Fails the Bechdel test

There Will Be Blood

Name: There Will Be Blood
Released: 2008

2008. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, written by Paul Thomas Anderson and Upton Sinclair.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

1 / 3

Fails

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 2 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 intersecting life stories of Daniel Plainview and Eli Sunday in early twentieth century California is presented. Miner turn oilman Daniel Plainview is a driven man who will do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He works hard but he also takes advantage of those around him at their expense if need be. His business partner is his son H.W., who in reality he "acquired" when H.W.'s biological single father, who worked on one of Daniel's rigs, got killed in a workplace accident. Daniel is deeply protective of H.W. if only for what H.W. brings to the partnership. Eli Sunday is one in a pair of twins, whose family farm Daniel purchases for the major oil deposit located on it. Eli, the local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, wants the money from the sale of the property to finance his own church. The lives of the two competitive men often clash as Daniel pumps oil off the property and tries to acquire all the surrounding land at bargain prices to be able to build a pipeline to the coast, and as Eli tries to build his own religious empire.

Released: 25 Jan 2008
Genres: Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.2 / 10
Metascore: 93 / 100
Awards: Won 2 Oscars. 114 wins & 138 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Daniel 366 lines, man
Eli 102 lines, man
Henry 57 lines, man
Paul Sunday 37 lines, man
Abel Sunday 29 lines, man
Hw 28 lines
Tilford 24 lines, man
Fletcher 18 lines, man
Al Rose 15 lines, man
Bandy 12 lines, man

Full cast, 54 people

Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview
Paul Dano as Paul Sunday / Eli Sunday
Kevin J. O'Connor as Henry
Ciarán Hinds as Fletcher Hamilton
Sydney McCallister as Mary Sunday (young)
Dillon Freasier as H.W. Plainview
Hope Elizabeth Reeves as Elizabeth
Colleen Foy as Mary Sunday
Barry Del Sherman as H. B. Ailman
David Willis as Abel Sunday
Hans Howes as Mr. Bandy
Paul F. Tompkins as Prescott
Kevin Breznahan as Signal Hill Man
Jim Meskimen as Signal Hill Married Man
Erica Sullivan as Signal Hill Woman
Randall Carver as Mr. Bankside
Coco Leigh as Mrs. Bankside
Jim Downey as Al Rose
David Warshofsky as H.M. Tilford
Charles Thomas Doyle as J.J. Carter
Russell Harvard as Adult H.W. Plainview
Martin Stringer as Silver Assay Worker
Matthew Braden Stringer as Silver Assay Worker
Jacob Stringer as Silver Assay Worker
Joseph Mussey as Silver Assay Worker
Harrison Taylor as Baby H.W.
Stockton Taylor as Baby H.W.
Christine Olejniczak as Mother Sunday
Kellie Hill as Ruth Sunday
Dan Swallow as Gene Blaize
Robert Arber as Charlie Wrightsman
Bob Bell as Geologist
David Williams as Ben Blaut
Joy Rawls as Eli Follower
Louise Gregg as Eli Follower
John W. Watts as Oil Worker
Amber Roberts as Eli Follower
Robert Caroline as Oil Worker
Barry Bruce as Oil Worker
Irene G. Hunter as Mrs. Hunter
John Chitwood as Little Boston Doctor
Colton Woodward as William Bandy
John Burton as L.P. Clair
Robert Barge as Bartender
Ronald Krut as Standard Oil Man
Huey Rhudy as Standard Oil Man
Steven Barr as Standard Oil Man
Robert Hills as H.W.'s Interpreter
Bob Bock as Priest
Vince Froio as Plainview Servant
Phil Shelly as Plainview Servant
Brad Carr as Signal Hill Man (uncredited)
Mary Elizabeth Barrett as Fanny Clark (uncredited)
Beau Smith as Blacksmith (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 123

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	0	0
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	0
10 to 12	0	0
13 to 15	0	0
16 to 18	1	17
19 to 21	1	72
22 to 24	0	31
25 to 27	0	25
28 to 30	0	3
31 to 33	2	32
34 to 36	0	38
37 to 39	7	14
40 to 42	0	0
43 to 45	0	23
46 to 48	2	14
49 to 51	0	1
52 to 54	0	21
55 to 57	0	12
58 to 60	0	5
61 to 63	0	3
64 to 66	0	6
67 to 69	0	23
70 to 72	0	43
73 to 75	0	28
76 to 78	0	0
79 to 81	2	4
82 to 84	0	3
85 to 87	0	7
88 to 90	0	63
91 to 93	0	8
94 to 96	0	4
97 to 99	0	16
100 to 102	0	15
103 to 105	0	38
106 to 108	0	41
109 to 111	0	23
112 to 114	0	0
115 to 117	0	0
118 to 120	0	0
121 to 123	0	66

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, 2 are women's.

15 lines from women, 699 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

5 women and 19 men in the cast. 2 women and 14 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 6 of 799. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 318 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 1% of the words (77), men 99% (8,656). Women have 2% 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

2 of the 12 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 21% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Paul Thomas Anderson (man)
Written by: Paul Thomas Anderson (man)
From the novel by: Upton Sinclair (man)
Produced by: JoAnne Sellar (woman), Paul Thomas Anderson (man), Daniel Lupi (man)
Shot by: Robert Elswit (man)
Edited by: Dylan Tichenor (man)
Music by: Jonny Greenwood (man)
Production design by: Jack Fisk (man)
Costumes by: Mark Bridges (man)
Cast by: Cassandra Kulukundis (woman)