Passes the Bechdel test

The Son

Name: The Son
Released: 2023

2023. Directed by Florian Zeller, written by Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
11 women characters. 9 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 109.
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 17 year old boy is going through severe psychological trauma ever since his father had divorced his mom and moved out. The boy appears to have lost interest in life. His mother and father try their best to counsel him and put him through professional therapy but things don't seem to be working out. Will his emotional turmoil reduce with time?

Released: 20 Jan 2023
Genres: Drama
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.5 / 10
Metascore: 45 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Peter 466 lines, man
Nicholas 252 lines, man
Beth 169 lines, woman
Kate 159 lines, woman
Doctor 30 lines
Anthony 21 lines, man
Young Nicholas 18 lines, man
Andrew 17 lines, man
E.R. Psychiatrist 17 lines, woman
Nurse 8 lines

Full cast, 32 people

Hugh Jackman as Peter
Zen McGrath as Nicholas
Vanessa Kirby as Beth
Laura Dern as Kate
Anthony Hopkins as Anthony
William Hope as Andrew
George Cobell as Nicholas (6 Years)
Felix Goddard as Theo
Max Goddard as Theo
Shin-Fei Chen as Alexandra
Nancy Baldwin as Principal's Secretary
Akie Kotabe as Mr. Yama
Isaura Barbé-Brown as Sophia
Erick Hayden as Allan
Joseph Mydell as Brian
Rachel Handshaw as Brian's Assistant
Gabriel Ecoffey as Intern
Stephanie Palies as Assistant
George Potts as Therapist
Reza Diako as Waiter
Yolanda Nieto as Maria
Danielle Lewis as Jessica
Gretchen Egolf as E.R. Psychiatrist
Alex Mugnaioni as Nurse
Hugh Quarshie as Doctor Harris
Mercedes Bahleda as Mary (uncredited)
Van Pierre as Steven (uncredited)
Rene Costa as Hospital Attendant (uncredited)
Joakim Skarli as Boardroom Executive (uncredited)
Julia Westcott-Hutton as Boardroom Executive (uncredited)
Kenny-Lee Mbanefo as Boardroom Executive (uncredited)
Riccardo Mazzi as Business Executive Staff (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 109

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	7	5
4 to 6	22	21
7 to 9	0	64
10 to 12	9	12
13 to 15	12	20
16 to 18	0	4
19 to 21	0	25
22 to 24	2	16
25 to 27	1	12
28 to 30	3	1
31 to 33	23	17
34 to 36	1	12
37 to 39	1	15
40 to 42	30	33
43 to 45	18	21
46 to 48	7	19
49 to 51	17	32
52 to 54	7	6
55 to 57	0	68
58 to 60	4	13
61 to 63	7	6
64 to 66	0	7
67 to 69	4	31
70 to 72	26	46
73 to 75	14	12
76 to 78	3	70
79 to 81	8	0
82 to 84	14	13
85 to 87	22	3
88 to 90	3	17
91 to 93	10	5
94 to 96	22	34
97 to 99	8	45
100 to 102	7	9
103 to 105	19	27
106 to 108	10	6
109 to 109	13	53

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.

MARY: So when did you last speak to her? SOPHIA: Last week! And this morning she tells me she’s going back to live in L.A.... KATE: Hello? Yes... MARY: Doesn’t surprise me about her. She’s not at all an East Coast type of person.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 31 are women's.

354 lines from women, 800 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

11 women and 13 men in the cast. 9 women and 8 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 75 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 31% of the words (3,242), men 69% (7,311).

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

2 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Florian Zeller (man)
Written by: Christopher Hampton (man), Florian Zeller (man)
Produced by: Karl Hartman (man), Joanna Laurie (woman), Emile Sherman (man), Christophe Spadone (gender not listed), Florian Zeller (man), Iain Canning (man)
Shot by: Ben Smithard (man)
Edited by: Yorgos Lamprinos (man)
Music by: Hans Zimmer (man)
Production design by: Simon Bowles (man)
Costumes by: Lisa Duncan (gender not listed)
Cast by: Nicola Chisholm (woman)