Passes the Bechdel test
The Lobster
2015. Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos, written by Yorgos Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 5 scenes out of 124. -
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, though someone marked that rating as dubious.
The film
A love story set in a dystopian near future where single people are arrested and transferred to a creepy hotel. There they are obliged to find a matching mate in 45 days. If they fail, they are transformed into an animal and released into the woods.
- Released
- 16 Oct 2015
- Genres
- Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 82 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 Oscar. 35 wins & 84 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- David 208 lines, man
- Loner Leader 72 lines, woman
- Shortsighted Woman 64 lines, woman
- Limping Man 34 lines, man
- Hotel Manager 27 lines, woman
- Biscuit Woman 26 lines, woman
- Maid 24 lines, woman
- Lisping Man 20 lines, man
- Female V.O 19 lines
- Heartless Woman 19 lines, woman
Full cast, 41 people
- Colin Farrell as David
- Rachel Weisz as Short Sighted Woman
- Olivia Colman as Hotel Manager
- Léa Seydoux as Loner Leader
- Michael Smiley as Loner Swimmer
- Ariane Labed as The Maid
- John C. Reilly as Lisping Man
- Ben Whishaw as Limping Man
- Angeliki Papoulia as Heartless Woman
- Jessica Barden as Nosebleed Woman
- Emma O'Shea as Nosebleed Woman's Best Friend
- Ashley Jensen as Biscuit Woman
- Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Doctor
- Anthony Dougall as 70 Year Old Waiter
- Anthony Moriarty as 30 Year Old Waiter
- Sean Duggan as Guard Waiter
- Roland Ferrandi as Loner Leader's Father
- Imelda Nagle Ryan as Loner Leader's Mother
- Jacqueline Abrahams as Donkey Shooter
- James Finnegan as Bald Man
- Robert Heaney as Restaurant Waiter
- Rosanna Hoult as David's Wife
- Kathy Kelly as Police Officer 1
- Kevin McCormack as Police Officer 2
- Nancy Onu as Hotel Receptionist
- Ewen MacIntosh as Trainer Waiter (Shooting Range)
- Patrick Malone as Campari Man
- Sandra Hayden Mason as Arrested Town Woman
- Garry Mountaine as Hotel Manager's Partner
- Laoise Murphy as New Daughter
- Ishmael Moalosi as Bandaged Loner
- Matthew O'Brien as Trapped Loner
- Judi King Murphy as Guest Room 104
- Chris Threader as Coach Driver Waiter
- Cian Boylan as Piano Player (uncredited)
- Clive Dev as Hotel Guest (uncredited)
- Degnan Geraghty as Waiter (uncredited)
- Heidi Ellen Love as Waitress (uncredited)
- Dolores Marren as Waitress (uncredited)
- Mark McCormack as Waiter (uncredited)
- Stephen Ryan as Hotel Guest (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 5% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 124
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 | 4 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 5 | 5 |
| 7 to 9 | 3 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 21 | 7 |
| 13 to 15 | 13 | 11 |
| 16 to 18 | 7 | 3 |
| 19 to 21 | 0 | 11 |
| 22 to 24 | 2 | 5 |
| 25 to 27 | 14 | 4 |
| 28 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 6 | 2 |
| 34 to 36 | 17 | 16 |
| 37 to 39 | 6 | 9 |
| 40 to 42 | 4 | 14 |
| 43 to 45 | 13 | 19 |
| 46 to 48 | 7 | 4 |
| 49 to 51 | 2 | 2 |
| 52 to 54 | 8 | 9 |
| 55 to 57 | 8 | 16 |
| 58 to 60 | 1 | 0 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 6 | 13 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 5 |
| 70 to 72 | 9 | 18 |
| 73 to 75 | 12 | 3 |
| 76 to 78 | 7 | 4 |
| 79 to 81 | 5 | 12 |
| 82 to 84 | 1 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 5 | 5 |
| 88 to 90 | 8 | 1 |
| 91 to 93 | 4 | 13 |
| 94 to 96 | 5 | 17 |
| 97 to 99 | 6 | 4 |
| 100 to 102 | 16 | 0 |
| 103 to 105 | 5 | 1 |
| 106 to 108 | 25 | 13 |
| 109 to 111 | 10 | 9 |
| 112 to 114 | 8 | 10 |
| 115 to 117 | 13 | 12 |
| 118 to 120 | 4 | 3 |
| 121 to 123 | 6 | 12 |
| 124 to 124 | 0 | 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.
NOSEBLEED WOMAN: Me too. HOTEL MANAGER: What are your thoughts on paedophilia?
NOSEBLEED WOMAN: I’m against it. HOTEL MANAGER: Good. Do either of you have a serious illness that could prove fatal within the next five years?
NOSEBLEED WOMAN: No. HOTEL MANAGER: Very good. The course of your relationship will be monitored closely by our staff and by me personally. If we notice any problems, any fight…
HOTEL MANAGER: Today is your last day. As is customary, you can choose how you would like to spend your last night. HOTEL MANAGER: What I always say in these situations is that it would be wise to choose something you cannot do as an animal, like read a work of classic l… NOSEBLEED WOMAN: We always sat together at school and whenever I had a problem I talked to you about it because you always gave the best advice. When we didn… NOSEBLEED WOMAN’S BEST FRIEND: I’d like to watch the film “Stand By Me” with River Phoenix, Kiefer Sutherland and Richard Dreyfuss. Alone.
LONER LEADER: That’s enough. Show my parents some respect, they’re playing you music. LONER LEADER’S MOTHER: That’s okay. LONER LEADER: No mother, it is not okay. Please, continue. LONER LEADER’S MOTHER: Do you want us to perform the same song, or something else?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 50 are women's.
296 lines from women, 297 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
12 women and 10 men in the cast. 9 women and 7 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 19 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 59% of the words (5,540), men 41% (3,781). Women have 50% of the lines, so their lines run longer 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
11
Two men
13
Exhibit F: behind the camera
6 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 42% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Yorgos Lanthimos (man)
- Written by
- Efthimis Filippou (man), Yorgos Lanthimos (man)
- Produced by
- Ceci Dempsey (woman), Lee Magiday (woman), Ed Guiney (man), Yorgos Lanthimos (man)
- Shot by
- Thimios Bakatakis (man)
- Edited by
- Yorgos Mavropsaridis (man)
- Production design by
- Jacqueline Abrahams (woman)
- Costumes by
- Sarah Blenkinsop (woman)
- Cast by
- Jina Jay (woman), Louise Kiely (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
10 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Other crew
4 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
6 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 5 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 35 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jessica Barden 23, Léa Seydoux 30, Ariane Labed 31, Angeliki Papoulia 40, Olivia Colman 41, Rachel Weisz 45
Men
Ben Whishaw 35, Colin Farrell 39, John C. Reilly 50, Michael Smiley 52
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.9 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $4 million
- Box office
- $15.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 124 scenes and 625 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
