Fails the Bechdel test
Suburbicon
2017. Directed by George Clooney, written by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen and George Clooney.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 4 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
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
In the bosom of Suburbicon--a family-centred, all-white utopia of manicured lawns and friendly locals--a simmering tension is brewing, as the first African-American family moves in the idyllic community, in the hot summer of 1959. However--as the young patriarch, Gardner Lodge, and his family start catching a few disturbing glimpses of the once-welcoming neighbourhood's dark underbelly--seemingly random acts of unprecedented violence paired with a gruesome death will blemish, irreparably, Suburbicon's picture-perfect facade. Who would have thought that darkness resides even in Paradise?
- Released
- 27 Oct 2017
- Genres
- Comedy, Crime, Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 42 / 100
- Awards
- 4 wins & 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Gardner 88 lines, man
- Margaret 71 lines, woman
- Ira Sloan 70 lines, man
- Luis Colina 58 lines, man
- Nicky 38 lines, man
- Gombrich 19 lines, man
- Mitch 17 lines, man
- Hightower 16 lines, man
- Coach 10 lines
- Greenberg 10 lines
Full cast, 57 people
- Matt Damon as Gardner Lodge
- Julianne Moore as Margaret Lodge / Rose
- Noah Jupe as Nicky Lodge
- Oscar Isaac as Bud Cooper
- Landon Gordon as Kid on Bike
- Glenn Fleshler as Ira Sloan
- Alex Hassell as Louis
- Karimah Westbrook as Mrs. Mayers
- Tony Espinosa as Andy Mayers
- Gary Basaraba as Uncle Mitch
- Leith M. Burke as Mr. Mayers
- Jack Conley as Hightower
- Megan Ferguson as June
- Lauren Burns as Mitch's Secretary
- Steve Monroe as Mailman Henry
- James Handy as Mayor Billings
- Hope Banks as Mrs Pendalton
- Michael D. Cohen as Stretch
- Richard Kind as John Sears
- Cathy Giannone as Sylvia
- Peggy Miley as Betty
- Ellen Crawford as Eileen
- Nancy Daly as Linda
- Pamela Dunlap as Mrs. Krup
- Mather Zickel as James
- Josh Meyer as Freddy
- Vince Cefalu as Chuck
- Corey Allen Kotler as Bomber
- Steven Shaw as Doctor Jennings
- Don Baldaramos as Reverend Jones
- Allan Wasserman as Roger
- Mark Leslie Ford as Bill Thackery
- Robert Pierce as Ed Pappas
- Frank Califano as Father Dominicus
- Biff Yeager as Mr. Karger
- Benjamin Franczuszki as Reporter
- Inbal Amirav as Church Choir Singer (uncredited)
- Dean England as Funeral Mourner (uncredited)
- Gia Balzano as Mississippi Younger Daughter (uncredited)
- Becca Beton as New York Girl (uncredited)
- Saraya Chanadet as Ohio Daughter (uncredited)
- Diane Dehn as Virginia (uncredited)
- Gretchen Dickason as Passers by (uncredited)
- Nichole Eberle as Neighbor/Protester (uncredited)
- Sonia Gascón as Pregnant Lady (uncredited)
- Anna Gion as Smoking Pregnant Woman (uncredited)
- Lauren Mendoza as P & S Secretary (uncredited)
- Diana Matlak as Funeral Mourner (uncredited)
- Taylor Ragan as Mississippi Mom (uncredited)
- Weston Mueller as Perp #1 (uncredited)
- Alessandro Delpiano as Townhome kid (uncredited)
- Dash Williams as Walters (uncredited)
- Gavin Wilde as Cowboy Kid
- Avery Barkdull as Grocery Store Kid (uncredited)
- Blake Altounian as Frog (uncredited)
- Bobby Brodney as Reporter (uncredited)
- Tim Neff as Protestor #4
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 9% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 7
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 | 3 | 60 |
| 2 to 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 3 to 3 | 34 | 112 |
| 4 to 4 | 0 | 9 |
| 5 to 5 | 44 | 132 |
| 6 to 6 | 7 | 20 |
| 7 to 7 | 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, 21 are women's.
89 lines from women, 334 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
14 women and 33 men in the cast. 4 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 17 of 467.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 58 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 (870), men 78% (3,102). Women have 21% 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
0
Two men
23
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- George Clooney (man)
- Written by
- Ethan Coen (man), Joel Coen (man), George Clooney (man), Grant Heslov (man)
- Produced by
- George Clooney (man), Teddy Schwarzman (man), Grant Heslov (man)
- Shot by
- Robert Elswit (man)
- Edited by
- Stephen Mirrione (man)
- Music by
- Alexandre Desplat (man)
- Production design by
- James D. Bissell (man)
- Costumes by
- Jenny Eagan (woman)
- Cast by
- Ellen Chenoweth (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Art
6 women, 4 men, 14 not listed
-
Other crew
3 women, 11 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 10 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 48 on average. Men: 35 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Karimah Westbrook 39, Julianne Moore 56
Men
Landon Gordon 7, Noah Jupe 12, Alex Hassell 37, Oscar Isaac 38, Matt Damon 47, Glenn Fleshler 49, Gary Basaraba 58
Exhibit G: the money
It made 51% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $12.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 7 scenes and 467 lines of dialogue. How the test works
