Passes the Bechdel test
Requiem for a Dream
2000. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Hubert Selby Jr. and Darren Aronofsky.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 156. -
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
Sara Goldfarb (Ellen Burstyn) is a retired widow, living in a small apartment. She spends most of her time watching TV, especially a particular self-help show. She has delusions of rising above her current dull existence by being a guest on that show. Her son, Harry (Jared Leto) is a junkie but along with his friend Tyrone (Marlon Wayans) has visions of making it big by becoming a drug dealer. Harry's girlfriend Marion (Jennifer Connelly) could be fashion designer or artist but is swept along in Harry's drug-centric world. Meanwhile Sara has developed an addiction of her own. She desperately wants to lose weight and so goes on a crash course involving popping pills, pills which turn out to be very addictive and harmful to her mental state.
- Released
- 15 Dec 2000
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- NC-17
- IMDb
- 8.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 71 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 37 wins & 69 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Harry 217 lines, man
- Sara 150 lines, woman
- Marion 105 lines, woman
- Tyrone 87 lines, man
- Ada 32 lines, woman
- Big Tim 29 lines, man
- Tappy Tibbons 16 lines, man
- Arnold The Shrink 12 lines, man
- Rae 10 lines, woman
- Red Sara 10 lines, woman
Full cast, 74 people
- Ellen Burstyn as Sara Goldfarb
- Jared Leto as Harry Goldfarb
- Jennifer Connelly as Marion Silver
- Marlon Wayans as Tyrone C. Love
- Christopher McDonald as Tappy Tibbons
- Louise Lasser as Ada
- Marcia Jean Kurtz as Rae
- Janet Sarno as Mrs. Pearlman
- Suzanne Shepherd as Mrs. Scarlini
- Joanne Gordon as Mrs. Ovadia
- Charlotte Aronofsky as Mrs. Miles
- Mark Margolis as Mr. Rabinowitz
- Michael Kaycheck as Donut Cop
- Jack A. O'Connell as Corn Dog Stand Boss
- Chas Mastin as Lyle Russel
- Ajay Naidu as Mailman
- Sean Gullette as Arnold the Shrink
- Samia Shoaib as Nurse Mall
- Peter Maloney as Dr. Pill
- Abraham Abraham as King Neptune
- Aliya Campbell as Alice
- Te'ron A. O'Neal as Young Tyrone
- Denise Dowse as Tyrone's Mother
- Bryan Chattoo as Brody
- Eddie De Harp as Brody's Henchman Victor
- Scott Franklin as Jailer (voice)
- Peter Cheyenne as Sal the Geep
- Brian Costello as First AD
- Abraham Aronofsky as Newspaper Man on Train
- James Chinlund as Space Oddity
- Olga Merediz as Malin & Block Secretary
- Allison Furman as Malin & Block Office Woman
- Robert Dylan Cohen as Paramedic Greenhill
- Ben Shenkman as Dr. Spencer
- Keith David as Big Tim
- Dylan Baker as Southern Doctor
- Shaun O'Hagan as Ward Attendant Seto
- Leland Gantt as Ward Attendant Penn
- Bill Buell as Court Doctor
- Jimmie Ray Weeks as Prison Guard
- Gregg Bello as E.R. Doctor
- Henry Stram as ECT Technician
- Heather Litteer as Big Tim Party Girl
- Jenny Decker as Big Tim Party Girl
- Ami Goodheart as Big Tim Party Girl
- Nina Zavarin as Big Tim Party Girl
- Stanley B. Herman as Uncle Hank
- Scott Bader as Party Animal
- Jim Centofanti as Party Animal
- Scott Chait as Party Animal
- Daniel Clarin as Party Animal
- Ben Cohen as Party Animal
- Eric Cohen as Party Animal
- Brett Feinstein as Party Animal
- Ricky Fier as Party Animal
- John Getz as Party Animal
- Andrew Kessler as Party Animal
- Ross Lombardo as Party Animal
- Carter Mansbach as Party Animal
- Scott Miller as Party Animal
- Todd Miller as Party Animal
- Joshua Pollack as Party Animal
- Craig Rallo as Party Animal
- Geordan Reisner as Party Animal
- Keith Scandore as Party Animal
- David Seltzer as Party Animal
