Passes the Bechdel test
The Invisible Woman
2014. Directed by Ralph Fiennes, written by Abi Morgan and Claire Tomalin.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 13 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 10 scenes out of 110. -
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
In the 1850s, Nelly Ternan (Felicity Jones) is a minimally talented actress who catches the eye of the hailed British author, Charles Dickens (Ralph Fiennes). Bored with his intellectually unstimulating wife, Catherine (Joanna Scanlan), Charles takes the educated Nelly as his mistress with the cooperation of her mother, Mrs. Frances Ternan (Dame Kristin Scott Thomas). What follows is a stormy relationship with this literary giant who provides her with a life few women of her time can enjoy. Yet, Nelly is equally revolted by Charles' emotional cruelty and determination to keep her secret. In that conflict, Nelly must judge her own role in her life and decide if the price she pays is bearable.
- Released
- 21 Feb 2014
- Genres
- Biography, Drama, History
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 75 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 1 win & 7 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dickens 248 lines, man
- Nelly 212 lines, woman
- Mrs Ternan 73 lines, woman
- Collins 42 lines, man
- Benham 36 lines, man
- Catherine 34 lines, woman
- George 27 lines, man
- Maria 22 lines, woman
- Fanny 21 lines, woman
- Charley 19 lines, man
Full cast, 52 people
- Ralph Fiennes as Charles Dickens
- Felicity Jones as Nelly Ternan
- Joanna Scanlan as Catherine Dickens
- Kristin Scott Thomas as Catherine Ternan
- Tom Hollander as Wilkie Collins
- Michelle Fairley as Caroline Graves
- John Kavanagh as Reverend Benham
- Amanda Hale as Fanny Ternan
- Perdita Weeks as Maria Ternan
- Tom Burke as George Wharton
- Richard McCabe as Mark Lemon
- David Collings as Governor
- James Michael Rankin as Evening Man
- Charlotte Hope as Prostitute
- Michael Marcus as Charley Dickens
- Laurence Spellman as Porter
- Jonathan Harden as Mr. Arnott
- Christos Lawton as Mr. Evans
- Claire Daly as Mrs. Lambourne
- Mark Dexter as Mr. Augustus Egg
- Gwendolen Chatfield as Marney Dickens
- Joseph Paxton as Mr. Pigott
- Sophie Russell as Miss Ellen Sabine
- Charissa Shearer as Katey Dickens
- Jeremy Assouly as Francis Dickens
- Declan Walker as Alfred Dickens
- John Joe Bitcliffe as Sydney Dickens
- Harry Harmon as Henry Dickens
- Joseph Harmon as Edward 'Plorn' Dickens
- Daphne Neville as Victorian Lady
- Jonathan Jaynes as Racegoer
- Michael Hadley as Sir Peter
- Geoffrey Freshwater as Sir Oliver / Mr. Buckstone
- Tahirah Sharif as Ternan Maid
- Ophelia Standen as Harriet Graves
- James Traherne as Policeman
- Daniel André Pageon as Elderly Frenchman
- Odile Gash as Elderly Frenchwoman
- Philippe Smolikowski as French Doctor
- Assiba Abes as French Midwife
- Grahame Fox as Station Guard
- Steve Morphew as Ticket Collector
- Laurence Spellman as Train Porter
- Sally Leonard as Young Lady
- Tallulah Harlech as Young Lady
- Ethan Andrews as Jean Marie
- Sebastian Coates as Jean Baptiste
- Harry Crichton-Miller as Jean Paul
- Jack Curtin as Obenreizer
- Jacob Greenhouse as Landlord
- Ethan Radus as Vendale
- Tom Attwood as Mr. Lambourne
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 110
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 | 4 |
| 4 to 6 | 3 | 3 |
| 7 to 9 | 15 | 15 |
| 10 to 12 | 12 | 27 |
| 13 to 15 | 10 | 45 |
| 16 to 18 | 10 | 10 |
| 19 to 21 | 31 | 34 |
| 22 to 24 | 4 | 8 |
| 25 to 27 | 22 | 23 |
| 28 to 30 | 8 | 11 |
| 31 to 33 | 15 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 10 |
| 37 to 39 | 23 | 19 |
| 40 to 42 | 5 | 7 |
| 43 to 45 | 17 | 14 |
| 46 to 48 | 28 | 23 |
| 49 to 51 | 12 | 10 |
| 52 to 54 | 10 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 13 | 3 |
| 58 to 60 | 29 | 9 |
| 61 to 63 | 11 | 8 |
| 64 to 66 | 11 | 12 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 3 |
| 70 to 72 | 10 | 15 |
| 73 to 75 | 1 | 6 |
| 76 to 78 | 18 | 0 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 8 |
| 82 to 84 | 9 | 14 |
| 85 to 87 | 6 | 10 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 13 | 8 |
| 94 to 96 | 1 | 4 |
| 97 to 99 | 0 | 4 |
| 100 to 102 | 3 | 10 |
| 103 to 105 | 5 | 8 |
| 106 to 108 | 23 | 21 |
| 109 to 110 | 0 | 7 |
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.
MARIA: Nelly, look- NELLY: Yes, there we are. MRS TERNAN: The print is a little small, but no matter.
NELLY: The Haymarket. She is so sad not to be here. MRS TERNAN: But Nelly will give you a wonderful performance-
MRS TERNAN: Thank you. MARIA: Should I stand a little wider?
NELLY: Do I speak after the gun? MARIA: Frank!..Frank!!
NELLY: This is a tale of woe. This is a tale of sorrow. A love denied. A love restored to live beyond tomorrow. Lest we think silence is the place … MRS TERNAN: Maybe a little louder, Nelly.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 48 are women's.
384 lines from women, 415 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 22 men in the cast. 13 women and 15 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 823.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 24 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 45% of the words (3,457), men 55% (4,174). Women have 48% 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
32
Two men
26
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 49% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Ralph Fiennes (man)
- Written by
- Abi Morgan (woman)
- From the novel by
- Claire Tomalin (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Gabrielle Tana (woman), Stewart Mackinnon (man), Christian Baute (man), Carolyn Marks Blackwood (woman)
- Shot by
- Rob Hardy (man)
- Edited by
- Nicolas Gaster (man)
- Music by
- Ilan Eshkeri (man)
- Production design by
- Maria Djurkovic (woman)
- Costumes by
- Michael O'Connor (man)
- Cast by
- Leo Davis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 12 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
7 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 1 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
5 women, 2 men, 4 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 3 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 4 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Perdita Weeks 28, Felicity Jones 30, Amanda Hale 31, Michelle Fairley 50, Joanna Scanlan 52, Kristin Scott Thomas 53
Men
Tom Burke 32, Tom Hollander 46, Ralph Fiennes 51, John Kavanagh 67
Exhibit H: the money
It made 27% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $12 million
- Box office
- $3.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 110 scenes and 823 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
