Fails the Bechdel test

The Wolverine

Name: The Wolverine
Released: 2013

2013. Directed by James Mangold, written by Mark Bomback and Scott Frank.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

2 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
12 women characters. 5 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other.
No 3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

The film

In modern day Japan, Wolverine is out of his depth in an unknown world as he faces his ultimate nemesis in a life-or-death battle that will leave him forever changed. Vulnerable for the first time and pushed to his physical and emotional limits, he confronts not only lethal samurai steel but also his inner struggle against his own near-immortality, emerging more powerful than we have ever seen him before.

Released: 26 Jul 2013
Genres: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 6.7 / 10
Metascore: 61 / 100
Awards: 2 wins & 11 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Logan 309 lines, man
Zen 96 lines, man
Shingen 89 lines, man
Mariko 73 lines, woman
Yukio 73 lines, woman
Sinatra 29 lines
Kenuichio 26 lines, man
Voice 26 lines
Samurai 20 lines, man
Square Jaw 11 lines, man

Full cast, 59 people

Hugh Jackman as Logan
Tao Okamoto as Mariko
Rila Fukushima as Yukio
Will Yun Lee as Harada
Svetlana Khodchenkova as Viper
Hal Yamanouchi as Yashida
Hiroyuki Sanada as Shingen
Famke Janssen as Jean Grey
Brian Tee as Noburo
Ken Yamamura as Young Yashida
Nobutaka Aoyagi as Security
Seiji Funamoto as Servant
Shinji Ikefuji as Pock-Face
Qyoko Kudo as Aya
Nobuaki Kakuda as Buddhist Priest
Chiharu Mizuno as Old Woman
Takao Kinoshita as Fruit Cart Vendor
Conrad Coleby as Red Beard
Taris Tyler as Bar Man (Red Beard's Friend)
Sarah Naylor-Liddell as Yukon Bar Patron
Joshua Remilton as Yukon Bar Patron / Man Near Bar
Andy Owens as Yukon Bar Patron
Allan Poppleton as Yukon Bar Patron
Geoff Burke as Bartender
Yasuyo Shiba as Reporter 1
Mai Ishikawa as Reporter 2
Yaeko Kimura as Mieko
Ryuta Kimura as Hitoshi
Briden Starr as Party Girl 1
Maria Lukasheva as Party Girl 2
Tess Haubrich as Cashier
Taki Abe as Japanese Businessman
William Takayanagi-Temm as Tower Guard
Kuni Hashimoto as Lead Officer
Erich Chikashi Linzbichler as Senior Officer at POW Camp
Shingo Usami as Driver
Naoya Ogawa as Yakuza 1
Atsushi Sawada as Yakuza 2
Takashi Matsuyama as Yakuza 3
Masa Yamaguchi as Yakuza 4
Eric Laciste as Yakuza 5
Hideki Sugiguchi as Yakuza 6
Garret Sato as Dying Yakuza
Kosuke Masano as Army Officer 1
Yoji Tatsuta as Army Officer 2
Yoshinori Fukushige as Train Commuter
Hiroshi Kasuga as Yashida Security Guard
Yumiko Nakamura as Mariko Staff
Kimi as Saki
Keiko Matsumoto as Shizu
Louis Toshio Okada as Pat Down Guy
Jon Valera as Killer (uncredited)
Yasushi Asaya as Yakuza (uncredited)
Jeremy Marinas as Yakuza (uncredited)
Ola Endress as Mutant (uncredited)
Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X (uncredited)
Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto (uncredited)
Benjamin Wang as Bodyguard (uncredited)
Jeremy Costello as Allied P.O.W (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 131

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	1	0
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	0
10 to 12	0	0
13 to 15	0	0
16 to 18	0	6
19 to 21	0	52
22 to 24	0	5
25 to 27	0	26
28 to 30	2	32
31 to 33	0	0
34 to 36	0	0
37 to 39	6	12
40 to 42	19	16
43 to 45	3	3
46 to 48	3	2
49 to 51	11	13
52 to 54	4	60
55 to 57	0	13
58 to 60	0	0
61 to 63	0	7
64 to 66	0	1
67 to 69	0	3
70 to 72	0	0
73 to 75	0	0
76 to 78	0	1
79 to 81	0	0
82 to 84	7	43
85 to 87	0	6
88 to 90	6	7
91 to 93	15	25
94 to 96	24	61
97 to 99	0	0
100 to 102	0	6
103 to 105	10	32
106 to 108	0	0
109 to 111	0	0
112 to 114	25	36
115 to 117	0	1
118 to 120	4	14
121 to 123	0	1
124 to 126	14	67
127 to 129	0	0
130 to 131	6	21

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, 22 are women's.

160 lines from women, 572 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

12 women and 31 men in the cast. 5 women and 8 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 155 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 17% of the words (1,306), men 83% (6,162). Women have 22% 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

Two men

Exhibit E: behind the camera

8 of the 17 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 25% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: James Mangold (man)
Written by: Mark Bomback (man), Scott Frank (man)
Produced by: Hugh Jackman (man), Hutch Parker (man), Lauren Shuler Donner (woman)
Shot by: Ross Emery (man)
Edited by: Michael McCusker (man)
Music by: Marco Beltrami (man)
Production design by: François Audouy (man)
Costumes by: Isis Mussenden (woman)
Cast by: Jessica Kelly (woman), Yoko Narahashi (woman), Lisa Beach (woman), Priscilla John (woman), Sarah Katzman (woman), Suzanne Smith Crowley (woman)