Passes the Bechdel test

Super 8

Name: Super 8
Released: 2011

2011. Directed by J.J. Abrams, written by J.J. Abrams.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
9 women characters. 6 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 163.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

SPOILER: In the summer of 1979, a group of friends in a small Ohio town witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie and soon suspect that it was not an accident. Shortly after, unusual disappearances and inexplicable events begin to take place in town, and the local Deputy tries to uncover the truth - something more terrifying than any of them could have imagined.

Released: 10 Jun 2011
Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 72 / 100
Awards: 11 wins & 71 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Joe 190 lines, man
Charles 157 lines, man
Cary 76 lines, man
Jack 64 lines, man
Alice 58 lines, woman
Martin 44 lines, man
Preston 26 lines, man
Nelec 25 lines, man
Louis 20 lines, man
Donny 18 lines, man

Full cast, 47 people

Joel Courtney as Joe Lamb
Elle Fanning as Alice Dainard
Riley Griffiths as Charles Kaznyk
Kyle Chandler as Jackson Lamb
Noah Emmerich as Nelec
AJ Michalka as Jen Kaznyk
Ryan Lee as Cary McCarthy
Ron Eldard as Louis Dainard
Gabriel Basso as Martin Read
Bruce Greenwood as Cooper
Zach Mills as Preston
Jessica Tuck as Mrs. Kaznyk
Joel McKinnon Miller as Mr. Kaznyk
Britt Flatmo as Peg Kaznyk
Glynn Turman as Dr. Woodward
Richard T. Jones as Overmyer
Tom Quinn as Mr. McCandless
Caitríona Balfe as Elizabeth Lamb
Amanda Foreman as Lydia Connors - Ch 14 News Anchor
David Gallagher as Donny
Brett Rice as Sheriff Pruitt
Dale Dickey as Edie
Beau Knapp as Breen
Bingo O'Malley as Mr. Harkin
Andrew Miller as Kaznyk Twin
Jakob Miller as Kaznyk Twin
Robert B. Quiroz as Boy in EVAC
Koa Melvin as Baby Joe
Greg Grunberg as Sitcom Actor
Patrick St. Esprit as Weapons Commander
Katie Lowes as Tina
Michael Hitchcock as Deputy Rosko
Michael Giacchino as Deputy Crawford
Jonathan Dixon as Airman Nevil
Emerson Brooks as Military Bus Driver
Marco Sanchez as Hernandez
Tim Griffin as Commando
Jason Brooks as Air Force Security
Tony Guma as Sargeant Walters
Teri Clark as Mrs. Babbit
Thomas F. Duffy as Rooney
James Landry Hébert as Deputy Tally
Jay Scully as Deputy Skadden
Ben Gavin as Deputy Milner
Dan Castellaneta as Izzy
Jack Axelrod as Mr. Blakely
Brandon Hirsch as Air Force Airman (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

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

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 163

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	3	22
5 to 8	0	33
9 to 12	9	18
13 to 16	6	24
17 to 20	4	15
21 to 24	10	81
25 to 28	4	16
29 to 32	0	2
33 to 36	11	41
37 to 40	12	60
41 to 44	0	17
45 to 48	0	0
49 to 52	6	19
53 to 56	0	12
57 to 60	0	10
61 to 64	6	29
65 to 68	3	18
69 to 72	0	16
73 to 76	0	10
77 to 80	11	21
81 to 84	0	2
85 to 88	0	1
89 to 92	0	6
93 to 96	0	38
97 to 100	0	1
101 to 104	8	22
105 to 108	0	12
109 to 112	0	1
113 to 116	0	18
117 to 120	0	21
121 to 124	1	16
125 to 128	0	5
129 to 132	0	27
133 to 136	0	25
137 to 140	0	25
141 to 144	0	14
145 to 148	0	15
149 to 152	0	2
153 to 156	0	1
157 to 160	7	25
161 to 163	0	0

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.

JEN: Mom, come on! CHARLES' MOTHER: No. You're not wearing that. No one in this house is wearing that. JEN: Compared to Debbie's these are long.

JEN: I can't wear these or go to Wendy's party? This is not fair. CHARLES' MOTHER: Jennifer Anne, not fair is Africa. JEN: Mom's racist. PEG: Are there anymore English muffins?

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 12 are women's.

101 lines from women, 741 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

9 women and 36 men in the cast. 6 women and 38 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 871. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 127 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 10% of the words (824), men 90% (7,171). Women have 12% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

5 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: J.J. Abrams (man)
Written by: J.J. Abrams (man)
Produced by: J.J. Abrams (man), Steven Spielberg (man), Bryan Burk (man)
Shot by: Larry Fong (man)
Edited by: Maryann Brandon (woman), Mary Jo Markey (woman)
Music by: Michael Giacchino (man)
Production design by: Martin Whist (man)
Costumes by: Ha Nguyen (woman)
Cast by: April Webster (woman), Alyssa Weisberg (woman), Patti Carns Kalles (gender not listed)