Passes the Bechdel test
The Holiday
2006. Directed by Nancy Meyers, written by Nancy Meyers.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
26 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 92. -
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
Iris is in love with a man who is about to marry another woman. Across the globe, Amanda realizes the man she lives with has been unfaithful. Two women who have never met and live 6000 miles apart, find themselves in the exact same place. They meet online at a home exchange website and impulsively switch homes for the holiday. Iris moves into Amanda's L.A. house in sunny California as Amanda arrives in the snow covered English countryside. Shortly after arriving at their destinations, both women find the last thing either wants or expects: a new romance. Amanda is charmed by Iris' handsome brother Graham and Iris, with inspiration provided by legendary screenwriter Arthur, mends her heart when she meets film composer Miles.
- Released
- 08 Dec 2006
- Genres
- Comedy, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 52 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 12 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Amanda 250 lines, woman
- Iris 246 lines, woman
- Graham 195 lines, man
- Miles 85 lines, man
- Arthur 72 lines, man
- Jasper 33 lines, man
- Olivia 33 lines, woman
- Sophie 26 lines, woman
- Ethan 20 lines, man
- Hannah 10 lines, woman
Full cast, 63 people
- Cameron Diaz as Amanda
- Kate Winslet as Iris
- Jude Law as Graham
- Jack Black as Miles
- Eli Wallach as Arthur
- Edward Burns as Ethan
- Rufus Sewell as Jasper
- Miffy Englefield as Sophie
- Emma Pritchard as Olivia
- Sarah Parish as Hannah
- Shannyn Sossamon as Maggie
- Bill Macy as Ernie
- Shelley Berman as Norman
- Kathryn Hahn as Bristol
- John Krasinski as Ben
- Alex O'Loughlin as Kissing Couple
- Odette Annable as Kissing Couple
- Bundle Williams as Girl in Pub
- Suzanne Dizon as Newspaper Party Guest
- Terry Diab as Night Editor
- Kenneth Danziger as Editor
- Hope Riley as Sarah Smith-Alcott
- Gilbert Esquivel as Gardener
- Steven Bruns as Couple on Plane
- Nikki Novak as Couple on Plane
- Judith Drake as Woman on Plane
- Pamela Dunlap as Woman on Plane
- Hal Douglas as Movie Trailer Narrator (voice)
- Jay Simpson as Limo Driver
- Siobhan Pestano as Couple with Dog
- Charles Dinsdale as Couple with Dog
- Sarah Flind as Market Clerk
- Darline Ann Harris as Arthur's Nurse
- Marcell Brown as Airport Security
- Marina Morgan as Graham's Friend
- Lynden Edwards as Graham's Friend
- Lydia Blanco Garza as Marta
- Jon Prescott as Maggie's Boyfriend
- Patrick Cavanaugh as Young Man at WGA
- Justin Collins as Young Man at WGA
- Dustin Hoffman as Dustin Hoffman (uncredited)
- Dani Lennon as Model (uncredited)
- Steven Quale as News Reporter (uncredited)
- Lasco Atkins as Embankment Pedestrian (uncredited)
- Patrizia Barretto as Traveler (uncredited)
- Brad Carr as Jakob Ethridge (uncredited)
- Freddie De Grate as Coach Passenger (uncredited)
- Nicholas Downs as Peter (uncredited)
- Amber Elizabeth as Shop Customer (uncredited)
- Andy Gates as Man on Tube (uncredited)
- Jake Head as Mixer (uncredited)
- Halbert Hernandez as Man in Resturant (uncredited)
- Steve Humphreys as Jeffrey (uncredited)
- Charles Kellam as Man in Airport (uncredited)
- Samantha Kelly as Mrs. Ames (uncredited)
- Lucy Lewendon as Passerby (uncredited)
- Jamie McCall as Party Guest (uncredited)
- Mark A. Nash as Newsroom (uncredited)
- Ian Novotny as WGA Man (uncredited)
- Vanessa Ross as Lindsay Lohan's Friend (uncredited)
- David Venafro as Usher (uncredited)
- Leanne Wilson as Girl in Bar (uncredited)
- Lindsay Lohan as Lindsay Lohan
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 92
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 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 to 4 | 2 | 0 |
| 5 to 6 | 36 | 11 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 21 | 20 |
| 11 to 12 | 12 | 3 |
| 13 to 14 | 9 | 0 |
| 15 to 16 | 17 | 0 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 to 20 | 5 | 3 |
| 21 to 22 | 7 | 0 |
| 23 to 24 | 5 | 1 |
| 25 to 26 | 17 | 13 |
| 27 to 28 | 1 | 0 |
| 29 to 30 | 40 | 38 |
| 31 to 32 | 17 | 19 |
| 33 to 34 | 23 | 24 |
| 35 to 36 | 13 | 17 |
| 37 to 38 | 15 | 14 |
| 39 to 40 | 2 | 3 |
| 41 to 42 | 1 | 2 |
| 43 to 44 | 19 | 14 |
| 45 to 46 | 19 | 40 |
| 47 to 48 | 21 | 13 |
| 49 to 50 | 37 | 21 |
| 51 to 52 | 33 | 5 |
| 53 to 54 | 13 | 13 |
| 55 to 56 | 6 | 4 |
| 57 to 58 | 20 | 16 |
| 59 to 60 | 2 | 1 |
| 61 to 62 | 3 | 1 |
| 63 to 64 | 42 | 20 |
| 65 to 66 | 24 | 29 |
| 67 to 68 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 to 70 | 0 | 0 |
| 71 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 74 | 24 | 18 |
| 75 to 76 | 1 | 1 |
| 77 to 78 | 15 | 16 |
| 79 to 80 | 11 | 11 |
| 81 to 82 | 14 | 17 |
| 83 to 84 | 3 | 0 |
| 85 to 86 | 12 | 16 |
| 87 to 88 | 10 | 11 |
| 89 to 90 | 3 | 3 |
| 91 to 92 | 7 | 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.
CLERK: Someone's having a party tonight. AMANDA: Oh, yeah.
IRIS: I know. IRIS: Thank you Amanda. AMANDA: I'm not sure I can handle complicated!?! God! I can be such an ass-hole.
SOPHIE: How do you do? AMANDA: I'm ... fine, thank you. How are you? SOPHIE: Very well, thank you. Do you want to come in?
AMANDA: If only I ate carbs. SOPHIE: What's that? AMANDA: Hmmm? SOPHIE: Carbs? What does that mean?
AMANDA: I was a big spiller when I was a little girl. SOPHIE: She's the worst.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 57 are women's.
585 lines from women, 440 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
26 women and 26 men in the cast. 11 women and 12 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 9 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 56% of the words (7,521), men 44% (6,013). Women have 57% 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
29
Two men
5
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 43% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Nancy Meyers (woman)
- Written by
- Nancy Meyers (woman)
- Produced by
- Bruce A. Block (man), Nancy Meyers (woman)
- Shot by
- Dean Cundey (man)
- Edited by
- Joe Hutshing (man)
- Music by
- Hans Zimmer (man)
- Production design by
- Jon Hutman (man)
- Costumes by
- Marlene Stewart (woman)
- Cast by
- Janet Hirshenson (woman), Jane Jenkins (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
5 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 0 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men
-
Art
2 women, 4 men
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 28 on average. Men: 47 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Miffy Englefield 7, Kate Winslet 31, Cameron Diaz 34, Sarah Parish 38
Men
Jude Law 33, Jack Black 37, Edward Burns 38, Rufus Sewell 39, Eli Wallach 90
Exhibit H: the money
It made 2.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $85 million
- Box office
- $205 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 92 scenes and 1,047 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
