Passes the Bechdel test
Shaun of the Dead
2004. Directed by Edgar Wright, written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 85. -
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
Shaun (Simon Pegg) doesn't have a very good day, so he decides to turn his life around by getting his ex to take him back, but he times it for right in the middle of what may be a zombie apocalypse. But for him, it's an opportunity to show everyone he knows how useful he is by saving them all. All he has to do is survive, and get his ex back.
- Released
- 24 Sep 2004
- Genres
- Comedy, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 76 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 BAFTA Awards. 14 wins & 20 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Shaun 524 lines, man
- Ed 251 lines, man
- Liz 177 lines, woman
- David 114 lines, man
- Dianne 81 lines, woman
- Barbara 72 lines, woman
- Philip 34 lines, man
- Pete 27 lines, man
- Yvonne 26 lines, woman
- Noel 14 lines, man
Full cast, 63 people
- Simon Pegg as Shaun
- Nick Frost as Ed
- Kate Ashfield as Liz
- Lucy Davis as Dianne
- Dylan Moran as David
- Jessica Hynes as Yvonne
- Penelope Wilton as Barbara
- Bill Nighy as Phillip
- Martin Freeman as Declan
- Matt Lucas as Cousin Tom
- Peter Serafinowicz as Pete
- Rafe Spall as Noel
- Reece Shearsmith as Mark
- Tamsin Greig as Maggie
- Julia Deakin as Yvonne's Mum
- Steve Emerson as John
- Nicola Cunningham as Mary
- Arvind Doshi as Nelson
- Stuart Powell as Snakehips
- Phyllis MacMahon as Bernie
- Patricia Franklin as Spinster
- Mark Donovan as Hulking Zombie
- Chris Martin as Chris Martin
- Jon Buckland as Jonny Buckland
- Vernon Kay as Vernon Kay
- Trisha Goddard as Trisha Goddard
- Jeremy Thompson as Jeremy Thompson
- Carol Barnes as Carol Barnes
- Krishnan Guru-Murthy as Krishnan Guru-Murthy
- Rob Butler as Rob Butler
- Keir Mills as Clubber 1
- Matt Jaynes as Clubber 2
- Gavin Ferguson as Football Kid
- Horton Jupiter as Homeless Man
- Tim Baggaley as The Usher
- Finola Geraghty as Distraught Vox Pop
- Sonnell Dadral as Danny
- Samantha Day as Woman on Trisha
- David Park as Grave Scientist
- Robert Fitch as Distressed Man
- Sharon Gavin as Florist
- Patch Connolly as Pigeon Man
- Christopher Harwood as Grizzled Zombie
- Nick Ewans as Pyjama Zombie
- Alex Lutes as Trisha Zombie
- Keith Chegwin as Keith Chegwin (voice)
- Lucy Akhurst as Zombie Shot by Soldiers (uncredited)
- Joe Cornish as Zombie Shot by Soldiers (uncredited)
- Garth Jennings as Fun Dead Zombie (uncredited)
- Paul Kaye as Zombie Behind The Winchester (uncredited)
- Lauren Laverne as Zombie Outside Flat (uncredited)
- Michael Smiley as Bicycle Courier Zombie (uncredited)
- Paul Putner as Zombie (uncredited)
- Antonia Campbell-Hughes as Zombie (uncredited)
- Rob Brydon as Football Commentator / 'Zombies From Hell!' Presenter (voice) (uncredited)
- Julia Davis as News Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
- Mark Gatiss as Radio Presenter With 'Spaceship' Theory / Wildlife voiceover (voice) (uncredited)
- Robert Popper as News Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
- David Walliams as News Reporter (voice) (uncredited)
- Peter Baynham as Man in Street (uncredited)
- Edgar Wright as Rabid Monkeys Newsreader / Prat-falling Zombie / Italian Restaurant Voice (uncredited)
- Nicholas Wilson as Twin Zombie (uncredited)
- Kevin Wilson as Twin Zombie (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 85
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 2 | 33 | 36 |
| 3 to 4 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 to 6 | 2 | 48 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 to 12 | 6 | 50 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 2 |
| 15 to 16 | 12 | 11 |
| 17 to 18 | 6 | 23 |
| 19 to 20 | 2 | 8 |
| 21 to 22 | 14 | 18 |
| 23 to 24 | 7 | 8 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 7 |
| 27 to 28 | 0 | 29 |
| 29 to 30 | 0 | 28 |
| 31 to 32 | 0 | 0 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 2 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 5 |
| 37 to 38 | 0 | 25 |
| 39 to 40 | 0 | 33 |
| 41 to 42 | 0 | 23 |
| 43 to 44 | 0 | 3 |
| 45 to 46 | 10 | 29 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 40 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 6 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 7 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 16 |
| 55 to 56 | 18 | 24 |
| 57 to 58 | 10 | 35 |
| 59 to 60 | 3 | 11 |
| 61 to 62 | 19 | 26 |
| 63 to 64 | 42 | 79 |
| 65 to 66 | 1 | 4 |
| 67 to 68 | 2 | 4 |
| 69 to 70 | 21 | 21 |
| 71 to 72 | 35 | 70 |
| 73 to 74 | 5 | 21 |
| 75 to 76 | 12 | 27 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 0 |
| 79 to 80 | 2 | 11 |
| 81 to 82 | 89 | 183 |
| 83 to 84 | 11 | 8 |
| 85 to 85 | 0 | 2 |
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.
DAVID DIANNE: No thanks. No thanks. LIZ: I’m fine thanks, Ed.
DIANNE: Oh, so did you do anything special? LIZ: We came here.
LIZ: It’s not the same. You promised things would change. DIANNE: You promised you’d get us free cable.
LIZ: Hello. BARBARA: Hello.
YVONNE: Oh really...? LIZ: Yeah... YVONNE: That’s a shame...Well we should skoot. Have you got somewhere you’re going?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 27 are women's.
362 lines from women, 990 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 31 men in the cast. 4 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,391.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 180 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 (2,506), men 72% (6,437). Women have 27% 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
28
Two men
109
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 40% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Edgar Wright (man)
- Written by
- Edgar Wright (man), Simon Pegg (man)
- Produced by
- Nira Park (woman)
- Shot by
- David M. Dunlap (man)
- Edited by
- Chris Dickens (man)
- Music by
- Pete Woodhead (gender not listed), Dan Mudford (man)
- Production design by
- Marcus Rowland (man)
- Costumes by
- Annie Hardinge (woman)
- Cast by
- Jina Jay (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
10 women, 10 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 8 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 3 men
-
Art
2 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 38 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Kate Ashfield 31, Lucy Davis 31, Jessica Hynes 31, Penelope Wilton 57
Men
Matt Lucas 30, Nick Frost 32, Dylan Moran 32, Martin Freeman 32, Simon Pegg 34, Bill Nighy 54
Exhibit H: the money
It made 6.6 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $6 million
- Box office
- $39.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 85 scenes and 1,391 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
