Passes the Bechdel test

West Side Story

Name: West Side Story
Released: 2021

2021. Directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Tony Kushner and Arthur Laurents.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
47 women characters. 18 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 88.
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

Manhattan, Upper West Side, 1957. Against the backdrop of the decaying tenements in the San Juan Hill neighbourhood and the constant threat of the wrecking ball, two warring gangs--tough Riff's Jets and swaggering Bernardo's Puerto Rican Sharks--fight for supremacy. Now, with a once-and-for-all, winner-takes-all rumble on the cards, an unexpected whirlwind romance at the high-school dance between former Jet brawler Tony and Bernardo's delicate little sister María sets the stage for an all-out turf war. But what's a gang without its territory? Above all, when the future is uncertain, what's hope without love?

Released: 10 Dec 2021
Genres: Crime, Drama, Musical
Rated: PG-13
IMDb: 7.1 / 10
Metascore: 85 / 100
Awards: Won 1 Oscar. 73 wins & 298 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Tony 182 lines, man
Riff 117 lines, man
Anita 94 lines, woman
Bernardo 87 lines, man
Valentina 46 lines, woman
Lieutenant Schrank 35 lines, man
Ice 24 lines, man
A-Rab 20 lines, man
Diesel 18 lines, man
Chino 17 lines, man

Full cast, 124 people

Ansel Elgort as Tony
Rachel Zegler as María
Ariana DeBose as Anita
David Alvarez as Bernardo
Mike Faist as Riff
Brian d'Arcy James as Officer Krupke
Corey Stoll as Lieutenant Schrank
Rita Moreno as Valentina
Josh Rivera as Chino
Ana Isabelle as Rosalía
Ilda Mason as Luz
iris menas as Anybodys
Julius Anthony Rubio as Quique
Tanairi Sade Vazquez as Charita
David Aviles Morales as Aníbal
Sebastian Serra as Braulio
Ricardo Zayas as Chago
Ricky Ubeda as Flaco
Andrei Chagas as Jochi
Adriel Flete as Julito
Jacob Guzman as Junior
Kelvin Delgado as Manolo
Carlos Sánchez Falú as Pipo
Yurel Echezarreta as Sebas
David Guzman as Tino
Sean Harrison Jones as Action
Jess LeProtto as A-Rab
Patrick Higgins as Baby John
Kyle Allen as Balkan
John Michael Fiumara as Big Deal
Kevin Csolak as Diesel
Kyle Coffman as Ice
Ben Cook as Mouthpiece
Harrison Coll as Numbers
Garett Hawe as Skink
Myles Erlick as Snowboy
Julian Elia as Tiger
Carlos E. Gonzalez as Chucho
Daniel Patrick Russell as Little Moly
Yesenia Ayala as Clary
Gabriela M. Soto as Conchi
Juliette Feliciano Ortiz as Cuca
Jeanette Delgado as Ili
Maria Alexis Rodriguez as Isa
Edriz E. Rosa Pérez as Jacinta
Jennifer Florentino as Montse
Melody Martí as Pili
Gaby Diaz as Tati
Isabella Ward as Tere
Eloise Kropp as Jet
Paloma Garcia-Lee as Graziella
Leigh-Ann Esty as Gussie
Lauren Leach as Karen
Brittany Pollack as Mack
Kellie Drobnick as Mamie
Skye Mattox as Maxie
Adriana Pierce as Natalie
Jonalyn Saxer as Rhonda
Brianna Abruzzo as Sorella
Halli Toland as Sweden
Sara Esty as Tat
Talia Ryder as Tessa
Maddie Ziegler as Velma
Andréa Burns as Fausta
Mike Iveson as Glad Hand
Jamila Velazquez as Meche
Annelise Cepero as Provi
Yassmin Alers as Lluvia
Jamie Harris as Rory
Curtiss Cook as Abe
Nadia Quinn as Streetwalker
Arianna Rosario as Puertorriqueña #1
Natalie Toro as Puertorriqueña #2
María Alejandra Castillo as Pachanga Shark Woman
Mannelly Gonzalez Abreu as Pachanga Dancer
Maya Haghighi Guliani as Pachanga Dancer
Tyler Myers as Pachanga Dancer
Jesseudi Marcelino as Pachanga Dancer
German M. Castillo as Pachanga Dancer
Ciara Calderon as Pachanga Dancer
Aubrey Mills as Pachanga Dancer
Leonardo Ro as Pachanga Dancer
Adrian Castillo as Pachanga Dancer
Luke Joseph Fuentes Duculan as Pachanga Dancer
Abigail R. Valdez as Pachanga Dancer
Navio Lopez as Pachanga Dancer
Victor Cruz as Restaurant Owner
Erik Charlston as Gym Band (Band Leader)
Clint de Ganon as Gym Band (Drums)
Dave Phillips as Gym Band (Bass)
Silvano Monasterios as Gym Band (Piano)
Ric Molina as Gym Band (Guitar)
Dan Pearson as Gym Band (Sax)
Hommy Ramos as Gym Band (Trombone)
Jose Ruiz as Gym Band (Trumpet 1)
Jumaane Smith as Gym Band (Trumpet 2)
Dave Noland as Gym Band (Reed Player)
Roland Morales as Gym Band (Percussionist 1)
Javier Diaz as Gym Band (Percussionist 2)
Chryssie Whitehead as Female Social Worker
Ron Stroman as Custodian
Rene Ojeda as Elderly Man
Feiga Martinez as Elderly Woman
Mike Massimino as Cop #1
Ryan Woodle as Cop #2
David Bean as Fabric Store Owner
Bert Michaels as Gimbels Security Guard
Joe Lanza as Detective in Morgue
Savannah Renée Rodriguez as Young Girl María
Denia Brache as Old Lady María
Lesley Bilingslea as Boxing Promoter
Andy Powers as Cop in Salt Shed
Reginald L. Barnes as Detective #2
Patrick Noonan as Detective #3
Jeff Ward as Grizzled Trainer
Pablo Thomas as Hardware Store Owner
Paul Niebanck as Taxi Passenger
Ixchel Cuellar as Demonstrator
Ricky Garcia as Demonstrator
Oscar Antonio Rodriguez as Demonstrator
José Ramón Rosario as Demonstrator
Doreen Montalvo as Demonstrator
Sean Harrison Jones as Action
Isaías Badilla as Pachanga Dancer

