Passes the Bechdel test
Victoria & Abdul
2017. Directed by Stephen Frears, written by Lee Hall and Shrabani Basu.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 2 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
Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 2 out of 3.
The film
Abdul Karim (Ali Fazal) arrives from India to participate in Queen Victoria's (Dame Judi Dench's) golden jubilee. The young clerk is surprised to find favor with the Queen. As Victoria questions the constrictions of her long-held position, the two forge an unlikely and devoted alliance that her household and inner circle try to destroy. As their friendship deepens, the Queen begins to see a changing world through new eyes, joyfully reclaiming her humanity.
- Released
- 06 Oct 2017
- Genres
- Biography, Comedy, Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 58 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 2 Oscars. 3 wins & 15 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Queen Victoria 164 lines, woman
- Ponsonby 46 lines, man
- Abdul 37 lines, man
- Mohammed 27 lines, man
- Alick Yorke 19 lines, man
- Bertie 13 lines
- Dr Reid 13 lines, man
- Lady Churchill 12 lines, woman
- Lord Salisbury 10 lines, man
- Miss Phipps 9 lines, woman
Full cast, 39 people
- Judi Dench as Queen Victoria
- Ali Fazal as Abdul Karim
- Tim Pigott-Smith as Sir Henry Ponsonby
- Suzy Eddie Izzard as Bertie, Prince of Wales
- Adeel Akhtar as Mohammed
- Michael Gambon as Lord Salisbury
- Paul Higgins as Dr. James Reid
- Olivia Williams as Baroness Churchill
- Fenella Woolgar as Miss Phipps
- Julian Wadham as Alick Yorke
- Jonathan Harden as Kaiser Wilhelm II
- Robin Soans as Arthur Bigge
- Ruth McCabe as Mrs. Tuck
- Simon Callow as Mr. Puccini
- Benjamin Haigh as Page Boy
- Will Christopherson as Young Porter Boy
- Martyn Mayger as Yeoman of the Guard
- Deano Bugatti as Queen Victoria's Waiter
- Penny Ryder as Grand Duchess Sophie
- Christopher McMullen as Footman
- Rita McDonald Damper as Ham House Guest
- Sukh Ojla as Mrs. Karim
- Grant Crookes as Footman
- Shaun Newnham as Royal Household Staff
- Nigel Black as Private Secretary
- Sophie Trott as Princess Helena
- Andrei Csolsim as Footman
- Glyn Angell as Young Chef
- Lois Temel as Nurse
- Marek Hollands as Footman
- Nicolas Savidis-Macris as Italian Dinner Guest
- Simon Craddock as Footman
- Tim Bristow as Deputy Parliamentary Secretary
- Cliff Dutton as Footman
- Martin McGilligan as Footman
- Benjamin Murrell as Footman
- Daniel Trevenna as Footman
- Stuart Whelan as Chef (uncredited)
- Sam Kenyon as Puccini Pianist
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 scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
MRS TUCK: I’m just a dresser. What about Miss Phipps? LADY CHURCHILL: Brilliant. You’re the maid of honour. Exactly the person to break the news.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 55 are women's.
192 lines from women, 159 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
8 women and 14 men in the cast. 2 women and 8 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 375.
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 52% of the words (3,195), men 48% (2,982). 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
6
Two men
16
Exhibit F: behind the camera
7 of the 14 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 40% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Stephen Frears (man)
- Written by
- Lee Hall (man)
- Produced by
- Tim Bevan (man), Eric Fellner (man), Beeban Kidron (woman), Tracey Seaward (woman)
- Shot by
- Danny Cohen (man)
- Edited by
- Melanie Oliver (woman)
- Music by
- Thomas Newman (man)
- Production design by
- Alan MacDonald (man)
- Costumes by
- Consolata Boyle (woman)
- Cast by
- Nandini Shrikent (woman), Lissy Holm (woman), Leo Davis (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
6 women, 4 men, 12 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 3 men, 8 not listed
-
Sound
3 women, 7 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 3 men, 5 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men, 7 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 0 men, 8 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 59 on average. Men: 54 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Fenella Woolgar 46, Olivia Williams 49, Judi Dench 82
Men
Ali Fazal 30, Adeel Akhtar 36, Julian Wadham 59, Tim Pigott-Smith 71, Michael Gambon 76
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.0 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $22 million
- Box office
- $66.6 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 1 scenes and 375 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
