Fails the Bechdel test
You Were Never Really Here
2018. Directed by Lynne Ramsay, written by Lynne Ramsay and Jonathan Ames.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
0 / 3
Fails
-
No
1. At least two women
Fewer than two women characters. -
No
2. Who talk to each other
Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other. -
No
3. About something besides a man
Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 1 out of 3.
The film
When a teenage girl is kidnapped, a jaded enforcer (Phoenix) begins a rescue mission, but uncovers high-level corruption and abuses of power. As he is engulfed in his search for the girl, he is forced to reckon with his own childhood trauma suffered at the hands of his abusive father.
- Released
- 06 Apr 2018
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 84 / 100
- Awards
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award. 24 wins & 78 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Joe 67 lines, man
- Votto 23 lines, man
- Nina 22 lines, woman
- Mccleary 14 lines, man
- Towel Boy 9 lines, man
- Gunman 7 lines, man
- Joe’S Mother 5 lines, woman
- 8-Yr-Old Joe 4 lines, man
- 911 Dispatcher 4 lines
- Angel 4 lines, man
Full cast, 37 people
- Joaquin Phoenix as Joe
- Judith Roberts as Joe's Mother
- Ekaterina Samsonov as Nina Votto
- John Doman as John McCleary
- Alex Manette as Senator Albert Votto
- Dante Pereira-Olson as Young Joe
- Alessandro Nivola as Governor Williams
- Larry Canady as Cincinnati Cab Driver
- Vinicius Damasceno as Moises
- Neo Randall as Moises's Friend
- Frank Pando as Angel
- Edward Latham as Drug Dealer
- Claire Hsu as Staring Girl
- Deniz Ozer as Afghan Boy
- Tia-Sophia Begh as Afghan Girl
- Lucy Lan Luo as Dead Girl
- Annie Mac-Yang as Dead Girl
- Lilian Tsang as Dead Girl
- He Mengqi as Dead Girl
- Rose De Vera as Dead Girl
- Tian Chaudhry as Dead Girl
- Ryan Martin Brown as Towel Boy
- Ace Ramsey as Little Girl
- Silvia Pena as Big Sister
- Jason Babinsky as Eye of Providence
- Jonathan Wilde as Joe's Young Father
- Ronan Summers as Joe's Young Father Double
- Kate Easton as Joe's Young Mother
- Scott Price as Dying Gunman
- Novella Nelson as Diner Woman
- Madison Arnold as Diner Man
- Leigh Dunham as Diner Waitress
- Joseph Anthony Jerez as Russian Bath Patron (uncredited)
- Sophie Piedras as Teen Runaway (uncredited)
- Christian Reeve as Bodega Clerk (uncredited)
- Oleg Ossayenko as Bellhop (uncredited)
- Cristina Dohmen as News Anchor (voice)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 4 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 10% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 165
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 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 to 8 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 to 12 | 0 | 1 |
| 13 to 16 | 1 | 1 |
| 17 to 20 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 to 24 | 1 | 0 |
| 25 to 28 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 to 32 | 2 | 1 |
| 33 to 36 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 to 40 | 0 | 28 |
| 41 to 44 | 0 | 0 |
| 45 to 48 | 0 | 35 |
| 49 to 52 | 0 | 0 |
| 53 to 56 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 to 60 | 0 | 0 |
| 61 to 64 | 0 | 0 |
| 65 to 68 | 0 | 0 |
| 69 to 72 | 0 | 0 |
| 73 to 76 | 0 | 23 |
| 77 to 80 | 3 | 8 |
| 81 to 84 | 0 | 0 |
| 85 to 88 | 9 | 5 |
| 89 to 92 | 5 | 3 |
| 93 to 96 | 2 | 1 |
| 97 to 100 | 0 | 0 |
| 101 to 104 | 0 | 0 |
| 105 to 108 | 0 | 4 |
| 109 to 112 | 0 | 0 |
| 113 to 116 | 0 | 2 |
| 117 to 120 | 0 | 0 |
| 121 to 124 | 0 | 10 |
| 125 to 128 | 0 | 0 |
| 129 to 132 | 1 | 1 |
| 133 to 136 | 2 | 0 |
| 137 to 140 | 0 | 1 |
| 141 to 144 | 0 | 1 |
| 145 to 148 | 0 | 0 |
| 149 to 152 | 0 | 0 |
| 153 to 156 | 0 | 1 |
| 157 to 160 | 1 | 1 |
| 161 to 164 | 6 | 4 |
| 165 to 165 | 1 | 0 |
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, 21 are women's.
35 lines from women, 132 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit B: who's in it
15 women and 17 men in the cast. 3 women and 5 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 7 of 185.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 93 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 15% of the words (171), men 85% (992). Women have 21% of the lines, so their lines run shorter 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
0
Two men
3
Exhibit E: behind the camera
7 of the 15 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 36% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- Lynne Ramsay (woman)
- Written by
- Lynne Ramsay (woman)
- From the novel by
- Jonathan Ames (man)
- Produced by
- Rosa Attab (woman), Pascal Caucheteux (man), Lynne Ramsay (woman), James Wilson (man), Rebecca O'Brien (woman)
- Shot by
- Thomas Townend (man)
- Edited by
- Joe Bini (man)
- Music by
- Jonny Greenwood (man)
- Production design by
- Tim Grimes (man)
- Costumes by
- Malgosia Turzanska (woman)
- Cast by
- Billy Hopkins (man), Ashley Ingram (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Production
9 women, 8 men, 4 not listed
-
Other crew
1 women, 10 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
2 women, 5 men, 5 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 0 men, 6 not listed
-
Camera
1 women, 5 men
-
Art
1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
2 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Lighting
0 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit F: how old the stars were
Women: 48 on average. Men: 43 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Ekaterina Samsonov 14, Judith Roberts 82
Men
Dante Pereira-Olson 9, Joaquin Phoenix 43, Alessandro Nivola 45, Alex Manette 48, John Doman 72
Exhibit G: the money
It made 55% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $17 million
- Box office
- $9.4 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 165 scenes and 185 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
