Passes the Bechdel test
Scream
1996. Directed by Wes Craven, written by Kevin Williamson.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
15 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 105. -
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 year after her mother's death, Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her friends started experiencing some strange phone calls. They later learned the calls were coming from a crazed serial killer, in a white faced mask and a large black robe, looking for revenge. His phone calls usually consist of many questions, the main one being: What's your favorite scary movie? Along with much scary movie trivia, ending with bloody pieces of innocent lives scattered around the small town of Woodsboro.
- Released
- 20 Dec 1996
- Genres
- Horror, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 66 / 100
- Awards
- 12 wins & 11 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sidney 192 lines, woman
- Tatum 102 lines, woman
- Billy 100 lines, man
- Man 98 lines, man
- Stu 85 lines, man
- Dewey 77 lines, man
- Casey 76 lines, woman
- Gale 75 lines, woman
- Randy 60 lines, man
- Sheriff Burke 30 lines, man
Full cast, 36 people
- Neve Campbell as Sidney
- Skeet Ulrich as Billy
- Rose McGowan as Tatum
- Matthew Lillard as Stuart
- David Arquette as Deputy Dewey
- Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers
- Jamie Kennedy as Randy
- Drew Barrymore as Casey
- W. Earl Brown as Kenny
- Joseph Whipp as Sheriff Burke
- Liev Schreiber as Cotton Weary
- Roger L. Jackson as Phone Voice (voice)
- Kevin Patrick Walls as Steve
- David Booth as Casey's Father
- Carla Hatley as Casey's Mother
- Lawrence Hecht as Mr. Prescott
- Lois Saunders as Mrs. Tate
- Lisa Beach as TV Reporter #1
- Tony Kilbert as TV Reporter #2
- C.W. Morgan as Hank Loomis
- Frances Lee McCain as Mrs. Riley
- Troy Bishop as Expelled Teen #1
- Ryan Kennedy as Expelled Teen #2
- Leonora Scelfo as Cheerleader in Bathroom
- Nancy Anne Ridder as Girl in Bathroom
- Lisa Canning as Reporter with Mask
- Bonnie Wood as Young Girl in Video Store
- Aurora Draper as Party Teen #1
- Kenny Kwong as Party Teen #2
- Justin Sullivan as Teen on Couch
- Kurtis Bedford as Bored Teen
- Angela Miller as Girl on Couch
- Henry Winkler as Arthur Himbry (uncredited)
- Linda Blair as Obnoxious Reporter (uncredited)
- Wes Craven as Fred (uncredited)
- Lee Waddell as Ghostface (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 105
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 | 11 | 9 |
| 4 to 6 | 64 | 67 |
| 7 to 9 | 1 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 7 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 to 21 | 17 | 11 |
| 22 to 24 | 19 | 27 |
| 25 to 27 | 25 | 15 |
| 28 to 30 | 2 | 2 |
| 31 to 33 | 14 | 19 |
| 34 to 36 | 6 | 28 |
| 37 to 39 | 32 | 10 |
| 40 to 42 | 6 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 44 | 5 |
| 46 to 48 | 18 | 17 |
| 49 to 51 | 17 | 7 |
| 52 to 54 | 21 | 23 |
| 55 to 57 | 13 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 36 |
| 61 to 63 | 9 | 18 |
| 64 to 66 | 21 | 3 |
| 67 to 69 | 9 | 9 |
| 70 to 72 | 11 | 16 |
| 73 to 75 | 18 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 12 | 24 |
| 79 to 81 | 4 | 7 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 4 |
| 85 to 87 | 6 | 5 |
| 88 to 90 | 7 | 10 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 34 | 84 |
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.
SIDNEY: ..yeah... TATUM: What happened? Oh God...
GALE: Hello Sidney. GALE: Some night. Are you alright? GALE: What happened? TATUM: She's not answering any questions. Just leave us alone, okay?
SIDNEY: Who are you? TATUM: Hang up, Sid.
MAMA RILEY: I think you girls really should stay home today. TATUM: Your objection is duly noted. SIDNEY: I'd rather be around a lot of people, Mama Riley.
TATUM: Come on, Sid. SIDNEY: Just a sec...I need to talk to someone.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 49 are women's.
474 lines from women, 495 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
15 women and 21 men in the cast. 5 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 37 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 46% of the words (3,598), men 54% (4,279). Women have 49% 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
25
Two men
47
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Wes Craven (man)
- Written by
- Kevin Williamson (man)
- Produced by
- Cathy Konrad (woman), Cary Woods (man)
- Shot by
- Mark Irwin (man)
- Edited by
- Patrick Lussier (man)
- Music by
- Marco Beltrami (man)
- Production design by
- Bruce Alan Miller (man)
- Costumes by
- Cynthia Bergstrom (woman)
- Cast by
- Lisa Beach (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 17 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 10 men, 11 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 10 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 11 men, 9 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 6 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 0 men, 8 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 25 on average. Men: 32 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Drew Barrymore 21, Neve Campbell 23, Rose McGowan 23, Courteney Cox 32
Men
David Arquette 25, Skeet Ulrich 26, Matthew Lillard 26, Jamie Kennedy 26, W. Earl Brown 33, Joseph Whipp 55
Exhibit H: the money
It made 12.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $14 million
- Box office
- $173 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 105 scenes and 988 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
