Passes the Bechdel test
The Tomorrow War
2021. Directed by Chris McKay, written by Zach Dean.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
23 women characters. 15 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 104. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
With the world fighting a losing battle against the multitudes of a fierce and unstoppable extraterrestrial invader, humankind is living on borrowed time. Amid chaos, and an impending Armageddon, the former Green Beret First Sergeant, biology teacher, and doting father-of-one Dan Forester, finds himself in the ruins of an alien-infested, peril-laden urban maze, struggling for survival and answers along with a doomed army of untried soldiers. Now, a handful of defenders carries the weight of the world's desperate hopes. Can they come by a second chance?
- Released
- 02 Jul 2021
- Genres
- Action, Adventure, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 45 / 100
- Awards
- 8 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Dan 379 lines, man
- Muri 113 lines, woman
- Charlie 95 lines, man
- James 68 lines, man
- Emmy 64 lines, woman
- Dorian 53 lines, man
- Lt. Hart 43 lines, woman
- Romio Command 42 lines
- Cowan 33 lines, man
- Norah 28 lines, woman
Full cast, 80 people
- Chris Pratt as Dan Forester
- Yvonne Strahovski as Colonel Muri Forester
- J.K. Simmons as James Forester
- Betty Gilpin as Emmy Forester
- Sam Richardson as Charlie
- Edwin Hodge as Dorian
- Jasmine Mathews as Lt. Hart
- Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Young Muri Forester
- Keith Powers as Major Greenwood
- Mary Lynn Rajskub as Norah
- Mike Mitchell as Cowan
- Jared Shaw as Tank
- Alexis Louder as Diablo
- Rose Bianco as Rose
- Seychelle Gabriel as Sgt. Diaz
- Alan Trong as Lt. Tran
- Chibuikem Uche as Lt. Ikemba
- Dave Maldonado as Dodd
- Kasandra Bandfield as Lawyer Draftee
- Gregory Weeks as Hard Working Draftee
- Keith Brooks as Broken Back Draftee
- Rad Daly as Sad Draftee
- Jim Palmer as Truck Driver Draftee
- Dean Feldman as Teacher Draftee
- Desiree Supernaugh as Tank Top Draftee
- Dave Parra as Draftee Angel
- Michelle Rivera Huckaby as Jodie
- Kiley Casciano as Yoga Teacher Alexis
- Barb Willis as Draftee #1
- April Knox as Draftee #2
- Matthew Cornwell as Frank
- Patrick Malone as Kyle
- Clark Sarullo as Traci
- Ashlyn Moore as Katie
- Patrick Fleming as Ben
- Alicia Cuthbertson as Concerned Mom
- Terrence J. Smith as MEPS Tech Officer Sam
- Felisha Terrell as Conscription Officer Lauren Paveza
- Gissette Valentin as Conscription Officer Taylor Dean
- Nikki Mejia as Viper One Pilot
- Roger Barton as Viper One Radio (voice)
- Eric Graise as Terry
- Zachary James Rukavina as Veteran Palo
- Angel Giuffria as Veteran Susan
- Seth Schenall as Martin
- Piper Collins as Chelsea
- Joshua Israel as Jayden
- Amere Stewart as Tina
- Caden Graham as Ted
- Mia Naipaul as Jump Command Engineer
- DJames Jones as Army Officer (F.O.B.)
