Passes the Bechdel test

The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

Name: The Electrical Life of Louis Wain
Released: 2021

2021. Directed by Will Sharpe, written by Simon Stephenson and Will Sharpe.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 13 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 230.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

Poster for The Electrical Life of Louis Wain

The film

The true story of eccentric British artist Louis Wain (Benedict Cumberbatch), whose playful, psychedelic pictures transformed the public's perception of cats forever. Set in the early 1900s, we follow Wain as he seeks to unlock the "electrical" mysteries of the world and, in so doing, to better understand his own life and the profound love he shared with his wife Emily Richardson (Claire Foy).

Released: 05 Nov 2021
Genres: Biography, Drama, History
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.8 / 10
Metascore: 63 / 100
Awards: 4 wins & 7 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Louis 273 lines, man
Emily 108 lines, woman
Caroline 52 lines, woman
Ingram 33 lines, man
Josephine 29 lines, woman
Dan Rider 20 lines, man
Felicie 19 lines, woman
Claire 18 lines, woman
Marie 17 lines, woman
Railton 17 lines, man

Full cast, 30 people

Benedict Cumberbatch as Louis Wain
Claire Foy as Emily Wain
Andrea Riseborough as Caroline Wain
Toby Jones as Sir William Ingram
Sharon Rooney as Josephine Wain
Aimee Lou Wood as Claire Wain
Hayley Squires as Marie Wain
Stacy Martin as Felicie Wain
Phoebe Nicholls as Mrs Wain
Adeel Akhtar as Dan Rider
Asim Chaudhry as Herbert Railton
Taika Waititi as Max Kase
Crystal Clarke as Alicia Simmonds
Daniel Rigby as Bendigo
Richard Ayoade as Henry Wood
Julian Barratt as Dr Elphick
Dorothy Atkinson as Mrs Du Frayne
Nick Cave as H.G. Wells
Olivia Colman as Narrator
Fehinti Balogun as Praga
Jamie Demetriou as Woodville Jr.
Sophia Di Martino as Judith
Siobhán McSweeney as Dr Cooke
Stewart Scudamore as Dr Quantock
Simon Munnery as Jem Mace
James Eeles as Train Attendant
Olivier Richters as Journeyman Boxer
Indica Watson as Young Felicie Wain
Dorothy Atkinson as Mrs. DuFrayne
Kiki May as Paper Girl (1891)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 230

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 5	2	15
6 to 10	0	29
11 to 15	9	10
16 to 20	33	18
21 to 25	45	6
26 to 30	18	0
31 to 35	0	12
36 to 40	0	14
41 to 45	4	7
46 to 50	13	14
51 to 55	24	8
56 to 60	11	2
61 to 65	14	12
66 to 70	14	6
71 to 75	0	2
76 to 80	0	5
81 to 85	7	5
86 to 90	0	0
91 to 95	3	2
96 to 100	7	28
101 to 105	1	13
106 to 110	7	2
111 to 115	2	4
116 to 120	0	5
121 to 125	1	5
126 to 130	1	3
131 to 135	0	3
136 to 140	32	14
141 to 145	1	20
146 to 150	0	0
151 to 155	0	4
156 to 160	0	6
161 to 165	0	6
166 to 170	4	19
171 to 175	7	9
176 to 180	1	15
181 to 185	7	13
186 to 190	0	12
191 to 195	0	4
196 to 200	0	4
201 to 205	0	7
206 to 210	5	3
211 to 215	10	23
216 to 220	0	6
221 to 225	3	5
226 to 230	0	2

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.

JOSEPHINE: Where’s she gone? EMILY: Oh for fuck’s sake... JOSEPHINE: Perhaps we should have gone with the scary nun after all... MARIE: No, not the scary nun...

EMILY: So I gather... JOSEPHINE: Well thank you for the gesture, Miss Richardson, but I’m afraid this is too much fruit. EMILY: Oh, I’m sorry. JOSEPHINE: Yes no this is ridiculous. It’s far too much.

CAROLINE: Go on, shoo! JOSEPHINE: Yes come on, pussies! Out you go! FELICIE: But why can’t we keep them? People keep dogs as pets all the time. CLAIRE: Because they’re cats, Felicie. If we start keeping cats as pets, our neighbours will think us quite the barmiest family on the street.

CAROLINE: ... Good. Now go to bed. MARIE: ... Where have you gone? CAROLINE: It’s okay. I’m coming. I’m here...

EMILY: Marie...? Marie... are you okay? MARIE: ... Don’t come in!

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 42 are women's.

286 lines from women, 402 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

15 women and 15 men in the cast. 13 women and 14 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 5 of 719. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 47 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 38% of the words (3,755), men 62% (6,203). Women have 42% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 44% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Will Sharpe (man)
Written by: Simon Stephenson (man), Will Sharpe (man)
Produced by: Leah Clarke (woman), Guy Heeley (man), Adam Ackland (man), Lil Clarke (gender not listed)
Shot by: Erik Wilson (man)
Edited by: Selina Macarthur (gender not listed)
Music by: Arthur Sharpe (man)
Production design by: Suzie Davies (woman)
Costumes by: Michael O'Connor (man)
Cast by: Dixie Chassay (woman), Lucy Rands (woman)