Fails the Bechdel test
The Sisters Brothers
2018. Directed by Jacques Audiard, written by Jacques Audiard and Thomas Bidegain and Patrick DeWitt.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
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
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
Based on Patrick DeWitt's novel, this movie revolves around the colorfully named gold prospector Hermann Kermit Warm (Riz Ahmed), who's being pursued across one thousand miles of 1850s Oregon desert to San Francisco, California by the notorious assassins Eli Sisters (John C. Reilly) and Charlie Sisters (Joaquin Phoenix). Except Eli is having a personal crisis and beginning to doubt the longevity of his chosen career. And Hermann might have a better offer.
- Released
- 19 Oct 2018
- Genres
- Drama, Western
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.9 / 10
- Metascore
- 78 / 100
- Awards
- 13 wins & 30 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Charlie 206 lines, man
- Eli 193 lines, man
- Warm 78 lines, man
- Morris 66 lines, man
- Woman 13 lines, woman
- Mayfield 12 lines, woman
- Horse Dealer 6 lines, man
- Rex 6 lines, man
- Storekeeper 6 lines, man
- Man 5 lines, man
Full cast, 35 people
- John C. Reilly as Eli Sisters
- Joaquin Phoenix as Charlie Sisters
- Jake Gyllenhaal as John Morris
- Riz Ahmed as Hermann Kermit Warm
- Rebecca Root as Mayfield
- Allison Tolman as Girl Mayfield Saloon
- Rutger Hauer as The Commodore
- Carol Kane as Mrs Sisters
- Patrice Cossonneau as Blount
- Zac Abbott as Blount Guy Dying
- David Gasman as Relay Owner
- Philip Rosch as Storekeeper Pioneer Town 2
- Creed Bratton as Quarrel Saloon Guy Town 02
- Lenuta Bala as Woman with the Bortsch
- Jochen Hägele as Horse Dealer Town 03
- Eric Colvin as Horse Dealer Relay 02
- Ian Reddington as The Father
- Aldo Maland as Young Eli
- Theo Exarchopoulos as Young Charlie
- Sean Duggan as Jacksonville House Keeper
- Raymond Waring as Mayfield Bartender
- Jóhannes Haukur Jóhannesson as Head Trapper
- Gerard Cooke as Storekeeper Mayfield
- Frédéric Siuen as Pacific Chinese Dad Prospector
- Trevor Allan Davies as Golden Pearl Valet
- Aidan O'Hare as Horse Dealer American River
- Andrew Litvack as Prospector
- Nick Cornwall as Man Encampment Attacker 1
- Duncan Lacroix as Man Encampment Attacker 2
- Jean-Marc Bellu as Man Encampment Attacker 3
- Diego Llano as American River Indian
- Hugo Dillon as Dr Crane
- Lexie Benbow-Hart as Dr Crane’s Daughter
- Richard Brake as Rex
- Kelda Holmes as Poor Woman Commodore
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 155
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 4 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 9 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 25 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 19 |
| 21 to 24 | 0 | 14 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 1 |
| 29 to 32 | 0 | 25 |
| 33 to 36 | 2 | 9 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 27 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 21 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 8 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 23 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 17 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 2 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 20 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 9 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 26 |
| 73 to 76 | 7 | 27 |
| 77 to 80 | 16 | 37 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 16 |
| 85 to 88 | 0 | 8 |
| 89 to 92 | 0 | 6 |
| 93 to 96 | 0 | 27 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 16 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 5 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 18 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 49 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 0 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 21 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 17 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 22 |
| 129 to 132 | 0 | 7 |
| 133 to 136 | 0 | 2 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 16 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 2 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 1 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 20 |
| 153 to 155 | 3 | 6 |
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.
28 lines from women, 584 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
4 women and 24 men in the cast. 1 women and 13 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 101 of 613.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 254 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 3% of the words (234), men 97% (6,563). Women have 5% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
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
0
Two men
65
Exhibit E: behind the camera
4 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 32% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Jacques Audiard (man)
- Written by
- Jacques Audiard (man), Thomas Bidegain (man)
- From the novel by
- Patrick DeWitt (man)
- Produced by
- John C. Reilly (man), Michael De Luca (man), Pascal Caucheteux (man), Alison Dickey (woman), Grégoire Sorlat (man), Michel Merkt (man)
- Shot by
- Benoît Debie (man)
- Edited by
- Juliette Welfling (woman)
- Music by
- Alexandre Desplat (man)
- Production design by
- Michel Barthélémy (man)
- Costumes by
- Milena Canonero (woman)
- Cast by
- Mathilde Snodgrass (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
10 women, 14 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men, 1 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 2 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 50 on average. Men: 48 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Allison Tolman 36, Rebecca Root 49, Carol Kane 66
Men
Riz Ahmed 35, Jake Gyllenhaal 37, Joaquin Phoenix 43, John C. Reilly 53, Rutger Hauer 74
Exhibit G: the money
It made 35% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $38 million
- Box office
- $13.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 155 scenes and 613 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
