Passes the Bechdel test
What Dreams May Come
1998. Directed by Vincent Ward, written by Richard Matheson and Ron Bass.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
11 women characters. 5 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 47. -
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 1 out of 3.
The film
During a holiday in Switzerland, a young Chris Nielsen meets Annie Collins in a lake when their boats collide. Sharing a snack a few hours later, Chris and Annie fall in love and marry quickly. Chris works as pediatrician and Annie as an artist/painter and art dealer, and have two children, Ian and Marie. But their happy family life torn apart when Ian and Marie are in a car accident that kills them both and the nanny who was driving. Four years later, Chris and Annie try to restore their life despite the tragedy and celebrate their anniversary. When returning that night, Chris witnesses a car accident. After he exits the car, in an attempt to help people, another car crashes into him, killing him. As he is dying in the hospital, Chris turns into a ghost in an attempt to tell Annie that he still exists and loves her, but his efforts cause more pain, and he decides to leave. Traveling Afterlife, Chris wakes up in Heaven, where he meets Albert Lewis, his former mentor. While Albert helps Chris to adapt to his new existence in Heaven. Annie falls into a deeper depression, tormented by the reminder of her husband and children. Unable to endure the suffering, Annie commits suicide, and Albert returns to Chris to explain him Annie's death. Determined to save Annie, Chris decides to travel to Hell to find her. As his travel progresses, Chris' memories of his life with Ian and Annie put the mission in danger, making it harder to connect with Annie. Making a discovery about Albert's true identity, The Tracker splits them. But when they find her, Chris' memories of his life with Annie will make Chris question the success of the travel, having to make a decision that can change everything forever.
- Released
- 02 Oct 1998
- Genres
- Drama, Fantasy, Romance
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 7 / 10
- Metascore
- 44 / 100
- Awards
- Won 1 Oscar. 7 wins & 2 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Chris 357 lines, man
- Annie 111 lines, woman
- Albert 70 lines, man
- Tracker 67 lines, man
- Ian 32 lines, man
- Marie 28 lines, woman
- Leona 24 lines, woman
- Male Voice 10 lines
- Cowboy 8 lines, man
- Face 5 lines, man
Full cast, 19 people
- Robin Williams as Chris Nielsen
- Cuba Gooding Jr. as Albert Lewis
- Annabella Sciorra as Annie Collins-Nielsen
- Max von Sydow as The Tracker
- Jessica Brooks Grant as Marie Nielsen
- Josh Paddock as Ian Nielsen
- Rosalind Chao as Leona
- Lucinda Jenney as Mrs. Jacobs
- Maggie McCarthy as Stacey Jacobs
- Wilma Bonet as Angie
- Matt Salinger as Reverend Hanley
- Carin Sprague as Best Friend Cindy
- June Carryl as Woman in Car Accident
- Werner Herzog as Face
- Clara Thomas as Little Girl at Lake
- Benjamin Brock as Little Boy at Lake
- London Freeman as Kid by the Dock (uncredited)
- Phaedra Neitzel as Angel (uncredited)
- Tom O'Reilly as Devil (Hell Scene) (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 1 scene, 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 47
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 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 to 2 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 to 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 to 4 | 2 | 5 |
| 5 to 5 | 11 | 11 |
| 6 to 6 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 to 7 | 7 | 6 |
| 8 to 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 to 9 | 0 | 7 |
| 10 to 10 | 1 | 1 |
| 11 to 11 | 0 | 4 |
| 12 to 12 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 to 13 | 2 | 3 |
| 14 to 14 | 0 | 5 |
| 15 to 15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 to 16 | 0 | 2 |
| 17 to 17 | 0 | 7 |
| 18 to 18 | 0 | 10 |
| 19 to 19 | 0 | 16 |
| 20 to 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 21 to 21 | 0 | 9 |
| 22 to 22 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 to 23 | 13 | 85 |
| 24 to 24 | 5 | 22 |
| 25 to 25 | 28 | 14 |
| 26 to 26 | 11 | 8 |
| 27 to 27 | 12 | 0 |
| 28 to 28 | 7 | 56 |
| 29 to 29 | 0 | 28 |
| 30 to 30 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 to 31 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 to 32 | 7 | 4 |
| 33 to 33 | 0 | 15 |
| 34 to 34 | 0 | 4 |
| 35 to 35 | 0 | 10 |
| 36 to 36 | 0 | 24 |
| 37 to 37 | 7 | 7 |
| 38 to 38 | 0 | 1 |
| 39 to 39 | 0 | 14 |
| 40 to 40 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 to 41 | 13 | 42 |
| 42 to 42 | 17 | 67 |
| 43 to 43 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 to 44 | 21 | 38 |
| 45 to 45 | 0 | 0 |
| 46 to 46 | 0 | 0 |
| 47 to 47 | 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.
MARIE: When she goes to the hospital, I'm going too. In the doorway, her parents side by side. This moment shai:ed,like all others. It is the mothe… ANNIE: Katie isn't going there to get well, sugar. Marie doesn't understand. Or doesn't want to. ANNIE: They give her a shot. That doesn't hurt. And she falls aslee..• MARIE: •••you're going to kill my dog?
ANNIE: rmgoing to help her die, yes. Winds her fingers. Around a smaller hand. ANNIE: She hurts bac4 and nothing can help that. I'm going to stop it, because I love her. The stare holds. The dark eyes harden. MARIE: You're going to kill my dog. But Annie won't blink. Won't cop out. ANNIE: You be angry, if you want. Death does that. Someth~ngpasses between them. It carries acceptance. And trust.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 24 are women's.
169 lines from women, 542 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
11 women and 8 men in the cast. 5 women and 7 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 5 of 744.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 83 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 22% of the words (2,619), men 78% (9,126). Women have 24% 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
10
Two men
22
Exhibit F: behind the camera
4 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 31% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Vincent Ward (man)
- Written by
- Ronald Bass (man)
- From the novel by
- Richard Matheson (man)
- Produced by
- Stephen Deutsch (man), Barnet Bain (man)
- Shot by
- Eduardo Serra (man)
- Edited by
- David Brenner (man), Maysie Hoy (woman)
- Music by
- Michael Kamen (man)
- Production design by
- Eugenio Zanetti (man)
- Costumes by
- Yvonne Blake (woman)
- Cast by
- Heidi Levitt (woman), Nina Henninger (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
8 women, 20 men, 12 not listed
-
Sound
6 women, 17 men, 14 not listed
-
Visual Effects
1 women, 10 men, 16 not listed
-
Production
8 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Art
3 women, 6 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
2 women, 9 men, 4 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 41 on average. Men: 49 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Annabella Sciorra 38, Rosalind Chao 41, Lucinda Jenney 44
Men
Cuba Gooding Jr. 30, Robin Williams 47, Max von Sydow 69
Exhibit H: the money
It made 84% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $85 million
- Box office
- $71.5 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 47 scenes and 744 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
