Fails the Bechdel test

The Passion of the Christ

Name: The Passion of the Christ
Released: 2004

2004. Directed by Mel Gibson, written by Benedict Fitzgerald and Mel Gibson.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
13 women characters. 3 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

A depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, on the day of his crucifixion in Jerusalem. The story opens in the Garden of Olives where Jesus has gone to pray after the Last Supper. Betrayed by Judas Iscariot, the controversial Jesus - who has performed 'miracles' and has publicly announced that he is 'the Son of God' - is arrested and taken back within the city walls of Jerusalem. There, the leaders of the Pharisees confront him with accusations of blasphemy; subsequently, his trial results with the leaders condemning him to his death. Jesus is brought before Pontius Pilate, the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea, for his sentencing. Pilate listens to the accusations leveled at Jesus by the Pharisees. Realizing that his own decision will cause him to become embroiled in a political conflict, Pilate defers to King Herod in deciding the matter of how to persecute Jesus. However, Herod returns Jesus to Pilate who, in turn, gives the crowd a choice between which prisoner they would rather to see set free - Jesus, or Barabbas. The crowd chooses to have Barabbas set free. Thus, Jesus is handed over to the Roman soldiers and is brutally flagellated. Bloody and unrecognizable, he is brought back before Pilate who, once again, presents him to the thirsty crowd - assuming they will see that Jesus has been punished enough. The crowd, however, is not satisfied. Thus, Pilate washes his hands of the entire dilemma, ordering his men to do as the crowd wishes. Whipped and weakened, Jesus is presented with the cross and is ordered to carry it through the streets of Jerusalem, all the way up to Golgotha. There, more corporal cruelty takes place as Jesus is nailed to the cross-suffering, he hangs there, left to die. Initially, in his dazed suffering, Jesus is alarmed that he has been abandoned by God his father. He then beseeches God. At the moment of his death, nature itself over-turns.

Released: 25 Feb 2004
Genres: Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.3 / 10
Metascore: 47 / 100
Awards: Nominated for 3 Oscars. 30 wins & 24 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Pilate 39 lines, man
Jesus 38 lines, man
Caiphas 31 lines, man
Brutish Guard 19 lines, man
Peter 15 lines, man
Mary 14 lines
John 11 lines
Annas 10 lines, man
Judas 9 lines, man
Magdalen 8 lines

Full cast, 75 people

Jim Caviezel as Jesus
Maia Morgenstern as Maria
Christo Jivkov as Juan
Francesco De Vito as Pedro
Monica Bellucci as Magdalena
Mattia Sbragia as Caifás
Toni Bertorelli as Anás
Luca Lionello as Judas
Hristo Shopov as Poncio Pilato
Claudia Gerini as Claudia Procles
Fabio Sartor as Abenader
Giacinto Ferro as Joseph of Arimathea
Aleksander Mincer as Nicodemus
Sheila Mokhtari as Mother in audience
Lucio Allocca as Old Temple Guard
Paco Reconti as Whipping Guard
Adel Bakri as Temple Guard
Luciano Dragone as Second Man
Adel Ben Ayed as Thomas
Franco Costanzo as Accuser
Lino Salemme as Accuser
Emanuele Gullotto as Accuser
Francesco De Rosa as Accuser
Maurizio Di Carmine as Elder
Francesco Gabriele as Elder
Angelo Di Loreta as Elder
Federico Pacifici as Elder
Roberto Santi as Elder
Giovanni Vettorazzo as Elder
Ted Rusoff as Elder
Tom Shaker as Eyepatch
Andrea Coppola as Grizzled Beard
Romuald Kłos as Roman Soldier
Giuseppe Lo Console as Roman Soldier
Dario D'Ambrosi as Roman Soldier
Luciano Federico as Man in Audience
Domenico Capalbo as Boy
Valerio Esposito as Boy
Antonello Iacovone as Boy
Nicola Tagarelli as Boy
Ivan Gaudiano as Boy
Chokri Ben Zagden as James
Roberto Bestazzoni as Malchus
Luca De Dominicis as King Herod Antipas
Pietro Sarubbi as Barabbas
Abel Jafri as 2nd Temple Officer
Lello Giulivo as Brutish Roman
Emilio De Marchi as Scornful Roman
Roberto Visconti as Scornful Roman
Sergio Rubini as Disma
Francesco Cabras as Gesmas
Andrea Refuto as Young Jesus
Giovanni Capalbo as Cassius
Matt Patresi as Janus
Sabrina Impacciatore as Seraphia
Daniela Poti as Young Girl
Jarreth J. Merz as Simon of Cyrene
Noemi Marotta as Woman
Rossella Longo as Woman
Davide Marotta as Baby
Rosalinda Celentano as Satan
Danilo Di Ruzza as Pilate's Servant
Vincenzo Monti as Herod's Courtier
Danilo Maria Valli as Herod's Courtier
Nuot Arquint as Herod's Courtier
Abraam Fontana as Herod's Courtier
Valerio Isidori as Herod's Courtier
Paulo dos Santos as Herod's Boy
Arianna Vitolo as Herod's Court Woman
Gabriella Barbuti as Herod's Court Woman
Ornella Giusto as Herod's Court Woman
Michelle Bonev as Herod's Court Woman
Lucia Stara as Herod's Court Woman
Evelina Meghnagi as Herod's Court Woman
Francis Dokyi as Herod's Servant

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 16% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 96

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 2	0	0
3 to 4	0	6
5 to 6	0	2
7 to 8	2	5
9 to 10	1	3
11 to 12	0	6
13 to 14	0	0
15 to 16	0	3
17 to 18	0	5
19 to 20	0	3
21 to 22	2	4
23 to 24	0	0
25 to 26	0	5
27 to 28	0	6
29 to 30	1	5
31 to 32	0	6
33 to 34	1	20
35 to 36	0	1
37 to 38	0	12
39 to 40	0	1
41 to 42	0	0
43 to 44	3	18
45 to 46	0	0
47 to 48	2	15
49 to 50	0	1
51 to 52	0	9
53 to 54	0	4
55 to 56	0	9
57 to 58	0	0
59 to 60	0	0
61 to 62	0	0
63 to 64	0	5
65 to 66	0	8
67 to 68	0	5
69 to 70	0	7
71 to 72	0	2
73 to 74	0	11
75 to 76	1	6
77 to 78	0	0
79 to 80	0	1
81 to 82	0	5
83 to 84	0	1
85 to 86	0	2
87 to 88	0	1
89 to 90	0	3
91 to 92	0	3
93 to 94	0	8
95 to 96	0	20

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, 5 are women's.

13 lines from women, 237 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

13 women and 49 men in the cast. 3 women and 27 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 11 of 297. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 81 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 5% of the words (181), men 95% (3,630).

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

2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 17% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Mel Gibson (man)
Written by: Mel Gibson (man), Benedict Fitzgerald (man)
Produced by: Mel Gibson (man), Bruce Davey (man), Stephen McEveety (man)
Shot by: Caleb Deschanel (man)
Edited by: Steve Mirkovich (man), John Wright (man), Robert James Ashe (man)
Music by: John Debney (man), Gingger Shankar (woman)
Production design by: Francesco Frigeri (man)
Costumes by: Maurizio Millenotti (man)
Cast by: Shaila Rubin (woman)