Passes the Bechdel test

What They Had

Name: What They Had
Released: 2018

2018. Directed by Elizabeth Chomko, written by Elizabeth Chomko.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

3 / 3

Passes

Yes 1. At least two women
8 women characters. 10 of them speak.
Yes 2. Who talk to each other
In 18 scenes out of 122.
Yes 3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.

Second opinion

Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.

The film

When old, dementia/Alzheimer's stricken Ruth walks away from home on a snowy Christmas Eve, her husband, Burt, calls his son, Nick, the police etc. Nick calls his sister, Bridget, who flies to Chicago with her daughter, Emma. Ruth is found and at the hospital. She's OK but something has to be done. Burt is also off his mind as he's bought a big convertible and is driving around in the winter with the top down. He wants to move to Florida with Ruth, not accepting her condition and not wanting to be alone. Nick shows his bar to his sister and brings up memory care facility for mom and getting power of attorney.

Released: 29 Nov 2018
Genres: Drama
Rated: R
IMDb: 6.7 / 10
Metascore: 69 / 100
Awards: 3 wins & 5 nominations total
Elsewhere: View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

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

Bridget 308 lines, woman
Nick 180 lines, man
Bert 147 lines, man
Ruth 96 lines, woman
Emma 71 lines, woman
Gerry 35 lines, man
Eddie 28 lines, man
Mary 18 lines, woman
Marion 8 lines, woman
David 4 lines, woman

Full cast, 23 people

Hilary Swank as Bridget
Michael Shannon as Nick
Robert Forster as Burt
Blythe Danner as Ruth
Taissa Farmiga as Emma
Josh Lucas as Eddie
Sarah Sutherland as Mary
Marilyn Dodds Frank as Marion
Aimee Garcia as Dr. Zoe
William Smillie as Gerry
Isabeau Dornevil as R.A.
Jennifer Robideau as Rachel
Jay Montepare as David
Ann Whitney as Neighbor Lady
Iah Bearden-Vrai as Funeral Friend (uncredited)
Clarence E. Davis as Mourner (uncredited)
Eric Ian as Taylor (uncredited)
Ryan W. Garcia as Young Burt (uncredited)
Matthias Kocur as Parishioner / Church Choir (uncredited)
Annie McKinnie as Hospital Visitor (uncredited)
Ruben Ramirez as Patient Care Tech (uncredited)
Darren Sheehan as Airport Traveler (uncredited)
Hans Dieter Wolff as Mourner (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 1% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 122

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 3	0	0
4 to 6	0	0
7 to 9	0	0
10 to 12	1	1
13 to 15	11	0
16 to 18	7	2
19 to 21	16	2
22 to 24	21	1
25 to 27	11	13
28 to 30	30	25
31 to 33	6	18
34 to 36	13	7
37 to 39	13	10
40 to 42	33	62
43 to 45	5	7
46 to 48	11	15
49 to 51	25	11
52 to 54	35	38
55 to 57	21	14
58 to 60	53	12
61 to 63	1	0
64 to 66	12	14
67 to 69	6	0
70 to 72	33	26
73 to 75	23	43
76 to 78	8	8
79 to 81	5	2
82 to 84	18	16
85 to 87	11	2
88 to 90	4	7
91 to 93	13	16
94 to 96	1	1
97 to 99	6	7
100 to 102	16	6
103 to 105	7	0
106 to 108	2	1
109 to 111	10	0
112 to 114	2	0
115 to 117	10	3
118 to 120	14	0
121 to 122	1	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.

EMMA: Mom. Mom. BRIDGET: Shame on you girls. What is the matter with you? BRIDGET: What? You have to stand up for yourself, you have to fight back. Show some self-respect, don’t be a doormat -- EMMA: Shhhhhh!

BRIDGET: You should not be smoking. It is terrible for you. What is going on with you? EMMA: Nothing. BRIDGET: You look absolutely ridiculous. EMMA: Thank you.

EMMA: Mom! BRIDGET: Sorry. Mary and Daniel are here. EMMA: David. BRIDGET: David! David David David --

BRIDGET: Mom? RUTH: Is that my baby? RUTH: Oh, I’m so happy to see you --

RUTH: And this baby too? RUTH: Honey! EMMA: Hi Grama. RUTH: You need some money? Let me getcha some money.

Exhibit B: every 100 lines

Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 57 are women's.

515 lines from women, 390 from men.

Women
Men

Exhibit C: who's in it

8 women and 6 men in the cast. 10 women and 3 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

Women
Men

Exhibit D: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 2 of 916. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 13 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

First line by a woman
Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 53% of the words (4,172), men 47% (3,681). Women have 57% 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

7 of the 18 people in these jobs are women. Across the whole crew, 46% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by: Elizabeth Chomko (woman)
Written by: Elizabeth Chomko (woman)
Produced by: Tyler Jackson (man), Keith Kjarval (man), Ron Yerxa (man), Albert Berger (man), Alex Saks (woman), Sefton Fincham (gender not listed) and 1 more
Shot by: Roberto Schaefer (man)
Edited by: Tom McArdle (man)
Music by: Danny Mulhern (gender not listed)
Production design by: Christopher Stull (gender not listed)
Costumes by: Anne Dawson (gender not listed)
Cast by: Jennifer Rudnicke (woman), Michelle Wade Byrd (woman), Mickie Paskal (woman), Mary Vernieu (woman)