Passes the Bechdel test
Tenet
2020. Directed by Christopher Nolan, written by Christopher Nolan.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 276. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
In a twilight world of international espionage, an unnamed CIA operative, known as The Protagonist, is recruited by a mysterious organization called Tenet to participate in a global assignment that unfolds beyond real time. The mission: prevent Andrei Sator, a renegade Russian oligarch with precognitive abilities, from starting World War III. The Protagonist will soon master the art of "time inversion" as a way of countering the threat that is to come.
- Released
- 03 Sep 2020
- Genres
- Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 49 wins & 135 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Protagonist 464 lines, man
- Neil 173 lines, man
- Kat 161 lines, woman
- Sator 159 lines, man
- Priya 72 lines, woman
- Ives 58 lines, man
- Barbara 31 lines, woman
- Crosby 21 lines, man
- Mahir 15 lines, man
- Driver 11 lines, man
Full cast, 61 people
- John David Washington as Protagonist
- Robert Pattinson as Neil
- Elizabeth Debicki as Kat
- Kenneth Branagh as Sator
- Dimple Kapadia as Priya
- Michael Caine as Crosby
- Martin Donovan as Fay
- Fiona Dourif as Wheeler
- Yuri Kolokolnikov as Volkov
- Himesh Patel as Mahir
- Clémence Poésy as Barbara
- Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Ives
- Laurie Shepherd as Max
- Anthony Molinari as Rohan
- Juhan Ulfsak as Passenger
- Jefferson Hall as Well-dressed Man
- Ivo Uukkivi as Uniformed Official
- Andrew Howard as Driver
- Rich Ceraulo Ko as SWAT / Target
- Jonathan Camp as SWAT 2
- Wes Chatham as SWAT 3
- Sander Rebane as Ukrainian SWAT
- Josh Stewart as Male Voice (voice)
- Denzil Smith as Sanjay
- Jeremy Theobald as Steward
- Tom Nolan as Shipley's Representive
- Marcel Sabat as Gaunt Russian
- Julia-Maria Arnolds as Nanny
- Jack Cutmore-Scott as Klaus
- Adam Cropper as Young Sator
- Tony Christian as Gold Bar Thief
- Jan Uuspõld as Blue Co-Pilot
- Kaspar Velberg as Police Operator
- Sergo Vares as Police Supervisor
- Rain Tolk as Policeman Passenger
- Henrik Kalmet as Medic
- Sean Avery as Red Soldier 1
- John Douglas as Red Soldier 2
- Seb Carrington as Junior Crew Member
- Matthew Marsden as Blue Team Soldier
- Mark Krenik as Toby (uncredited)
- Kenneth Haugen as Tourist in Oslo (uncredited)
- Marek Angelštok as Usher (uncredited)
- Klaus Peeter Rüütli as SWAT (uncredited)
- Daniel Olesk as SWAT (uncredited)
- Ingrid Margus as Usher (uncredited)
- Carina Velva as Tourist in Oslo (uncredited)
- Glenn Lawrence as Russian Soldier (uncredited)
- Katie McCabe as Flight Attendant Anne (uncredited)
- Ronald Pelin as Art Gallery Employee (uncredited)
- Schezaad Ausman as High Security Guard (uncredited)
- Anterro Ahonen as Military Officer (uncredited)
- Aleksei Podlesnov as Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Trent Buxton as Soldier (uncredited)
- Jess Weber as Soldier (uncredited)
- Martin Tõnumaa as Soldier (uncredited)
- Lisa Marie as Soldier (uncredited)
- Loora-Eliise Kaarelson as Coat Check Girl (uncredited)
- Andres Oja as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Anton Klink as Audience Member (uncredited)
- Viktoria Jelizarova as Hostage (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 6 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 276
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 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 to 12 | 0 | 12 |
| 13 to 18 | 0 | 14 |
| 19 to 24 | 0 | 30 |
| 25 to 30 | 0 | 1 |
| 31 to 36 | 31 | 47 |
| 37 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 48 | 17 | 71 |
| 49 to 54 | 29 | 29 |
| 55 to 60 | 3 | 1 |
| 61 to 66 | 11 | 21 |
| 67 to 72 | 0 | 51 |
| 73 to 78 | 0 | 6 |
| 79 to 84 | 0 | 2 |
| 85 to 90 | 0 | 1 |
| 91 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 102 | 0 | 6 |
| 103 to 108 | 0 | 8 |
| 109 to 114 | 36 | 53 |
| 115 to 120 | 11 | 38 |
| 121 to 126 | 20 | 53 |
| 127 to 132 | 0 | 0 |
| 133 to 138 | 1 | 44 |
| 139 to 144 | 4 | 14 |
| 145 to 150 | 3 | 12 |
| 151 to 156 | 0 | 4 |
| 157 to 162 | 0 | 13 |
| 163 to 168 | 10 | 124 |
| 169 to 174 | 0 | 4 |
| 175 to 180 | 6 | 61 |
| 181 to 186 | 0 | 9 |
| 187 to 192 | 0 | 7 |
| 193 to 198 | 31 | 36 |
| 199 to 204 | 24 | 36 |
| 205 to 210 | 2 | 26 |
| 211 to 216 | 0 | 0 |
| 217 to 222 | 3 | 4 |
| 223 to 228 | 5 | 6 |
| 229 to 234 | 1 | 10 |
| 235 to 240 | 6 | 9 |
| 241 to 246 | 1 | 12 |
| 247 to 252 | 0 | 20 |
| 253 to 258 | 1 | 3 |
| 259 to 264 | 13 | 16 |
| 265 to 270 | 0 | 3 |
| 271 to 276 | 9 | 57 |
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.
PRIYA: And I told you what it would be worth. Here. Today. How did you know? KAT: Cannon Place, 3 o'clock, it's
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 22 are women's.
278 lines from women, 980 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 43 men in the cast. 4 women and 31 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 62 of 1,278.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 103 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 26% of the words (2,984), men 74% (8,289). Women have 22% 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
1
Two men
80
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Written by
- Christopher Nolan (man)
- Produced by
- Christopher Nolan (man), Emma Thomas (woman)
- Shot by
- Hoyte van Hoytema (man)
- Edited by
- Jennifer Lame (woman)
- Music by
- Ludwig Göransson (man)
- Production design by
- Nathan Crowley (man)
- Cast by
- John Papsidera (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
14 women, 69 men, 63 not listed
-
Production
16 women, 14 men, 54 not listed
-
Art
9 women, 11 men, 44 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
15 women, 9 men, 29 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 9 men, 22 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 13 men, 17 not listed
-
Sound
4 women, 20 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
7 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 50 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Elizabeth Debicki 29, Fiona Dourif 38, Dimple Kapadia 63
Men
Himesh Patel 29, Robert Pattinson 34, John David Washington 36, Yuri Kolokolnikov 39, Kenneth Branagh 59, Martin Donovan 63, Michael Caine 87
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.8 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $205 million
- Box office
- $365 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 276 scenes and 1,278 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
