Passes the Bechdel test

The Relic

Name: The Relic
Released: 1997

1997. Directed by Peter Hyams, written by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and Amy Holden Jones.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
11 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 144.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

A detective is puzzled after recent spate of deaths involving decapitations. He visits a museum when a new victim is found murdered in the same way. In the museum, he encounters an evolutionary biologist who herself is puzzled after discovering a mutated beetle that possesses both insect and reptilian DNA. The detective finds a common link between the murders, hypothalamus missing from the brains of the victims. Together they both try to defeat a monster/killer who is on a killing spree.

Released: 10 Jan 1997
Genres: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Rated: R
IMDb: 5.8 / 10
Metascore: 55 / 100
Awards: 4 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Pendergast 160 lines, man
Margo 143 lines, woman
D'Agosta 123 lines, man
Frock 70 lines, man
Cuthbert 47 lines, woman
Kawakita 43 lines, man
Jonathan 42 lines, man
Ippolito 23 lines, man
Larry 20 lines, man
Henry 19 lines, man

Full cast, 47 people

Penelope Ann Miller as Dr. Margo Green
Tom Sizemore as Lt. Vincent D'Agosta
Linda Hunt as Dr. Ann Cuthbert
James Whitmore as Dr. Albert Frock
Clayton Rohner as Det. Hollingsworth
Chi Muoi Lo as Dr. Greg Lee
Thomas Ryan as Tom Parkinson
Robert Lesser as Mayor Robert Owen
Diane Robin as The Mayor's Wife
Lewis van Bergen as John Whitney
Constance Towers as Mrs. Harriet Blaisedale
Francis X. McCarthy as Mr. George Blaisedale
Audra Lindley as Dr. Matilda Zwiezic
John Kapelos as McNally
Tico Wells as Bailey
Mike Bacarella as Bradley
Gene Davis as Martini
John DiSanti as Guard Wootton
David Proval as Guard Johnson
Jophery C. Brown as Guard Frederick Ford
Don Harvey as Spota
Ronald Joshua Scott as Josh
Dave Graubart as Eugene
Santos Morales as Capt. Borne
Ralph Seymour as Sergeant
Lyn Alicia Henderson as Perri Masai
Brian Steele as Kothoga
Amanda Ingber as Donna
Montrose Hagins as Chanting Woman (as Montrose Hughes)
LaDonna Tittle as Teacher
Eddie Jemison as Museum Worker
David Hollander as Charlie
Katharine Mitchell as Police Officer
Kurt Naebig as Police Officer
Ken Magee as Coroner's Assistant
Aaron Lustig as Dr. Brown
Kent George as Student
Ron Cummins as Dr. Gross
Mark Lake as SWAT Team Guy
Ned Schmidtke as Capt. Martin
Vincent Hammond as Kothoga
Gary A. Hecker as Kothoga (voice)
Ramon Ramierez as Tribal Dancer
Martin S. Tellez as Tribal Dancer
Craig Hosking as Helicopter Pilot
Dana Kristen Vahle as Helicopter Pilot
Dick Warlock as Policeman (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 8% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 144

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	0	2
4 to 6	0	13
7 to 9	0	1
10 to 12	0	0
13 to 15	12	5
16 to 18	12	5
19 to 21	10	14
22 to 24	0	10
25 to 27	0	10
28 to 30	1	0
31 to 33	5	19
34 to 36	6	47
37 to 39	3	20
40 to 42	0	6
43 to 45	0	0
46 to 48	24	24
49 to 51	9	9
52 to 54	0	9
55 to 57	5	6
58 to 60	6	17
61 to 63	0	28
64 to 66	0	6
67 to 69	0	9
70 to 72	5	44
73 to 75	3	3
76 to 78	15	17
79 to 81	2	11
82 to 84	5	1
85 to 87	0	10
88 to 90	4	6
91 to 93	0	8
94 to 96	5	5
97 to 99	3	32
100 to 102	4	12
103 to 105	0	13
106 to 108	4	6
109 to 111	16	17
112 to 114	1	9
115 to 117	8	24
118 to 120	0	3
121 to 123	4	21
124 to 126	2	12
127 to 129	0	13
130 to 132	7	3
133 to 135	6	12
136 to 138	4	7
139 to 141	3	2
142 to 144	4	7

The evidence

Straight from the script
Counted from the script and the credits

Tap an exhibit to open it.

Exhibit A: the passing scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

MARGO: Fourth floor, West wing, but stay with your class. MARGO: Hello, Ian. Everything ready for the opening of the Superstition Exhibit? CUTHBERT: I'm on my way to get the last piece out of storage right now. MARGO: I'd wish you luck but I'm not superstitious.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 26 are women's.

198 lines from women, 558 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

11 women and 31 men in the cast. 3 women and 8 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 21 of 825. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 72 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 33% of the words (2,852), men 67% (5,799). Women have 26% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Peter Hyams (man)
Written by: Amy Holden Jones (woman), Amanda Silver (woman), Rick Jaffa (man), John Raffo (man)
From the novel by: Lincoln Child (man), Douglas Preston (man)
Produced by: Gale Anne Hurd (woman), Sam Mercer (man)
Shot by: Peter Hyams (man)
Edited by: Steven Kemper (man)
Music by: John Debney (man)
Production design by: Philip Harrison (man)
Costumes by: Daniel J. Lester (man)
Cast by: Penny Perry (woman)