Passes the Bechdel test
Zodiac
2007. Directed by David Fincher, written by James Vanderbilt and Robert Graysmith.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
22 women characters. 10 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 240. -
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
A serial killer in the San Francisco Bay Area taunts police with his letters and cryptic messages. We follow the investigators and reporters in this lightly fictionalized account of the true 1970s' case as they search for the murderer, becoming obsessed with the case. Based on Robert Graysmith's book, the movie's focus is the lives and careers of the detectives and newspaper people.
- Released
- 02 Mar 2007
- Genres
- Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 7.7 / 10
- Metascore
- 79 / 100
- Awards
- 3 wins & 71 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Graysmith 385 lines, man
- Toschi 283 lines, man
- Armstrong 168 lines, man
- Avery 140 lines, man
- Melanie 62 lines, woman
- Belli 42 lines, man
- Captain Lee 40 lines, man
- Mulanax 40 lines, man
- Narlow 38 lines, man
- Voice 35 lines
Full cast, 101 people
- Jake Gyllenhaal as Robert Graysmith
- Mark Ruffalo as David Toschi
- Anthony Edwards as William Armstrong
- Robert Downey Jr. as Paul Avery
- Chloë Sevigny as Melanie
- Elias Koteas as Jack Mulanax
- John Carroll Lynch as Arthur Leigh Allen
- Brian Cox as Melvin Belli
- Dermot Mulroney as Martin Lee
- Charles Fleischer as Bob Vaughn
- Zach Grenier as Mel Nicolai
- Philip Baker Hall as Sherwood Morrill
- James Le Gros as George Bawart
- Donal Logue as Ken Narlow
- Richmond Arquette as Zodiac 1 / Zodiac 2
- Bob Stephenson as Zodiac 3
- John Lacy as Zodiac 4
- Ed Setrakian as Al Hyman
- John Getz as Templeton Peck
- John Terry as Charles Thieriot
- Candy Clark as Carol Fisher
- June Diane Raphael as Mrs. Toschi
- Ciara Hughes as Darlene Ferrin
- Lee Norris as Young Mike Mageau
- Patrick Scott Lewis as Bryan Hartnell
- Pell James as Cecilia Shepard
- David Lee Smith as Father
- Jason Wiles as Lab Tech Dagitz
- Charles Schneider as Cabbie / Paul Stine
- James Carraway as Shorty
- Tom Verica as Jim Dunbar
- Jimmi Simpson as Mike Mageau
- Doan Ly as Belli's Housekeeper
- Karina Logue as Woman
- Joel Bissonnette as Inspector Kracke
- John Mahon as Riverside Captain
- Matt Winston as John Allen
- Jules Bruff as Catherine Allen
- John Ennis as Terry Pascoe
- J. Patrick McCormack as Police Commissioner
- Adam Goldberg as Duffy Jennings
- Clea DuVall as Linda del Buono
- Paul Schulze as Sandy Panzarella
- Adam Trese as Detective #1
- Penny Wallace as Mulanax's Secretary
- John Hemphill as Donald Cheney
- Michel Francoeur as Man on Marquee
- Thomas Kopache as Copy Editor #1
- Barry Livingston as Copy Editor #3
- Christopher John Fields as Copy Editor #4
- Jack Samson as Young David Graysmith
- Micah Sauers as David Graysmith
- Zachary Sauers as Aaron Graysmith
- Jessica Baltutis as Margot Graysmith
- Peter Quartaroli as Patrolman Fouke
- Geoff Callan as Patrolman Zelms
- Michael Hungerford as Truck Driver
- Anna Katarina as Society Woman
- E.P. McKnight as Informant (Hall of Justice A)
- Betty Murphy as Informant
- Jeff Daniel Phillips as Informant
- Shane Woodson as Informant
- Cookie Crawford as Informant #8
- Cassius M. Willis as Uniform Cop
- Judith Drake as Florence Douglas
- Phoebe Holston as Prison Guard
- Marty Lodge as Pinole Foreman
- Cooper Thornton as Internal Affairs Agent #1
- Cazimir Milostan as Internal Affairs Agent #2
- Charlotte Ferguson as Kathleen Johns' Baby
- Phoebe Ferguson as Kathleen Johns' Baby
- Kacey Malmsten as Kathleen Johns' Baby
- Karly Malmsten as Kathleen Johns' Baby
- JD Cullum as Director
- Stanley B. Herman as Staff Editor
- Roy Lee Jones as Distraught African American Male
- Michael Rose as Navy Project Leader
- James Joseph O'Neil as DOD Project Leader
- Rod Damer as FBI Codebreaker
- John Sarno as Donald Harden
- Gloria Grant as Bettye Harden
- Brett Rickaby as Detective Roy
- M.F. Bernier as Detective #2
