Fails the Bechdel test
Wildlife
2019. Directed by Paul Dano, written by Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan and Richard Ford.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
2 / 3
Fails
-
Yes
1. At least two women
8 women characters. 4 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
Women do talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Every conversation between women that our parser found mentions a man.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Directed by actor Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, The Batman) and based on the Richard Ford novel, set in Montana in the fall of 1960, Wildlife is a portrait of a family unravelling. Young Joe Brinson (Oxenbould) watches his parents' (Gyllenhaal, Mulligan) marriage implode after his father loses his job. A painful tale of adolescent observation in a world where grown-ups behave like children and children are forced to act like adults.
- Released
- 01 Jan 2019
- Genres
- Drama
- Rated
- PG-13
- IMDb
- 6.8 / 10
- Metascore
- 80 / 100
- Awards
- 6 wins & 24 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Jeanette 271 lines, woman
- Joe 264 lines, man
- Jerry 198 lines, man
- Warren 53 lines, man
- Ruth 25 lines, woman
- Photographer 12 lines, man
- Receptionist 11 lines, woman
- Cartwright 7 lines
- Girl 7 lines, woman
- Clarence Snow 6 lines, man
Full cast, 27 people
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Jerry Brinson
- Carey Mulligan as Jeanette Brinson
- Ed Oxenbould as Joe Brinson
- Zoe Colletti as Ruth-Ann
- Bill Camp as Warren Miller
- Travis W Bruyer as Forester
- Tom Huston Orr as Mr. Cartwright
- Darryl Cox as Clarence Snow
- Ginger Gilmartin as Receptionist
- Michael Gibbons as Coach
- Mollie Milligan as Esther
- John Walpole as Photographer
- J. Alan Davidson as Teacher
- Jennifer Rogers as Female Employee
- Richard L. Olsen as Older Policeman
- Lexi Anastasia as Lady (uncredited)
- Avery Bagenstos as Football Player (uncredited)
- Kaye Brownlee-France as Grocery Store Customer (uncredited)
- Laurie Cummings as Wealthy Car Buyer (uncredited)
- Stacy Casaluci as Barmaid (uncredited)
- Jay Dee as Firefighter (uncredited)
- JR Hatchett as Firefighter (uncredited)
- Sara Moore as Student (uncredited)
- Blaine Maye as Groom (uncredited)
- Dale Murphy as Firefighter (uncredited)
- Marshall Virden as Firefighter (uncredited)
- Will Watson as Student
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 2% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 144
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 | 4 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 2 | 3 |
| 13 to 15 | 0 | 9 |
| 16 to 18 | 8 | 18 |
| 19 to 21 | 12 | 0 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 47 |
| 25 to 27 | 10 | 10 |
| 28 to 30 | 6 | 14 |
| 31 to 33 | 12 | 12 |
| 34 to 36 | 20 | 18 |
| 37 to 39 | 0 | 3 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 3 |
| 43 to 45 | 0 | 5 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 4 |
| 49 to 51 | 9 | 11 |
| 52 to 54 | 14 | 16 |
| 55 to 57 | 14 | 25 |
| 58 to 60 | 8 | 5 |
| 61 to 63 | 7 | 9 |
| 64 to 66 | 6 | 5 |
| 67 to 69 | 9 | 12 |
| 70 to 72 | 4 | 4 |
| 73 to 75 | 20 | 12 |
| 76 to 78 | 23 | 18 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 4 |
| 82 to 84 | 0 | 23 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 3 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 2 |
| 91 to 93 | 17 | 12 |
| 94 to 96 | 24 | 43 |
| 97 to 99 | 16 | 13 |
| 100 to 102 | 10 | 5 |
| 103 to 105 | 0 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 1 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 9 | 6 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 0 |
| 115 to 117 | 4 | 2 |
| 118 to 120 | 5 | 8 |
| 121 to 123 | 26 | 58 |
| 124 to 126 | 0 | 5 |
| 127 to 129 | 0 | 35 |
| 130 to 132 | 4 | 16 |
| 133 to 135 | 0 | 0 |
| 136 to 138 | 0 | 0 |
| 139 to 141 | 0 | 27 |
| 142 to 144 | 17 | 23 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 36 are women's.
319 lines from women, 555 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
8 women and 13 men in the cast. 4 women and 9 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 9 of 892.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 77 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 43% of the words (3,248), men 57% (4,385). Women have 36% of the lines, so their lines run longer than men's.
Exhibit D: 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
2
Two men
45
Exhibit E: behind the camera
8 of the 18 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 33% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Paul Dano (man)
- Written by
- Paul Dano (man), Zoe Kazan (woman)
- Produced by
- Jake Gyllenhaal (man), Riva Marker (woman), Oren Moverman (man), Ann Ruark (woman), Alex Saks (woman), Andrew Duncan (man) and 1 more
- Shot by
- Diego García (man)
- Edited by
- Louise Ford (woman), Matthew Hannam (man)
- Music by
- David Lang (man)
- Production design by
- Akin McKenzie (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Amanda Ford (woman)
- Cast by
- Jodi Angstreich (woman), Laura Rosenthal (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
9 women, 10 men, 6 not listed
-
Sound
5 women, 13 men, 3 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 9 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
1 women, 3 men, 7 not listed
-
Other crew
0 women, 6 men, 2 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
5 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 3 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
1 women, 4 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 25 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Zoe Colletti 16, Carey Mulligan 33
Men
Ed Oxenbould 17, Jake Gyllenhaal 37, Bill Camp 53, Darryl Cox 63
Exhibit G: the money
What it cost and made, where TMDB lists it.
- Budget
- Not listed
- Box office
- $3.1 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 144 scenes and 892 lines of dialogue. How the test works
