The Stitch Count

The Stitch Count is where we start gently tugging at the seams of a film. We aren't looking for perfection, it’s about whether the movie actually holds together when you look at who gets to matter and why. 

We view it through three lenses:

First is the Castellini Test, where we check if women aren’t just present, but speaking, acting, and structurally necessary to the story actually ending the way it does. 

Second is Inclusivity & Gaze. Who’s included, how they’re treated, and whether the camera and the narrative respect them as full people instead of set dressing. 

Third is the Tremors Gold Standard, because Tremors is what happens when a movie quietly assumes everyone can be competent and worth saving and then just gets on with it. 

All of this to find out if the film stitches its characters together into something warm, cozy, and communal, or does the quilt start coming apart? 

 

The Castellini Test:

1. There have to be at least two named women characters with at least 5 lines of dialog each.
2. Those characters must have a conversation, not necessarily with the other woman, either not about their partner or with their partner (future or current) and not about their relationship.
3. At least one of the women has to be integral to the plot, meaning that if she were written out of the film, it couldn’t reach the same ending.

 

Inclusivity & Gaze: Score each 0 or 1 (Max: 4 points):

1. Racial diversity with agency (not just background)
2. LGBTQ+ presence that isn’t a punchline or tragedy
3. Age, body type, or disability treated with dignity
4. Camera gaze (not relentlessly sexualized or punitive)
   
   

The Tremors Gold Standard 0-4:

0 – Below Tremors (Fails the Basics)

• Characters are sidelined, disposable, or punished for competence
• Women, marginalized characters, or outsiders exist to motivate others
• Power dynamics feel mean-spirited or regressive
  
  

1 – Approaches Tremors (Partial Competence)

• Some inclusive instincts, but uneven follow-through
• Characters show skill, but authority still defaults to the usual suspects
  
• Progress, but with friction
  
  

2 – Tremors-Adjacent (Solid, Respectful, Functional)

• Diverse characters are allowed to be good at things
• Survival and problem-solving matter more than ego
• No one is diminished to make someone else look cool
  
  

3 – Tremors-Level (The Gold Standard)

• Competence is distributed across gender, age, class, and personality
• Women make critical decisions without comment or apology
• The narrative assumes equality and moves on
• Survival requires cooperation, not dominance
  
  

4 – Exceeds Tremors (Rare, Powerful, Intentional)

• Matches Tremors’ baseline and adds explicit thematic depth
• Inclusivity is both baked in and examined
• The film would be lesser if any of its marginalized characters were removed