Passes the Bechdel test

The Witch

Name: The Witch
Released: 2016

2016. Directed by Robert Eggers, written by Robert Eggers.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
11 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 7 scenes out of 84.
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

New England, 1630: William and Katherine try to lead a devout Christian life, homesteading on the edge of an impassible wilderness, with five children. When their newborn son mysteriously vanishes and their crops fail, the family begins to turn on one another. "The Witch" is a chilling portrait of a family unraveling within their own sins, leaving them prey for an inconceivable evil.

Released: 19 Feb 2016
Genres: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Rated: R
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 84 / 100
Awards: 43 wins & 72 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

William 214 lines, man
Thomasin 181 lines, woman
Katherine 142 lines, woman
Caleb 100 lines, man
Mercy 51 lines, woman
Jonas 26 lines, man
Black Phillip 7 lines, man
Jonas & Mercy 5 lines
Audio 4 lines
Governor 4 lines, man

Full cast, 33 people

Anya Taylor-Joy as Thomasin
Ralph Ineson as William
Kate Dickie as Katherine
Harvey Scrimshaw as Caleb
Ellie Grainger as Mercy
Lucas Dawson as Jonas
Julian Richings as Governor
Bathsheba Garnett as The Witch
Sarah Stephens as The Witch, Young
Daniel Malik as Black Phillip (voice)
Axtun Henry Dube as Samuel
Athan Conrad Dube as Samuel
Vivien Moore as Lead Coven Witch
Karen Kaeja as Coven Witch
Brandy Leary as Coven Witch
Rebecca Hope Terry as Coven Witch
Carrie Eklund as Coven Witch
Madlen Sopadzhiyan as Coven Witch
Paul Kenworthy as Militia Man 1
Mark Millmna as Militia Man 2
Andy Volpe as Militia Man 3
Phillip Wynne as Wampanoag Man
Annawon Weeden as Wampanoag Man
Michael O'Hare as Pipe Smoker
Chris Messier as Shepherd
Ron Young as Old Slater
Nora Messier as Shepherdess
Bill Rudder as Settler
Grace Duffy as Settler
Sophie Bermudez as Settler
Corrine Manning as Settler
Heather Huntington Stewart as Chamber Pot Woman
Jeff Smith as Nobelman (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 3% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 84

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	4	11
3 to 4	0	0
5 to 6	1	0
7 to 8	2	0
9 to 10	5	0
11 to 12	10	0
13 to 14	1	0
15 to 16	0	3
17 to 18	0	17
19 to 20	0	41
21 to 22	0	0
23 to 24	2	0
25 to 26	0	0
27 to 28	0	31
29 to 30	17	19
31 to 32	57	15
33 to 34	16	7
35 to 36	23	23
37 to 38	10	8
39 to 40	12	13
41 to 42	0	3
43 to 44	3	1
45 to 46	1	1
47 to 48	1	3
49 to 50	21	17
51 to 52	8	0
53 to 54	2	0
55 to 56	13	6
57 to 58	20	19
59 to 60	8	0
61 to 62	79	73
63 to 64	20	21
65 to 66	3	1
67 to 68	0	6
69 to 70	0	0
71 to 72	3	2
73 to 74	4	4
75 to 76	0	1
77 to 78	25	1
79 to 80	0	0
81 to 82	7	7
83 to 84	0	0

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.

MERCY: I be The Witch of the Wood. THOMASIN: Mercy, come out. MERCY: I be not Mercy, I be The Witch of the Wood. I have come to steal ye! Hear me stick a-flying through the trees: clickety-clackety-clickety- c…

MERCY: It was a witch!! THOMASIN: Aye. It was a witch, Mercy. You speak aright.

THOMASIN: Or perchance I’ll boil and bake thee since we are lack of food. MERCY: Stop!

KATHERINE: Thomasin, where hast thou put the silver cup? THOMASIN: Is’t not on the shelf? KATHERINE: Nay. THOMASIN: In the six board then.

KATHERINE: Enough. THOMASIN: I promised. KATHERINE: I care not. THOMASIN: Let me find favor in your eyes.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 52 are women's.

378 lines from women, 354 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

11 women and 8 men in the cast. 4 women and 7 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 4 of 756. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 62 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 50% of the words (2,399), men 50% (2,427). Women have 52% 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

3 of the 15 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 39% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Robert Eggers (man)
Written by: Robert Eggers (man)
Produced by: Daniel Bekerman (man), Jodi Redmond (gender not listed), Lars Knudsen (man), Rodrigo Teixeira (man), Jay Van Hoy (man)
Shot by: Jarin Blaschke (man)
Edited by: Louise Ford (woman)
Music by: Mark Korven (man)
Production design by: Craig Lathrop (man)
Costumes by: Linda Muir (woman)
Cast by: Jason Knight (man), John Buchan (man), Kharmel Cochrane (woman)