Passes the Bechdel test

The Virgin Suicides

Name: The Virgin Suicides
Released: 2000

2000. Directed by Sofia Coppola, written by Jeffrey Eugenides and Sofia Coppola.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
17 women characters. 17 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 13 scenes out of 201.
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

A man about forty years of age tells the story from when he was a teenager in upscale suburban Detroit of his and three of his friends' fascination with the mysterious and doomed Lisbon sisters. In 1974, the sisters were seventeen year old Therese, sixteen year old Mary, fifteen year old Bonnie, fourteen year old Lux, and thirteen year old Cecilia. Their fascination still remains as they try to piece together the entire story. The sisters were mysteries if only because of having a strict and overprotective upbringing by their father, who taught math at the girls' private co-ed school, and overly devout Catholic mother, who largely dictated the household rules. The story focuses primarily on two incidents and the resulting situations on the girls' lives. The first was an action by Cecilia to deal with her emotions over her life. And the second was the relationship between Lux - the sister who pushed the boundaries of the household rules most overtly in doing what most teenagers want to do - and Trip Fontaine, he who could have any girl he wanted but wanting solely Lux.

Released: 19 May 2000
Genres: Drama, Romance
Rated: R
IMDb: 7.2 / 10
Metascore: 77 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 15 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Narrator 54 lines, man
Lux 47 lines, woman
Mrs. Lisbon 34 lines, woman
Mr. Lisbon 32 lines, man
Trip 32 lines, man
Mary 28 lines, woman
Bonnie 25 lines, woman
Chase 25 lines, man
Tim 23 lines, man
Lydia 17 lines, woman

Full cast, 65 people

Kirsten Dunst as Lux Lisbon
Josh Hartnett as Trip Fontaine
James Woods as Mr. Lisbon
Kathleen Turner as Mrs. Lisbon
Michael Paré as Adult Trip Fontaine
A.J. Cook as Mary Lisbon
Hanna Hall as Cecilia Lisbon
Leslie Hayman as Therese Lisbon
Chelse Swain as Bonnie Lisbon
Giovanni Ribisi as Narrator (voice)
Anthony DeSimone as Chase Buell
Lee Kagan as David Barker
Robert Schwartzman as Paul Baldino
FourTee as Parkie Denton
Jonathan Tucker as Tim Weiner
Scott Glenn as Father Moody
Danny DeVito as Dr. Horniker
Hayden Christensen as Jake Hill Conley
Joe Roncetti as Kevin Head
Chris Hale as Peter Sisten
Joe Dinicol as Dominic Palazzolo
Suki Kaiser as Lydia Perl
Dawn Greenhalgh as Mrs. Scheer
Allen Stewart-Coates as Mr. Scheer
Sherry Miller as Mrs. Buell
Jonathan Whittaker as Mr. Buell
Michèle Duquet as Mrs. Denton
Murray McRae as Mr. Denton
Roberta Hanley as Mrs. Weiner
Paul Sybersma as Joe Larson
Susan Sybersma as Mrs. Larson
Peter Snider as Trip's Dad
Gary Brennan as Donald
Charles Boyland as Curt Van Osdol
Dustin Ladd as Chip Willard
Kristin Fairlie as Amy Schraff
Melody Johnson as Julie
Sheyla Molho as Danielle
Ashley Ainsworth as Sheila Davis
Courtney Hawkrigg as Grace
François Klanfer as Doctor
Mackenzie Lawrenz as Jim Czeslawski
Tim Hall as Kurt Siles
Amos Crawley as John
Andrew Gillies as Principal Woodhouse
Mairlyn Smith as Mrs. Woodhouse
Sally Cahill as Mrs. Hedlie
Tracey Ferencz as Nurse
Scot Denton as Mr. O'Conner
Catherine Swing as Mrs. O'Conner
Timothy Adams as Buzz Romano
Michael Michaelessi as Parks Department Foreman
Sarah Minhas as Wanda Brown
Megan Kennedy as Cheerleader
Sandi Stahlbrand as Meredith Thompson
Neil Girvan as Drunk Man in Pool
Jaya Karsemeyer as Gloria
Leah Straatsma as Rannie
Mark Polley as Cemetery Worker #1
Kirk Gonnsen as Cemetery Worker #2
Marianne Moroney as Teacher
Anne Wessels as Woman in Chiffon
Derek Boyes as Football "Grieving Teacher" (uncredited)
John Buchan as John (Lydia's Boss) (uncredited)
Thomas Mars as Prom Night Guest (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 201

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 5	1	2
6 to 10	8	7
11 to 15	8	4
16 to 20	1	5
21 to 25	6	3
26 to 30	0	4
31 to 35	8	1
36 to 40	10	13
41 to 45	3	9
46 to 50	3	16
51 to 55	2	4
56 to 60	6	2
61 to 65	0	5
66 to 70	0	3
71 to 75	0	3
76 to 80	0	6
81 to 85	8	7
86 to 90	2	1
91 to 95	18	2
96 to 100	3	0
101 to 105	4	2
106 to 110	2	0
111 to 115	4	28
116 to 120	11	12
121 to 125	25	7
126 to 130	23	17
131 to 135	8	2
136 to 140	1	3
141 to 145	9	7
146 to 150	0	6
151 to 155	7	13
156 to 160	9	7
161 to 165	1	5
166 to 170	2	5
171 to 175	2	6
176 to 180	10	13
181 to 185	2	2
186 to 190	5	0
191 to 195	0	5
196 to 200	1	2
201 to 201	0	3

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.

MRS.LISBON: Why yes, ?eter- it's just on your left. MRS. LISBON: Why don't you use one upstairs, just go through Cecilia's room down the hal 1.

BONNIE: Hi, I'm Bonaventure. MARY: Hi ... Do you want some punch? LUX: Hey.

CECILIA: Can I be excused? MRS. LISBON: If that's what you want, dear. But this is your party. MRS. LISBON: All right, go up then, we'll have fun without you. MRS. LISBON: Oh, my God.

LUX: I didn't think they would stink so much. THERESE: It's the kelp in their baleens rotting.

JULIE: Hi. LUX: Hey.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 47 are women's.

213 lines from women, 242 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

17 women and 28 men in the cast. 17 women and 20 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 507. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 28 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 40% of the words (2,453), men 60% (3,757). Women have 47% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

7 of the 17 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 26% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Sofia Coppola (woman)
Written by: Sofia Coppola (woman)
From the novel by: Jeffrey Eugenides (man)
Produced by: Dan Halsted (man), Chris Hanley (man), Francis Ford Coppola (man), Julie Costanzo (woman)
Shot by: Edward Lachman (man)
Edited by: Melissa Kent (woman), James Lyons (man)
Music by: Jean-Benoît Dunckel (man), Nicolas Godin (man)
Production design by: Jasna Stefanovic (woman)
Costumes by: Nancy Steiner (woman)
Cast by: John Buchan (man), Linda Phillips-Palo (woman), Robert McGee (man)