The shelf in numbers

How far to trust these

Year by year

Gray dots are single years; the pink line pools the five years around each one. The share of lines is for the median film, counting lines whose speaker we could place. Years with fewer than ten films on the shelf, all of them before 1971, are left out.

How far films get

• Fewer than two women 170
• Two women who never talk 451
• They talk, only about a man 295
• Passes 1,439

The three rules build on each other, so each film counts once, at the last rule it clears.

By genre

• Romance 261 of 325
• Horror 223 of 298
• Music 47 of 63
• Musical 15 of 21
• Family 52 of 74
• Comedy 516 of 770
• Mystery 190 of 289
• Drama 860 of 1358
• Fantasy 123 of 201
• Biography 143 of 235
• Animation 48 of 80
• Sci-Fi 134 of 233
• Film-Noir 5 of 9
• Thriller 240 of 443
• Adventure 233 of 446
• History 46 of 89
• Crime 231 of 484
• Action 257 of 551
• Western 10 of 22
• War 16 of 36
• Sport 18 of 52

Most films have more than one genre, so they count in each. Genres with fewer than five films are left out.

Who gets heard

24%

of the words are spoken by women, in the median film.

102,261

conversations between two named men, against 26,363 between two named women.

96%

of films pass the test run the other way: two named men who talk about something besides a woman. 61% pass the Bechdel test.

Behind the camera

Women in each job

• Directors 184 of 2460
• Writers 428 of 3710
• Producers 1142 of 6162
• Cinematographers 73 of 2330
• Editors 502 of 2947
• Composers 87 of 2474
• Production designers 390 of 2084
• Costume designers 1478 of 1897
• Casting directors 2563 of 3208

By director

1. Wes Craven 9 of 9

   Pass: The Hills Have Eyes (1977), A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), New Nightmare (1994), Scream (1996), Scream 2 (1997), Music of the Heart (1999), Scream 3 (2000), Red Eye (2005), Scream 4 (2011)

2. Guillermo del Toro 7 of 11

   Pass: Mimic (1997), Blade II (2002), Pan's Labyrinth (2007), Pacific Rim (2013), Crimson Peak (2015), The Shape of Water (2017), Nightmare Alley (2021)

   Fail: Hellboy (2004), Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022), Frankenstein (2025)

3. David Lynch 5 of 8

   Pass: The Elephant Man (1980), Dune (1984), Twin Peaks (1991), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Mulholland Drive (2001)

   Fail: Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Lost Highway (1997)

4. Frank Capra 5 of 8

   Pass: Platinum Blonde (1931), Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936), Meet John Doe (1941), Arsenic and Old Lace (1944), It's a Wonderful Life (1947)

   Fail: American Madness (1932), It Happened One Night (1934), Lost Horizon (1937)

5. Sam Raimi 5 of 8

   Pass: The Evil Dead (1983), Evil Dead II (1987), Army of Darkness (1992), Spider-Man (2002), Drag Me to Hell (2009)

   Fail: Darkman (1990), A Simple Plan (1999), Spider-Man 2 (2004)

6. Steven Soderbergh 8 of 13

   Pass: Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), Out of Sight (1998), Erin Brockovich (2000), Traffic (2001), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Contagion (2011), Side Effects (2013), Black Bag (2025)

   Fail: Kafka (1991), The Limey (1999), Ocean's Eleven (2001), Solaris (2002), The Informant! (2009)

7. Robert Zemeckis 5 of 9

   Pass: Romancing the Stone (1984), Death Becomes Her (1992), Forrest Gump (1994), Contact (1997), What Lies Beneath (2000)

   Fail: Back to the Future (1985), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), Cast Away (2000), Flight (2012)

8. Richard Donner 6 of 11

   Pass: The Omen (1976), The Goonies (1985), Scrooged (1988), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Assassins (1995), Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)

   Fail: Superman (1978), The Toy (1982), Ladyhawke (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), 16 Blocks (2006)

9. Clint Eastwood 7 of 13

   Pass: Unforgiven (1992), Space Cowboys (2000), Million Dollar Baby (2005), Changeling (2008), Sully (2016), Richard Jewell (2019), Juror #2 (2024)

   Fail: Dirty Harry (1971), A Perfect World (1993), Absolute Power (1997), Gran Torino (2009), Invictus (2009), American Sniper (2015)

10. Tim Burton 7 of 13

    Pass: Beetlejuice (1988), Ed Wood (1994), Big Fish (2004), Corpse Bride (2005), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Frankenweenie (2012), Big Eyes (2014)

    Fail: Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), Mars Attacks! (1996), Sleepy Hollow (1999), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

11. Martin Scorsese 9 of 17

    Pass: The King of Comedy (1982), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), GoodFellas (1990), Casino (1995), Bringing Out the Dead (1999), Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), Hugo (2011), Killers of the Flower Moon (2023)

    Fail: Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Kundun (1998), The Departed (2006), The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), Silence (2017), The Irishman (2019)

12. David Fincher 6 of 12

    Pass: Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl (2014), Mank (2020)

    Fail: Alien³ (1992), Seven (1995), The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), The Social Network (2010), The Killer (2023)

13. Ron Howard 5 of 10

    Pass: Cocoon (1985), Willow (1988), Edtv (1999), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000), Cinderella Man (2005)

