Passes the Bechdel test
Velvet Buzzsaw
2019. Directed by Dan Gilroy, written by Dan Gilroy.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
28 women characters. 17 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 1. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
A thriller about the contemporary art scene of Los Angeles, where big money artists and mega-collectors pay a high price when art collides with commerce.
- Released
- 01 Feb 2019
- Genres
- Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 5.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 61 / 100
- Awards
- 1 win & 3 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Morf 141 lines, man
- Rhodora 129 lines, woman
- Josephina 120 lines, woman
- Gretchen 44 lines, woman
- Coco 27 lines, woman
- Damrish 24 lines, man
- Jon 23 lines
- Piers 16 lines, man
- Rhodora/Into Phone 14 lines, woman
- Jon Dondon 11 lines, man
Full cast, 88 people
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Morf Vandewalt
- Rene Russo as Rhodora Haze
- Zawe Ashton as Josephina
- Tom Sturridge as Jon Dondon
- Toni Collette as Gretchen
- Natalia Dyer as Coco
- Daveed Diggs as Damrish
- Billy Magnussen as Bryson
- John Malkovich as Piers
- Mig Macario as Cloudio
- Nitya Vidyasagar as Gita
- Rob Brownstein as Jim
- Pamela Shaddock as LAMA Curator
- Marco Rodríguez as Ray Ruskinspear
- Gregory Cruz as Ben
- Sedale Threatt Jr. as Ed
- Alan Mandell as Vetril Dease
- Mark Steger as Hoboman
- Steven Williams as VA Janitor
- Cass Buggé as Ghostly Wife
- James Aston Lake as Ghostly Father
- Valentina Gordon as Ghostly Daughter
- Oz Kalvan as Ghostly Son
- Darren Richardson as British Gallery Owner
- Kevin Carroll as Detective
- Sydney Lemmon as Jon Dondon's Assistant
- Pisay Pao as Attorney
- Christopher Darga as Attorney
- Ian Alda as Attorney
- Andrea Helene as German Woman
- Kristen DeVore Rakes as German Woman
- Stefan Marks as Eye Doctor
- Pat Healy as Man from Perlack
- Joanna Strapp as Roadside Woman
- Adam Silver as Roadside Man
- Sal Lopez as Roadside Vendor
- Candice Ramirez as Older Gallery Woman
- Jasmin Marsters as Young Gallery Woman
- John Fleck as Older Gallery Man
- Chris Ghaffari as Young Gallery Man
- James Paxton as Bartender
- Patrick Quinlan as Haze Gallery Lighting Technician
- Scott Broderick as Moving Supervisor
- Sitara Falcon as Tow Truck Driver
- Eugene Nomura as Josephina's Neighbor
- Time Winters as Miami Party Guest
- Andrea Marcovicci as Miami Party Guest
- Rebecca Klingler as Dease Opening Patron
- Ruth Williamson as Dease Opening Patron
- Brendan Parry Kaufmann as Dease Opening Patron
- Sofia Toufa as Wife at Art Basel Will Call
- Keith Bogart as Husband at Art Basel Will Call
- Kassandra Voyagis as Art Basel Staffer
- Mark Leslie Ford as Art Basel Staffer
- Ruth Gilroy as Art Basel Art Buyer
- Giulia Chiara Rocca as Italian Art Buyer
- David Moses as Miami Party Guest
- Amy Tsang as Chinese Woman at Art Basel
- Sean Riley as Stylish Clergyman
- Charlotte Taschen as Woman at Funeral
- Joel Patino Corona as Waiter
- Peter Gadiot as Ricky Blane (uncredited)
- Lourdes Nadres as Curator (uncredited)
- Mike Ostroski as Patron (uncredited)
- Stephanie Nash as Art Patron (uncredited)
- Tony Jacobsen as Art Critic (uncredited)
- Erin Flannery as Art Collector (uncredited)
- Andrea Bensussen as Art Exhibit Guest (uncredited)
- Tyrone Evans Clark as Underground Artist (uncredited)
- Damon O'Daniel as Upscale Businessman (uncredited)
- Stan Divranos as Businessman (uncredited)
- Monique McKellop as LYFT Driver (uncredited)
- David Alan Graf as VA Administrator (uncredited)
- Jeremy Russell as Precision Driver (uncredited)
- Scott Peat as Demo Man (uncredited)
- Elise Falanga as Teacher (uncredited)
- Robert Artz as Veteran Playing Solitaire (uncredited)
- G. Larry Butler as Veteran (uncredited)
- Charles Coplin as Ricky (uncredited)
- Joan Urchin as Artist (uncredited)
- Shantiel Alexis Vazquez as Art Basel Patron (uncredited)
- Sam Sami as Art Basel Patron (uncredited)
- Xu Razer as Art Basel Patron (uncredited)
- Erica Chappell as Funeral Goer (uncredited)
- R Scott Hoffman as Funeral Goer (uncredited)
- Eli Santana as Bartender (uncredited)
- Reuben Boyd as Waiter (uncredited)
- Kanoa Goo as Rhodora's Assistant (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
We couldn't read who says what in this film's script, so there's no dialogue chart for it yet.
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.
GRETCHEN: You’ re peddling a Wolfson knock-off and lecturing me on playing it safe? RHODORA: Your website doesn’t give a sense of scale or texture but seeing your work for the first time today at the new artists fair I had that oh-my…
COCO/INTO PHONE: Haze Gallery please hold ... Haze Gallery Please hold ... Haze Gallery please hold-- RHODORA/OVERHEARD ON PHONE: You’re sure it’s the same Dease?
RHODORA/OVER PHONE: Send them over and wash your hands of it. And double your bill. COCO/INTO PHONE: Haze Gallery, can I help you?
GRETCHEN: I want them exhibited ASAP. Main hall, new wing, event marketing. MUSEUM CURATING WOMAN: You know we have a process Gretchen. GRETCHEN: I had a glorious concept to support my former employer and supposedly premier contemporary art museum in Los Angeles with the first showing …
RHODORA: Don’t try to tart this up or I’1l bar the rights for all Dease images and repros. Wouldn’t be much of a book then would it? RHODORA: Your girl’s got the hots for artists. JOSEPHINA: Jesus did you take Viagra or something?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 59 are women's.
396 lines from women, 276 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
28 women and 47 men in the cast. 17 women and 20 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 747.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 33 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 60% of the words (5,060), men 40% (3,322). Women have 59% 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
29
Two men
12
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 48% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Dan Gilroy (man)
- Written by
- Dan Gilroy (man)
- Produced by
- Jennifer Fox (woman)
- Shot by
- Robert Elswit (man)
- Edited by
- John Gilroy (man)
- Music by
- Marco Beltrami (man), Buck Sanders (man)
- Production design by
- James D. Bissell (man)
- Costumes by
- Trish Summerville (woman), Isis Mussenden (woman)
- Cast by
- Victoria Thomas (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Costume & Make-Up
10 women, 3 men, 10 not listed
-
Sound
7 women, 11 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
5 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 2 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Other crew
2 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 42 on average. Men: 42 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Natalia Dyer 24, Zawe Ashton 34, Toni Collette 46, Rene Russo 64
Men
Tom Sturridge 33, Billy Magnussen 33, Daveed Diggs 37, Jake Gyllenhaal 38, Mig Macario 48, John Malkovich 65
Exhibit H: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- $21 million
- Box office
- Not listed
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 747 lines of dialogue. How the test works
