Passes the Bechdel test

V for Vendetta

Name: V for Vendetta
Released: 2006

2006. Directed by James McTeigue, written by Lilly Wachowski and Lana Wachowski and David Lloyd.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
16 women characters. 4 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 6 scenes out of 215.
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

In the distant future, Evey Hammond is an average citizen of the United Kingdom, which is under the rule of the fascist and tyrannical Norsefire Party. She is an employee of the state-run British Television Network, but soon, she becomes the number one enemy of the state together with an enigmatic and larger-than-life freedom fighter known only by the letter "V". V informs Evey that she must hide in his underground lair for at least one year, and while she is reluctant to the idea at first, a bond soon forms between the two individuals. In the meanwhile, the mysterious past of V is gradually revealed to the police inspector tasked with capturing him, Eric Finch, and it is not long until he starts questioning everything his government stands for.

Released: 17 Mar 2006
Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
Rated: R
IMDb: 8.1 / 10
Metascore: 62 / 100
Awards: 7 wins & 29 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Evey 195 lines, woman
V 172 lines, man
Leader 117 lines, man
Finch 107 lines, man
Helen 76 lines, woman
Delia 52 lines, woman
Creedy 37 lines, man
Dominic 35 lines, man
Prothero 35 lines, man
Valerie 33 lines, woman

Full cast, 90 people

Natalie Portman as Evey
Hugo Weaving as V / William Rookwood
Stephen Rea as Finch
Stephen Fry as Deitrich
John Hurt as Adam Sutler
Tim Pigott-Smith as Creedy
Rupert Graves as Dominic
Roger Allam as Lewis Prothero
Ben Miles as Dascomb
Sinéad Cusack as Delia Surridge
Natasha Wightman as Valerie
John Standing as Lilliman
Eddie Marsan as Etheridge
Clive Ashborn as Guy Fawkes
Emma Field-Rayner as Guy Fawkes Lover
Ian Burfield as Tweed Coat Fingerman
Mark Phoenix as Willy Fingerman
Alister Mazzotti as Baldy Fingerman
Billie Cook as Little Glasses Girl
Guy Henry as Heyer
Cosima Shaw as Patricia
Megan Gay as BTN News Poppet
Roderic Culver as BTN News Poppet
Tara Hacking as Vicky
Andy Rashleigh as Fred
Chad Stahelski as Storm Saxon
Antje Rau as Laser Lass
Amelda Brown as Wardrobe Mistress
Richard Campbell as Security Guard
Patricia Gannon as Little Glasses Girl Mum
Mark Longhurst as Little Glasses Girl Dad
Simon Holmes as Barman
Charles Cork as Barfly
John Ringham as Old Man
Oliver Bradshaw as Old Man
Jack Schouten as Middle Class Boy
Caoimhe Murdock as Middle Class Sister
Juliet Howland as Middle Class Mum
Brin Rosser as TV Executive
Raife Patrick Burchell as Studio Technician
Joseph Rye as Jones
Adrian Finighan as News Anchor
Malcolm Sinclair as Major Wilson
Bradley Steve Ford as Evey's Brother
Madeleine Rakic-Platt as Young Evey
Selina Giles as Evey's Mother
Carsten Hayes as Evey's Father
Derek Hutchinson as Bureaucrat
Martin Savage as Denis
Grant Burgin as Operator
Greg Donaldson as Operator
Imogen Poots as Young Valerie
Jason Griffiths as Biology Teacher
Laura Greenwood as Sarah
Kyra Meyer as Christina
Paul Antony-Barber as Valerie's Father
Anna Farnworth as Valerie's Mother
Mary Stockley as Ruth
Simon Newby as Tube Station News Poppet
David Merheb as Young Man
Daniel Donaldson as Young Black Detainee
Dulcie Smart as Civil War News Poppet
Ben Posener as Water Shortage News Poppet
Ian T. Dickinson as Avian Flu News Poppet
Sophia New as Quarantine News Poppet
Julie Brown as Three Waters News Poppet
Gerard Gilroy as Surveillance Man
Eamon Geoghegan as Surveillance Man
Matthew Bates as Finch's Fedco Man
David Leitch as Convenience Store V
Matt Wilkinson as Little Glasses Girl Fingerman
Martin McGlade as Victoria Station Fingerman
Richard Laing as Parliament Lieutenant
Michael Simkins as Parliament General
William Tapley as Radio Man
Tony Cook as Soldier (uncredited)
Christopher Fosh as V Follower (uncredited)
Keith How as V Follower (uncredited)
Norman Campbell Rees as V Follower (uncredited)
Andy Callaghan as Soldier (uncredited)
Forbes KB as Soldier (uncredited)
João Costa Menezes as Soldier (uncredited)
Chris Wilson as Soldier (uncredited)
Nicolas de Pruyssenaere as Marshal (uncredited)
David Decio as V Street Vigilante (uncredited)
Rami Hilmi as V Army Member (uncredited)
Mathis Landwehr as Bodyguard (uncredited)
Jason Oettle as Policeman (uncredited)
Wolfgang Stegemann as Creedy Guard (uncredited)
Jonas von Lingen as TV Journalist (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 13% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 215