- Chris Varvaro as Party Animal
- Ricardo Viñas as Party Animal
- Chad Weiner as Party Animal
- Jesse Weissberger as Party Animal
- Greg Weissman as Party Animal
- Hubert Selby Jr. as Laughing Guard
- Lianna Pai as Angelic Nurse
- Darren Aronofsky as Visitor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 156
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 | 4 | 15 |
| 5 to 8 | 3 | 16 |
| 9 to 12 | 14 | 5 |
| 13 to 16 | 11 | 5 |
| 17 to 20 | 1 | 2 |
| 21 to 24 | 27 | 14 |
| 25 to 28 | 16 | 15 |
| 29 to 32 | 28 | 2 |
| 33 to 36 | 23 | 14 |
| 37 to 40 | 11 | 6 |
| 41 to 44 | 5 | 4 |
| 45 to 48 | 2 | 0 |
| 49 to 52 | 11 | 13 |
| 53 to 56 | 6 | 0 |
| 57 to 60 | 50 | 49 |
| 61 to 64 | 5 | 10 |
| 65 to 68 | 1 | 17 |
| 69 to 72 | 1 | 0 |
| 73 to 76 | 7 | 6 |
| 77 to 80 | 35 | 13 |
| 81 to 84 | 10 | 27 |
| 85 to 88 | 11 | 12 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 1 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 6 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 23 |
| 101 to 104 | 19 | 33 |
| 105 to 108 | 13 | 5 |
| 109 to 112 | 5 | 8 |
| 113 to 116 | 4 | 12 |
| 117 to 120 | 7 | 17 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 9 |
| 125 to 128 | 1 | 2 |
| 129 to 132 | 8 | 10 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 10 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 14 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 3 |
| 145 to 148 | 3 | 3 |
| 149 to 152 | 4 | 7 |
| 153 to 156 | 8 | 10 |
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.
RAE: Ada told us. It’s gorgeous. SARA: Thank you. We’re making it a little darker tomorrow. RAE: So why darker? SARA: To match my red dress.
RAE: What diet you on? SARA: Eggs and grapefruit. RAE: Oi vay. I was on that once. Lots of luck, Dolly. SARA: It’s not so bad.
RAE: So when do you go on? SARA: They decide after you send this form.
SARA: Shut up! MRS SCARLINI: Hello? SARA: Louise, it’s Sara. I need the number of that doctor.
SARA: Oh please... please... let me on the show... please... please... any show... please... RED SARA: Feed me, Sara. Feed me.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 46 are women's.
354 lines from women, 418 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 27 men in the cast. 8 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 4 of 828.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 30 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 44% of the words (3,304), men 56% (4,276). Women have 46% 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
29
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Darren Aronofsky (man)
- Written by
- Hubert Selby Jr. (man), Darren Aronofsky (man)
- From the novel by
- Hubert Selby Jr. (man)
- Produced by
- Eric Watson (man), Palmer West (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Matthew Libatique (man)
- Edited by
- Jay Rabinowitz (man)
- Music by
- Clint Mansell (man)
- Production design by
- James Chinlund (man)
- Costumes by
- Carolyn Grifel (gender not listed), Laura Jean Shannon (woman)
- Cast by
- Ann Goulder (woman), Mary Vernieu (woman), Anne McCarthy (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 17 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 8 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 58 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jennifer Connelly 29, Marcia Jean Kurtz 58, Louise Lasser 61, Suzanne Shepherd 65, Janet Sarno 66, Ellen Burstyn 67
Men
Jared Leto 28, Marlon Wayans 28, Christopher McDonald 45
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4.5 million
- Box office
- $7.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 156 scenes and 828 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