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 2 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 4% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 88

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 2	0	0
3 to 4	0	6
5 to 6	1	113
7 to 8	11	30
9 to 10	22	50
11 to 12	3	12
13 to 14	0	40
15 to 16	0	4
17 to 18	2	33
19 to 20	19	17
21 to 22	2	1
23 to 24	5	5
25 to 26	3	5
27 to 28	19	19
29 to 30	0	11
31 to 32	0	79
33 to 34	0	30
35 to 36	0	49
37 to 38	0	3
39 to 40	0	1
41 to 42	0	1
43 to 44	5	1
45 to 46	0	4
47 to 48	0	0
49 to 50	0	7
51 to 52	2	1
53 to 54	2	1
55 to 56	1	1
57 to 58	2	2
59 to 60	1	1
61 to 62	0	0
63 to 64	0	0
65 to 66	0	6
67 to 68	0	51
69 to 70	33	0
71 to 72	0	5
73 to 74	2	7
75 to 76	2	0
77 to 78	2	0
79 to 80	2	0
81 to 82	2	0
83 to 84	14	19
85 to 86	27	62
87 to 88	8	15

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.

ANITA: I like to be in America! MONTSE: OK by me in America!

ANITA: I know a boat you can get on! SHARK LADIES: BYE BYE!

ANITA: Everyone there will have moved here. SHARK LADIES: Ooooo! SHARK MEN AND WOMEN: Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!

PROVI AND MECHE: I feel stunning - PROVI AND MECHE: And entrancing! LUZ: Feel like running and dancing for joy! FAUSTA: Get back to work!

ANITA: ¡Valentina! ¡Es Anita! ¿Puedes subir, por favor, que tengo que - GRAZIELLA: Spanish?! You come here speakin Spanish?! ANITA: I wasn’t talking to you.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 22 are women's.

192 lines from women, 692 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

47 women and 65 men in the cast. 18 women and 59 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 114 of 918. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 189 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 20% of the words (1,630), men 80% (6,332). Women have 22% 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

4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Steven Spielberg (man)
Written by: Tony Kushner (man)
Produced by: Steven Spielberg (man), Kevin McCollum (man), Kristie Macosko Krieger (woman)
Shot by: Janusz Kamiński (man)
Edited by: Michael Kahn (man), Sarah Broshar (woman)
Music by: Leonard Bernstein (man)
Production design by: Adam Stockhausen (man)
Costumes by: Paul Tazewell (man)
Cast by: Cindy Tolan (woman), Zoraida Sanjurjo López (woman)