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	22	2
6 to 10	9	0
11 to 15	0	0
16 to 20	23	50
21 to 25	8	18
26 to 30	0	13
31 to 35	0	19
36 to 40	0	26
41 to 45	17	28
46 to 50	3	11
51 to 55	5	22
56 to 60	19	31
61 to 65	3	14
66 to 70	11	11
71 to 75	7	7
76 to 80	13	3
81 to 85	17	23
86 to 90	9	0
91 to 95	11	0
96 to 100	11	0
101 to 105	47	14
106 to 110	1	40
111 to 115	26	23
116 to 120	6	19
121 to 125	0	15
126 to 130	1	8
131 to 135	0	5
136 to 140	0	18
141 to 145	11	21
146 to 150	0	6
151 to 155	8	17
156 to 160	12	9
161 to 165	6	7
166 to 170	6	6
171 to 175	0	3
176 to 180	0	14
181 to 185	4	4
186 to 190	0	0
191 to 195	10	17
196 to 200	23	61
201 to 205	13	3
206 to 210	5	4
211 to 215	3	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.

EVEY: At first, the arrests were political. Dissidents. Radicals. Liberals. EVEY: When my parents were younger, they had been activists. They had marched with Labor in the great train strike. LITTLE EVEY: Mommy?

EVEY: You've made a mistake. ROSSITER: Shut up. EVEY: Please. I haven't done anything -- ROSSITER: I said shut your hole!

EVEY: They were going to rape me, kill me -- ROSSITER: Shut up.

EVEY: No, wait! VALERIE: London. I was happy in London.

VALERIE: Not for anybody. VALERIE: After the takeover, they started rounding up the gays. They took Ruth while she was out looking for food. VALERIE: Why are they so frightened of us? VALERIE: They burned her face with cigarettes and made her give them my name. She signed a statement saying I'd seduced her.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 38 are women's.

370 lines from women, 592 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

16 women and 54 men in the cast. 4 women and 19 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

A woman speaks the first line. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 91 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 37% of the words (4,115), men 63% (6,918). Women have 38% 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

6 of the 14 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 18% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: James McTeigue (man)
Written by: Lilly Wachowski (woman), Lana Wachowski (woman)
Produced by: Lana Wachowski (woman), Grant Hill (man), Lilly Wachowski (woman), Joel Silver (man), Lorne Orleans (gender not listed)
Shot by: Adrian Biddle (man)
Edited by: Martin Walsh (man)
Music by: Dario Marianelli (man)
Production design by: Owen Paterson (man)
Costumes by: Sammy Sheldon (woman)
Cast by: Lucinda Syson (woman)