Passes the Bechdel test
The Fault in Our Stars
2014. Directed by Josh Boone, written by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber and John Green.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
7 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 16 scenes out of 108. -
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
Hazel and Augustus are two teenagers who share an acerbic wit, a disdain for the conventional, and a love that sweeps them on a journey. Their relationship is all the more miraculous, given that Hazel's other constant companion is an oxygen tank, Gus jokes about his prosthetic leg, and they meet and fall in love at a cancer support group.
- Released
- 06 Jun 2014
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 69 / 100
- Awards
- 24 wins & 20 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Hazel 379 lines, woman
- Gus 283 lines, man
- Frannie 79 lines, woman
- Isaac 56 lines, man
- Van Houten 52 lines, man
- Michael 35 lines, man
- Lidewij 19 lines, woman
- Patrick 14 lines, man
- Doctor 9 lines
- Waiter 6 lines, man
Full cast, 42 people
- Shailene Woodley as Hazel Grace Lancaster
- Ansel Elgort as Augustus Waters
- Nat Wolff as Isaac
- Laura Dern as Frannie Lancaster
- Sam Trammell as Michael Lancaster
- Willem Dafoe as Peter van Houten
- Lotte Verbeek as Lidewij Vliegenthart
- Ana Dela Cruz as Dr. Maria
- Randy Kovitz as Dr. Simmons
- Toni Saladna as Flight Attendant
- David Whalen as Gus' Dad
- Milica Govich as Gus' Mom
- Allegra Carpenter as Hostess
- Emily Peachey as Monica
- Emily Bach as Monica's Mom
- Tim Hartman as Minister
- Mike Birbiglia as Patrick
- Bethany Leo as Speaker #1 (Beth)
- Alexis Hodges as Speaker #2 (Angel)
- Jean Brassard as Waiter
- Carly Otte as Young Girl (Alisa)
- Lily Kenna as Young Hazel
- Silvio Wolf Busch as European
- Viviana Cardenas as Support Group Member (Julie)
- Jordan Drexel as Speaker #3 (Sid)
- P.J. Rosotto as Speaker #4 (PJ)
- Tanner Boatwright as Gus's Leg Double
- Cheyenne Hurley as Coffee Shop Worker
- Jennifer Kline as Giggling Girl
- Carol Weyers as Anne Frank (voice)
- Lauren Blumenthal as Support Group
- Nikki Lipinski as Support Group
- Sebastian Dean as Support Group
- Alexander Murph as Support Group
- Taylor Dettore as Support Group
- Josh Potter as Support Group
- Steven Edmonds as Support Group
- Cindy Zeng as Support Group
- C.J. Evans as Support Group
- John Green as Little Girl's Father (uncredited)
- Richard C. Fishel as Dog in Park (uncredited)
- Joe Fishel as Dog Walker (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 108
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 | 18 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 8 | 8 |
| 7 to 9 | 12 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 26 | 37 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 6 |
| 16 to 18 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 27 | 27 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 3 |
| 25 to 27 | 13 | 27 |
| 28 to 30 | 29 | 31 |
| 31 to 33 | 18 | 9 |
| 34 to 36 | 17 | 31 |
| 37 to 39 | 12 | 0 |
| 40 to 42 | 6 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 4 | 9 |
| 46 to 48 | 9 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 10 | 11 |
| 55 to 57 | 14 | 3 |
| 58 to 60 | 8 | 4 |
| 61 to 63 | 14 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 9 | 6 |
| 67 to 69 | 15 | 3 |
| 70 to 72 | 19 | 29 |
| 73 to 75 | 39 | 45 |
| 76 to 78 | 16 | 8 |
| 79 to 81 | 15 | 7 |
| 82 to 84 | 11 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 12 | 21 |
| 88 to 90 | 16 | 25 |
| 91 to 93 | 13 | 11 |
| 94 to 96 | 34 | 4 |
| 97 to 99 | 7 | 19 |
| 100 to 102 | 21 | 17 |
| 103 to 105 | 11 | 15 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 11 |
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.
HAZEL: I'm not depressed. FRANNIE: ... she eats like a bird. She barely leaves the house, HAZEL: I'm not depressed. FRANNIE: ... she reads the same book over and over...
FRANNIE: She's gone a few times. HAZEL: I'm not sure it's for me.
HAZEL: "Journey?" Really? FRANNIE: Hazel.
FRANNIE: It's Friday night. HAZEL: Hmm? FRANNIE: I was just thinking... you should call your friends, see what they're up to. HAZEL: That's ok.
HAZEL: See, that's the kind of thing I would know with a fake ID. FRANNIE: Get in the car.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 52 are women's.
491 lines from women, 449 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
7 women and 12 men in the cast. 4 women and 6 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 18 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 (3,668), men 54% (4,350). 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
30
Two men
17
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 35% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Josh Boone (man)
- Written by
- Scott Neustadter (man), Michael H. Weber (man)
- From the novel by
- John Green (man)
- Produced by
- Marty Bowen (man), Wyck Godfrey (man)
- Shot by
- Ben Richardson (man)
- Edited by
- Robb Sullivan (man)
- Music by
- Mike Mogis (man), Nate Walcott (man)
- Production design by
- Molly Hughes (woman)
- Costumes by
- Mary Claire Hannan (woman)
- Cast by
- Ronna Kress (woman), Donna Belajac (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
5 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Production
3 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 40 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Shailene Woodley 22, Lotte Verbeek 31, Laura Dern 47
Men
Nat Wolff 19, Ansel Elgort 20, Sam Trammell 45, Willem Dafoe 58, Randy Kovitz 58
Exhibit H: the money
It made 21.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $14 million
- Box office
- $307 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 108 scenes and 974 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
