Passes the Bechdel test

Saltburn

Name: Saltburn
Released: 2023

2023. Directed by Emerald Fennell, written by Emerald Fennell.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
9 women characters. 8 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 199.
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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

The film

Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton, who invites him to Saltburn, his eccentric family's sprawling estate, for a summer never to be forgotten.

Released: 22 Dec 2023
Genres: Drama, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 61 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 5 BAFTA Awards. 18 wins & 110 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Oliver 306 lines, man
Felix 205 lines, man
Elspeth 110 lines, woman
Farleigh 97 lines, man
Sir James 60 lines, man
Venetia 47 lines, woman
Older Oliver 46 lines, man
Michael 28 lines, man
Poor Dear Pamela 18 lines, woman
Duncan 15 lines, man

Full cast, 30 people

Barry Keoghan as Oliver Quick
Jacob Elordi as Felix Catton
Rosamund Pike as Elspeth Catton
Richard E. Grant as Sir James Catton
Alison Oliver as Venetia Catton
Archie Madekwe as Farleigh Start
Carey Mulligan as Poor Dear Pamela
Paul Rhys as Duncan
Ewan Mitchell as Michael Gavey
Sadie Soverall as Annabel
Richard Cotterell as Harry
Millie Kent as India
Will Gibson as Jake
Tasha Lim as Camilla
Aleah Aberdeen as Alicia
Matt Carver as Benjy
Reece Shearsmith as Professor Ware
Gabriel Bisset-Smith as Reg Starter
Saga Spjuth-Säll as Sam
Glyn Grimstead as Taxi Driver
Joshua Samuels as Liam
Julian Lloyd Patten as Joshua
Olivia Hanrahan-Barnes as Maid
Lolly Adefope as Lady Daphne
Joshua McGuire as Henry
Dorothy Atkinson as Paula Quick
Shaun Dooley as Jeff Quick
Tomás Barry as Charlie
Andy Brady as Vicar Wainwright
Joshua Reid as Party Guest

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 199

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	0	4
6 to 10	0	5
11 to 15	0	5
16 to 20	0	42
21 to 25	0	57
26 to 30	2	34
31 to 35	0	12
36 to 40	0	29
41 to 45	3	40
46 to 50	5	6
51 to 55	1	26
56 to 60	0	27
61 to 65	0	15
66 to 70	0	11
71 to 75	40	18
76 to 80	20	26
81 to 85	14	41
86 to 90	22	24
91 to 95	13	45
96 to 100	13	35
101 to 105	1	38
106 to 110	20	24
111 to 115	0	25
116 to 120	14	31
121 to 125	2	7
126 to 130	0	14
131 to 135	4	21
136 to 140	0	5
141 to 145	0	1
146 to 150	14	51
151 to 155	7	9
156 to 160	11	8
161 to 165	0	21
166 to 170	12	9
171 to 175	0	6
176 to 180	2	6
181 to 185	0	4
186 to 190	0	2
191 to 195	0	0
196 to 199	0	0

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.

INDIA: So cute! ANNABEL: SO cute!!

ELSPETH: Well, I mean, they probably don’t have rehab in Liverpool. POOR DEAR PAMELA: No, gosh, no. No, I can’t imagine they do. ELSPETH: Everybody just goes to ruin, I suppose. POOR DEAR PAMELA: Where is Liverpool?

POOR DEAR PAMELA: North. ELSPETH: Yes.

POOR DEAR PAMELA: Oh, it’ll be some awful slum. ELSPETH: Hmm, some sort of hovel-ish squat.

ELSPETH: Oh god DON'T with the "sirs". No, no, no, we can't stand anything like that here. Come on. Come and sit by me. ELSPETH: This is my dear friend Pamela who has been staying with us. PAMELA: Hey. ELSPETH: Pamela, darling, can you go and find Annie and ask about tea?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 22 are women's.

220 lines from women, 784 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

9 women and 14 men in the cast. 8 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 131 of 1,048. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 130 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 28% of the words (2,470), men 72% (6,302). Women have 22% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

8 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 55% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Emerald Fennell (woman)
Written by: Emerald Fennell (woman)
Produced by: Josey McNamara (man), Emerald Fennell (woman), Margot Robbie (woman)
Shot by: Linus Sandgren (man)
Edited by: Victoria Boydell (woman)
Music by: Anthony B. Willis (man)
Production design by: Suzie Davies (woman)
Costumes by: Sophie Canale (woman)
Cast by: Kharmel Cochrane (woman)