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Fails the Bechdel test

Zombieland

2009. Directed by Ruben Fleischer, written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick.

The Bechdel test

Bechdel score

0 / 3

Fails

  1. No 1. At least two women
    Fewer than two women characters.
  2. No 2. Who talk to each other
    Our parser found no scene where two women talk to each other.
  3. No 3. About something besides a man
    Not reached: the film fails an earlier rule.

Second opinion

Disagree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.

Poster for Zombieland

The film

Searching for family. In the early twenty-first century, zombies have taken over America. A shy and college student in Texas has survived by following his 30 rules: like "look in the back seat," "double-tap," "avoid public restrooms." He decides to travel to Ohio to see if his parents are alive. He gets a ride with a savage, brutal zombie-killer headed for Florida, and soon they confront a young woman whose sister has been bitten by a zombie and wants to be put out of her suffering. The sisters were headed to an LA park with attractions they've heard is without a zombie.

Released
02 Oct 2009
Genres
Action, Comedy, Horror
Rated
R
IMDb
7.5 / 10
Metascore
73 / 100
Awards
10 wins & 29 nominations total
Elsewhere
View on IMDb

Starring, by lines spoken

  • Women
  • Men
  • Not in the cast list
  • Bigger name, more lines
  1. Flagstaff 252 lines, man
  2. Albuquerque 171 lines, man
  3. Wichita 44 lines, woman
  4. Stillwater 37 lines
  5. Girl 21 lines, woman
  6. Woman 21 lines, woman
  7. Detroit 20 lines
  8. Manager 20 lines
  9. Superimposed Onscreen 15 lines
  10. Female Voice 3 lines, man
Full cast, 41 people
  • Jesse Eisenberg as Columbus
  • Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee
  • Emma Stone as Wichita
  • Abigail Breslin as Little Rock
  • Amber Heard as 406
  • Bill Murray as Bill Murray
  • Derek Graf as Clown Zombie
  • Elle Alexander as Zombie Meter Maid (uncredited)
  • Melanie Booth as Hippie Girl (uncredited)
  • Chris Burns as Bicycle Zombie (uncredited)
  • Blaise Corrigan as Groom (uncredited)
  • Sydnie Dawson as Princess Zombie (uncredited)
  • Justin Price as Sprint Zombie (uncredited)
  • Christina Klein as Zombie (uncredited)
  • Amir Kovacs as Zombie (uncredited)
  • Shaun Lynch as Cardio Zombie (uncredited)
  • Lynn McArthur as Girl on Cell Phone (uncredited)
  • Michelle Sebek as Businesswoman Zombie (uncredited)
  • Victory Van Tuyl as Bubby & Pee Paw's Granddaughter (uncredited)
  • Mike White as Toilet Victim / Gas Station Attendant (uncredited)
  • Cesar Aguirre as Customer at the Pump (uncredited)
  • Daniel Burnley as Frightened Pedestrian (uncredited)
  • Ernest Dancy as Businessman Zombie (uncredited)
  • Jon Gould as Pedestrian in Decatur (uncredited)
  • Travis Grant as Amusement Park Zombie (uncredited)
  • Robert Hatch as Yuppie Zombie (uncredited)
  • Jeh Howell as Zombie (uncredited)
  • Amir R. Khan as Point-Blank Zombie (uncredited)
  • Suzanne LaChasse as Zombie (uncredited)
  • Kurt McNew as Amusement Park Zombie (uncredited)
  • Stephen Prouty as Punched in Face Zombie (uncredited)
  • Ming Qiu as Achilles Businesswoman (uncredited)
  • Rhett Reese as Tuxedo Guy with AK-47 (uncredited)
  • April Rich as Hot Mom (uncredited)
  • Cody Rowlett as Panicked Pedestrian (uncredited)
  • Joan Schuermeyer as Cynthia Knickerbocker (uncredited)
  • Brian Stretch as DC Zombie (uncredited)
  • Sonya Thompson as Lunchroom Lady Zombie (uncredited)
  • Clay Walker as Mechanic (uncredited)
  • Steve Warren as Metro Station Zombie (uncredited)
  • Travis Young as Grocery Store Zombie (uncredited)

Who talks, scene by scene

Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 16% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.

Women

Men

Scene 1 Scene 118

Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.

Show the numbers
ScenesWomen's linesMen's lines
1 to 3010
4 to 6012
7 to 900
10 to 1202
13 to 15036
16 to 18011
19 to 21014
22 to 24013
25 to 27029
28 to 30023
31 to 331116
34 to 36300
37 to 39114
40 to 421114
43 to 45016
46 to 48011
49 to 51113
52 to 5421
55 to 57100
58 to 6005
61 to 63510
64 to 6655
67 to 6915
70 to 72810
73 to 7502
76 to 7809
79 to 8108
82 to 84013
85 to 8700
88 to 9002
91 to 9302
94 to 9600
97 to 9900
100 to 102010
103 to 105015
106 to 10808
109 to 111012
112 to 11401
115 to 117172
118 to 11803

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, 17 are women's.

86 lines from women, 427 from men.

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit B: who's in it

13 women and 23 men in the cast. 1 women and 0 men from it get lines.

Characters

With lines

  • Women
  • Men

Exhibit C: who gets heard

The first woman speaks at line 184 of 608. The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 183 lines.

Every line of dialogue, first to last

  • First line by a woman
  • Longest stretch with no woman speaking

Words spoken

Women speak 11% of the words (590), men 89% (4,577). Women have 17% 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

Exhibit E: behind the camera

1 of the 11 people in these jobs is a woman. Across the whole crew, 30% of the people whose gender is listed are women.

Directed by
Ruben Fleischer (man)
Written by
Paul Wernick (man), Rhett Reese (man)
Produced by
Gavin Polone (man)
Shot by
Michael Bonvillain (man)
Edited by
Peter Amundson (man), Alan Baumgarten (man)
Music by
David Sardy (man)
Production design by
Maher Ahmad (man)
Costumes by
Magali Guidasci (woman)
Cast by
John Papsidera (man)

The crew, department by department

  • Other crew

    15 women, 27 men, 5 not listed

  • Sound

    6 women, 13 men, 4 not listed

  • Costume & Make-Up

    4 women, 0 men, 8 not listed

  • Camera

    0 women, 3 men, 7 not listed

  • Art

    0 women, 6 men, 2 not listed

  • Production

    1 women, 6 men

  • Visual Effects

    0 women, 1 men, 5 not listed

  • Directing

    1 women, 2 men, 2 not listed

  • Women
  • Men
  • Gender not listed on TMDB

Exhibit F: how old the stars were

Women: 18 on average. Men: 39 on average. The top-billed cast, at the film's release.

Women

Abigail Breslin 13, Elle Alexander 17, Emma Stone 20, Amber Heard 23

Men

Jesse Eisenberg 25, Derek Graf 29, Chris Burns 35, Woody Harrelson 48, Bill Murray 59

Exhibit G: the money

It made 4.3 times what it cost.

Budget
$23.6 million
Box office
$102 million

From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.

About this analysis

Our parser read the script: 118 scenes and 608 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works

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