Passes the Bechdel test

The Skeleton Key

Name: The Skeleton Key
Released: 2005

2005. Directed by Iain Softley, written by Ehren Kruger.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
15 women characters. 10 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 11 scenes out of 176.
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

Nurse Caroline Ellis quits her job to take care of elderly Ben Devereux, who had a stroke and can't talk. When she gets to his house in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, she meets his wife Violet, who acts suspicious and creepy. The family's lawyer, Luke Marshall, convinces Caroline to stay. She goes to the attic and finds a secret room there full of spells, hair, and bones used to practice Hoodoo, but Violet says she has never seen this secret room. Caroline wants to help Ben, thinking that Violet has put a spell on him. She knows Hoodoo can't hurt someone who doesn't believe in it. Can Caroline save Ben, or will she end up being the one who needs to be saved?

Released: 12 Aug 2005
Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.5 / 10
Metascore: 47 / 100
Awards: 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Caroline 230 lines, woman
Violet 124 lines, woman
Luke 81 lines, man
Jill 37 lines, woman
Bayou Woman 9 lines, woman
Hallie 8 lines, woman
Mama Cynthia 8 lines, woman
Chorus 7 lines
Ben 6 lines, man
Loke 6 lines

Full cast, 26 people

Kate Hudson as Caroline Ellis
Gena Rowlands as Violet Devereaux
Peter Sarsgaard as Luke Marshall
John Hurt as Ben Devereaux
Joy Bryant as Jill
Marion Zinser as Bayou Woman
Maxine Barnett as Mama Cynthia
Fahnlohnee R. Harris as Hallie
Deneen Tyler as Desk Nurse
Ann Dalrymple as C.N.A.
Trula M. Marcus as Nurse Trula
Jen Apgar as Madeleine Thorpe
Thomas Uskali as Robertson Thorpe
Jamie Lee Redmon as Grace Thorpe
Forrest Landis as Martin Thorpe
Tonya Staten as Nurse Audrey
Isaach de Bankolé as Creole Gas Station Owner
Christa Thorne as Creole Mother
Ronald McCall as Papa Justify
Jeryl Prescott as Mama Cecile
Lakrishi Kindred as Frail Customer
Sabah as Luke's Secretary
Joe Chrest as Paramedic
David J. Curtis as Party Guest
Tiffany Helland as Party Guest
Brian Ruppert as Party Guest

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 176

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	6	0
5 to 8	3	0
9 to 12	14	0
13 to 16	27	23
17 to 20	11	0
21 to 24	20	0
25 to 28	18	0
29 to 32	14	0
33 to 36	0	0
37 to 40	1	0
41 to 44	13	0
45 to 48	5	0
49 to 52	12	7
53 to 56	1	0
57 to 60	0	0
61 to 64	8	0
65 to 68	16	0
69 to 72	0	0
73 to 76	12	0
77 to 80	2	0
81 to 84	20	0
85 to 88	22	0
89 to 92	11	7
93 to 96	4	2
97 to 100	18	4
101 to 104	0	0
105 to 108	11	6
109 to 112	40	15
113 to 116	4	3
117 to 120	17	0
121 to 124	32	0
125 to 128	5	0
129 to 132	4	0
133 to 136	8	9
137 to 140	0	2
141 to 144	10	3
145 to 148	0	1
149 to 152	8	1
153 to 156	9	0
157 to 160	2	1
161 to 164	5	4
165 to 168	11	1
169 to 172	0	0
173 to 176	1	1

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.

CAROLINE: It's a p1~asure to m~et yo~, Mre. Oe-s,erea111<. '!ou have a lovely hOl\\e. VIOLET: ll!llt1ph.

CAROLINE: Both? VIOLET: I don't want h@r.

VIOLET: Wasn't raised, though. Hear how she talks. Who knows .lUlllll she's from-- CAROLINE: I'm from Elizabeth, New Jersey. VIOLET: llmmph.

JILL: Well, you better not start feeling at home out there, drinking mint juleps and joining a bridge club-- CAROLINE: I'll.be back before you know it. JILL: And you better call me, okay? Whenever you wanna talk to someone who wasn't around for World War Two. C!\P.OL!NE What's with you and old peo… JILL: They terrify me.

VIOLET: Child, you get as worn-ou , wrinkled as we are, you d t need reminding. You want a little one for your own use, it's fine with me. CAROLINE: What'd you do with yours? VIOLET: We put them away.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 83 are women's.

425 lines from women, 90 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

15 women and 8 men in the cast. 10 women and 3 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 11 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 83% of the words (5,095), men 17% (1,071).

Exhibit E: the test the other way

Run the other way, for men, the film scores 1 out of 3.

Conversations between two named characters

Two women

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

3 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Iain Softley (man)
Written by: Ehren Kruger (man)
Produced by: Daniel Bobker (man), Stacey Sher (woman), Michael Shamberg (man), Iain Softley (man), Lorenzo P. Lampthwait (gender not listed)
Shot by: Dan Mindel (man)
Edited by: Joe Hutshing (man)
Music by: Edward Shearmur (man)
Production design by: John Beard (man)
Costumes by: Louise Frogley (woman)
Cast by: Ronna Kress (woman)