Passes the Bechdel test
The Exorcist
1973. Directed by William Friedkin, written by William Peter Blatty.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 103. -
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
A visiting actress in Washington, D.C., notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior and physical makeup of her 12 year-old daughter. Meanwhile, a young priest at nearby Georgetown University begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness. A frail, elderly priest recognizes the necessity for a show-down with an old demonic enemy.
- Released
- 26 Dec 1973
- Genres
- Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 8.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 83 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 18 wins & 21 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Chris 227 lines, woman
- Karras 154 lines, man
- Regan 66 lines, woman
- Kinderman 59 lines, man
- Merrin 59 lines, man
- Regan/Demon 40 lines
- Dr. Klein 36 lines, man
- Father Dyer 30 lines, man
- Sharon 28 lines, woman
- Karl 19 lines, man
Full cast, 43 people
- Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil
- Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil
- Jason Miller as Father Damien Karras
- Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin
- Lee J. Cobb as Lt. Bill Kinderman
- William O'Malley as Father Joseph Kevin Dyer
- Kitty Winn as Sharon Spencer
- Barton Heyman as Dr. Klein
- Peter Masterson as Dr. Barringer
- Jack MacGowran as Burke Dennings
- Rudolf Schündler as Karl
- Gina Petrushka as Willi
- Robert Symonds as Dr. Taney
- Arthur Storch as Psychiatrist
- Thomas Bermingham as Tom
- Vasiliki Maliaros as Mary Karras
- Titos Vandis as Uncle John
- John Mahon as Language Lab Director
- Wallace Rooney as Bishop Michael
- Ron Faber as Chuck / Demon (voice)
- Donna Mitchell as Mary Jo Perrin
- Roy Cooper as Jesuit Dean
- Robert Gerringer as Senator at Party
- Mercedes McCambridge as Demon (voice)
- Paul Bateson as Radiologist's Assistant (uncredited)
- Elinore Blair as Nurse (uncredited)
- William Peter Blatty as The Producer (uncredited)
- Mary Boylan as First Mental Patient (uncredited)
- Dick Callinan as Astronaut (uncredited)
- Mason Curry as Doctor (voice) (uncredited)
- Toni Darnay as Violent psychotic patient (uncredited)
- Eileen Dietz as Demon / Regan Double (uncredited)
- Joanne Dusseau as Senator's Wife (uncredited)
- Bernard Eismann as Minor Role (uncredited)
- Beatrice Hunter as Minor Role (uncredited)
- Yvonne Jones as Bellevue Nurse (uncredited)
- Don LaBonte as Minor Role (uncredited)
- Barton Lane as Angiography Doctor (uncredited)
- Ann Miles as Spiderwalk (uncredited)
- John Nicola as Priest (uncredited)
- Vincent Russell as Subway Vagrant (uncredited)
- Gerard F. Yates as Priest Singing Around Piano at Party (uncredited)
- Rita Sakellariou as (her voice on the radio)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 103
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 | 8 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 23 | 12 |
| 13 to 15 | 34 | 2 |
| 16 to 18 | 40 | 12 |
| 19 to 21 | 37 | 3 |
| 22 to 24 | 4 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 11 | 2 |
| 28 to 30 | 5 | 13 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 2 |
| 34 to 36 | 16 | 33 |
| 37 to 39 | 8 | 5 |
| 40 to 42 | 7 | 13 |
| 43 to 45 | 6 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 4 | 9 |
| 49 to 51 | 15 | 10 |
| 52 to 54 | 5 | 5 |
| 55 to 57 | 2 | 0 |
| 58 to 60 | 23 | 71 |
| 61 to 63 | 7 | 6 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 7 | 4 |
| 70 to 72 | 46 | 47 |
| 73 to 75 | 5 | 14 |
| 76 to 78 | 3 | 17 |
| 79 to 81 | 10 | 16 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 0 | 4 |
| 88 to 90 | 3 | 12 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 53 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 3 |
| 97 to 99 | 9 | 14 |
| 100 to 102 | 10 | 1 |
| 103 to 103 | 9 | 26 |
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.
CHRIS: Morning. WILLIE: Good morning Mrs. MacNeil. CHRIS: How are you today? WILLIE: Fine thank you.
REGAN: Your gonna die up there. CHRIS: Regan, my God honey. I'm sorry, she's been sick. She didn't know what she was saying.
REGAN: Mother? What's wrong with me? CHRIS: It's just like the doctor said, it's nerves and that's all. Okay, you just take your pills and you'll be fine really. Okay?
CHRIS: Is it coming out Willie? WILLIE: Yes, I think so. REGAN: Mother! Mother! Mother!!!!! Mother help! CHRIS: Oh my God!
REGAN: I don't want it. CHRIS: Honey it's to help you. REGAN: I don't want it, I don't want it. REGAN: You fucking bastard!!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 45 are women's.
350 lines from women, 425 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 27 men in the cast. 4 women and 12 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 13 of 858.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 73 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 37% of the words (2,474), men 63% (4,270). Women have 45% 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
20
Two men
22
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 10% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- William Friedkin (man)
- Written by
- William Peter Blatty (man)
- From the novel by
- William Peter Blatty (man)
- Produced by
- William Peter Blatty (man)
- Shot by
- Owen Roizman (man)
- Edited by
- Norman Gay (man), Evan A. Lottman (man), Bud S. Smith (man)
- Music by
- Jack Nitzsche (man)
- Production design by
- Bill Malley (man)
- Costumes by
- Joe Fretwell (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Juliet Taylor (woman), Louis DiGiaimo (man), Nessa Hyams (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 4 men
-
Art
0 women, 5 men
-
Other crew
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 45 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Linda Blair 14, Kitty Winn 30, Ellen Burstyn 41
Men
Jason Miller 34, Barton Heyman 36, Peter Masterson 39, William O'Malley 42, Max von Sydow 44, Jack MacGowran 55, Lee J. Cobb 62
Exhibit H: the money
It made 39.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $11 million
- Box office
- $431 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 103 scenes and 858 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
