Does it pass? bechdel.io

Passes the Bechdel test

The Nines

2007. Directed by John August, written by John August.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

  1. Yes 1. At least two women
    6 women characters. 8 of them speak.
  2. Yes 2. Who talk to each other
    In 3 scenes out of 146.
  3. 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.

Poster for The Nines

The film

Gary, an actor who plays a cop on television, uses too much lighter fluid when he burns his ex-girlfriend's things, then he drinks and drives, uses crack, and crashes his car. He sobers up in jail and is placed under house arrest and the watchful eye of a publicist, the cheery and tough-minded Margaret. She moves him into the empty house of a writer who's away in Canada on a shoot. Gary meets Sarah, an attractive and seemingly-willing neighbor. His friendship with Margaret blooms and strange things happen: he finds notes he doesn't remember writing, he hears noises, and he seems to bump into himself in the kitchen. Two remaining chapters reveal what's going on.

Released
30 Nov 2007
Genres
Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Rated
R
IMDb
6.2 / 10
Metascore
52 / 100
Awards
2 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Gary 130 lines, man
  2. Margaret 98 lines, woman
  3. Gavin 93 lines, man
  4. Gabriel 78 lines, man
  5. Sarah 61 lines, woman
  6. Susan 56 lines, woman
  7. Sierra 45 lines, woman
  8. Mary 42 lines, woman
  9. Melissa 34 lines, woman
  10. Noelle 10 lines, woman
Full cast, 12 people
  • Ryan Reynolds as Gary / Gavin / Gabriel
  • Melissa McCarthy as Margaret / Melissa / Mary
  • Hope Davis as Sarah / Susan / Sierra
  • Elle Fanning as Noelle
  • David Denman as Parole Officer/ Agitated Man
  • Octavia Spencer as Streetwalker
  • Ben Falcone as Ben Falcone
  • Dahlia Salem as Dahlia Salem
  • John Gatins as John Gatins
  • Lorene Scafaria as Game Night Guest
  • Rawson Marshall Thurber as Game Night Guest
  • Jim Rash as Game Night Guest

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 146

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 404
5 to 865
9 to 121818
13 to 1600
17 to 20710
21 to 241511
25 to 28149
29 to 3282
33 to 3611
37 to 401014
41 to 4497
45 to 48109
49 to 52205
53 to 562924
57 to 6053
61 to 6413
65 to 6832
69 to 7203
73 to 7634
77 to 80813
81 to 842515
85 to 8803
89 to 921917
93 to 9622
97 to 100510
101 to 1041924
105 to 1083029
109 to 1122019
113 to 1162019
117 to 1202010
121 to 12401
125 to 12811
129 to 13255
133 to 13600
137 to 14000
141 to 1441412
145 to 14665

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.
SARAH: You have an eyelash on your... here... SARAH: I can get you out of here. But you have to trust me. MARGARET: Everything okay?
MELISSA: I'm a-comin! I still love you most. SUSAN: People write stuff on the cards they won't say in a focus group. They get more specific. SUSAN: Roger has this advice I always remember. SUSAN: Forget about anyone who scores you in the Twos and Threes. They'll never like your show.
SUSAN: They're the one who think your show is almost the best thing they've ever seen. They get your vision. They just want it to be even better. MELISSA: Round two is starting without you! SUSAN: So you'll look at the cards?
SIERRA: No! No. This isn't a murder. It's an intervention. SUSAN: I had to get you away from her. She was holding you back. You had to give her up.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 53 are women's.

353 lines from women, 319 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

6 women and 6 men in the cast. 8 women and 6 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 11 of 692. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 10 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

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

Words spoken

Women speak 60% of the words (3,698), men 40% (2,421). Women have 53% 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

Exhibit F: behind the camera

2 of the 9 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
John August (man)
Written by
John August (man)
Produced by
Dan Jinks (man), Bruce Cohen (man), Dan Etheridge (man)
Shot by
Nancy Schreiber (woman)
Edited by
Douglas Crise (man)
Music by
Alex Wurman (man)
Costumes by
Molly Grundman-Gerbosi (woman)

The crew, department by department

  • Production

    0 women, 4 men

  • Camera

    1 women, 0 men, 2 not listed

  • Art

    1 women, 1 men

  • Costume & Make-Up

    1 women, 0 men

  • Directing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Editing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Sound

    0 women, 1 men

  • Writing

    0 women, 1 men

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit G: how old the stars were

Women: 31 on average. Men: 34 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Elle Fanning 8, Lorene Scafaria 28, Dahlia Salem 35, Melissa McCarthy 36, Octavia Spencer 36, Hope Davis 42

Men

Ryan Reynolds 30, David Denman 33, Ben Falcone 33, John Gatins 38

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 146 scenes and 692 lines of dialogue. How the test works

Related films

Back to the whole shelf