    Fail: Backdraft (1991), A Beautiful Mind (2002), Frost/Nixon (2009), Rush (2013), Thirteen Lives (2022)

14. Danny Boyle 4 of 8

    Pass: 28 Days Later (2003), Sunshine (2007), 127 Hours (2011), Steve Jobs (2015)

    Fail: Shallow Grave (1995), Trainspotting (1996), The Beach (2000), Slumdog Millionaire (2008)

15. Steven Spielberg 11 of 23

    Pass: Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Color Purple (1986), Jurassic Park (1993), Schindler's List (1994), War of the Worlds (2005), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), The BFG (2016), Ready Player One (2018), The Post (2018), West Side Story (2021), The Fabelmans (2022)

    Fail: Jaws (1975), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), Amistad (1997), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Catch Me If You Can (2002), Minority Report (2002), The Adventures of Tintin (2011), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015)

16. Ridley Scott 9 of 19

    Pass: Alien (1979), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Thelma & Louise (1991), G.I. Jane (1997), Hannibal (2001), The Martian (2015), All the Money in the World (2017), Alien: Covenant (2017), House of Gucci (2021)

    Fail: Blade Runner (1982), Legend (1986), Black Rain (1989), 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), White Squall (1996), Gladiator (2000), American Gangster (2007), Prometheus (2012), Napoleon (2023), Gladiator II (2024)

17. Francis Ford Coppola 4 of 9

    Pass: The Conversation (1974), The Outsiders (1983), The Cotton Club (1984), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

    Fail: The Godfather (1972), The Godfather Part II (1974), Apocalypse Now (1979), The Godfather Part III (1990), Dracula (1992)

18. Quentin Tarantino 4 of 9

    Pass: Pulp Fiction (1994), Jackie Brown (1997), Death Proof (2007), Inglourious Basterds (2009)

    Fail: Reservoir Dogs (1992), Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003), Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), Django Unchained (2012), The Hateful Eight (2015)

19. Christopher Nolan 5 of 12

    Pass: The Prestige (2006), The Dark Knight (2008), Inception (2010), The Dark Knight Rises (2012), Tenet (2020)

    Fail: Following (1999), Memento (2001), Insomnia (2002), Batman Begins (2005), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017), Oppenheimer (2023)

20. Oliver Stone 4 of 10

    Pass: Wall Street (1987), JFK (1991), Natural Born Killers (1994), Nixon (1996)

    Fail: Platoon (1986), Born on the Fourth of July (1990), The Doors (1991), U Turn (1997), Any Given Sunday (1999), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010)

21. Sam Mendes 3 of 8

    Pass: American Beauty (1999), Revolutionary Road (2009), Empire of Light (2022)

    Fail: Road to Perdition (2002), Jarhead (2005), Skyfall (2012), Spectre (2015), 1917 (2020)

22. John Carpenter 4 of 11

    Pass: Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987)

    Fail: Dark Star (1975), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Starman (1984), They Live (1988), Escape from L.A. (1996)

23. Michael Mann 3 of 9

    Pass: The Last of the Mohicans (1992), The Insider (1999), Ferrari (2023)

    Fail: Manhunter (1986), Heat (1995), Ali (2001), Collateral (2004), Miami Vice (2006), Public Enemies (2009)

24. Wes Anderson 3 of 9

    Pass: The Royal Tenenbaums (2002), The French Dispatch (2021), Asteroid City (2023)

    Fail: Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1999), Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014), Isle of Dogs (2018)

25. Brian De Palma 3 of 10

    Pass: Carrie (1976), The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), Mission to Mars (2000)

    Fail: Dressed to Kill (1980), Scarface (1983), Wise Guys (1986), Carlito's Way (1993), Mission: Impossible (1996), Snake Eyes (1998), The Black Dahlia (2006)

26. Peter Jackson 2 of 8

    Pass: Heavenly Creatures (1994), The Frighteners (1996)

    Fail: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003), King Kong (2005), The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)

27. Joel Coen 4 of 19

    Pass: Raising Arizona (1987), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Burn After Reading (2008), The Tragedy of Macbeth (2022)

    Fail: Blood Simple (1985), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), The Ladykillers (2004), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010), Inside Llewyn Davis (2014), Hail, Caesar! (2016), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

28. Ethan Coen 3 of 18

    Pass: Raising Arizona (1987), Intolerable Cruelty (2003), Burn After Reading (2008)

    Fail: Blood Simple (1985), Miller's Crossing (1990), Barton Fink (1991), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Fargo (1996), The Big Lebowski (1998), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2001), The Man Who Wasn't There (2001), The Ladykillers (2004), No Country for Old Men (2007), A Serious Man (2009), True Grit (2010), Inside Llewyn Davis (2014), Hail, Caesar! (2016), The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)

The 28 directors with 8 or more films on the shelf, one square per film. Open a name for the films. Co-directors, like Joel and Ethan Coen, each count the film. With this few films each, one film moves a director a long way.

By star

Of the 107 actors billed in the top three of 10 or more films on the shelf, 24 are women. These are the ten at each end.

How old the stars were

36

the average age of the top-billed women when their film came out.

42

the same for the top-billed men.

76%

of films cast women who are younger on average than the men (1746 of 2290).

The ten top-billed actors of each film, from TMDB birthdays, for the 2290 films with at least one woman and one man among them.

The money