Fails the Bechdel test
The Tree of Life
2011. Directed by Terrence Malick, written by Terrence Malick.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
1 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
19 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
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 0 out of 3.
The film
The impressionistic story of a Texas family in the 1950s. The film follows the life journey of the eldest son, Jack, through the innocence of childhood to his disillusioned adult years as he tries to reconcile a complicated relationship with his father (Brad Pitt). Jack (played as an adult by Sean Penn) finds himself a lost soul in the modern world, seeking answers to the origins and meaning of life while questioning the existence of faith.
- Released
- 18 May 2011
- Genres
- Drama, Fantasy
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 85 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 3 Oscars. 118 wins & 130 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jack 147 lines, man
- Father 143 lines, man
- Mother 139 lines, woman
- Rl 50 lines
- Steve 19 lines, man
- Robert 9 lines, man
- Uncle Ray 7 lines, man
- Howard 6 lines, man
- Betty 5 lines
- Cayler 4 lines, man
Full cast, 57 people
- Brad Pitt as Mr. O'Brien
- Jessica Chastain as Mrs. O'Brien
- Hunter McCracken as Young Jack
- Sean Penn as Jack
- Fiona Shaw as Grandmother
- Tye Sheridan as Steve
- Laramie Eppler as R.L.
- Will Wallace as Architect
- Nicolas Gonda as Mr. Reynolds
- Jessica Fuselier as Guide
- Kelly Koonce as Father Haynes
- Bryce Boudoin as Robert
- Jimmy Donaldson as Jimmy
- Kameron Vaughn as Cayler
- Cole Cockburn as Harry Bates
- Dustin Allen as George Walsh
- Brayden Whisenhunt as Jo Bates
- Joanna Going as Jack's Wife
- Irene Bedard as Messenger
- Michael Koeth as Jack @ 2
- Finnegan Williams as Jack @ 5
- John Howell as R. L. @ 2
- Samantha Martinez as Samantha
- Savannah Welch as Mrs. Kimball
- Tamara Jolaine as Mrs. Stone
- Julia M. Smith as Beth
- Anne Nabors as Rue
- Ryan Melton as Prisoner
- Tyler Thomas as Tyler Stone
- Michael Showers as Mr. Brown
- Kimberly Whalen as Mrs. Brown
- Margaret Hoard as Jane
- Wally Welch as Clergyman
- Hudson Lee Long as Mr. Bagley
- Michael Dixon as Dusty Walsh
- William Hardy as Jack's Work Colleague
- Tommy Hollis as Tommy
- Cooper Franklin Sutherland as Robert #2
- John Cyrier as Bi-Plane Pilot
- Erma Lee Alexander as Erma
- Nicholas Yedinak as Nicholas Swimmer
- Erinn Allison as Mrs. Bates (uncredited)
- Mary Anzalone as School Teacher (uncredited)
- Charlotte Biggs as 1950s' Woman (uncredited)
- Benjamin Dane as Symphony Patron (uncredited)
- Michael E. Harvey as Lame Man (uncredited)
- Matt Hislope as Clown (uncredited)
- Jackson Hurst as Uncle Ray (uncredited)
- Zach Irsik as Jack's Son (uncredited)
- Scottie Jefferies as Businessman (uncredited)
- Gregory Kelly as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Carlotta Maggiorana as Ragazza-angelo (uncredited)
- Crystal Mantecon as Elisa (uncredited)
- Jodie Moore as Mr. Walsh (uncredited)
- Kathryn Rawson as Capitol Secretary (uncredited)
- Danielle Rene as Woman (uncredited)
- Debbi Tucker as Neighbor (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 12% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 158
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 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 3 | 15 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 16 | 0 | 3 |
| 17 to 20 | 3 | 2 |
| 21 to 24 | 5 | 7 |
| 25 to 28 | 4 | 2 |
| 29 to 32 | 3 | 27 |
| 33 to 36 | 4 | 20 |
| 37 to 40 | 3 | 2 |
| 41 to 44 | 5 | 4 |
| 45 to 48 | 8 | 13 |
| 49 to 52 | 8 | 23 |
| 53 to 56 | 1 | 9 |
| 57 to 60 | 3 | 4 |
| 61 to 64 | 7 | 13 |
| 65 to 68 | 6 | 15 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 7 |
| 73 to 76 | 12 | 22 |
| 77 to 80 | 0 | 1 |
| 81 to 84 | 6 | 15 |
| 85 to 88 | 7 | 11 |
| 89 to 92 | 1 | 9 |
| 93 to 96 | 4 | 24 |
| 97 to 100 | 14 | 18 |
| 101 to 104 | 12 | 15 |
| 105 to 108 | 1 | 6 |
| 109 to 112 | 1 | 4 |
| 113 to 116 | 3 | 2 |
| 117 to 120 | 6 | 11 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 10 |
| 125 to 128 | 3 | 6 |
| 129 to 132 | 2 | 5 |
| 133 to 136 | 1 | 1 |
| 137 to 140 | 5 | 15 |
| 141 to 144 | 3 | 5 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 0 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 2 | 3 |
| 157 to 158 | 1 | 0 |
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, 30 are women's.
147 lines from women, 349 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
19 women and 29 men in the cast. 4 women and 6 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 19 of 565.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 24 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 27% of the words (1,926), men 73% (5,156). Women have 30% 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
14
Exhibit E: behind the camera
5 of the 18 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 29% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Terrence Malick (man)
- Written by
- Terrence Malick (man)
- Produced by
- Bill Pohlad (man), Sarah Green (woman), Brad Pitt (man), Grant Hill (man), Dede Gardner (woman)
- Shot by
- Emmanuel Lubezki (man)
- Edited by
- Billy Weber (man), Hank Corwin (man), Daniel Rezende (man), Mark Yoshikawa (man), Jay Rabinowitz (man)
- Music by
- Alexandre Desplat (man)
- Production design by
- Jack Fisk (man)
- Costumes by
- Jacqueline West (woman)
- Cast by
- Francine Maisler (woman), Vicky Boone (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
7 women, 6 men, 5 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 12 men, 3 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
2 women, 3 men
-
Camera
1 women, 2 men
-
Directing
1 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 43 on average. Men: 28 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jessica Chastain 34, Fiona Shaw 52
Men
Laramie Eppler 13, Hunter McCracken 14, Tye Sheridan 14, Brad Pitt 47, Sean Penn 50
Exhibit G: the money
It made 1.7 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $32 million
- Box office
- $54.7 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 158 scenes and 565 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
