Passes the Bechdel test
The Babadook
2014. Directed by Jennifer Kent, written by Jennifer Kent.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
14 women characters. 7 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 120. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Six years after the violent death of her husband, Amelia is at a loss. She struggles to discipline her 'out of control' 6 year-old, Samuel, a son she finds impossible to love. Samuel's dreams are plagued by a monster he believes is coming to kill them both. When a disturbing storybook called 'The Babadook' turns up at their house, Samuel is convinced that the Babadook is the creature he's been dreaming about. His hallucinations spiral out of control, he becomes more unpredictable and violent. Amelia, genuinely frightened by her son's behaviour, is forced to medicate him. But when Amelia begins to see glimpses of a sinister presence all around her, it slowly dawns on her that the thing Samuel has been warning her about may be real.
- Released
- 28 Nov 2014
- Genres
- Drama, Horror, Mystery
- Rated
- Not Rated
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 86 / 100
- Awards
- 56 wins & 64 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Amelia 320 lines, woman
- Samuel 147 lines, man
- Claire 48 lines, woman
- Mrs Roach 24 lines, woman
- Robbie 17 lines, man
- Principal 10 lines, man
- Ruby 10 lines, woman
- Sergeant 10 lines, man
- Doctor 9 lines, man
- Mother 1 7 lines, woman
Full cast, 36 people
- Essie Davis as Amelia Vanek
- Noah Wiseman as Samuel Vanek
- Hayley McElhinney as Claire
- Daniel Henshall as Robbie
- Barbara West as Gracie Roach
- Ben Winspear as Oskar Vanek
- Cathy Adamek as Prue
- Craig Behenna as Warren
- Hachi as Bugsy
- Tim Purcell as The Babadook
- Chloe Hurn as Ruby
- Jacquy Phillips as Beverly
- Bridget Walters as Norma
- Adam Morgan as Sergeant
- Pippa Wanganeen as Eastern Suburbs Mum 1
- Peta Shannon as Eastern Suburbs Mum 2
- Michelle Nightingale as Eastern Suburbs Mum 3
- Tony Mack as Principal
- Carmel Johnson as Teacher
- Michael Gilmour as Young Policeman 1
- Craig McArdle as Young Policeman 2
- Terence Crawford as Doctor
- Tiffany Lyndall-Knight as Supermarket Mum
- Lucy Hong as Supermarket Little Girl
- Sophie Riggs as Checkout Chick
- John Maurice as Car Guy
- Stephen Sheehan as Magician
- Alicia Zorkovic as Fast Food Mum
- Lotte Crawford as Kissing Woman
- Chris Roberts as Kissing Man
- Annie Batten as Old Woman in Corridor
- India Zorkovic as Fast Food Kid 1
- Isla Zorkovic as Fast Food Kid 2
- Charlie Crabtree as Fast Food Kid 3
- Ethan Grabis as Fast Food Kid 4
- Sophie Allan as Fast Food Kid 5
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 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 120
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 | 3 | 6 |
| 4 to 6 | 5 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 10 | 6 |
| 10 to 12 | 6 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 14 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 19 | 11 |
| 19 to 21 | 37 | 10 |
| 22 to 24 | 9 | 2 |
| 25 to 27 | 10 | 6 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 5 |
| 34 to 36 | 16 | 3 |
| 37 to 39 | 15 | 9 |
| 40 to 42 | 16 | 4 |
| 43 to 45 | 8 | 16 |
| 46 to 48 | 9 | 4 |
| 49 to 51 | 1 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 22 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 41 | 12 |
| 61 to 63 | 18 | 18 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 24 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 30 | 20 |
| 73 to 75 | 3 | 4 |
| 76 to 78 | 3 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 11 | 9 |
| 82 to 84 | 4 | 7 |
| 85 to 87 | 3 | 2 |
| 88 to 90 | 14 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 4 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 7 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 5 | 4 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 9 | 4 |
| 106 to 108 | 4 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 8 | 9 |
| 112 to 114 | 9 | 5 |
| 115 to 117 | 20 | 6 |
| 118 to 120 | 10 | 5 |
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.
AMELIA: Here you go Ron. Nice cup of tea. AMELIA: And one for you Norma, that’s got milk in it. NORMA: What? AMELIA: THAT’S GOT MILK IN IT.
AMELIA: Be careful. What would you like me to do for Wednesday? I can get their birthday cakes, that’s easy. CLAIRE: Meels.... I’ve wanted to tell you. I was hoping Ruby would change her mind... CLAIRE: She doesn’t want a joint party with Sam this year. It’s stupid I know, their birthdays are so close. AMELIA: Oh...
CLAIRE: What have you been doing? AMELIA: Sorry. CLAIRE: Day off school hey?
AMELIA: Well I’m not scared. SAMUEL AMELIA: You will be when it creeps That’s enough- into your room at night.
CLAIRE: No that’s fine. I’ll call you when they’re ready to be picked up. AMELIA: I can stay after and help you clean up. CLAIRE: I’ll be fine.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 67 are women's.
433 lines from women, 213 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
14 women and 11 men in the cast. 7 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 653.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 10 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 70% of the words (3,925), men 30% (1,719). Women have 67% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Run the other way, for men, the film scores 2 out of 3.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
23
Two men
2
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jennifer Kent (woman)
- Written by
- Jennifer Kent (woman)
- Produced by
- Kristina Ceyton (woman), Kristian Moliere (gender not listed)
- Shot by
- Radek Ładczuk (man)
- Edited by
- Simon Njoo (man)
- Music by
- Jed Kurzel (man)
- Production design by
- Alex Holmes (man)
- Costumes by
- Heather Wallace (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Nikki Barrett (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 12 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 1 men, 8 not listed
-
Production
4 women, 2 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 4 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 1 men, 8 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 25 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Hayley McElhinney 39, Essie Davis 44
Men
Noah Wiseman 5, Daniel Henshall 31, Craig Behenna 40
Exhibit H: the money
It made 5.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $2 million
- Box office
- $10.3 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 120 scenes and 653 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
