Fails the Bechdel test
Room
2016. Directed by Lenny Abrahamson, written by Emma Donoghue.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
ROOM tells the extraordinary story of Jack, a spirited 5-year-old who is looked after by his loving and devoted mother. Like any good mother, Ma dedicates herself to keeping Jack happy and safe, nurturing him with warmth and love and doing typical things like playing games and telling stories. Their life, however, is anything but typical--they are trapped--confined to a 10-by-10-foot space that Ma has euphemistically named "Room." Ma has created a whole universe for Jack within "Room," and she will stop at nothing to ensure that, even in this treacherous environment, Jack is able to live a complete and fulfilling life. But as Jack's curiosity about their situation grows, and Ma's resilience reaches its breaking point, they enact a risky plan to escape, ultimately bringing them face-to-face with what may turn out to be the scariest thing yet: the real world.
- Released
- 22 Jan 2016
- Genres
- Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 86 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 108 wins & 143 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Ma 390 lines, woman
- Jack 276 lines, man
- Nancy 79 lines, woman
- Old Nick 51 lines, man
- Officer Parker 38 lines, woman
- Leo 33 lines, man
- Robert 21 lines, man
- Laura 19 lines, woman
- Dr. Mittal 18 lines, man
- Hostess 15 lines, woman
Full cast, 27 people
- Brie Larson as Ma
- Jacob Tremblay as Jack
- Joan Allen as Nancy
- Sean Bridgers as Old Nick
- Tom McCamus as Leo
- William H. Macy as Robert
- Cas Anvar as Dr. Mittal
- Amanda Brugel as Officer Parker
- Wendy Crewson as Talk Show Hostess
- Joe Pingue as Officer Grabowski
- Sandy McMaster as Veteran
- Matt Gordon as Doug
- Zarrin Darnell-Martin as Attending Doctor
- Jee-Yun Lee as News Anchor
- Randal Edwards as Lawyer
- Justin Mader as FBI Agent
- Ola Sturik as Reporter #1
- Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll as Reporter #2
- Rory O'Shea as Reporter #3
- Kate Drummond as Neighbour
- Jack Fulton as Jack's Friend
- Chantelle Chung as Clerk (uncredited)
- Brad Wietersen as TV Crewman (uncredited)
- Graeme Potts as TV Cameraman (uncredited)
- Katelyn Wells as Teenage Girl (uncredited)
- Celeste Bruno as Heather Noelle (uncredited)
- Megan Park as Laura (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 129
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 | 0 | 2 |
| 4 to 6 | 15 | 17 |
| 7 to 9 | 9 | 7 |
| 10 to 12 | 8 | 6 |
| 13 to 15 | 5 | 14 |
| 16 to 18 | 15 | 17 |
| 19 to 21 | 19 | 22 |
| 22 to 24 | 3 | 6 |
| 25 to 27 | 44 | 40 |
| 28 to 30 | 26 | 15 |
| 31 to 33 | 45 | 23 |
| 34 to 36 | 21 | 34 |
| 37 to 39 | 37 | 41 |
| 40 to 42 | 10 | 10 |
| 43 to 45 | 21 | 24 |
| 46 to 48 | 20 | 11 |
| 49 to 51 | 8 | 3 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 3 |
| 55 to 57 | 28 | 17 |
| 58 to 60 | 14 | 11 |
| 61 to 63 | 5 | 5 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 24 |
| 70 to 72 | 6 | 3 |
| 73 to 75 | 11 | 13 |
| 76 to 78 | 4 | 3 |
| 79 to 81 | 28 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 15 | 6 |
| 85 to 87 | 20 | 6 |
| 88 to 90 | 38 | 4 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 0 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 25 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 3 |
| 103 to 105 | 6 | 7 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 6 | 10 |
| 112 to 114 | 10 | 9 |
| 115 to 117 | 4 | 1 |
| 118 to 120 | 8 | 8 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 1 |
| 124 to 126 | 2 | 3 |
| 127 to 129 | 6 | 6 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 55 are women's.
547 lines from women, 439 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
12 women and 14 men in the cast. 6 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 1,004.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 28 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 61% of the words (4,954), men 39% (3,187). Women have 55% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
19
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 43% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Lenny Abrahamson (man)
- Written by
- Emma Donoghue (woman)
- From the novel by
- Emma Donoghue (woman)
- Produced by
- Ed Guiney (man), David Gross (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Danny Cohen (man)
- Edited by
- Nathan Nugent (man)
- Music by
- Stephen Rennicks (man)
- Production design by
- Ethan Tobman (man)
- Costumes by
- Lea Carlson (woman)
- Cast by
- Robin D. Cook (woman), Fiona Weir (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
9 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 45 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Brie Larson 26, Amanda Brugel 37, Joan Allen 59, Wendy Crewson 59
Men
Jacob Tremblay 9, Joe Pingue 43, Sean Bridgers 47, Cas Anvar 49, Tom McCamus 60, William H. Macy 65
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $13 million
- Box office
- $35.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 129 scenes and 1,004 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
