Fails the Bechdel test
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
2007. Directed by Tim Burton, written by John Logan and Hugh Wheeler and Christopher Bond.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 3 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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
In the Victorian London, the barber Benjamin Barker is married to the gorgeous Lucy and they have a lovely child, Johanna. The beauty of Lucy attracts the attention of the corrupt Judge Turpin, who falsely accuses the barber of a crime that he did not commit and abuses Lucy later after gaining custody of her. After fifteen years in exile, Benjamin returns to London under the new identity of Sweeney Todd, seeking revenge against Turpin. He meets the widow Mrs. Lovett who is the owner of a meat pie shop who tells him that Lucy swallowed arsenic many years ago, and Turpin assigned himself tutor of Johanna. He opens a barber shop above her store, initiating a crime rampage against those who made him suffer and lose his beloved family.
- Released
- 21 Dec 2007
- Genres
- Drama, Horror, Musical
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 83 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 34 wins & 77 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Todd 240 lines, man
- Mrs. Lovett 207 lines, woman
- Judge 68 lines, man
- Anthony 57 lines, man
- Toby 49 lines, man
- Beadle 22 lines, man
- Beggar Woman 19 lines, woman
- Pirelli 19 lines, man
- Ghosts 17 lines
- Customers 10 lines
Full cast, 52 people
- Johnny Depp as Sweeney Todd
- Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett
- Alan Rickman as Judge Turpin
- Timothy Spall as Beadle
- Sacha Baron Cohen as Pirelli
- Jamie Campbell Bower as Anthony
- Laura Michelle Kelly as Lucy / Beggar Woman
- Jayne Wisener as Johanna
- Ed Sanders as Toby
- Gracie May Weldon as Baby Johanna
- Ava May as Baby Johanna
- Jody Halse as Policeman
- Aron Paramor as Policeman
- Lee Whitlock as Policeman
- Nick Haverson as Pirelli / Todd Customer
- Mandy Holliday as Pirelli / Todd Customer
- Colin Higgins as Elixir Sniffing Customer
- John Paton as Gasping Man
- Graham Bohea as Contest Bald Man
- Daniel Lusardi as Boy Prisoner
- Ian McLarnon as Man in Need of a Shave
- Phill Woodfine as Shave Customer Slit Throat
- Toby Hefferman as Happy Customer
- Charlotte Child as Happy Customer's Wife
- Kira Woolman as Happy Customer's Child
- Helen Slaymaker as Jolly Friend
- Jess Murphy as Jolly Friend
- Nicholas Hewetson as Jolly Friend
- Adam Roach as Jolly Friend
- Marcus Cunningham as Jolly Friend
- David McKail as Minister
- Philip Philmar as Mr. Fogg
- Gemma Grey as Inmate
- Sue Maund as Inmate
- Emma Hewitt as Inmate
- Buck Holland as Barber Customer
- Peter Mountain as Fleet Street Dandy
- Harry Taylor as Mr. Lovett
- Stephen Ashfield as Pie Customer
- Jerry Judge as Pie Customer
- Norman Campbell Rees as Pie Customer
- Jonathan Williams as Pie Customer
- William Oxborrow as Pie Customer
- Tom Pleydell-Pearce as Pie Customer
- Laura Sanchez as Pie Customer
- Johnson Willis as Pie Customer
- Jon-Paul Hevey as Pie Customer
- Liza Sadovy as Pie Customer
- Jane Fowler as Pie Customer
- Gaye Brown as Pie Customer
- Sophie Morris-Sheppard as Mad Woman in the Asylum (uncredited)
- Anthony Stewart Head as Man in Street Who Greets Todd after Competition (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 112
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 3 | 0 | 12 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 13 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 to 12 | 15 | 3 |
| 13 to 15 | 8 | 9 |
| 16 to 18 | 13 | 10 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 21 |
| 22 to 24 | 13 | 47 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 16 | 24 |
| 31 to 33 | 4 | 5 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 15 |
| 37 to 39 | 16 | 80 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 4 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 34 | 40 |
| 52 to 54 | 7 | 5 |
| 55 to 57 | 13 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 5 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 1 | 3 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 4 |
| 73 to 75 | 5 | 1 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 4 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 3 |
| 82 to 84 | 8 | 6 |
| 85 to 87 | 3 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 3 | 1 |
| 91 to 93 | 7 | 1 |
| 94 to 96 | 10 | 22 |
| 97 to 99 | 14 | 20 |
| 100 to 102 | 6 | 8 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 21 |
| 106 to 108 | 6 | 9 |
| 109 to 111 | 11 | 46 |
| 112 to 112 | 18 | 25 |
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, 33 are women's.
238 lines from women, 475 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 23 men in the cast. 3 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 36 of 760.
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 40% of the words (3,675), men 60% (5,546). Women have 33% 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
1
Two men
26
Exhibit E: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Tim Burton (man)
- Written by
- John Logan (man)
- Produced by
- Richard D. Zanuck (man), John Logan (man), Laurie MacDonald (woman), Walter F. Parkes (man)
- Shot by
- Dariusz Wolski (man)
- Edited by
- Chris Lebenzon (man)
- Music by
- Stephen Sondheim (man)
- Production design by
- Dante Ferretti (man)
- Costumes by
- Colleen Atwood (woman)
- Cast by
- Susie Figgis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 7 men, 10 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 10 men, 7 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 5 men
-
Art
2 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 6 men
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 2 men
-
Writing
0 women, 4 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 29 on average. Men: 37 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jayne Wisener 20, Laura Michelle Kelly 26, Helena Bonham Carter 41
Men
Ed Sanders 14, Jamie Campbell Bower 19, Sacha Baron Cohen 36, Johnny Depp 44, Timothy Spall 50, Alan Rickman 61
Exhibit G: the money
It made 3.1 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $50 million
- Box office
- $153 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 112 scenes and 760 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
