Passes the Bechdel test
Shame
2011. Directed by Steve McQueen, written by Steve McQueen and Abi Morgan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 115. -
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
Brandon is a 30-something man living in New York who is unable to manage his sex life. After his wayward younger sister moves into his apartment, Brandon's world spirals out of control. Shame examines the nature of need, how we live our lives and the experiences that shape us.
- Released
- 13 Jan 2012
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- NC-17
- IMDb
- 7.2 / 10
- Metascore
- 72 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards. 51 wins & 94 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Brandon 231 lines, man
- David 146 lines, man
- Sissy 139 lines, woman
- Marianne 74 lines, woman
- Elizabeth 31 lines, woman
- Waiter 19 lines, man
- Skype Son 11 lines, man
- Steven 10 lines, man
- Loren 9 lines, woman
- Muscular Boyfriend 9 lines, man
Full cast, 30 people
- Michael Fassbender as Brandon
- Carey Mulligan as Sissy
- James Badge Dale as David
- Nicole Beharie as Marianne
- Lucy Walters as Woman on Subway Train
- Mari-Ange Ramirez as Alexa
- Alex Manette as Steven
- Hannah Ware as Samantha
- Elizabeth Masucci as Elizabeth
- Rachel Farrar as Rachel
- Loren Omer as Loren
- Lauren Tyrrell as Hostess
- Marta Milans as Cocktail Waitress
- Jake Siciliano as Skype Son
- Robert Montano as Waiter
- Charisse Bellante as Live Chat Woman
- Amy Hargreaves as Hotel Lover
- Anna Rose Hopkins as Carly
- Chazz Menendez as Muscular Boyfriend
- Carl Low as Bouncer
- Calamity Chang as Late Night Lover #1
- Deedee Luxe as Late Night Lover #2
- Stanley Mathis as Conductor
- Wenne Alton Davis as Police Officer
- Stanley Wayne Mathis as Conductor
- Kate Dearing as Neighbor (uncredited)
- Briana Marin as Waitress (uncredited)
- Stephane Nicoli as New Yorker (uncredited)
- Barbara Vincent as The Standard Hotel Guest (uncredited)
- Ryan Wolfson as Bartender (Ryan) (uncredited)
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 115
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 4 |
| 10 to 12 | 3 | 5 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 8 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 15 |
| 31 to 33 | 41 | 53 |
| 34 to 36 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 12 | 10 |
| 40 to 42 | 4 | 0 |
| 43 to 45 | 27 | 23 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 21 |
| 49 to 51 | 54 | 61 |
| 52 to 54 | 2 | 5 |
| 55 to 57 | 4 | 4 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 4 |
| 61 to 63 | 2 | 41 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 64 | 92 |
| 70 to 72 | 13 | 13 |
| 73 to 75 | 2 | 0 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 3 |
| 82 to 84 | 6 | 6 |
| 85 to 87 | 4 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 33 | 49 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 2 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 7 |
| 106 to 108 | 0 | 1 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 0 |
| 115 to 115 | 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.
LOREN: Oh. ELIZABETH: Detail?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 39 are women's.
279 lines from women, 435 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 9 men in the cast. 10 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 723.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 42 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 31% of the words (1,416), men 69% (3,159). Women have 39% 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
2
Two men
18
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steve McQueen (man)
- Written by
- Abi Morgan (woman), Steve McQueen (man)
- Produced by
- Emile Sherman (man), Iain Canning (man)
- Shot by
- Sean Bobbitt (man)
- Edited by
- Joe Walker (man)
- Music by
- Harry Escott (man)
- Production design by
- Judy Becker (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 15 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 5 men, 9 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 7 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 0 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 27 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elizabeth Masucci 25, Carey Mulligan 26, Nicole Beharie 26, Hannah Ware 28, Lucy Walters 31
Men
James Badge Dale 33, Michael Fassbender 34, Alex Manette 41
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6.5 million
- Box office
- $20.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 115 scenes and 723 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
