Passes the Bechdel test

Searching

Name: Searching
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Aneesh Chaganty, written by Aneesh Chaganty and Sev Ohanian.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
22 women characters. 11 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 125.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.

The film

After David Kim (John Cho)'s 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a local investigation is opened and a detective is assigned to the case. But 37 hours later and without a single lead, David decides to search the one place no one has looked yet, where all secrets are kept today: his daughter's laptop. In a hyper-modern thriller told via the technology devices we use every day to communicate, David must trace his daughter's digital footprints before she disappears forever.

Released: 31 Aug 2018
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.6 / 10
Metascore: 71 / 100
Awards: 6 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

David 213 lines, man
Vick 135 lines, woman
Peter 53 lines, man
Homicide Agent 44 lines, man
Margot 42 lines, woman
Isaac 15 lines, man
911 Operator 13 lines, man
Abigail 12 lines, woman
Isaac’S Mom 12 lines, woman
Mrs. Shahinian 8 lines, woman

Full cast, 45 people

John Cho as David Kim
Michelle La as Margot
Debra Messing as Detective Vick
Joseph Lee as Peter
Sara Sohn as Pamela Nam Kim
Briana McLean as Abigail
Erica Jenkins as Hannah
Connor McRaith as Isaac
Dominic Hoffman as Michael Porter
Ric Sarabia as Randy Cartoff
Steven Michael Eich as Robert
Melissa Disney as Isaac's Mom (voice)
Sean O'Bryan as Radio Jockey
Ben Cain as SVPD Homicide Agent
Alex Jayne Go as Young Margot (5 yrs)
Megan Liu as Young Margot (7 yrs)
Kya Dawn Lau as Young Margot (9 yrs)
Colin Woodell as 911 Operator (voice)
Ashley Edner as Margot's Friend #1 (voice)
Courtney Lauren Cummings as Margot's Friend #2 (voice)
Kenneth Mosley as Margot's Friend #7 (voice)
Miss Benny as Margot's Friend #11 (voice)
Franchesca Maia as Sadie (YouCast)
Thomas Barbusca as Cody (YouCast)
Sylvia Minassian as Mrs. Shahinian (voice)
Bryce Branagan as Diver #1
Katie Rowe as Diver #2
Kristin Herold as Female Anchor
Roy Abramsohn as Male Anchor
Reed Buck as Derek Ellis (voice)
Brad Abrell as News Reporter (voice)
Rasha Goel as Search Reporter
Johnno Wilson as Mike Makowsky
Erin Henriques as Stacy
Gage Biltoft as John Watson
Lasaundra Gibson as Faustine Rea
John Macey as Mr. Lee
Betsy Foldes as SVPD Missing Persons (voice)
Joseph John Schirle as Jonah Emmi (voice)
Julie Nathanson as Natalie Boyd (voice)
Michelle Sparks as News Reporter #4 (voice)
Gabriel D. Angell as Officer Brandon Jackson (uncredited)
Harvey B. Jackson as San Jose PD Sgt Shaw (uncredited)
Anthony Richard Pagliaro as Detective (uncredited)
Rene Michelle Aranda as Emergency Medical Technician (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 125

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	10	19
4 to 6	1	24
7 to 9	0	4
10 to 12	14	18
13 to 15	20	42
16 to 18	13	11
19 to 21	3	5
22 to 24	2	20
25 to 27	6	7
28 to 30	3	4
31 to 33	2	13
34 to 36	3	8
37 to 39	8	13
40 to 42	2	4
43 to 45	5	0
46 to 48	9	0
49 to 51	6	0
52 to 54	5	0
55 to 57	12	8
58 to 60	7	2
61 to 63	11	5
64 to 66	6	1
67 to 69	3	0
70 to 72	0	0
73 to 75	3	0
76 to 78	0	1
79 to 81	1	1
82 to 84	2	2
85 to 87	11	9
88 to 90	0	1
91 to 93	0	4
94 to 96	2	55
97 to 99	1	3
100 to 102	6	3
103 to 105	5	7
106 to 108	2	17
109 to 111	4	7
112 to 114	26	16
115 to 117	15	14
118 to 120	5	7
121 to 123	0	1
124 to 125	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 scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

VICK: I just wish there wasn’t a case to be assigned to at all. All right, shutting down. Talk soon. MARGOT: This is it! MARGOT: Best place in the world to do nothing. MARGOT: This is--

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 40 are women's.

234 lines from women, 356 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

22 women and 21 men in the cast. 11 women and 13 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 60 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 (2,976), men 54% (3,544). Women have 40% 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

1 of the 13 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Aneesh Chaganty (man)
Written by: Aneesh Chaganty (man), Sev Ohanian (man)
Produced by: Natalie Qasabian (woman), Adam Sidman (man), Timur Bekmambetov (man), Sev Ohanian (man)
Shot by: Juan Sebastian Baron (gender not listed)
Edited by: Nicholas D. Johnson (man), Will Merrick (man)
Music by: Torin Borrowdale (man)
Production design by: Angel Herrera (gender not listed)
Costumes by: Emily Moran (gender not listed)