Passes the Bechdel test
Single White Female
1992. Directed by Barbet Schroeder, written by John Lutz and Don Roos.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 6 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 16. -
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
Allison Jones (Bridget Fonda) recovers from a painful breakup by securing a new roommate, Hedra Carlson (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Their domestic arrangement initially promises stability, but Hedra quickly begins to exhibit alarming signs of fixation. She manipulates Allison's professional and personal life, intercepting communications and gradually mirroring her physical appearance. Hedra's obsession escalates from subtle boundary crossing to calculated, homicidal interventions intended to eliminate everyone who stands between her and her goal. Allison discovers the truth behind Hedra's history, uncovering a legacy of trauma and instability. The tension culminates in a harrowing battle for survival within their apartment building, as Allison confronts a woman who has stolen not just her life, but her very identity.
- Released
- 14 Aug 1992
- Genres
- Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.4 / 10
- Metascore
- 63 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Hedra 292 lines, woman
- Allison 282 lines, woman
- Sam 76 lines, man
- Mitchell 58 lines
- Graham 43 lines, man
- Barbara 7 lines, woman
- Building Manager 3 lines, man
- Cashier Girl 3 lines, woman
- Answering Machine 2 lines
- Bank Clerk 2 lines
Full cast, 19 people
- Bridget Fonda as Allison 'Allie' Jones
- Jennifer Jason Leigh as Hedra 'Hedy' Carlson
- Steven Weber as Sam Rawson
- Peter Friedman as Graham Knox
- Stephen Tobolowsky as Mitch Myerson
- Frances Bay as Elderly Neighbor
- Tara Karsian as Mannish Applicant
- Christiana Capetillo as Exotic Applicant
- Jessica Lundy as Talkative Applicant
- Renée Estevez as Perfect Applicant
- Tiffany Mataras as Twin
- Krystle Mataras as Twin
- Amelia Campbell as Check Cashier
- Eric Poppick as Nosy Neighbor
- Kim Sykes as TV Reporter
- George Gerdes as Super
- Jerry Mayer as News Vendor
- Rob Steinberg as Hedy's Date
- Michael Collins as Cashier Manager
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 16
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 1 | 19 | 23 |
| 2 to 2 | 2 | 2 |
| 3 to 3 | 150 | 18 |
| 4 to 4 | 19 | 8 |
| 5 to 5 | 66 | 14 |
| 6 to 6 | 76 | 8 |
| 7 to 7 | 154 | 45 |
| 8 to 8 | 2 | 0 |
| 9 to 9 | 12 | 0 |
| 10 to 10 | 6 | 0 |
| 11 to 11 | 2 | 1 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 to 14 | 38 | 2 |
| 15 to 15 | 25 | 0 |
| 16 to 16 | 23 | 1 |
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.
ALLISON: Hey, I thought you'd be at work. HEDRA: No. ALLISON: Don't tell me we have the same belt. Hedra looks down at her belt. She seems embarrassed by something. HEDRA: Well... Yeah ... Sorry... Listen, I have to talk to you.
HEDRA: I've got to get out of here now. Unless you need me... HEDRA: Okay. ALLISON: Why can't you just leave me alone ?
ALLISON: I'll be right back, okay. HEDRA: Well, you'd know more about that than I would. HEDRA: Oh, hi !
HEDRA: Hi ! ALLISON: We going ? HEDRA: Scrambled or fried ? ALLISON: This is fine.
HEDRA: This feels so good on my neck. I didn't think you'd mind. ALLISON: Thank you... please. HEDRA: I'm going to take a shower.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 83 are women's.
594 lines from women, 122 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 8 men in the cast. 6 women and 3 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 794.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 6 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 81% of the words (5,492), men 19% (1,308). Women have 83% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Run the other way, for men, the film scores 1 out of 3.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
29
Two men
0
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Barbet Schroeder (man)
- Written by
- Don Roos (man)
- From the novel by
- John Lutz (man)
- Produced by
- Barbet Schroeder (man)
- Shot by
- Luciano Tovoli (man)
- Edited by
- Lee Percy (man)
- Music by
- Howard Shore (man)
- Production design by
- Milena Canonero (woman)
- Costumes by
- Milena Canonero (woman)
- Cast by
- Howard Feuer (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
5 women, 14 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 1 men
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
-
Editing
1 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 38 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Renée Estevez 25, Jessica Lundy 26, Tara Karsian 27, Bridget Fonda 28, Jennifer Jason Leigh 30, Frances Bay 73
Men
Steven Weber 31, Stephen Tobolowsky 41, Peter Friedman 43
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $16 million
- Box office
- $48 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 16 scenes and 794 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
