Passes the Bechdel test
Revolutionary Road
2009. Directed by Sam Mendes, written by Justin Haythe and Richard Yates.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 120. -
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
It's 1955. Frank and April Wheeler, are in the 'seven year itch' of their marriage; they're not happy. April has forgone her dream of being an actress, and Frank hates his job. One day, April suggests they move to Paris as a means to rejuvenate their life.
- Released
- 23 Jan 2009
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 20 wins & 73 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Frank 246 lines, man
- April 191 lines, woman
- John 49 lines, man
- Mrs. Givings 45 lines, woman
- Shep 43 lines, man
- Milly 32 lines, woman
- Maureen 23 lines, woman
- Jack 17 lines, man
- Bart Pollock 16 lines, man
- Mr. Givings 12 lines, man
Full cast, 60 people
- Leonardo DiCaprio as Frank Wheeler
- Kate Winslet as April Wheeler
- Kathy Bates as Mrs. Helen Givings
- Michael Shannon as John Givings
- Kathryn Hahn as Milly Campbell
- David Harbour as Shep Campbell
- Dylan Baker as Jack Ordway
- Richard Easton as Mr. Givings
- Zoe Kazan as Maureen Grube
- Jay O. Sanders as Bart Pollock
- Max Baker as Vince Lathrop
- Max Casella as Ed Small
- Christopher Fitzgerald as Party Guest
- Jonathan Roumie as Party Guest
- Neal Bledsoe as Party Guest
- Marin Ireland as Party Guest
- Samantha Soule as Party Guest
- Heidi Armbruster as Party Guest
- Sam Rosen as Party Guest
- Maria Rusolo as Party Dancer
- Gena Oppenheim as Party Dancer
- Kathryn Dunn as Party Dancer
- Joe Komara as Party Dancer
- Allison Twyford as Party Dancer
- John Ottavino as Other Actor in the Play
- Adam Mucci as Other Actor in the Play
- Jo Twiss as Other Actor in the Play
- Frank Girardeau as Other Actor in the Play
- Catherine Curtin as Woman in Audience
- Dan Da Silva as Knox Elevator Operator
- Keith Reddin as Ted Bandy
- Ryan Simpkins as Ed Small
- Ty Simpkins as Vince Lathrop
- Jon Sampson as American Express Clerk
- Peter Barton as Campbell Kid
- Kevin Barton as Campbell Kid
- Evan Covey as Campbell Kid
- Dylan Clark Marshall as Campbell Kid
- Chandler Vinton as Knox Receptionist
- Bethann Schebece as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Kelsey Bair as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Jason Etter as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Adair Moran as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Tommaso Antico as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Justin Misenhelder as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Will Vought as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Emaline Green as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Isabella Zubor as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Kal Thompson as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Racheline Maltese as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Lauren Hubbell as Vito's Log Cabin Dancer
- Duffy Jackson as Steve Kovac
- Dan Zanes as The Steve Kovac Band
- Vince Giordano as The Steve Kovac Band
- Jon-Erik Kellso as The Steve Kovac Band
- Andy Burton as The Steve Kovac Band
- Will Reardon-Anderson as The Steve Kovac Band
- Alex Hoffman as The Steve Kovac Band
- Kristen Connolly as Mr. Brace
- John Behlmann as Mr. Brace
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 120
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 | 3 | 4 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 7 to 9 | 7 | 8 |
| 10 to 12 | 5 | 4 |
| 13 to 15 | 12 | 15 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 4 |
| 25 to 27 | 4 | 8 |
| 28 to 30 | 4 | 13 |
| 31 to 33 | 30 | 9 |
| 34 to 36 | 8 | 10 |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 19 | 15 |
| 43 to 45 | 4 | 14 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 8 | 3 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 21 | 22 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 15 |
| 61 to 63 | 9 | 7 |
| 64 to 66 | 24 | 49 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 24 |
| 70 to 72 | 27 | 24 |
| 73 to 75 | 9 | 10 |
| 76 to 78 | 18 | 20 |
| 79 to 81 | 12 | 17 |
| 82 to 84 | 9 | 7 |
| 85 to 87 | 31 | 55 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 0 |
| 91 to 93 | 4 | 3 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 11 | 13 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 10 |
| 115 to 117 | 5 | 4 |
| 118 to 120 | 5 | 3 |
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.
MRS. GIVINGS: Of course, I knew the moment you came off the train what you were looking for... A small remodeled barn, or a carriage house And I just ha… MRS. GIVINGS: But eventually... Eventually it leads up to Revolutionary Road, which is much nicer. Now, the place I want to show you, is a sweet little ho… MRS. GIVINGS: See the little white one? Sweet isn't it? The perky way it sits there on its little slope? Charming, isn't it? APRIL: Oh, yes.
APRIL: ...All the way to... here. JENNIFER: But why? APRIL: Well, sweetheart. It's a big world out there and we thought maybe we should go see a little bit of it.
APRIL: A long way. We have to take a boat ride over the sea to get there. JENNIFER: I won't know anyone there. APRIL: I know. And neither will I. But remember when you started school? And now look how many friends you have...
APRIL: Oh those look great. I'm starving! MILLY: April, I can't get over it - you look like the cat who ate the canary! Do you have something to tell us? A little bit of news?
APRIL: We're going to Europe. To Paris... To live. MILLY: What?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 44 are women's.
305 lines from women, 396 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 26 men in the cast. 3 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 705.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 25 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 45% of the words (3,767), men 55% (4,648). Women have 44% 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
15
Two men
29
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sam Mendes (man)
- Written by
- Justin Haythe (man)
- From the novel by
- Richard Yates (man)
- Produced by
- Scott Rudin (man), Bobby Cohen (man), John N. Hart (man), Sam Mendes (man), Ann Ruark (woman)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Tariq Anwar (man)
- Music by
- Thomas Newman (man)
- Production design by
- Kristi Zea (woman)
- Costumes by
- Albert Wolsky (man)
- Cast by
- Ellen Lewis (woman), Debra Zane (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
6 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 10 men
-
Art
3 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Zoe Kazan 25, Kate Winslet 33, Kathryn Hahn 35, Kathy Bates 60
Men
David Harbour 33, Leonardo DiCaprio 34, Michael Shannon 34, Dylan Baker 49, Jay O. Sanders 55, Richard Easton 75
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $35 million
- Box office
- $76 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 120 scenes and 705 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
