sean Baker (man)