Passes the Bechdel test
Side Effects
2013. Directed by Steven Soderbergh, written by Scott Z. Burns.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
29 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 160. -
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
In New York, insider trader Martin Taylor is released after four years in prison and his mother and his wife Emily welcome him. Unexpectedly Emily is depressed and tries to commit suicide, hitting her car against the garage wall. Emily goes to the hospital and psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Banks treats her and she decides to be his client. Dr. Banks consults her former psychiatrist Dr. Victoria Siebert and she suggests that Dr. Banks uses the new drug Ablixa in Emily's treatment. Emily tries to commit suicide again, but she returns to a normal life with Martin and occasionally has sleepwalking episodes. One day, Emily stabs her husband to death while sleepwalking and is sent to trial. She is declared not guilty but is forced to go to a psychiatric facility and Dr. Banks is responsible to periodically evaluate her mental condition. Dr. Banks has his career destroyed with the negative publicity and also his marriage with the unemployed financial consultant Dierdre Banks after receiving anonymous photos of Emily with him. He decides to investigate the case to clear his name and discovers that Emily faked her suicide attempts. His further investigation discloses an evil scheme in the stock market.
- Released
- 08 Feb 2013
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 75 / 100
- Awards
- 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Banks 305 lines, man
- Emily 237 lines, woman
- Siebert 74 lines, woman
- Dierdre 52 lines, woman
- Martin 44 lines, man
- Goldberg 20 lines, man
- Hughes 20 lines
- Martha 16 lines, woman
- Charnley 13 lines
- Childs 11 lines, man
Full cast, 79 people
- Rooney Mara as Emily Taylor
- Jude Law as Jonathan Banks
- Catherine Zeta-Jones as Dr. Victoria Siebert
- Channing Tatum as Martin Taylor
- Vinessa Shaw as Dierdre Banks
- Ann Dowd as Mrs. Taylor
- Polly Draper as Eileen Spicer
- David Costabile as Carl
- Mamie Gummer as Kayla
- Scott Shepherd as NYPD Detective
- Marin Ireland as Upset Visitor
- Elizabeth Rodriguez as Pharmacist
- Craig muMs Grant as Wards Island Orderly
- Carmen Pelaez as Prison Desk Guard
- Peter Friedman as Banks' Partner #1
- Laila Robins as Banks Partner #2
- Haraldo Alvarez as Garage Attendant
- James Martinez as Police Officer at the Hospital
- Vladimir Versailles as Augustin
- Jacqueline Antaramian as Desk Nurse
- Michelle Vergara Moore as Joan
- Katie Lowes as Conference Organizer
- Steven Platt as Bartender
- Victor Cruz as NYPD Officer Beahan
- Andrea Bogart as Drug Rep
- Mitchell Michaliszyn as Ezra Banks
- Elizabeth Rich as Banks Patient #1
- Roderick Rodriguez as Paramedic #1
- Mark Weekes as Paramedic #2
- Michael Nathanson as Assistant District Attorney
- Timothy Klein as Transporting Officer Kevin
- Sheila Tapia as Emily's Attorney
- Josh Elliott as GMA Anchor
- Sasha Bardey as Dr. Peter Joubert
- Ashley Morrison as Reporter #1
- Steve Lacy as Reporter #2
- Ken Marks as Banks Patient #2
- Devin Ratray as Banks Patient #3
- Russell G. Jones as Jeffrey Childs
- Munro M. Bonnell as Judge #1
- Susan Gross as Susan
- Debbie Friedlander as Wards Island Administrator
- Ilyana Kadushin as ECT Patient
- Johnny Sanchez as ECT Nurse
- Nicole Ansari-Cox as Disturbed Patient on Phone
- LaChanze as Wards Island Desk Nurse
- Alice Niedermair as Wards Island Nurse
- Davenia McFadden as Judge
- Ray DeBenedictis as Arresting Officer
- J. Claude Deering as Zach
- Chevy Lamont Cofield as Reporter (uncredited)
- Laurence Covington as Wards Island Patient (uncredited)
- Barbara Ann Davison as Wards Island Patient (uncredited)
- Onika Day as Depressed Woman - Ablixa Commercial (uncredited)
- Brian Distance as Wards Medical Staff (uncredited)
- John Farrer as Le Circ Restaurant Patron (uncredited)
- David Fierro as Wards Island Patient (uncredited)
- Rosemary Howard as Prison Visitor (uncredited)
- Peter Iasillo Jr. as Inmate (uncredited)
- Zivile Kaminskaite as Medical Conference Participant (uncredited)
- Peter Y. Kim as Young Stockbroker (uncredited)
- Larissa Laurel as Pill Nurse (uncredited)
