The Bechdel Test actually comes from the above comic strip (Dykes to Watch Out For by Alison Bechdel), which was originally published in 1985. It has become an unofficial standard for whether or not female characters are represented as whole, complex people in any work of fiction.

As the cartoon states, for a movie (or script or TV show) to pass the test, it must:

Have at least two women in it… Who talk to each other… About something other than a man.

I know that I have written several scripts that don’t pass the test, and I bet I’m not alone. The test isn’t a hard and fast rule (I tend to write sex comedies, so everyone talks primarily about sex) but it’s a great way while working on a script to remind yourself to create characters that are more than what’s expected.