Fails the Bechdel test

Sing Street

Name: Sing Street
Released: 2016

2016. Directed by John Carney, written by Simon Carmody and John Carney.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
6 women characters. 2 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 1 out of 3.

The film

As everybody moves to the beat of Pop music in early-1980s Dublin, sensitive teenager Conor struggles to cope with a tense family relationship, reconnect with his older brother Brendan, and, above all, deal with the hostile environment in his new public school. Then, one day, he sees her. Tall, with long chestnut hair, a buttery complexion, and big, dark eyes; an enigmatically beautiful girl standing in front of the school's gate, indolently observing people passing by. To get noticed by the distant girl, Raphina, Conor enlists the help of a group of teenage dreamers to form a band and, surprisingly, with every lyric he writes, the gap narrows; and with every song he plays, her heart brims over with affection. Now, before a sea of opportunities, what does the future hold for a brave love like this?

Released: 17 Mar 2016
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Music
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.9 / 10
Metascore: 79 / 100
Awards: 16 wins & 45 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Conor 368 lines, man
Brendan 108 lines, man
Raphina 107 lines, woman
Darren 82 lines, man
Eamon 68 lines, man
Robert 35 lines, man
Brother Baxter 30 lines, man
Barry 23 lines, man
Penny 21 lines, woman
Miss Dunne 19 lines, woman

Full cast, 27 people

Ferdia Walsh-Peelo as Conor "Cosmo" Lalor
Lucy Boynton as Raphina
Jack Reynor as Brendan Lalor
Ben Carolan as Darren
Mark McKenna as Eamon
Kelly Thornton as Ann Lalor
Maria Doyle Kennedy as Penny Lalor
Aidan Gillen as Robert Lalor
Ian Kenny as Barry
Percy Chamburuka as Ngig
Connor Hamilton as Larry
Karl Rice as Garry
Don Wycherley as Brother Baxter
Des Keogh as Brother Barnabas
Kian Murphy as Mick Mahon
Dolores Mullally as Dinner Lady
Marcella Plunkett as Eamon's Mum
Vera Nwabuwe as Ngig's Mum
Tony Doyle as Wayne
Keith McErlean as Barry's Dad
Art Campion as Evan
Lydia McGuinness as Mrs. Dunne
Kyle Bradley Donaldson as Fifth Former
Paul Gibbons as Exam Supervisor
Eva-Jane Gaffney as Jacinta
Paul Roe as Surveyor
Pádraig J. Dunne as Surveyor

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 142

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	10	22
4 to 6	0	1
7 to 9	4	30
10 to 12	0	8
13 to 15	0	50
16 to 18	0	9
19 to 21	4	45
22 to 24	0	8
25 to 27	7	4
28 to 30	0	40
31 to 33	9	31
34 to 36	1	12
37 to 39	0	38
40 to 42	1	1
43 to 45	2	2
46 to 48	0	1
49 to 51	14	35
52 to 54	2	29
55 to 57	10	46
58 to 60	0	4
61 to 63	7	0
64 to 66	3	6
67 to 69	0	23
70 to 72	23	19
73 to 75	1	27
76 to 78	12	18
79 to 81	4	5
82 to 84	2	26
85 to 87	0	1
88 to 90	3	17
91 to 93	11	11
94 to 96	7	26
97 to 99	3	5
100 to 102	3	31
103 to 105	0	26
106 to 108	11	11
109 to 111	2	23
112 to 114	0	0
115 to 117	0	12
118 to 120	0	3
121 to 123	0	8
124 to 126	0	0
127 to 129	10	26
130 to 132	1	14
133 to 135	0	1
136 to 138	4	15
139 to 141	2	1
142 to 142	0	0

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, 18 are women's.

173 lines from women, 771 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

6 women and 16 men in the cast. 2 women and 13 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 12 of 988. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 116 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 19% of the words (1,871), men 81% (7,766). Women have 18% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

2 of the 16 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: John Carney (man)
Written by: John Carney (man)
Produced by: Christian Grass (gender not listed), Anthony Bregman (man), Paul Trijbits (man), John Carney (man), Raj Brinder Singh (man), Kevin Scott Frakes (man) and 1 more
Shot by: Yaron Orbach (man)
Edited by: Andrew Marcus (man), Julian Ulrichs (gender not listed)
Music by: Gary Clark (man)
Production design by: Alan MacDonald (man)
Costumes by: Tiziana Corvisieri (gender not listed)
Cast by: Louise Kiely (woman)