Bechdel Test Movie List

The two most relevant female characters are both mainly romantic interests in terms of how they add to the plot.

There are only two named female characters, Darling and Debora. They never speak to each other. I think that Debora does speak to a fellow waitress during the film, but the waitress isn't named.

3 Female Characters- filling all female archetypes.

1. Wholesome girl next door character who is the love interest.
2. Hypersexual intimidating female villain/henchmen
3. Dead mother in flashbacks.

It's a shame because Spacey's character could've been switched out for a female and not affected the plot at all.


In saying that, it's a fantastic film and I encourage everyone to see it.

Agree with previous comments, but I don't encourage anyone to watch this film. There's no excuse for the terrible female characters - this is 2017.
They could have cast a woman for any of the important characters but chose to only cast women as love interests (or dead mothers) with zero personality.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there is a scene where Debora is taking Darlings order at the diner, and she simply asks her what she would like to order- no talk of a male character at all. Again, I may be wrong but I thought I should bring it up for discussion.

Kia Ora from New Zealand, just stumbled across this page and wholeheartedly agree. Another point that boggled me throughout was how the writers made Darling be so ok with any traumatic shit baby threw her into, she was such a companion object. Gross. -5/ 5 stars

After checking the dinner scene, Debora never actually interacts with Darling. She exclusively talks to Bats (Jamie Fox) instead. The test is therefore failed indeed.

Good movie though.

Laura & Liam Hoffman, you should not judge a movie on just the amount of female character, or their purpose. understand that their are literally 6 characters that get development. darling is overtly sexual because that is buddy and darlings dynamic so there is someone who deeply cares about her when she dies. debora is a love interest and i quote "you're the most exiting thing in my life right now" and is not just there for sex appeal, but she is a love interest, of the protagonist. so its her character.

go see this movie. its great. also not sexist.

Aden, I love what you’re adding, but it’s hard to claim something is just flat out not sexist, when it literally doesn’t contain a single interaction between women not concerning men. I agree that it is one of my favorite films, but I am male; I am represented. Females are poorly represented in the film. To agree further with previous commenters, it would not have been difficult to cast a female in any one of the few roles. If I’m being honest Elgort, Spacey and Hamm are the only characters truly fleshed out, and at the very least any of the already existing female characters could have been even slightly more developed. That being said, it is an incredibly fun movie full of spectacle and excellent editorial orchestration and mis en scene, just could use a real facelift in the character department—especially for a 2017 flick.

aden, the bechdel test literally only exists to judge movies based on the amount of female characters and their purpose. this is easily one of my favorite movies of all time but if you're going to be on this website, you should try to understand what it's for.

It’s a film about bank robbers. The entire story with Darling and Buddy is that Buddy was a scummy business man who lost it all on bad bets and coke, and turned to a life of crime with his new bride - a stripper he met in Vegas. You can say that’s overly sexual, but it’s literally just a choice of background that is grounded and makes sense. Deborah is the love interest that serves to directly counteract Baby’s life of crime. Her purpose in the film isn’t to look cute, but to provide the wholesome contrast to the rest of the plot. She goes along with what Baby puts her through because she’s supposed to represent the purity that she sees in him, and to bring him that way like his mother wanted. It’s not an overly deep movie, and it’s literally just a modern take on a classic trope done in style. The fact that a criminal bank-robbing ex-stripper and the Wholesome Character(tm) don’t interact should come as no surprise to anyone. Would you prefer more women represented as criminals in this movie? If Spacey’s role was replaced with a woman, would it not receive backlash for a “controlling, bossy, mother-infatuated” archetype? His nickname is literally Baby, I think that might get some eyebrows out of the same crowd if the role was played by a woman. I think it could work, but seriously discussing what that could look like. I think of all movies to fail the test, this is one that it should not reflect poorly on