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Passes the Bechdel test

The Matrix Reloaded

2003. Directed by Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski, written by Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    18 women characters. 3 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 2 scenes out of 160.
  3. Yes 3. About something besides a man
    In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.

Poster for The Matrix Reloaded

The film

In this second adventure, Neo and the rebel leaders estimate that they have 72 hours until Zion falls under siege to the Machine Army. Only a matter of hours separates the last human enclave on Earth from 250,000 Sentinels programmed to destroy mankind. But the citizens of Zion, emboldened by Morpheus conviction that the One will fulfill the Oracles Prophecy and end the war with the Machines, rest all manner of hope and expectation on Neo, who finds himself stalled by disturbing visions as he searches for a course of action.

Released
15 May 2003
Genres
Action, Sci-Fi
Rated
R
IMDb
7.2 / 10
Metascore
62 / 100
Awards
8 wins & 34 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Morpheus 104 lines, man
  2. Neo 91 lines, man
  3. Razor 52 lines, man
  4. Trinity 49 lines, woman
  5. Gregory 46 lines, man
  6. Choi 44 lines, man
  7. Smith 35 lines, man
  8. Cu 33 lines
  9. Niobe 23 lines, woman
  10. Agent Smith 15 lines, man
Full cast, 82 people
  • Keanu Reeves as Neo
  • Laurence Fishburne as Morpheus
  • Carrie-Anne Moss as Trinity
  • Hugo Weaving as Agent Smith
  • Jada Pinkett Smith as Niobe
  • Gloria Foster as The Oracle
  • Harold Perrineau as Link
  • Monica Bellucci as Persephone
  • Harry Lennix as Commander Lock
  • Lambert Wilson as The Merovingian
  • Randall Duk Kim as Keymaker
  • Nona Gaye as Zee
  • Anthony Zerbe as Councillor Hamann
  • Daniel Bernhardt as Agent Johnson
  • Helmut Bakaitis as The Architect
  • David Kilde as Agent Jackson
  • Matt McColm as Agent Thompson
  • Collin Chou as Seraph
  • Neil Rayment as Twin #1
  • Adrian Rayment as Twin #2
  • Don Battee as Vector
  • Valerie Berry as Priestess
  • Steve Bastoni as Soren
  • Ian Bliss as Bane
  • Liliana Bogatko as Old Woman at Zion
  • Michael Budd as Zion Controller
  • Stoney Burke as Bike Carrier Driver
  • Kelly Butler as Ice
  • Josephine Byrnes as Zion Virtual Control Operator
  • Noris Campos as Woman with Groceries
  • Paul Cotter as Corrupt
  • Marlene Cummins as Another Old Woman at Zion
  • Attila Davidhazy as Young Thomas Anderson (12)
  • Montaño Rain as Young Thomas Anderson (8)
  • Austin Galuppo as Young Thomas Anderson (4)
  • Nicandro Thomas as Young Thomas Anderson (2)
  • Essie Davis as Maggie
  • Terrell Dixon as Wurm
  • Nash Edgerton as Security Guard #5
  • David Franklin as Maitre D'
  • Daryl Heath as A.P.U. Escort
  • Roy Jones Jr. as Ballard
  • Malcolm Kennard as Abel
  • Christopher Kirby as Mauser
  • Peter Lamb as Colt
  • Nathaniel Lees as Mifune
  • Tony Lynch as Computer Room Technician
  • Robert Mammone as AK
  • Alima Ashton-Sheibu as Girl (Link's Niece)
  • Joshua Mbakwe as Boy (Link's Nephew)
  • Chris Mitchell as Power Station Guard
  • Ray Anthony as Power Station Guard
  • Steve Morris as Computer Room Guard
  • Tory Mussett as Beautiful Woman at Le Vrai
  • Rene Naufahu as Zion Gate Operator
  • Robyn Nevin as Councillor Dillard
  • David Will No as Cain
  • Genevieve O'Reilly as Officer Wirtz
  • Socratis Otto as Operator (Vigilant)
  • Rupert Reid as Lock's Lieutenant
  • Cornel West as Councillor West
  • David Roberts as Roland
  • Shane C. Rodrigo as Ajax
  • Nick Scoggin as "Gidim" Truck Driver
  • Kevin Scott as 18 Wheel Trucker
  • Tahei Simpson as Binary
  • Frankie Stevens as Tirant
  • Gina Torres as Cas
  • Andrew Valli as Police #1
  • Andy Arness as Police #2
  • Steve Vella as Malachi
  • Clayton Watson as Kid
  • Leigh Whannell as Axel
  • Bernard White as Rama-Kandra
  • John Walton as Security Bunker Guard
  • Scott McLean as Security Bunker Guard #2
  • Anthony Brandon Wong as Ghost
  • Christine Anu as Kali
  • Tiger Chen Hu as Merovingian's Thug (uncredited)
  • Marcus Young as Merovingian's Thug (uncredited)
  • David Leitch as Merovingian's Thug (uncredited)
  • Lachy Hulme as Sparks (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 15% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 160

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 476
5 to 821
9 to 121223
13 to 161141
17 to 201848
21 to 24117
25 to 2801
29 to 3205
33 to 3606
37 to 4003
41 to 4409
45 to 48427
49 to 52064
53 to 56113
57 to 60217
61 to 6404
65 to 6834
69 to 7201
73 to 7601
77 to 8007
81 to 8404
85 to 8802
89 to 9202
93 to 9616
97 to 10003
101 to 10404
105 to 10812
109 to 11245
113 to 11645
117 to 12001
121 to 124538
125 to 12801
129 to 132010
133 to 13605
137 to 14022
141 to 14413
145 to 14804
149 to 152115
153 to 156012
157 to 16002

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.
NIOBE: "Tanks, or agents?" TRINITY: "Tanks."
TRINITY: "Bullshit, it’s my turn." NIOBE: "Junior ranks leave first."

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 16 are women's.

80 lines from women, 424 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

18 women and 61 men in the cast. 3 women and 4 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 88 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 13% of the words (559), men 87% (3,629). Women have 16% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

6 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 22% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Lilly Wachowski (woman), Lana 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

    10 women, 63 men, 13 not listed

  • Sound

    6 women, 22 men, 11 not listed

  • Production

    9 women, 11 men, 14 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 13 men, 12 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    5 women, 4 men, 7 not listed

  • Camera

    1 women, 6 men, 8 not listed

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 13 men, 2 not listed

  • Directing

    3 women, 5 men, 6 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 43 on average. Men: 41 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Jada Pinkett Smith 31, Carrie-Anne Moss 35, Monica Bellucci 38, Gloria Foster 69

Men

Keanu Reeves 38, Harry Lennix 38, Harold Perrineau 39, Laurence Fishburne 41, Hugo Weaving 43, Lambert Wilson 44

Exhibit H: the money

It made 4.9 times what it cost.

Budget
$150 million
Box office
$739 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 160 scenes and 594 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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