Passes the Bechdel test

Upstream Color

Name: Upstream Color
Released: 2013

2013. Directed by Shane Carruth, written by Shane Carruth.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
5 women characters. 3 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 237.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 0 out of 3.

The film

Kris is attacked one night, and hypnotized, using a grub with hypnotic properties, administered by a thief. She follows the thief's instructions to give him everything, even taking out loans. After the worms are extracted, she wakes up to find her life ruined. She's lost her job, her finances are destroyed. Years later, she meets Jeff whom she may have a lot in common with.

Released: 30 Aug 2013
Genres: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Rated: Not Rated
IMDb: 6.5 / 10
Metascore: 81 / 100
Awards: 5 wins & 35 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Kris 137 lines, woman
Jeff 119 lines, man
Evan 30 lines
Wesley 27 lines, man
Elise 22 lines, woman
Phoebe 20 lines, woman
Obgyn 13 lines, woman
Lucas 9 lines, man
Maggie 9 lines, woman
Brent 6 lines

Full cast, 17 people

Amy Seimetz as Kris
Shane Carruth as Jeff
Andrew Sensenig as The Sampler
Thiago Martins as Thief
Carolyn King as Wife
Mollie Milligan as Maggie
Myles McGee as Monty
Ashton Miramontes as Lucas
Andreon Watson as Peter
Frank Mosley as Husband
John Walpole as Bank Investigator
Kerry McCormick as OBGYN
Marco Antonio Rodriguez as MRI Tech
Brina Palencia as Woman in Club
Jack Watkins as The Sampled
Karen Jagger as The Sampled
Joy Leigh as Dream Member (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 21% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 237

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	2
6 to 10	0	11
11 to 15	5	4
16 to 20	3	0
21 to 25	1	0
26 to 30	7	0
31 to 35	0	0
36 to 40	4	0
41 to 45	0	1
46 to 50	0	0
51 to 55	8	7
56 to 60	1	0
61 to 65	0	0
66 to 70	2	0
71 to 75	12	4
76 to 80	4	3
81 to 85	10	13
86 to 90	0	4
91 to 95	0	4
96 to 100	0	4
101 to 105	0	0
106 to 110	0	1
111 to 115	5	5
116 to 120	6	1
121 to 125	6	6
126 to 130	6	9
131 to 135	9	8
136 to 140	12	6
141 to 145	1	0
146 to 150	10	7
151 to 155	7	9
156 to 160	0	5
161 to 165	1	8
166 to 170	5	9
171 to 175	0	0
176 to 180	0	0
181 to 185	22	17
186 to 190	12	0
191 to 195	10	0
196 to 200	17	10
201 to 205	12	0
206 to 210	0	9
211 to 215	1	2
216 to 220	8	3
221 to 225	1	0
226 to 230	2	1
231 to 235	2	0
236 to 237	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.

MAGGIE: Richie, it’s me. If you’re already on the road I’m sorry, but we’ve got a problem. It’s Kris. Everybody’s safe but you need to call as soon … MAGGIE: What time do you have to get back? MAGGIE: Kris, what time? KRIS: I don’t. I quit.

PHOEBE: Gram. Gram, what about this? ELISE: Oh, yes. These are lovely. PHOEBE: Should I take some? ELISE: Certainly. Put them in with yours. I’ll go ahead to the bankside.

ELISE: Don’t stop for me. Do you worry you’ll miss a call? PHOEBE: You mean...because I’m playing a game? PHOEBE: No, I’m not worried. ELISE: Did you write today?

ELISE: Receipt? PHOEBE: They didn’t give me one. ELISE: You’ll always have to ask.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 55 are women's.

212 lines from women, 173 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

5 women and 5 men in the cast. 3 women and 3 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 25 of 485. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 24 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 (2,140), men 50% (2,103). Women have 55% 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

1 of the 10 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 5% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Shane Carruth (man)
Written by: Shane Carruth (man)
Produced by: Ben LeClair (man), Shane Carruth (man), Casey Gooden (gender not listed)
Edited by: David Lowery (man), Shane Carruth (man)
Production design by: Tom Walker (man)
Costumes by: Annell Brodeur (woman)
Cast by: Kina Bale (gender not listed)