Passes the Bechdel test
The Ring
2002. Directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ehren Kruger and Kôji Suzuki and Hiroshi Takahashi.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
19 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 144. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Rachel Keller is a journalist investigating a videotape that may have killed four teenagers (including her niece). There is an urban legend about this tape: the viewer will die seven days after watching it. If the legend is correct, Rachel will have to run against time to save her son's and her own life.
- Released
- 18 Oct 2002
- Genres
- Horror, Mystery
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7.1 / 10
- Metascore
- 57 / 100
- Awards
- 14 wins & 12 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Rachel 195 lines, woman
- Noah 97 lines, man
- Aidan 36 lines, man
- Ruth 21 lines, woman
- Katie 17 lines, woman
- Victor 16 lines
- Becca 14 lines, woman
- Teacher 13 lines, woman
- Innkeeper 9 lines, man
- Woman 9 lines, woman
Full cast, 35 people
- Naomi Watts as Rachel Keller
- Martin Henderson as Noah Clay
- David Dorfman as Aidan Keller
- Brian Cox as Richard Morgan
- Jane Alexander as Dr. Grasnik
- Lindsay Frost as Ruth Embry
- Amber Tamblyn as Katie Embry
- Rachael Bella as Rebecca Kotler
- Daveigh Chase as Samara Morgan
- Shannon Cochran as Anna Morgan
- Sandra Thigpen as Teacher
- Richard Lineback as Innkeeper
- Sasha Barrese as Girl Teen #1
- Tess Hall as Girl Teen #2
- Adam Brody as Male Teen #1
- Alan Blumenfeld as Harvey
- Pauley Perrette as Beth
- Joe Chrest as Doctor
- Stephanie Erb as Donna
- Joanna Lin Black as Cashier
- Michael Spound as Dave Embry
- Art Frankel as Cal
- Billy Lloyd as Darby Grasnik
- Sara Rue as Babysitter
- Keith Campbell as Ship's Mate
- Ronald William Lawrence as Library Clerk
- Lindsey Stoddart as Grad Student
- Joe Sabatino as Orderly
- Aixa Clemente as Nurse
- Coleen Maloney as Mourner #1
- Catherine Paolone as Mourner #2
- Maura McNamara as Girl on Ferry
- David Povall as Girl's Father
- Gary Carlos Cervantes as Painter
- Chuck Hicks as Ferry Worker
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% 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 | 26 | 0 |
| 4 to 6 | 3 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 25 | 2 |
| 10 to 12 | 4 | 2 |
| 13 to 15 | 3 | 1 |
| 16 to 18 | 13 | 0 |
| 19 to 21 | 16 | 1 |
| 22 to 24 | 13 | 13 |
| 25 to 27 | 6 | 6 |
| 28 to 30 | 20 | 0 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 8 | 9 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 1 |
| 40 to 42 | 5 | 5 |
| 43 to 45 | 9 | 8 |
| 46 to 48 | 13 | 13 |
| 49 to 51 | 10 | 7 |
| 52 to 54 | 9 | 1 |
| 55 to 57 | 1 | 1 |
| 58 to 60 | 3 | 7 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 1 |
| 64 to 66 | 10 | 0 |
| 67 to 69 | 3 | 1 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 11 |
| 73 to 75 | 6 | 2 |
| 76 to 78 | 8 | 8 |
| 79 to 81 | 2 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 11 | 0 |
| 88 to 90 | 20 | 9 |
| 91 to 93 | 0 | 9 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 6 |
| 97 to 99 | 5 | 0 |
| 100 to 102 | 5 | 6 |
| 103 to 105 | 4 | 4 |
| 106 to 108 | 5 | 3 |
| 109 to 111 | 4 | 10 |
| 112 to 114 | 4 | 5 |
| 115 to 117 | 1 | 1 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 2 |
| 121 to 123 | 5 | 3 |
| 124 to 126 | 1 | 2 |
| 127 to 129 | 6 | 8 |
| 130 to 132 | 1 | 0 |
| 133 to 135 | 1 | 1 |
| 136 to 138 | 3 | 1 |
| 139 to 141 | 0 | 0 |
| 142 to 144 | 2 | 0 |
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.
BECCA: This is so lame •.• KATIE: Wait, don't-- KATIE: Hello? Hi, Mom... BECCA: Sucker.
RACHEL: Sorry, I'm late. TEACHER: No worries.
TEACHER: She died two nights ago. RACHEL: That's right. TEACHER: hldan drew theae laat week.
RACHEL: Ruthie •.. RUTH: Oh, God, Rachel, I miss her so much. RACHEL: Me, too.
RACHEL: I know •.. that you saw something ... and it scared you. Whatever you say you saw •.. I'll believe you. BECCA: And you will. RACHEL: I will, what do you mean I will-- BECCA: She'll show you.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 63 are women's.
297 lines from women, 175 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
19 women and 16 men in the cast. 11 women and 12 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 17 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 61% of the words (2,449), men 39% (1,570). Women have 63% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Run the other way, for men, the film scores 2 out of 3.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
14
Two men
4
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 12 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Gore Verbinski (man)
- Written by
- Ehren Kruger (man), Hiroshi Takahashi (man)
- From the novel by
- Kōji Suzuki (man)
- Produced by
- Laurie MacDonald (woman), Walter F. Parkes (man)
- Shot by
- Bojan Bazelli (man)
- Edited by
- Craig Wood (man)
- Music by
- Hans Zimmer (man)
- Production design by
- Tom Duffield (man)
- Costumes by
- Julie Weiss (woman)
- Cast by
- Denise Chamian (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
6 women, 13 men, 18 not listed
-
Production
6 women, 10 men, 13 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 8 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 7 men, 9 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 5 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 7 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 5 men, 4 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 31 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Daveigh Chase 12, Rachael Bella 18, Amber Tamblyn 19, Naomi Watts 34, Lindsay Frost 40, Shannon Cochran 44, Jane Alexander 62
Men
David Dorfman 9, Martin Henderson 28, Brian Cox 56
Exhibit H: the money
It made 5.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $48 million
- Box office
- $249 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 144 scenes and 528 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
