Passes the Bechdel test
The Whale
2022. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, written by Samuel D. Hunter.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
4 women characters. 3 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 57. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Idaho, 2016. Scarred by the profound wounds of grief and guilt, couch-bound Charlie, an online writing instructor living with chronic obesity, now has a crystal-clear view of his secret intentions. And confined to his claustrophobic and musty apartment, the self-destructive shut-in has all the time in the world to contemplate the damaging faults of the past, fatherhood, and reconciliation. Because, more than anything, flawed Charlie longs for communication and reconnection. After all, he hasn't spoken to his estranged, angry teenage daughter, Ellie, in years. But everyone knows whales don't live in the shallows. Can love and forgiveness wipe away the tears and the painful mistakes of a lifetime?
- Released
- 21 Dec 2022
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 60 / 100
- Awards
- Won 2 Oscars. 52 wins & 124 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Charlie 321 lines, man
- Ellie 181 lines, woman
- Thomas 150 lines, man
- Liz 133 lines, woman
- Mary 55 lines, woman
- Delivery Boy 18 lines, man
- Neighbor #1 1 lines
- Neighbor #2 1 lines
Full cast, 12 people
- Brendan Fraser as Charlie
- Sadie Sink as Ellie
- Ty Simpkins as Thomas
- Hong Chau as Liz
- Samantha Morton as Mary
- Sathya Sridharan as Dan the Pizza Man
- Jacey Sink as Young Ellie
- Allison Altman as Young Mary (uncredited)
- Lance Oppenheim as Julian (uncredited)
- Grace Perkins as Maddie (uncredited)
- Wilhelm Schalaudek as Liam (uncredited)
- Glenn Mullins as Young Charlie (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 57
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 2 | 0 | 35 |
| 3 to 4 | 39 | 47 |
| 5 to 6 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 to 8 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 to 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 to 12 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 to 14 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 to 16 | 29 | 29 |
| 17 to 18 | 0 | 9 |
| 19 to 20 | 31 | 17 |
| 21 to 22 | 0 | 0 |
| 23 to 24 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 to 26 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 to 28 | 28 | 28 |
| 29 to 30 | 31 | 58 |
| 31 to 32 | 17 | 11 |
| 33 to 34 | 0 | 10 |
| 35 to 36 | 0 | 4 |
| 37 to 38 | 14 | 23 |
| 39 to 40 | 40 | 38 |
| 41 to 42 | 10 | 11 |
| 43 to 44 | 80 | 56 |
| 45 to 46 | 0 | 11 |
| 47 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 50 | 0 | 58 |
| 51 to 52 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 to 54 | 0 | 6 |
| 55 to 56 | 19 | 14 |
| 57 to 57 | 31 | 22 |
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.
ELLIE: Mom, you’re not getting any of my money. MARY: Oh shut up, Ellie. MARY: Both of you leave, right now.
ELLIE: Just fucking die already. MARY: Enough.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 43 are women's.
369 lines from women, 489 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
4 women and 4 men in the cast. 3 women and 2 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 36 of 860.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 78 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 44% of the words (3,666), men 56% (4,674). Women have 43% 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
7
Two men
14
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 28% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Darren Aronofsky (man)
- Written by
- Samuel D. Hunter (man)
- Produced by
- Darren Aronofsky (man), Ari Handel (man), Jeremy Dawson (man)
- Shot by
- Matthew Libatique (man)
- Edited by
- Andrew Weisblum (man)
- Music by
- Rob Simonsen (man)
- Production design by
- Mark Friedberg (man), Robert Pyzocha (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Danny Glicker (man)
- Cast by
- Lindsay Graham Ahanonu (woman), Mary Vernieu (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
3 women, 13 men, 14 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 11 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
4 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 4 men, 6 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 1 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
3 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 3 men, 4 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 0 men, 7 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 30 on average. Men: 34 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Jacey Sink 12, Sadie Sink 20, Hong Chau 43, Samantha Morton 45
Men
Ty Simpkins 21, Lance Oppenheim 26, Sathya Sridharan 36, Brendan Fraser 54
Exhibit H: the money
It made 19.2 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $3 million
- Box office
- $57.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 57 scenes and 860 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