- Christina Bach as FOB Soldier
- Andrea Andrade as Medic
- Gary Weeks as News Reporter #1
- Gabrielle Byndloss as News Reporter #3
- Kenneth Israel as News Reporter #3
- Melissa Saint-Amand as News Reporter #4
- La'Toya Kirkland as La'Toya
- Amanda Hatfield as Samantha
- Shane Berengue as Military (uncredited)
- Nicole L. Campbell as Neighbor at Christmas Party (uncredited)
- Conrad Carpenter as Raptor 1 Pilot (uncredited)
- Shawn Ray Cartel as Intelligence Soldier (uncredited)
- Adriana Catalano as Future Soldier (uncredited)
- Nathan W. Collins as Future Special Forces Soldier (uncredited)
- Chris TC Edge as Special Forces Sgt. Major (uncredited)
- Jason m Edwards as Officer (uncredited)
- Darin Ferraro as Military Trainee (uncredited)
- Reese Giles as World Cup Fan (uncredited)
- Clyde C Harris as Larry Sutton Draftee (uncredited)
- Chris Holloway as Lieutenant Marks (uncredited)
- Stacy Johnson as Sister (uncredited)
- Jeannie Ledford as Future Military (uncredited)
- Eeryn Falk Lubicich as Draftee (uncredited)
- Bryan Metoyer as Draftee (uncredited)
- Tommy O'Brien as Protester / Husband (uncredited)
- Jamie Urena as Future Soldier (uncredited)
- Olaolu Winfunke as Captain Woods (uncredited)
- Perry Zulu Jr. as Special Forces (uncredited)
- Robert Tinsley as Military Lab Tech (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 104
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 | 5 | 13 |
| 4 to 6 | 18 | 20 |
| 7 to 9 | 5 | 5 |
| 10 to 12 | 19 | 12 |
| 13 to 15 | 26 | 36 |
| 16 to 18 | 8 | 7 |
| 19 to 21 | 14 | 56 |
| 22 to 24 | 10 | 11 |
| 25 to 27 | 12 | 33 |
| 28 to 30 | 6 | 4 |
| 31 to 33 | 1 | 8 |
| 34 to 36 | 4 | 10 |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | 23 |
| 40 to 42 | 7 | 34 |
| 43 to 45 | 5 | 38 |
| 46 to 48 | 26 | 75 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 5 |
| 52 to 54 | 0 | 0 |
| 55 to 57 | 22 | 14 |
| 58 to 60 | 14 | 7 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 3 | 2 |
| 67 to 69 | 17 | 34 |
| 70 to 72 | 15 | 19 |
| 73 to 75 | 6 | 8 |
| 76 to 78 | 25 | 23 |
| 79 to 81 | 8 | 100 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 7 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 7 |
| 88 to 90 | 2 | 25 |
| 91 to 93 | 2 | 12 |
| 94 to 96 | 5 | 12 |
| 97 to 99 | 4 | 11 |
| 100 to 102 | 0 | 39 |
| 103 to 104 | 5 | 6 |
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.
SGT. DIAZ: I’m Sergeant Diaz. I am not your friend. This is. It will keep you alive. You will not clean, disassemble or modify your friend. SGT. DIAZ: Your friend likes to party. SGT. DIAZ: You’ll need to feed your friend these party favors if you want to party with your friend. SGT. DIAZ: Now we can party.
LT. HART: You are R-Force - also known as Research Force. You’ll be joining your counterparts in 2051 at a fortified research facility. Your function … LT. HART: D Force are your bodies on the ground -- SGT. DIAZ: Necks and bellies! That’s what you aim for!
SGT. DIAZ: Okay. Good Luck. I’m sure the aliens will understand. LT. HART: D-Force will buy you time to get your work done. NORAH: Why can’t we just keep jumping back to earlier in the war?
LT. HART: What the... SGT. DIAZ: Those aren’t Whitespikes.
SGT. DIAZ: We can’t let them escape. LT. HART: Let’s go end our war. LT. HART: We need to get them cornered. Come on!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 30 are women's.
302 lines from women, 716 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
23 women and 30 men in the cast. 15 women and 23 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 6 of 1,112.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 92 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 (3,303), men 69% (7,196). Women have 30% 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
11
Two men
68
Exhibit F: behind the camera
5 of the 16 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 38% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Chris McKay (man)
- Written by
- Zach Dean (man)
- Produced by
- David Ellison (man), Adam Kolbrenner (man), Dana Goldberg (woman), David S. Goyer (man), Don Granger (man), Jules Daly (woman)
- Shot by
- Larry Fong (man)
- Edited by
- Roger Barton (man), Garret Elkins (gender not listed)
- Music by
- Lorne Balfe (man)
- Production design by
- Peter Wenham (man)
- Costumes by
- Betsy Heimann (woman)
- Cast by
- Tricia Wood (woman), Deborah Aquila (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
16 women, 32 men, 10 not listed
-
Production
11 women, 9 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
8 women, 2 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 6 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
2 women, 7 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Sound
1 women, 5 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 33 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ryan Kiera Armstrong 11, Jasmine Mathews 30, Betty Gilpin 35, Yvonne Strahovski 39, Mary Lynn Rajskub 50
Men
Keith Powers 29, Edwin Hodge 36, Sam Richardson 37, Chris Pratt 42, J.K. Simmons 66
Exhibit H: the money
It made 7% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $200 million
- Box office
- $14.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 104 scenes and 1,112 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