- Sean Marrinan as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Dylan Clark Marshall as Little Boy (uncredited)
- Elliott Mayer as Psych Ward Patient (uncredited)
- Mario Moise Fontaine as Juror (uncredited)
- Nancy Nagrant as Intenin Drug Commercial Mom (uncredited)
- Gil O'Brien as Pasta Lover Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Kerry O'Malley as Ward Psychiatrist (uncredited)
- Greg Paul as Security Guard (uncredited)
- Anthony J. Ribustello as Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
- Alan R. Rodriguez as Police Officer (uncredited)
- Hollie K. Seidel as Depressed Woman - Ablixa Commercial (uncredited)
- Kenneth Simmons as Agent (uncredited)
- Blago Simon as Fundraiser Guest (uncredited)
- Nikky Smedley as Policewoman at Gate (uncredited)
- Carol Stanzione as Freaky Poncho Patient (uncredited)
- Erica Faye Watson as Processing Nurse (uncredited)
- Aaron Roman Weiner as Cop (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 160
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 4 | 1 | 3 |
| 5 to 8 | 1 | 4 |
| 9 to 12 | 7 | 3 |
| 13 to 16 | 3 | 9 |
| 17 to 20 | 1 | 8 |
| 21 to 24 | 14 | 20 |
| 25 to 28 | 7 | 11 |
| 29 to 32 | 17 | 13 |
| 33 to 36 | 35 | 26 |
| 37 to 40 | 19 | 16 |
| 41 to 44 | 32 | 23 |
| 45 to 48 | 10 | 18 |
| 49 to 52 | 4 | 7 |
| 53 to 56 | 5 | 5 |
| 57 to 60 | 4 | 7 |
| 61 to 64 | 2 | 7 |
| 65 to 68 | 7 | 7 |
| 69 to 72 | 12 | 11 |
| 73 to 76 | 4 | 7 |
| 77 to 80 | 12 | 10 |
| 81 to 84 | 2 | 22 |
| 85 to 88 | 10 | 12 |
| 89 to 92 | 5 | 9 |
| 93 to 96 | 8 | 7 |
| 97 to 100 | 5 | 1 |
| 101 to 104 | 15 | 15 |
| 105 to 108 | 30 | 31 |
| 109 to 112 | 18 | 22 |
| 113 to 116 | 14 | 10 |
| 117 to 120 | 14 | 5 |
| 121 to 124 | 11 | 9 |
| 125 to 128 | 7 | 12 |
| 129 to 132 | 9 | 2 |
| 133 to 136 | 5 | 6 |
| 137 to 140 | 16 | 7 |
| 141 to 144 | 3 | 0 |
| 145 to 148 | 3 | 1 |
| 149 to 152 | 6 | 6 |
| 153 to 156 | 15 | 3 |
| 157 to 160 | 14 | 14 |
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.
ILENE: Emily? You OK? EMILY: I’m so sorry. I just felt sick all of a sudden. ILENE: They made me sick, too. I had better luck with Celexa.
DRUG REP: We’ll be starting the presentation soon-- so if I can get everyone to come in and take a seat. SIEBERT: You sure you don’t want to stay?
EMILY: Thank you for inviting us. I think I saw your dress in a magazine. It’s better on you. KAYLA: So sweet. I’m glad you could come. EMILY: It’s been so long since I had to get dressed up. EMILY: I’m going to the bar -- can I get something for someone?
EMILY: It’s the only idea I have right now. KAYLA: Emily looks like she lost weight.
EMILY: I... I was going to work this morning and I felt like I did before-- like I couldn’t keep going. I was on my way to- DIERDRE: Do you know her?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 50 are women's.
407 lines from women, 409 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
29 women and 33 men in the cast. 11 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 928.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 26 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 55% of the words (6,010), men 45% (4,979). Women have 50% 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
18
Two men
17
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steven Soderbergh (man)
- Written by
- Scott Z. Burns (man)
- Produced by
- Scott Z. Burns (man), Lorenzo di Bonaventura (man), Gregory Jacobs (man)
- Shot by
- Steven Soderbergh (man)
- Edited by
- Steven Soderbergh (man)
- Music by
- Thomas Newman (man)
- Production design by
- Howard Cummings (man)
- Costumes by
- Susan Lyall (woman)
- Cast by
- Carmen Cuba (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
4 women, 6 men, 10 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 13 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 0 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 6 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 41 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Rooney Mara 27, Mamie Gummer 29, Vinessa Shaw 36, Catherine Zeta-Jones 43, Ann Dowd 57, Polly Draper 57
Men
Channing Tatum 32, Jude Law 40, David Costabile 46, Scott Shepherd 46
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $30 million
- Box office
- $63.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 160 scenes and 928 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
