Passes the Bechdel test
Red Sparrow
2018. Directed by Francis Lawrence, written by Justin Haythe and Jason Matthews.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 0 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 3 scenes out of 216. -
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
A young Russian intelligence officer is assigned to seduce a first-tour CIA agent who handles the CIA's most sensitive penetration of Russian intelligence. The two young officers collide in a charged atmosphere of trade-craft, deception, and inevitably forbidden passion that threatens not just their lives but the lives of others as well.
- Released
- 02 Mar 2018
- Genres
- Drama, Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 53 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 9 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Nate 277 lines, man
- Dom 130 lines, woman
- Egorov 93 lines, man
- Korchnoi 90 lines, man
- Gable 54 lines, man
- Luka 48 lines, man
- Benford 44 lines, man
- Elena 25 lines, woman
- Alexa 20 lines
- Defense Minister 19 lines, man
Full cast, 40 people
- Jennifer Lawrence as Dominika Egorova
- Joel Edgerton as Nathaniel "Natan" Nash
- Matthias Schoenaerts as Vanya Egorov
- Charlotte Rampling as Matron
- Jeremy Irons as Vladimir Korchnoi
- Ciarán Hinds as Alexei Zyuganov
- Joely Richardson as Nina Egorova
- Mary-Louise Parker as Stephanie Boucher
- Bill Camp as Marty Gable
- Douglas Hodge as Maxim Volontov
- Thekla Reuten as Marta Yelenova
- Sakina Jaffrey as Trish Forsythe
- Sergei Polunin as Konstantin
- Kristof Konrad as Ustinov
- Nicole O'Neill as Sonya
- Sergej Onopko as Simyonov
- Dávid Miller as Victor
- Sasha Frolova as Anya
- Hugh Quarshie as Simon Benford
- Sebastian Hülk as Matorin
- Joel de la Fuente as U.S. Senator
- Judit Rezes as Leni
- Makar Zaporozhskiy as Nikolai
- Tom Morley as Pyotr
- Louis Hofmann as Bank Assistant
- Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė as Ballet Director
- Chris O'Hara as Marine Guard
- Kata Pálfi as Doctor
- Karen Gagnon as Kremlin Secretary
- Zsolt Viczei as Chemist
- Zsolt Anger as Russian Ambassador
- Attila Árpa as Ustinov Security #1
- Simon Szabó as Ustinov Security #2
- Judit Viktor as Ustinov's Wife
- Bálint Adorjáni as Detective
- Tanya Vital as MI6 Driver
- Kincsö Pethö as Interrogator
- Lauren Glazier as Russian Sniper
- Scott Alexander Young as Russian Officer
- Isabella Boylston as Princess Aurora Dancer
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 216
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 5 | 18 | 1 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 5 |
| 21 to 25 | 0 | 51 |
| 26 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 32 |
| 41 to 45 | 2 | 33 |
| 46 to 50 | 27 | 19 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 42 |
| 56 to 60 | 10 | 1 |
| 61 to 65 | 3 | 18 |
| 66 to 70 | 1 | 2 |
| 71 to 75 | 0 | 11 |
| 76 to 80 | 3 | 4 |
| 81 to 85 | 11 | 1 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 26 |
| 91 to 95 | 8 | 19 |
| 96 to 100 | 15 | 34 |
| 101 to 105 | 3 | 11 |
| 106 to 110 | 2 | 1 |
| 111 to 115 | 1 | 6 |
| 116 to 120 | 7 | 9 |
| 121 to 125 | 8 | 42 |
| 126 to 130 | 11 | 14 |
| 131 to 135 | 10 | 13 |
| 136 to 140 | 8 | 25 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 7 |
| 146 to 150 | 0 | 29 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 14 |
| 156 to 160 | 0 | 56 |
| 161 to 165 | 1 | 0 |
| 166 to 170 | 10 | 14 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 38 |
| 176 to 180 | 7 | 24 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 12 |
| 186 to 190 | 1 | 42 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 0 |
| 196 to 200 | 3 | 23 |
| 201 to 205 | 3 | 19 |
| 206 to 210 | 0 | 8 |
| 211 to 215 | 0 | 0 |
| 216 to 216 | 0 | 13 |
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.
DOM: It's wonderful --- TATI: Really? DOM: The depth and detail of the moment --- the joy triumphing over the tragedy -- TATI: You're moved by anything broken or crippled ---
TATI: But you only just got back... For how long this time? DOM: I don't know. TATI: Please, Domi, don't go --- DOM: I have to.
ELENA: I'm sorry things didn't work out --- ELENA: What will they do when you return? Will you be all right? DOM: I'll be fine. ELENA: I'm going to miss you.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 19 are women's.
173 lines from women, 723 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 23 men in the cast. 0 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 1,005.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 146 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 17% of the words (1,878), men 83% (9,142). Women have 19% 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
10
Two men
54
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 34% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Francis Lawrence (man)
- Written by
- Justin Haythe (man)
- From the novel by
- Jason Matthews (man)
- Produced by
- Steven Zaillian (man), David Ready (man), Peter Chernin (man), Jenno Topping (woman)
- Shot by
- Jo Willems (man)
- Edited by
- Alan Edward Bell (man)
- Music by
- James Newton Howard (man)
- Production design by
- Maria Djurkovic (woman)
- Cast by
- Denise Chamian (woman), Priscilla John (woman), Zsolt Csutak (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 3 men, 24 not listed
-
Production
9 women, 7 men, 7 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 14 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 9 men, 7 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 4 men, 12 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 2 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 9 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 51 on average. Men: 55 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jennifer Lawrence 27, Joely Richardson 53, Mary-Louise Parker 53, Charlotte Rampling 72
Men
Matthias Schoenaerts 40, Joel Edgerton 43, Bill Camp 53, Douglas Hodge 58, Ciarán Hinds 65, Jeremy Irons 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $69 million
- Box office
- $152 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 216 scenes and 1,005 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
