Passes the Bechdel test
The BFG
2016. Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and Roald Dahl.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
9 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 135. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Ten-year-old Sophie is in for the adventure of a lifetime when she meets the Big Friendly Giant. Naturally scared at first, the young girl soon realizes that the twenty-four-foot behemoth is actually quite gentle and charming. As their friendship grows, Sophie's presence attracts the unwanted attention of Bloodbottler, Fleshlumpeater, and other giants. After travelling to London, Sophie and the BFG must convince Queen Elizabeth to help them get rid of all of the bad giants once and for all.
- Released
- 01 Jul 2016
- Genres
- Adventure, Family, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG
- IMDb
- 6.3 / 10
- Metascore
- 66 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 4 wins & 26 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sophie 226 lines, woman
- The Bfg 211 lines, man
- The Queen 62 lines, woman
- Bloodletter 26 lines, man
- Fleshlumpeater 21 lines, man
- Mary 16 lines, woman
- Tibbs 11 lines, man
- Hear 5 lines
- Bone Cruncher 4 lines
- The Majesty 4 lines
Full cast, 33 people
- Mark Rylance as The BFG
- Ruby Barnhill as Sophie
- Rebecca Hall as Mary
- Jemaine Clement as Fleshlumpeater
- Bill Hader as Bloodbottler
- Penelope Wilton as The Queen
- Marilyn Norry as Matron
- Chris Shields as General #1
- Matt Frewer as General #2
- Geoffrey Wade as General #3
- Rafe Spall as Mr. Tibbs
- Haig Sutherland as Danish Father
- John Emmet Tracy as Palace Staff #1 (aka Footman)
- Adam Godley as Manhugger / Lout #1
- Daniel Bacon as Bonecruncher / Lout #2
- Paul Moniz de Sa as Meatdripper / Lout #3
- Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Maidmasher / Cook
- Michael Adamthwaite as Butcher Boy / Danish Driver
- Gabrielle Rose as Cook
- Lucia Ryan as Orphan Girl #1 / Sophie Understudy
- Julia Torrance as Orphan Girl #2
- Graham Curry as Palace Guardsman
- Jonathan Holmes as Childchewer / Pub Landlord
- Chris Gibbs as Gizzardgulper / Late Night Walker
- Callum Seagram Airlie as Danish Boy
- Shauna Hansen as Danish Boy's Mother
- Denise Jones as Danish Driver's Wife
- William Samples as Palace Staff #2 (aka Footman)
- Andy Thompson as Palace Staff #3 (aka Footman)
- Paul Barnhill as Palace Staff #4 (aka Footman
- Gintare Beinoraviciute as Bus Passenger
- Gerardo Barcala as English Palace Livery Footman
- Simona Hughes as Householder
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 135
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 | 5 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 1 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 3 |
| 25 to 27 | 0 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 1 |
| 34 to 36 | 0 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 33 | 33 |
| 40 to 42 | 5 | 20 |
| 43 to 45 | 15 | 38 |
| 46 to 48 | 1 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 32 | 34 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 4 |
| 61 to 63 | 2 | 8 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 1 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 7 |
| 70 to 72 | 1 | 1 |
| 73 to 75 | 11 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 18 | 16 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 0 |
| 82 to 84 | 37 | 47 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 2 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 5 | 5 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 2 |
| 97 to 99 | 17 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 47 | 1 |
| 103 to 105 | 6 | 3 |
| 106 to 108 | 45 | 23 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 0 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 4 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 4 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 3 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 0 |
| 127 to 129 | 7 | 5 |
| 130 to 132 | 4 | 0 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 0 |
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.
MARY: Good morning, Your Majesty. SOPHIE: The Majesty. MARY: Will you have the tray on your bed or the table this morning?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 52 are women's.
311 lines from women, 283 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
9 women and 22 men in the cast. 3 women and 10 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
A woman speaks the first line.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 27 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 46% of the words (2,608), men 54% (3,034). Women have 52% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
9
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Steven Spielberg (man)
- Written by
- Melissa Mathison (woman)
- Produced by
- Frank Marshall (man), Sam Mercer (man), Steven Spielberg (man)
- Shot by
- Janusz Kamiński (man)
- Edited by
- Michael Kahn (man)
- Music by
- John Williams (man)
- Production design by
- Rick Carter (man), Robert Stromberg (man)
- Costumes by
- Joanna Johnston (woman)
- Cast by
- Nina Gold (woman), Corinne Clark (woman), Jennifer Page (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
1 women, 13 men, 3 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 7 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 5 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 4 men, 2 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 7 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ruby Barnhill 11, Rebecca Hall 34, Marilyn Norry 58, Penelope Wilton 69
Men
Bill Hader 37, Jemaine Clement 42, Mark Rylance 56, Matt Frewer 58
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $140 million
- Box office
- $195 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 135 scenes and 624 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
