Fails the Bechdel test
Skyfall
2012. Directed by Sam Mendes, written by Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and John Logan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
10 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
When James Bond's latest assignment goes gravely wrong and agents around the world are exposed, MI6 is attacked, forcing M to relocate the agency. These events cause her authority and position to be challenged by Gareth Mallory, the new Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee. With MI6 now compromised from both inside and out, M is left with one ally she can trust: Bond. 007 takes to the shadows, aided only by field agent, Miss Eve Moneypenny, following a trail to a mysterious enemy, whose lethal and hidden motives have yet to reveal themselves.
- Released
- 09 Nov 2012
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 81 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 82 wins & 125 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Bond 227 lines, man
- M 95 lines, woman
- Silva 73 lines, man
- Eve 59 lines, woman
- Tanner 43 lines, man
- Q 40 lines
- Severine 32 lines, woman
- Mallory 29 lines, man
- Kincade 23 lines, man
- Doctor Hall 13 lines, man
Full cast, 69 people
- Daniel Craig as James Bond
- Judi Dench as M
- Javier Bardem as Silva
- Ralph Fiennes as Gareth Mallory
- Naomie Harris as Eve
- Bérénice Marlohe as Séverine
- Albert Finney as Kincade
- Ben Whishaw as Q
- Rory Kinnear as Tanner
- Ola Rapace as Patrice
- Helen McCrory as Clair Dowar MP
- Nicholas Woodeson as Doctor Hall
- Bill Buckhurst as Ronson
- Elize du Toit as Vanessa (M's Assistant)
- Ian Bonar as MI6 Technician
- Gordon Milne as M's Driver
- Peter Basham as Vauxhall Bridge Police Guard
- Ben Loyd-Holmes as Vauxhall Bridge Police Guard
- Tonia Sotiropoulou as Bond's Lover
- Wolf Blitzer as CNN News Anchor
- David Gillies as MI6 Assessor
- James Li as MI6 Assessor
- Kenneth Hazeldine as MI6 Assessor
- Orion Lee as Shanghai Barman
- Dave Wong as Shanghai Art Collector
- Tank Dong as Severine's Bodyguard
- Roger Yuan as Severine's Bodyguard
- Liang Yang as Severine's Bodyguard
- Yennis Cheung Yan as Floating Dragon Cashier
- Chooye Bay as Floating Dragon Floor Manager
- Sid Man as Floating Dragon Assistant Floor Manager
- Angela Tran as Floating Dragon Barmaid
- Milorad Kapor as Boat Captain
- Huw Edwards as BBC News Anchor
- Adebayo Bolaji as Boat Crew
- Elio Lo Tauro as Boat Crew
- Amir Boutrous as Boat Crew
- Khan Bonfils as Boat Crew
- Nicholas Goh as Boat Crew
- John Hodgkinson as Silva's Isolation Guard
- Kurt Egyiawan as Q's Assistant
- Oliver Johnstone as Q's Assistant
- Harry Kershaw as Q's Assistant
- Burt Caesar as Inquiry Member
- Paul Venables as Inquiry Member
- Crispin Letts as Inquiry Member
- Kammy Darweish as Inquiry Member
- Beatrice Curnew as Inquiry Member
- Dominique Anne Jones as M's Inquiry Assistant
- Ross Waiton as Whitehall Police Guard
- Jim Conway as Whitehall Police Guard
- Jens Hultén as Silva's Henchman
- Michael Pink as Silva's Henchman
- Jo Cameron Brown as Wife at Tube Station
- Anthony O'Donnell as Husband at Tube Station
- Hannah Stokely as Tube Driver
- Wayne Gordon as Silva's Mercenary
- Ene Frost as Silva's Mercenary
- Tom Wu as Silva's Mercenary
- Jake Fairbrother as Silva's Mercenary
- Christopher Sciueref as Silva's Mercenary
- Daniel Adegboyega as Silva's Mercenary
- Selva Rasalingam as Silva's Mercenary
- Joss Skottowe as Helicopter Gunner
- Steve Barnett as Casino Player / Train Passenger (uncredited)
- Lee Nicholas Harris as Armed Police Officer (uncredited)
- Duncan Casey as MI6 Agent (uncredited)
- Tom Coulston as MI6 Executive Courtroom (uncredited)
- Paul Blackwell as Commuter
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 204
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 | 4 | 5 |
| 6 to 10 | 3 | 8 |
| 11 to 15 | 3 | 3 |
| 16 to 20 | 16 | 4 |
| 21 to 25 | 11 | 1 |
| 26 to 30 | 15 | 18 |
| 31 to 35 | 11 | 17 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 20 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 27 |
| 46 to 50 | 19 | 47 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 0 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 to 65 | 16 | 11 |
| 66 to 70 | 33 | 31 |
| 71 to 75 | 3 | 5 |
| 76 to 80 | 8 | 6 |
| 81 to 85 | 2 | 65 |
| 86 to 90 | 1 | 4 |
| 91 to 95 | 2 | 7 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 2 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 7 |
| 106 to 110 | 0 | 3 |
| 111 to 115 | 0 | 9 |
| 116 to 120 | 5 | 5 |
| 121 to 125 | 3 | 9 |
| 126 to 130 | 11 | 0 |
| 131 to 135 | 6 | 7 |
| 136 to 140 | 7 | 15 |
| 141 to 145 | 2 | 22 |
| 146 to 150 | 5 | 10 |
| 151 to 155 | 0 | 1 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 3 |
| 161 to 165 | 0 | 2 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 1 |
| 171 to 175 | 0 | 0 |
| 176 to 180 | 0 | 2 |
| 181 to 185 | 0 | 1 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 2 |
| 191 to 195 | 0 | 2 |
| 196 to 200 | 0 | 3 |
| 201 to 204 | 7 | 28 |
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, 32 are women's.
194 lines from women, 415 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
10 women and 48 men in the cast. 4 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 655.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 54 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 31% of the words (1,686), men 69% (3,821). Women have 32% 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
1
Two men
24
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Sam Mendes (man)
- Written by
- John Logan (man), Neal Purvis (man), Robert Wade (man)
- Produced by
- Michael G. Wilson (man), Barbara Broccoli (woman)
- Shot by
- Roger Deakins (man)
- Edited by
- Stuart Baird (man)
- Music by
- Thomas Newman (man)
- Production design by
- Dennis Gassner (man)
- Costumes by
- Jany Temime (woman)
- Cast by
- Debbie McWilliams (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
4 women, 14 men, 51 not listed
-
Other crew
18 women, 21 men, 21 not listed
-
Art
6 women, 27 men, 18 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 18 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 5 men, 12 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 14 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
7 women, 4 men, 8 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 4 men, 12 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 49 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Bérénice Marlohe 33, Naomie Harris 36, Judi Dench 77
Men
Ben Whishaw 32, Rory Kinnear 34, Ola Rapace 40, Javier Bardem 43, Daniel Craig 44, Ralph Fiennes 49, Albert Finney 76
Exhibit G: the money
It made 5.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $200 million
- Box office
- $1.1 billion
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 204 scenes and 655 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
