Passes the Bechdel test

Underworld

Name: Underworld
Released: 2003

2003. Directed by Len Wiseman, written by Kevin Grevioux and Len Wiseman and Danny McBride.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
7 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 222.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3, though someone marked that rating as dubious.

The film

Against the backdrop of an unseen centuries-old war between the sophisticated Vampire clan and the brutish clan of lycanthropes, the Lycans, the lethally alluring vampire assassin and member of the elite "Death Dealers" squad, Selene, has devoted her existence to eradicating the earth's scattered pockets of remaining werewolves. With the death of the Lycans' supreme overlord, Lucian, the vampires' victory seems near; however, when their arch-enemy takes a special interest in the seemingly harmless human doctor, Michael Corvin, Selene will unearth a long-standing conspiracy. Now, treason, deceit, and conflicting feelings stand in the way of truth, forcing Selene to break protocol for the sake of the vampire race. Can a forbidden relationship put in jeopardy her noble quest? Is this the beginning of a new era, and an entirely different war?

Released: 19 Sep 2003
Genres: Action, Fantasy, Thriller
Rated: R
IMDb: 7 / 10
Metascore: 42 / 100
Awards: 1 win & 10 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Selene 97 lines, woman
Kraven 72 lines, man
Michael 58 lines, man
Lucian 41 lines, man
Singe 36 lines, man
Viktor 30 lines, man
Erika 24 lines, woman
Kahn 21 lines, man
Adam 18 lines, man
Raze 9 lines, man

Full cast, 31 people

Kate Beckinsale as Selene
Scott Speedman as Michael Corvin
Michael Sheen as Lucian
Shane Brolly as Kraven
Bill Nighy as Viktor
Erwin Leder as Singe
Sophia Myles as Erika
Robbie Gee as Kahn
Wentworth Miller as Dr. Adam Lockwood
Kevin Grevioux as Raze
Zita Görög as Amelia
Scott McElroy as Soren
Richard Cetrone as Pierce
Mike Mukatis as Taylor
Dennis J. Kozeluh as Dignitary
Todd Schneider as Trix
Sándor Bolla as Rigel
Hank Amos as Nathaniel
Zsuzsa Barsi as Gunshot Girl
Andreas Patton as Death Dealer Captain
Danny McBride as Mason
Jázmin Dammak as Sonja
Judit Kuchta as Zsuzsa
Vanessa Nagy as Timea
Atilla Pinke as Wolfgang
Ildikó Kovács as Michael's Old Girlfriend
Sándor Boros as Candidate #1
János Oláh as Candidate #2
Brian Steele as Werewolf
Kurt Carley as Werewolf
Zoltan Papp as Werewolf (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 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 222

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	0	0
6 to 10	5	7
11 to 15	0	0
16 to 20	0	5
21 to 25	8	13
26 to 30	16	14
31 to 35	0	29
36 to 40	0	3
41 to 45	2	4
46 to 50	0	3
51 to 55	3	3
56 to 60	1	6
61 to 65	16	6
66 to 70	8	10
71 to 75	0	8
76 to 80	7	14
81 to 85	3	2
86 to 90	1	0
91 to 95	0	2
96 to 100	6	6
101 to 105	7	16
106 to 110	5	10
111 to 115	7	5
116 to 120	7	8
121 to 125	1	4
126 to 130	6	10
131 to 135	0	5
136 to 140	0	4
141 to 145	2	0
146 to 150	1	3
151 to 155	1	2
156 to 160	0	4
161 to 165	1	13
166 to 170	1	10
171 to 175	0	7
176 to 180	0	35
181 to 185	0	5
186 to 190	0	1
191 to 195	0	2
196 to 200	0	2
201 to 205	2	3
206 to 210	3	6
211 to 215	3	10
216 to 220	0	4
221 to 222	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 scene

The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.

SELENE: Why are you helping me? ERIKA: I'm not. I helping me.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 29 are women's.

123 lines from women, 307 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

7 women and 20 men in the cast. 3 women and 12 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 3 of 445. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 57 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 30% of the words (1,523), men 70% (3,472). Women have 29% 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

Two men

Exhibit F: behind the camera

4 of the 17 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 14% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Len Wiseman (man)
Written by: Danny McBride (man)
Story by: Kevin Grevioux (man), Len Wiseman (man), Danny McBride (man)
Produced by: Tom Rosenberg (man), Gary Lucchesi (man), Richard S. Wright (man)
Shot by: Tony Pierce-Roberts (man)
Edited by: Martin Hunter (man)
Music by: Paul Haslinger (man)
Production design by: Bruton Jones (man), Patrick Tatopoulos (man)
Costumes by: Wendy Partridge (woman)
Cast by: Deborah Aquila (woman), Celestia Fox (woman), Tricia Wood (woman)