Passes the Bechdel test
Swan Song
2021. Directed by Benjamin Cleary, written by Benjamin Cleary.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
5 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 171. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Set in the near future, "Swan Song" is a powerful, emotional journey told through the eyes of Cameron (Mahershala Ali), a loving husband and father diagnosed with a terminal illness whose doctor (Glenn Close) presents him with an alternative solution to shield his family from grief. As Cam grapples with whether or not to alter his family's fate, he learns more about life and love than he ever imagined. "Swan Song" explores how far we will go, and how much we're willing to sacrifice, to make a happier life for the people we love.
- Released
- 17 Dec 2021
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 66 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 2 wins & 12 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Cameron 203 lines, man
- Poppy 114 lines, woman
- Jack 111 lines, man
- Jo 99 lines, woman
- Cory 27 lines, man
- Kate 26 lines, woman
- Dalton 16 lines, man
- Rafa 13 lines, man
- Alex 8 lines, man
- Andre 7 lines, man
Full cast, 15 people
- Mahershala Ali as Cameron Turner
- Naomie Harris as Poppy Turner
- Awkwafina as Kate
- Glenn Close as Dr. Eve Scott
- Adam Beach as Dalton
- Lee Shorten as Rafa
- Dax Rey as Hugo
- Nyasha Hatendi as Andre
- JayR Tinaco as Alex
- Luke Camilleri as Rob
- Jessica Hayles as Julie
- Mikayla Lagman as Sammy
- Shema Cayden as Young Cameron
- Aiden Adejuwon as Cory (Age 5)
- Ace LeVere as Cory (Age 2)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 171
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 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 to 8 | 2 | 4 |
| 9 to 12 | 1 | 3 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 to 20 | 6 | 2 |
| 21 to 24 | 8 | 8 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 4 | 10 |
| 33 to 36 | 11 | 19 |
| 37 to 40 | 5 | 5 |
| 41 to 44 | 19 | 16 |
| 45 to 48 | 1 | 9 |
| 49 to 52 | 8 | 10 |
| 53 to 56 | 14 | 18 |
| 57 to 60 | 5 | 5 |
| 61 to 64 | 9 | 23 |
| 65 to 68 | 4 | 15 |
| 69 to 72 | 7 | 14 |
| 73 to 76 | 9 | 6 |
| 77 to 80 | 11 | 11 |
| 81 to 84 | 1 | 5 |
| 85 to 88 | 3 | 3 |
| 89 to 92 | 11 | 12 |
| 93 to 96 | 14 | 36 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 3 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 25 |
| 105 to 108 | 5 | 3 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 1 | 0 |
| 117 to 120 | 5 | 5 |
| 121 to 124 | 5 | 3 |
| 125 to 128 | 3 | 3 |
| 129 to 132 | 11 | 8 |
| 133 to 136 | 18 | 20 |
| 137 to 140 | 3 | 4 |
| 141 to 144 | 4 | 5 |
| 145 to 148 | 10 | 15 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 1 |
| 157 to 160 | 0 | 13 |
| 161 to 164 | 13 | 24 |
| 165 to 168 | 0 | 4 |
| 169 to 171 | 11 | 9 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
KATE: Oh, this is my boss, Samantha. SAMMY: I’m her daughter.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 39 are women's.
245 lines from women, 385 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
5 women and 9 men in the cast. 4 women and 5 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 12 of 638.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 30 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 42% of the words (2,426), men 58% (3,417). Women have 39% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
2
Two men
30
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Benjamin Cleary (man)
- Written by
- Benjamin Cleary (man)
- Produced by
- Rebecca Bourke (woman), Shea Kammer (man), Mimi Valdés (woman), Jacob Perlin (gender not listed), Mahershala Ali (man), Jonathan King (man) and 1 more
- Shot by
- Masanobu Takayanagi (man)
- Edited by
- Nathan Nugent (man)
- Music by
- Jay Wadley (man)
- Production design by
- Annie Beauchamp (woman)
- Costumes by
- Cynthia Ann Summers (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 1 men
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 0 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 51 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Awkwafina 33, Naomie Harris 45, Glenn Close 74
Men
Dax Rey 10, Luke Camilleri 37, Nyasha Hatendi 40, Mahershala Ali 47, Adam Beach 49
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 171 scenes and 638 lines of dialogue. How the test works
