Which of the most recent best picture Oscar nominees pass/fail the test?

“I’m not really a movie person,” says Alison Bechdel, but that hasn’t stopped the cartoonist, graphic novelist, and MacArthur “genius” grant recipient from occasionally weighing in on a film when a Bechdel-Wallace Test rating is up for debate. She once cited Quentin Tarantino’s 1997 thriller “Jackie

Brown,” starring Pam Grier, as a fail that nevertheless boasts

“one of the strongest female protagonists I’ve ever seen in a Hollywood movie — it’s an amazing feminist text.”

And after a writer took to Twitter to declare “Fire Island” a fail, Bechdel added a humorous “corollary” to the test in support of the 2022 summer comedy, tweeting that “two men talking to each other about the female protagonist of an Alice Munro story in a screenplay structured on a Jane Austen novel = pass.”

While film scholar Martha M. Lauzen sees the test as a useful tool, it’s also a blunt instrument that “does not provide an accurate measure of the quality of portrayals of female characters,” she said. “Films that pass the test do not necessarily feature positive representations of girls and women and those that fail do not necessarily feature negative portrayals.”

Even with these caveats in mind, the data is revealing. In 2018, a BBC analysis found only 49 percent of Oscar best-picture winners from 1929 to 2017 passed the Bechdel Test. And in the 96-year history of the Academy Awards, a woman has won best director just three times.

So, how did the past two years’ worth of Oscar best-picture nominees fare on the test, according to the internet?

Remember, the three criteria of the Bechdel-Wallace Test are: 1. The work must feature at least two (preferably named) women; 2. who talk to each other; 3. about something other than a man.

While some films are clear passes (3/3) or fails (0/3), many are up for debate.

2024 BEST-PICTURE NOMINEES Pass

“American Fiction”: Women have supporting roles, but key ones — as main character Monk’s sister, mother, housekeeper, colleague, and girlfriend.

“Anatomy of a Fall”: Justine Triet was also nominated for best director for this thriller, which got a 93 percent “Cherry Score” on the website Cherry Picks (thecherrypicks.com), a feminist take on Rotten Tomatoes.

“Barbie”: But does it pass the Reverse Bechdel Test? The Kens are almost always talking about Barbie.

“Past Lives”: The website Mediaversity (mediaversityreviews.com) gave an A+ to Celine Song’s feature debut, which “centers the interior life of its female protagonist.”

“Poor Things”: “Bella claims center stage,” Natalia Winkelman wrote in her Globe review of the film that won Emma Stone best actress, “and whether she’s acting as an innocent or a sophisticate, Stone has no problem anchoring the chaos.”

“The Zone of Interest”: “Women can be just as callous, just as brutal, as men,” says Mediaversity.

Fail

“Killers of the Flower Moon”: Contested. While some say Martin Scorsese’s Osage epic meets all three criteria, one user on Bechdel Test Movie List argues the women’s conversations are brief and “irrelevant to the main plot. That’s the key.”

“Maestro”: Debatable. Detractors say Leonard Bernstein’s wife is defined only by that role.

“Oppenheimer”: Winner takes all? Not when it comes to the Bechdel Test. As Chloë Sevigny put it, “I kind of enjoyed it, but I also felt like it was just white guys doing bad stuff.”

“The Holdovers”: Contested, as Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who Globe film critic Odie Henderson called “the movie’s heart and its MVP,” is such a strong character. She won the Oscar for best supporting actress for her portrayal of prep-school cook Mary Lamb.

2023 BEST-PICTURE NOMINEES Pass

“Avatar: The Way of Water”: Has James Cameron been taking notes since 2009, when the original failed?

“The Banshees of Inisherin”: Debated, with a Bechdel Test Movie List user noting women aren’t fully named.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once”: This winner passes everything, everywhere, all at once.

“Tár”: But when will the real classical music world catch up?

“Top Gun: Maverick”: While there’s some dialogue between women, it feels tacked on so no one can say “the film doesn’t pass the Bechdel test,” quips one Bechdel Test Movie List user.

“Triangle of Sadness”: But three out of three = a triangle of happiness.

“Women Talking”: Just barely because their talk revolves around the men they’re trying to escape.

Fail

“All Quiet on the Western Front”: Granted, “it’s a war film,” says one Bechdel Test Movie List user.

“Elvis”: A little less conversation — for the women, which Baz Luhrmann’s biopic “erases,” says Mediaversity.

“The Fabelmans”: Relax! It’s definitely debatable. There is some dialogue between female characters, but a Bechdel Test Movie List user notes it’s “irrelevant” to the plot.