Passes the Bechdel test

She Said

Name: She Said
Released: 2022

2022. Directed by Maria Schrader, written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
35 women characters. 29 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 22 scenes out of 198.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

Two-time Academy Award® nominee Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman, An Education) and Emmy nominee Zoe Kazan (The Plot Against America, The Big Sick) star as New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, who together broke one of the most important stories in a generation--a story that shattered decades of silence around the subject of sexual assault in Hollywood and impelled a shift in American culture that continues to this day.

Released: 18 Nov 2022
Genres: Crime, Drama, History
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 74 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 2 BAFTA Awards. 14 wins & 43 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Jodi 324 lines, woman
Megan 256 lines, woman
Rebecca 73 lines, woman
Dean Baquet 58 lines, man
Zelda Perkins 49 lines, woman
Weinstein 37 lines, man
Laura 30 lines, woman
Vadim 29 lines, man
Irwin Reiter 28 lines, man
Lanny Davis 27 lines, man

Full cast, 67 people

Carey Mulligan as Megan Twohey
Zoe Kazan as Jodi Kantor
Patricia Clarkson as Rebecca Corbett
Andre Braugher as Dean Baquet
Lola Petticrew as Young Laura
Katherine Laheen as Irish Film Crew Woman
Emma Clare O'Connor as Rachel Crooks
Tom Pelphrey as Vadim Rutman
Dalya Knapp as Talia
Emery Ellis Harper as Violet
Adam Shapiro as Ron Lieber
James Austin Johnson as Donald Trump (voice)
Katie Nisa as Nurse in Clinic
Frank Wood as Matt Purdy
Sarah Ann Masse as Emily Steel
Mike Spara as Michael Schmidt
Traci Wolfe as Journalist
Sujata Eyrick as Journalist
Shirley Rumierk as Miramax Employee
Judith Godrèche as Judith Godrèche (voice)
Dipa Anitia as Ultrasound Tech
Tessa Lee as Mary
Keilly McQuail as Rose McGowan (voice)
Ashley Judd as Ashley Judd
Zabryna Guevara as Government Official
Harvey Friedman as Investigator (voice)
Anastasia Barzee as Lisa Bloom
Roxanna Hope Radja as Ex-Assistant in Queens
John Mazurek as John Schmidt
Hilary Greer as Mrs. Schmidt
Makia Martin as EEOC Woman (voice)
Leah Kreitz as Gwyneth Paltrow's Assistant
Nicole Betancourt as Water Mill Woman
Marceline Hugot as Linda Fairstein
Ruby Thomas as Waitress
Alex Hurt as Man 1 at Bar
Richard Busser as Man 2 at Bar
Katherine Kendall as Miramax Executive
Edward Astor Chin as Andrew Cheung
Jennifer Ehle as Laura Madden
Kathleen Mary Carthy as Laura's Doctor
Maren Heary as Nell
Elle Graham as Gracie
Wesley Holloway as Hywel
Justine Colan as Iris
Samantha Morton as Zelda Perkins
Molly Windsor as Young Zelda
Ashley Chiu as Young Rowena
Safia Oakley-Green as Club Dancer
Catherine LeFrere as Pamela Lubell (voice)
Anita Sabherwal as Receptionist
Makayla Patton as Dean's Secretary (voice)
Peter Friedman as Lanny Davis
Zach Grenier as Irwin Reiter
Angela Yeoh as Rowena Chiu
Celia Au as Waitress in Hong Kong
Tina WongLu as Cashier in Hong Kong
Lauren O'Connor as Lauren O'Connor
Sean Cullen as Lance Maerov
Gregg Edelman as David McCraw
Brad Aldous as Charles Harder
Jason Babinsky as David Glasser
Mike Houston as Harvey Weinstein
George Walsh as Lawyer
Davram Stiefler as Rory Tolan
Stephanie Heitman as Nurse in Wales
Mary Higgins as Laura's Friend

Who talks, scene by scene

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

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 198

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	1	0
6 to 10	1	3
11 to 15	11	0
16 to 20	5	0
21 to 25	15	8
26 to 30	12	7
31 to 35	7	10
36 to 40	7	3
41 to 45	17	7
46 to 50	16	7
51 to 55	28	0
56 to 60	12	1
61 to 65	17	4
66 to 70	34	2
71 to 75	24	0
76 to 80	58	6
81 to 85	10	0
86 to 90	40	0
91 to 95	11	1
96 to 100	48	1
101 to 105	28	25
106 to 110	60	11
111 to 115	23	15
116 to 120	107	1
121 to 125	50	0
126 to 130	20	0
131 to 135	38	35
136 to 140	38	29
141 to 145	30	8
146 to 150	38	3
151 to 155	10	7
156 to 160	5	5
161 to 165	17	15
166 to 170	19	9
171 to 175	23	11
176 to 180	7	10
181 to 185	12	2
186 to 190	1	0
191 to 195	17	17
196 to 198	2	7

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.

REBECCA: Sure.. where else? JODI: Are we talking solely corporate misuse of power? REBECCA: No I’m talking all workplaces ..where sexual harassment might happen. Let’s look at areas where the women are on minimum wage.

JODI: I’ll get her.... TALIA: Mom?

ULTRASOUND TECH: Would you like to hear her heartbeat? MEGAN: Yes. Please.

JODI: Ashley.. Hi..It’s Jodi.. Thank you for talking to me. ASHLEY JUDD: Hi Jodi.. I see you. Hello.

TALIA: So if you sign it you don’t tell anyone about anything? JODI: Yes, there could have been bullying .. or sometimes it’s a big shop and they just don’t want you to tell their trade secrets. TALIA: Did you sign one? JODI: No.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 77 are women's.

919 lines from women, 270 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

35 women and 18 men in the cast. 29 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,249. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 49 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 79% of the words (11,037), men 21% (2,984). Women have 77% 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

6 of the 11 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 56% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Maria Schrader (woman)
Written by: Rebecca Lenkiewicz (woman)
Produced by: Jeremy Kleiner (man), Dede Gardner (woman), Lexi Barta (gender not listed)
Shot by: Natasha Braier (woman)
Edited by: Hansjörg Weißbrich (man)
Music by: Nicholas Britell (man)
Production design by: Meredith Lippincott (woman)
Costumes by: Brittany Loar (gender not listed)
Cast by: Francine Maisler (woman)