Fails the Bechdel test

The Double

Name: The Double
Released: 2014

2014. Directed by Richard Ayoade, written by Fyodor Dostoevsky and Richard Ayoade and Avi Korine.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 4 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

Simon is a timid man scratching out an isolated existence in an indifferent world. He is overlooked at work, scorned by his mother, ignored by the woman of his dreams, and feeling powerless to change any of these things. The arrival of new co-worker James upsets the balance. James is both Simon's exact physical double and his opposite otherwise: he's a confident, charismatic ladies' man. To Simon's horror, James slowly starts taking over his life.

Released: 04 Apr 2014
Genres: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.4 / 10
Metascore: 68 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Simon 228 lines, man
James 98 lines, man
Hannah 55 lines, woman
T 53 lines
E 46 lines
N 36 lines
Harris 33 lines, man
Papadopoulos 32 lines, man
Te 12 lines
Melanie 10 lines, woman

Full cast, 44 people

Jesse Eisenberg as Simon James / James Simon
Mia Wasikowska as Hannah
Wallace Shawn as Mr. Papadopoulos
Yasmin Paige as Melanie
Noah Taylor as Harris
James Fox as The Colonel
Cathy Moriarty as Kiki
Phyllis Somerville as Simon's Mother
Gabrielle Downey as Strange Woman
Jon Korkes as Detective
Craig Roberts as Young Detective
Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Guard / Doctor
Susan Blommaert as Liz
Bruce Byron as Skinhead
J. Mascis as Janitor
Tony Rohr as Rudolph
Karima Riachy as Secretary
Tim Key as Care Worker
Andrew Gruen as Man on Train
Kim Noble as Box Man / Guard 1
Morrison Thomas as Coughing Man
Sally Hawkins as Receptionist at Ball
Lloyd Woolf as Investigator
Lydia Fox as Well-Dressed Woman at Ball / Test Invigilator
Stuart Silver as Waiter / 'The Replicator' - Guard 2
Chris Morris as Workers' Services Executive
Chris O'Dowd as Nurse
Donal Cox as Priest
Kierston Wareing as James' Funeral Date
Paddy Considine as 'The Replicator' - Jack
Dirk Van Der Gert as 'The Replicator' - Head Judge
Liam Bewley as 'The Replicator' - Wise Judge
Gemma Chan as 'The Replicator' - Glamourous Judge
Nathalie Cox as 'The Replicator' - Jack's Wife
Daniel Chapple as Executive Worker (uncredited)
Martin Crossingham as Paramedic (uncredited)
Danny as Singer (uncredited)
Catherine Delaloye as Air Hostess (uncredited)
Lukas DiSparrow as Resident (uncredited)
Joanna Finata as Bar Girl (uncredited)
Jeanie Gold as Waitress (uncredited)
Steve Saunders as Moaning Man on Trolley (uncredited)
Rade Šerbedžija as Frightening Old Man (uncredited)
Natalia Warner as The Girl (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 27% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 163

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 4	0	5
5 to 8	0	5
9 to 12	2	22
13 to 16	4	13
17 to 20	3	9
21 to 24	7	18
25 to 28	3	8
29 to 32	0	15
33 to 36	0	3
37 to 40	0	4
41 to 44	1	3
45 to 48	0	9
49 to 52	0	1
53 to 56	0	15
57 to 60	0	3
61 to 64	0	17
65 to 68	0	17
69 to 72	1	3
73 to 76	19	31
77 to 80	0	9
81 to 84	0	22
85 to 88	0	15
89 to 92	9	16
93 to 96	0	23
97 to 100	5	9
101 to 104	9	21
105 to 108	13	24
109 to 112	0	0
113 to 116	2	8
117 to 120	0	8
121 to 124	0	42
125 to 128	0	2
129 to 132	0	10
133 to 136	0	0
137 to 140	1	7
141 to 144	1	5
145 to 148	3	3
149 to 152	1	1
153 to 156	0	0
157 to 160	1	0
161 to 163	2	2

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, 17 are women's.

87 lines from women, 428 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

15 women and 23 men in the cast. 4 women and 10 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 34 of 705. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 89 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (645), men 83% (3,174).

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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 19% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Richard Ayoade (man)
Written by: Richard Ayoade (man), Avi Korine (man)
From the novel by: Fyodor Dostoevsky (man)
Produced by: Amina Dasmal (woman), Robin C. Fox (gender not listed), Lydia Fox (woman)
Shot by: Erik Wilson (man)
Edited by: Chris Dickens (man), Nick Fenton (man)
Music by: Andrew Hewitt (man)
Production design by: David Crank (man)
Costumes by: Jacqueline Durran (woman)