Bechdel Test Movie List

The female leads Maya (Jessica Chastain) and Jessica (Jennifer Ehle) discuss topics like their work and living situation at least a few times.

Yes they have a conversation, but Jennifer Ehle's character asks Maya if she has hooked up with her boss, which would seem to be in direct violation. Do they talk for more than 60 seconds about topics other than men? Perhaps, but it seems improbable considering the whole movie is about a man hunt.

@Holden: I mean they were CIA employees hunting Al Qaeda, it was kind of their job to talk about men, I don't really think that's what the Bechdel Test has in mind when it criticizes films for showing female characters only talking about men. Aside from the brief attempt on Jennifer Ehle's part to get something personal out of Maya, it's all business.

@Holden: The point of the scene is ultimately to demonstrate that Maya is too concentrated on her work to think about dating... so in that context it still does what the Bechdel test is hoping the dialogue achieves: A demonstration of a female character whose existence and motivations are defined independently of men... and then the two escape *spoilers ahead* an earth-shattering explosion together, without need of rescue by a man.

It definitely passes the test. Their first two interactions in the movie are disagreements over Al Queda's movements and tactics, and only during the dinner scene does the subject of men come up. I think that their last interaction should also count, even if it technically concerns a man, because his gender is irrelevant (he's an informant) and like most of what they discuss, it relates directly to their work.

I would add that there is also a brief exchange between Jessica and her associate Lauren before the car bomb attack.

feminism in the service of empire is not feminism, it is the appropriation of feminism. the normalization of torture in this film is an outrage. hegemony is not justice.

I wouldn't say that the film normalizes torture. It does portray it as being an important part of the search, but it also shows the effect on its practitioners. Maya becomes a harder, more ruthless person because of her monomaniacal desire for revenge. And we see that at the end of the film she really gains nothing but an empty sense of purpose. Depicting something in a story does not denote an endorsement of that thing.

@Emma: You may disagree with the importance of the test, but your comment doesn't qualify as disagreeing with the rating.