The base of many movies is their dialogue. Not only do dialogues allow the actors to show their talent, but they also serve to move the plot ahead. However, while dialogue-heavy movies can work brilliantly, a movie is also a visual medium and can, therefore, do well without using many words.

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In some cases, silence is a better tool than dialogue and serves to heighten the atmosphere, and increase the odds. While these movies aren’t as common as their more talkative counterparts, several movies in the history of sound cinema have made great use of silence and become all the more memorable for it.

5 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

HAL, the artificially intelligent pilot of the film’s spacecraft.

Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is hailed as one of the best science fiction movies of all time. And that’s despite the fact – or possibly because of it – that it uses silence a lot. So much so that the first dialogue appears after 25 minutes, and the last 23 minutes of the movie don’t use it either. Kubrick relies on music instead because from the beginning, he aimed to make the movie a wordless experience, and he didn’t want to rely on typical storytelling methods.

He succeeded and 2001: A Space Odyssey remains a contemplative sci-fi meditation about life, death, and many more subjects. It’s visually beautiful and has the power to make the audience think. The movie won an Oscar for the best visual effects, but its true victory was the iconic status it gained.

4 Girl With A Pearl Earring (2003)

Girl with a Pearl Earring 2003

Movies about paintings and art, in general, don’t often need as many words as other genres. Girl with a Pearl Earring is an excellent example of that. Set in the 17th century, the movie focuses on a young girl Griet who starts working for the famous painter Vermeer and his family as a maid. Despite the difference in their social status, Vermeer and Griet find their way to each other because they both view the world in different ways.

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The movie offers many visually beautiful scenes that could very well be one of Vermeer’s paintings. And in depicting the fragile developing bond between Griet and Vermeer, it shows that sometimes less is more and that looks and colors are just as efficient storytelling means as words. If that wasn’t enough for the audience, the movie also has an excellent cast, starring Scarlett Johansson and Colin Firth.

3 All Is Lost (2013)

All Is Lost 2013

Despite its less than an optimistic title, not everything is lost in the movie. At least not as long as its main and only hero, an unnamed man played by Robert Redford, continues to fight all the dangers and challenges the sea throws at him while he sails at his ship. Since Redford is the only actor in the movie, there’s no space for dialogue scenes between him and the other characters.

That doesn’t mean the movie is without words, but there are only a few of them. Instead, the story focuses on Redford’s stubborn fight for his survival. It’s easy to get captivated by his struggle and by keeping a fast pace and focusing on action instead of talking, All Is Lost leaves a strong impression. So much so that it was nominated for multiple awards and Redford won several of them for his performance.

2 Hush (2016)

The Stalker From Hush

One way how to use silence in a movie in a creative way is to tell a story through the eyes of a deaf person. The director Mike Flanagan combined this idea with the home invasion horror genre, and the result is well worth it. Flanagan is no stranger to horror movies, having directed Oculus (2013) or Before I Wake (2016). In Hush, he manages to create an intense atmosphere while working with only a handful of actors.

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The most important character is Maddie (Kate Siegel) who stopped talking and became deaf when she was 13. Maddie is now an adult, works as a writer, and mostly leads a solitary, but calm life. That changes when an unknown man with a mask on his face tries to get inside Maddie’s home. And fighting someone when Maddie can’t hear but only see him is no easy task. The fact that Maddie is deaf and doesn’t speak allows the movie to offer a creative spin to the otherwise familiar home invasion storyline. As a result, Hush is a must-watch for all fans of the genre.

1 A Quiet Place (2018)

Lee holding Marcus in A Quiet Place

With the word quiet in its title, the movie suggests that it will put greater emphasis on other things than words. And it fulfills the promise, creating an atmospheric story about an alien invasion. The aliens hunt those who make noise, so the Abbott family has to stay as quiet as possible. But the birth of a new baby is coming, and their secret silence will be broken which could cost them their lives.

Directed by John Krasinski, the movie offers strong acting performances from Krasinski, Emily Blunt, as well as their onscreen children, most notably Millicent Simmonds. Unlike in other movies, making a sound means the difference between life and death in A Quiet Place, which means that the characters’ and viewers’ nerves alike are strung to the maximum for the entire movie. As a result, A Quiet Place isn’t a movie that the audience easily forgets.

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