Fails the Bechdel test
Take Shelter
2011. Directed by Jeff Nichols, written by Jeff Nichols.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 5 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.
The film
Curtis, a father and husband, is starting to experience bad dreams and hallucinations. Assuming mental illness, he seeks medical help and counseling. However, fearing the worst, he starts building an elaborate and expensive storm shelter in their backyard. This storm shelter threatens to tear apart his family, threatens his sanity and his standing in the community, but he builds it to save his family's life.
- Released
- 10 Nov 2011
- Genres
- Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 85 / 100
- Awards
- 42 wins & 47 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Curtis 287 lines, man
- Samantha 144 lines, woman
- Dewart 42 lines, man
- Kyle 26 lines, man
- Jim 19 lines, man
- Doctor Shannan 13 lines, man
- Sarah 12 lines, woman
- Kendra 8 lines, woman
- Nat 6 lines, woman
- Psychiatrist 6 lines
Full cast, 28 people
- Michael Shannon as Curtis LaForche
- Jessica Chastain as Samantha LaForche
- Shea Whigham as Dewart
- Tova Stewart as Hannah LaForche
- Katy Mixon as Nat
- Robert Longstreet as Jim
- Ray McKinnon as Kyle
- Kathy Baker as Sarah
- LisaGay Hamilton as Kendra
- Jeffrey Grover as Psychiatrist
- Natasha Randall as Cammie
- Ron Kennard as Russell
- Scott Knisley as Lewis
- Heather Caldwell as Special Ed Teacher
- Sheila Hullihen as Woman in Road
- Maryanne Nagel as Insurance Agent
- Stuart Greer as Army-Navy Dave
- Bart Flynn as Dave
- Molly McGinnis as Janine
- John Kloock as Man in Road
- Marianna Alacchi as Bargain Hunter
- Jacque Jovic as News Anchor
- Peter Ferry as Melvin
- Ken Strunk as Doctor Shannan
- Hailee Dickens as Pharmacist
- Guy Van Swearingen as Myers
- Nick Koesters as Rich
- Jason Botsford as Construction Worker
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 131
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 6 | 14 |
| 7 to 9 | 8 | 2 |
| 10 to 12 | 9 | 17 |
| 13 to 15 | 6 | 6 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 10 |
| 19 to 21 | 1 | 9 |
| 22 to 24 | 17 | 17 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 6 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 17 | 18 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 2 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 1 |
| 43 to 45 | 5 | 8 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 0 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 33 |
| 55 to 57 | 3 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 7 | 9 |
| 61 to 63 | 2 | 1 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 15 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 2 |
| 70 to 72 | 10 | 14 |
| 73 to 75 | 5 | 5 |
| 76 to 78 | 0 | 7 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 25 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 87 | 11 | 9 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 13 | 6 |
| 94 to 96 | 3 | 12 |
| 97 to 99 | 1 | 20 |
| 100 to 102 | 6 | 6 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 49 |
| 106 to 108 | 2 | 2 |
| 109 to 111 | 1 | 12 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 4 |
| 115 to 117 | 14 | 9 |
| 118 to 120 | 3 | 17 |
| 121 to 123 | 1 | 0 |
| 124 to 126 | 13 | 19 |
| 127 to 129 | 2 | 4 |
| 130 to 131 | 1 | 4 |
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, 31 are women's.
176 lines from women, 395 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
7 women and 8 men in the cast. 5 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 611.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 61 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 33% of the words (1,504), men 67% (2,999). Women have 31% 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
4
Two men
17
Exhibit E: behind the camera
2 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jeff Nichols (man)
- Written by
- Jeff Nichols (man)
- Produced by
- Tyler Davidson (man), Sophia Lin (woman)
- Shot by
- Adam Stone (man)
- Edited by
- Parke Gregg (gender not listed)
- Music by
- David Wingo (man)
- Production design by
- Chad Keith (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Karen Malecki (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Lillian Pyles (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 9 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 0 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Katy Mixon 30, Jessica Chastain 34, LisaGay Hamilton 47, Kathy Baker 61
Men
Robert Longstreet 36, Michael Shannon 37, Shea Whigham 42, Ray McKinnon 53
Exhibit G: the money
It made 75% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $5 million
- Box office
- $3.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 131 scenes and 611 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