- Carter Evans as Newscaster #2
- Bill Seward as TV News Anchor
- Dave Nemeth as Newscaster #4
- Ted Garcia as Anchorman #1
- Greg Wolf as Interviewer #1
- Barry LeBrock as Reporter
- Ione Skye as Kathleen Johns (uncredited)
- David Winston Barge as Vallejo Desk Ofiicer (uncredited)
- Hayati Akbas as Hardware Store Customer (uncredited)
- Brad Carr as Camera Man (uncredited)
- Mitchell Fink as Reporter (uncredited)
- Erica Ford as Traveler (uncredited)
- Tish Hicks as Informant (uncredited)
- Danielle McKee as Prisoner (uncredited)
- Derris Nile as Office Worker (uncredited)
- Carmen Plumb as Janie (uncredited)
- Callie Thompson as Child Witness (uncredited)
- Bud Davis as Patrolman (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 5 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 6% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 240
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 5 | 12 | 17 |
| 6 to 10 | 0 | 13 |
| 11 to 15 | 0 | 1 |
| 16 to 20 | 0 | 4 |
| 21 to 25 | 1 | 27 |
| 26 to 30 | 2 | 13 |
| 31 to 35 | 0 | 5 |
| 36 to 40 | 0 | 52 |
| 41 to 45 | 0 | 21 |
| 46 to 50 | 4 | 29 |
| 51 to 55 | 0 | 56 |
| 56 to 60 | 0 | 28 |
| 61 to 65 | 0 | 17 |
| 66 to 70 | 0 | 51 |
| 71 to 75 | 3 | 29 |
| 76 to 80 | 0 | 17 |
| 81 to 85 | 0 | 23 |
| 86 to 90 | 0 | 9 |
| 91 to 95 | 0 | 18 |
| 96 to 100 | 0 | 9 |
| 101 to 105 | 0 | 8 |
| 106 to 110 | 2 | 67 |
| 111 to 115 | 15 | 15 |
| 116 to 120 | 0 | 37 |
| 121 to 125 | 0 | 31 |
| 126 to 130 | 24 | 27 |
| 131 to 135 | 2 | 21 |
| 136 to 140 | 0 | 56 |
| 141 to 145 | 0 | 47 |
| 146 to 150 | 4 | 87 |
| 151 to 155 | 2 | 36 |
| 156 to 160 | 1 | 30 |
| 161 to 165 | 5 | 22 |
| 166 to 170 | 0 | 44 |
| 171 to 175 | 1 | 30 |
| 176 to 180 | 3 | 25 |
| 181 to 185 | 1 | 34 |
| 186 to 190 | 0 | 46 |
| 191 to 195 | 10 | 52 |
| 196 to 200 | 8 | 40 |
| 201 to 205 | 7 | 43 |
| 206 to 210 | 4 | 56 |
| 211 to 215 | 10 | 60 |
| 216 to 220 | 0 | 3 |
| 221 to 225 | 18 | 29 |
| 226 to 230 | 10 | 36 |
| 231 to 235 | 0 | 74 |
| 236 to 240 | 0 | 14 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
LINDA: I am thinking hard- PRISON GUARD: Hey!
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 9 are women's.
149 lines from women, 1509 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
22 women and 61 men in the cast. 10 women and 43 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 2 of 1,764.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 205 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 7% of the words (1,253), men 93% (15,841). Women have 9% 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
1
Two men
128
Exhibit F: behind the camera
2 of the 13 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 20% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- David Fincher (man)
- Written by
- James Vanderbilt (man)
- Produced by
- Mike Medavoy (man), Arnold Messer (man), Bradley J. Fischer (man), James Vanderbilt (man), Ceán Chaffin (woman)
- Shot by
- Harris Savides (man)
- Edited by
- Angus Wall (man)
- Music by
- David Shire (man)
- Production design by
- Donald Graham Burt (man)
- Costumes by
- Casey Storm (man)
- Cast by
- Laray Mayfield (woman)
The crew, department by department
-
Sound
0 women, 15 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
2 women, 6 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
4 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
3 women, 1 men
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 3 men
-
Other crew
0 women, 3 men
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 32 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Chloë Sevigny 32
Men
Jake Gyllenhaal 26, Mark Ruffalo 39, Robert Downey Jr. 41, John Carroll Lynch 43, Dermot Mulroney 43, Anthony Edwards 44, Elias Koteas 45, Charles Fleischer 56, Brian Cox 60
Exhibit H: the money
It made 1.3 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $65 million
- Box office
- $84.8 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 240 scenes and 1,764 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
