Passes the Bechdel test
The Hours
2003. Directed by Stephen Daldry, written by Michael Cunningham and David Hare.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 12 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 104. -
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.
The film
Chronicles a day in the life of three women (played by Moore, Streep and Kidman in an Oscar-winning performance as famed author Virginia Woolf), all of whom share the feeling that they have been living their lives for someone else. Although they are separated by a span of nearly 80 years, they find themselves weathering similar crises.
- Released
- 14 Feb 2003
- Genres
- Drama, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 80 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 44 wins & 126 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Clarissa 165 lines, woman
- Laura 122 lines, woman
- Virginia 110 lines, woman
- Richard 81 lines, man
- Leonard 53 lines, man
- Louis 42 lines, man
- Kitty 38 lines, woman
- Vanessa 35 lines, woman
- Dan 31 lines, man
- Julia 22 lines, woman
Full cast, 24 people
- Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf
- Julianne Moore as Laura Brown
- Meryl Streep as Clarissa Vaughan
- Stephen Dillane as Leonard Woolf
- Jack Rovello as Richie
- Ed Harris as Richard Brown
- Miranda Richardson as Vanessa Bell
- John C. Reilly as Dan Brown
- Allison Janney as Sally Lester
- George Loftus as Quentin Bell
- Charley Ramm as Julian Bell
- Sophie Wyburd as Angelica Bell
- Lyndsey Marshal as Lottie Hope
- Linda Bassett as Nelly Boxall
- Christian Coulson as Ralph Partridge
- Michael Culkin as Doctor
- Toni Collette as Kitty
- Margo Martindale as Mrs. Latch
- Colin Stinton as Hotel Clerk
- Claire Danes as Julia Vaughan
- Jeff Daniels as Louis Waters
- Eileen Atkins as Barbara in the Flower Shop
- Carmen De Lavallade as Clarissa's Neighbor
- Daniel Brocklebank as Rodney
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 104
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 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 5 | 1 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 4 |
| 13 to 15 | 8 | 10 |
| 16 to 18 | 18 | 16 |
| 19 to 21 | 8 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 24 | 0 |
| 25 to 27 | 2 | 0 |
| 28 to 30 | 41 | 54 |
| 31 to 33 | 33 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 17 | 11 |
| 37 to 39 | 95 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 35 | 2 |
| 43 to 45 | 22 | 1 |
| 46 to 48 | 4 | 3 |
| 49 to 51 | 44 | 40 |
| 52 to 54 | 9 | 2 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 11 | 2 |
| 64 to 66 | 19 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 0 |
| 70 to 72 | 35 | 0 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 2 |
| 76 to 78 | 1 | 1 |
| 79 to 81 | 37 | 25 |
| 82 to 84 | 9 | 2 |
| 85 to 87 | 21 | 27 |
| 88 to 90 | 7 | 11 |
| 91 to 93 | 7 | 8 |
| 94 to 96 | 8 | 8 |
| 97 to 99 | 33 | 2 |
| 100 to 102 | 9 | 0 |
| 103 to 104 | 2 | 0 |
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.
CLARISSA: No, of course you must come. I mean it. I always wanted you to come. And everyone involved in the actual ceremony. CLARISSA: I don't know. Around sixty. Well it will, it will mean so much. The whole occasion. And so the least I can do is have you all to dinner. Jus… SALLY: My God, what if nobody comes? I suppose we can live for a month off crustaceans. CLARISSA: Oh, I take that as a yes. Oh, that's great. I'm thrilled. Oh, good.
NELLY: What happens is, she says she wants something then it turns out she doesn’t... LOTTIE: Well she never does, does she? Never wants anything. NELLY: Especially when she's asked for it. That's a sure sign. LOTTIE: I wish I'd been there.
VIRGINIA: Do you think she'd like roses? ANGELICA: Yes. VIRGINIA: Let's put roses 'round the grass.
JULIA: I thought you might like a cup of tea. LAURA: That's very kind, dear. I feel I'm stealing your room. JULIA: We put the food away, so... if you're hungry in the night, just help yourself. LAURA: Well, I will. You have somewhere?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 71 are women's.
567 lines from women, 234 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
12 women and 9 men in the cast. 12 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 808.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 7 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 69% of the words (5,131), men 31% (2,252). Women have 71% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Run the other way, for men, the film scores 2 out of 3.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
17
Two men
2
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 27% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stephen Daldry (man)
- Written by
- David Hare (man)
- From the novel by
- Michael Cunningham (man)
- Produced by
- Robert Fox (man), Scott Rudin (man), Ian MacNeil (man)
- Shot by
- Seamus McGarvey (man)
- Edited by
- Peter Boyle (man)
- Music by
- Philip Glass (man)
- Production design by
- Maria Djurkovic (woman)
- Costumes by
- Ann Roth (woman)
- Cast by
- Patsy Pollock (woman), Daniel Swee (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 7 men, 5 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 12 men, 4 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 5 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 1 men
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
-
Lighting
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 36 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Nicole Kidman 35, Julianne Moore 42, Allison Janney 43, Miranda Richardson 44, Meryl Streep 53
Men
Jack Rovello 8, John C. Reilly 37, Stephen Dillane 46, Ed Harris 52
Exhibit H: the money
It made 4.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $25 million
- Box office
- $109 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 104 scenes and 808 lines of dialogue. How the test works
