Fails the Bechdel test
Sicario
2015. Directed by Denis Villeneuve, written by Taylor Sheridan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
5 women characters. 1 of them speak. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.
The film
Kate Macer runs tactical responses for the FBI with a true believer's conviction; the rules are the floor, not the ceiling. The moment she joins Graver's operation she finds the floor has been removed entirely. Every briefing withholds more than it reveals. Every protocol she reaches for evaporates on contact with this environment. Her catalyst is belief in outcome; her collision is discovering that outcome requires her to be used rather than trusted. The team needs her signature, her legitimacy, her federal credentials as institutional camouflage. The more she pursues transparency the further she recedes from relevance. Her defining vice is persistence: she will not stop demanding to understand a mission that was never designed to be understood by her.
- Released
- 02 Oct 2015
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 15 wins & 159 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Macy 214 lines, woman
- Alejandro 140 lines, man
- Matt 127 lines, man
- Reggie 104 lines, man
- Delta 22 lines, man
- Jennings 17 lines, man
- Silvio 17 lines, man
- Ted 16 lines, man
- Voice 16 lines
- Man 10 lines, man
Full cast, 56 people
- Emily Blunt as Kate Macer
- Benicio del Toro as Alejandro Gillick
- Josh Brolin as Matt Graver
- Victor Garber as Dave Jennings
- Jon Bernthal as Ted
- Daniel Kaluuya as Reggie Wayne
- Jeffrey Donovan as Steve Forsing
- Raoul Max Trujillo as Rafael
- Julio Cesar Cedillo as Fausto Alarcon
- Hank Rogerson as Phil Coopers
- Bernardo P. Saracino as Manuel Diaz
- Maximiliano Hernández as Silvio
- Kevin Wiggins as Burnett
- Edgar Arreola as Guillermo
- Kim Larrichio as Silvio's Wife
- Jesus Nevarez-Castillo as Eliseo
- Dylan Kenin as Delta Leader
- John Trejo as Delta #2
- Marty Lindsey as SWAT Officer
- Alex Knight as Coroner (Phoenix)
- Rio Alexander as Phoenix Cop
- Eric Steinig as Air Force MP
- Michael-David Aragon as AIC Guard
- Vic Browder as US Marshal
- Boots Southerland as US Marshal Keith
- Adam Taylor as US Marshal Kevin
- David Garver as Bob Fisks
- Jesse Ramirez as Migrant #1
- James Espinoza as Migrant #2
- Arrazolo as Migrant #3
- Tomas Martinez as Migrant #4
- Alejandro Rodriguez as Migrant #5
- Jorge Rocha Fuentez as Migrant #6
- Johnny Palomarez Jr. as Migrant #7
- Eb Lottimer as Bank Manager
- Matthew Tompkins as Jessie Garza
- Michael Sheets as Treasury Agent
- Sarah Minnich as Reggie's Dance Partner
- Matthew Page as Operator
- Lora Martinez-Cunningham as Jacinta
- Julian Ortega as Fausto's Son #1
- Ian Posada as Fausto's Son #2
- Antonio Leyba as Border Bandit #1
- Frank Andrade as Border Bandit #2
- Juan Carlos Morales as Border Bandit #3
- Jesus Mayorga as Border Bandit #4
- Joseph P. Santillanes as Homeland Security Officer
- Basil Iwanyk Sr. as DEA Agent (Motel Room)
- Ivan Allen as News Anchor
- John Burke as Chandler News Reporter
- Tait Fletcher as Soldier (uncredited)
- Cesar Miramontes as Immigrant (uncredited)
- Johnny Otto as SWAT Officer (uncredited)
- Eddie Perez as Border Bandit (uncredited)
- Kaelee Vigil as Immigrant Woman (uncredited)
- Rick Anglada as DEA Agent (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 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 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 | 5 | 4 |
| 3 to 4 | 11 | 12 |
| 5 to 6 | 2 | 5 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 12 | 27 | 4 |
| 13 to 14 | 18 | 37 |
| 15 to 16 | 0 | 13 |
| 17 to 18 | 4 | 20 |
| 19 to 20 | 6 | 11 |
| 21 to 22 | 10 | 9 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 14 |
| 25 to 26 | 11 | 29 |
| 27 to 28 | 9 | 12 |
| 29 to 30 | 4 | 11 |
| 31 to 32 | 10 | 19 |
| 33 to 34 | 8 | 15 |
| 35 to 36 | 6 | 22 |
| 37 to 38 | 13 | 12 |
| 39 to 40 | 9 | 43 |
| 41 to 42 | 12 | 17 |
| 43 to 44 | 9 | 10 |
| 45 to 46 | 6 | 17 |
| 47 to 48 | 5 | 8 |
| 49 to 50 | 4 | 10 |
| 51 to 52 | 14 | 38 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 10 |
| 55 to 56 | 0 | 2 |
| 57 to 58 | 5 | 22 |
| 59 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 62 | 0 | 4 |
| 63 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 68 | 1 | 10 |
| 69 to 70 | 6 | 23 |
| 71 to 72 | 9 | 20 |
| 73 to 74 | 0 | 3 |
| 75 to 76 | 0 | 3 |
| 77 to 78 | 0 | 15 |
| 79 to 80 | 0 | 10 |
| 81 to 82 | 2 | 18 |
| 83 to 84 | 5 | 10 |
| 85 to 85 | 0 | 4 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 30 are women's.
231 lines from women, 549 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
5 women and 42 men in the cast. 1 women and 26 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 820.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 39 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (1,530), men 78% (5,505). Women have 30% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
0
Two men
61
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Denis Villeneuve (man)
- Written by
- Taylor Sheridan (man)
- Produced by
- Thad Luckinbill (man), Edward McDonnell (man), Trent Luckinbill (man), Molly Smith (woman), Basil Iwanyk (man)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Joe Walker (man), Mary Lukasiewicz (woman)
- Music by
- Jóhann Jóhannsson (man)
- Production design by
- Patrice Vermette (man)
- Costumes by
- Renée April (woman)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
4 women, 25 men, 23 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 27 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
11 women, 10 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 6 men, 11 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 4 men, 13 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 1 men, 12 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Emily Blunt 32
Men
Daniel Kaluuya 26, Jon Bernthal 38, Julio Cesar Cedillo 45, Josh Brolin 47, Jeffrey Donovan 47, Benicio del Toro 48, Raoul Max Trujillo 60, Victor Garber 66
Exhibit G: the money
It made 2.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $30 million
- Box office
- $85 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 85 scenes and 820 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
