Passes the Bechdel test
Wild Things
1998. Directed by John McNaughton, written by Stephen Peters.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
13 women characters. 9 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 8 scenes out of 145. -
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
Having recently been named educator of the year, Sam Lombardo is the well-liked guidance counselor and sailing instructor at Blue Bay High School on the Florida coast just outside Miami. The student body of the school is largely comprised of the offspring of the country club set, and while he helps any student he can, he especially tries to mentor those who are disadvantaged, such as Jimmy Leach who would not have been able to afford being in the sailing program otherwise, and tough Suzie Toller, a proverbial swamp girl who he's helped through a few scrapes with the law in the absence of any parents, Suzie living with her streetwise grandmother Ruby at an alligator sideshow zoo. Although not socioeconomically part of that country club set himself, he nonetheless has ingratiated himself within it, he having slept with a good number of the country club maidens, he currently settled into a relationship with Barbara Baxter, the well-off daughter of high powered lawyer Tom Baxter. Sam's world comes crashing down around him when student Kelly Van Ryan, who has made it quite clear to her classmates she is sexually attracted to him and who is the daughter of one of his former bed mates, sexually provocative widow and socially powerful Sandra Van Ryan, accuses him of raping her. Already in trouble in that no one can fight and win against the Van Ryans in Blue Bay, Sam, whose career is ruined regardless of his guilt or innocence in never being able to recover from such accusations, gets into even more problems when Suzie quickly thereafter comes forward also accusing him of previously raping her, her story similar to Kelly's. The likelihood of Kelly and Suzie colluding together to manufacture similar stories is remote as it is well known that they have always detested each other. Having now become persona non grata among that country club set, Sam is forced to hire sleazy storefront lawyer Ken Bowden to defend him. Blue Bay Police Detective Ray Duquette of the Sex Crimes Division, he investigating with his partner Gloria Perez, goes against her advice and that of DA Bryce Hunter by delving into sensitive areas in believing that not all associated with the case are as they appear on the surface.
- Released
- 20 Mar 1998
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.6 / 10
- Metascore
- 51 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 4 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Sam 166 lines, man
- Ray 133 lines, man
- Kelly 102 lines, woman
- Gloria 96 lines, woman
- Suzie 80 lines, woman
- Sandra 47 lines, woman
- Hunter 38 lines, man
- Ken 29 lines, man
- Ruby 19 lines, woman
- Baxter 12 lines
Full cast, 36 people
- Kevin Bacon as Sergeant Ray Duquette
- Matt Dillon as Sam Lombardo
- Neve Campbell as Suzie Toller
- Denise Richards as Kelly Van Ryan
- Theresa Russell as Sandra Van Ryan
- Bill Murray as Kenneth Bowden
- Daphne Rubin-Vega as Detective Gloria Perez
- Robert Wagner as Tom Baxter
- Carrie Snodgress as Ruby
- Jeff Perry as District Attorney Bryce Hunter
- Eduardo Yáñez as Frankie Condo
- Jennifer Bini Taylor as Barbara Baxter
- Cory Pendergast as Jimmy Leach
- Marc Macaulay as Walter
- Toi Svane Stepp as Nicole
- Dennis Neal as Art Maddox
- Diane Adams as School Secretary
- Paulo Benedeti as Kirk
- Ted Bartsch as Bailiff
- Leonor Anthony as Ken's Secretary
- Antoni Corone as Police Chief
- Robert Deacon as Prisoner
- Anthony Giaimo as Dave
- Manny Suárez as Georgie
- Janet Bushor as Barmaid
- Gina LaMarca as Hooker
- Nancy Duerr as Reporter #1
- Margo Peace as Reporter #2
- Keith Wilson as Reporter #3
- Nelson Oramas as Policeman #1
- Michael Dean Walker as Policeman #2
- Jesse Muson as Policeman #3
- Kimberly Lamaze as Policewoman #1
- Rebecca White as Policewoman #2
- Victoria Bass as Judge
- Laurie Wallace as Bikini Girl (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 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 145
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 4 | 4 | 12 |
| 5 to 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 9 to 12 | 22 | 11 |
| 13 to 16 | 4 | 4 |
| 17 to 20 | 0 | 1 |
| 21 to 24 | 2 | 1 |
| 25 to 28 | 34 | 7 |
| 29 to 32 | 39 | 11 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 10 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 13 |
| 41 to 44 | 1 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 3 | 45 |
| 49 to 52 | 12 | 19 |
| 53 to 56 | 35 | 9 |
| 57 to 60 | 3 | 4 |
| 61 to 64 | 22 | 16 |
| 65 to 68 | 3 | 10 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 4 |
| 73 to 76 | 20 | 23 |
| 77 to 80 | 20 | 24 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 8 | 5 |
| 89 to 92 | 14 | 9 |
| 93 to 96 | 12 | 12 |
| 97 to 100 | 10 | 9 |
| 101 to 104 | 2 | 4 |
| 105 to 108 | 14 | 27 |
| 109 to 112 | 12 | 18 |
| 113 to 116 | 10 | 11 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 6 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 7 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 13 | 11 |
| 133 to 136 | 24 | 21 |
| 137 to 140 | 4 | 4 |
| 141 to 144 | 10 | 9 |
| 145 to 145 | 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.
NICOLE: When we graduate the only thing I'm going to miss is... Know what I mean? NICOLE: Kelly? KELLY: Oh yeah.
NICOLE: You mean that isn't yours too? KELLY: Where's the hose? We can set up.
SANDRA: I hope you're happy. KELLY: Ecstatic.
KELLY: Of course I'm crazy. Ask my mom. SUZIE: How much is about six and a half million divided by three?
KELLY: Right. SUZIE: Yeah, right.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 48 are women's.
367 lines from women, 397 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
13 women and 15 men in the cast. 9 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 795.
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 44% of the words (4,123), men 56% (5,214). Women have 48% 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
26
Two men
34
Exhibit F: behind the camera
3 of the 11 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 24% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- John McNaughton (man)
- Written by
- Stephen Peters (gender not listed)
- Produced by
- Steven A. Jones (man), Rodney Liber (man)
- Shot by
- Jeffrey L. Kimball (man)
- Edited by
- Elena Maganini (woman)
- Music by
- George S. Clinton (man)
- Production design by
- Edward T. McAvoy (man)
- Costumes by
- Kimberly A. Tillman (woman)
- Cast by
- John Brace (man), Linda Lowy (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
2 women, 19 men, 8 not listed
-
Other crew
5 women, 7 men, 8 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 7 men, 5 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 3 men, 9 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 7 men, 3 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 3 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 34 on average. Men: 46 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Neve Campbell 24, Denise Richards 27, Daphne Rubin-Vega 28, Theresa Russell 41, Carrie Snodgress 52
Men
Matt Dillon 34, Kevin Bacon 39, Jeff Perry 42, Bill Murray 47, Robert Wagner 68
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.4 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $20 million
- Box office
- $67.2 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 145 scenes and 795 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
