Fails the Bechdel test

The Matrix

Name: The Matrix
Released: 1999

1999. Directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, written by Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
9 women characters. 5 of them speak.
No 2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

Thomas A. Anderson is a man living two lives. By day he is an average computer programmer and by night a hacker known as Neo. Neo has always questioned his reality, but the truth is far beyond his imagination. Neo finds himself targeted by the police when he is contacted by Morpheus, a legendary computer hacker branded a terrorist by the government. As a rebel against the machines, Neo must confront the agents: super-powerful computer programs devoted to stopping Neo and the entire human rebellion.

Released: 31 Mar 1999
Genres: Action, Sci-Fi
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.7 / 10
Metascore: 73 / 100
Awards: Won 4 Oscars. 42 wins & 52 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

Women
Men
Not in the cast list
Bigger name, more lines

Neo 180 lines, man
Morpheus 165 lines, man
Trinity 132 lines, woman
Agent Smith 74 lines, man
Tank 69 lines, man
Cypher 57 lines, man
Gizmo 21 lines, man
Oracle 18 lines, woman
Agent Jones 14 lines, man
Apoc 10 lines, man

Full cast, 37 people

Keanu Reeves as Neo
Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
Gloria Foster as Oracle
Joe Pantoliano as Cypher
Marcus Chong as Tank
Julian Arahanga as Apoc
Matt Doran as Mouse
Belinda McClory as Switch
Anthony Ray Parker as Dozer
Paul Goddard as Agent Brown
Robert Taylor as Agent Jones
David Aston as Rhineheart
Marc Aden Gray as Choi
Ada Nicodemou as Dujour
Deni Gordon as Priestess
Rowan Witt as Spoon Boy
Eleanor Witt as Potential
Tamara Brown as Potential
Janaya Pender as Potential
Adryn White as Potential
Natalie Tjen as Potential
Bill Young as Lieutenant
David O'Connor as FedEx Man
Jeremy Ball as Businessman
Fiona Johnson as Woman in Red
Harry Lawrence as Old Man
Steve Dodd as Blind Man
Luke Quinton as Security Guard
Lawrence Woodward as Guard
Michael Butcher as Cop Who Captures Neo
Bernard Ledger as Big Cop
Chris Pattinson as Cop
Robert Simper as Cop
Nigel Harbach as Parking Cop
Nash Edgerton as Resistance Member

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 218

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 5	9	21
6 to 10	5	10
11 to 15	19	19
16 to 20	1	58
21 to 25	7	12
26 to 30	16	88
31 to 35	2	27
36 to 40	1	47
41 to 45	0	14
46 to 50	0	23
51 to 55	3	13
56 to 60	0	49
61 to 65	4	14
66 to 70	21	18
71 to 75	1	9
76 to 80	4	8
81 to 85	0	6
86 to 90	1	1
91 to 95	1	6
96 to 100	0	3
101 to 105	0	1
106 to 110	0	3
111 to 115	0	3
116 to 120	1	10
121 to 125	1	11
126 to 130	4	9
131 to 135	0	6
136 to 140	3	2
141 to 145	13	20
146 to 150	6	21
151 to 155	7	23
156 to 160	0	18
161 to 165	0	4
166 to 170	5	8
171 to 175	2	8
176 to 180	4	18
181 to 185	6	8
186 to 190	4	7
191 to 195	1	3
196 to 200	0	6
201 to 205	2	3
206 to 210	4	2
211 to 215	1	1
216 to 218	4	6

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 20 are women's.

163 lines from women, 647 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

9 women and 22 men in the cast. 5 women and 15 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 836. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 61 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 16% of the words (1,157), men 84% (6,008). Women have 20% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.

Exhibit D: 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

6 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Lana Wachowski (woman), Lilly Wachowski (woman)
Written by: Lana Wachowski (woman), Lilly Wachowski (woman)
Produced by: Joel Silver (man)
Shot by: Bill Pope (man)
Edited by: Zach Staenberg (man)
Music by: Don Davis (man)
Production design by: Owen Paterson (man)
Costumes by: Kym Barrett (woman)
Cast by: Mali Finn (woman), Shauna Wolifson (gender not listed)

The crew, department by department

Other crew

3 women, 24 men, 27 not listed
Sound

6 women, 12 men, 9 not listed
Art

4 women, 6 men, 10 not listed
Production

5 women, 8 men, 6 not listed
Camera

0 women, 3 men, 11 not listed
Editing

2 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
Lighting

0 women, 1 men, 9 not listed
Directing

2 women, 2 men, 5 not listed

Women
Men
Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 42 on average. Men: 34 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Belinda McClory 30, Carrie-Anne Moss 31, Gloria Foster 65

Men

Matt Doran 23, Julian Arahanga 26, Marcus Chong 31, Keanu Reeves 34, Laurence Fishburne 37, Hugo Weaving 38, Joe Pantoliano 47

Exhibit G: the money

It made 7.4 times what it cost.

Budget: $63 million
Box office: $464 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 218 scenes and 836 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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