7 Great Movies That Don't Have (A lot Of) Dialogue

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As a writer, I take a certain delight in weaving characters’ voices together with wonderful dialogue. However, I like to give myself challenges, so I have been working on a few ideas where I wouldn’t use dialogue to tell the story.

And it’s perfect timing, honestly, since the dialogue-free indie film Flow beat out Inside Out 2 and The Wild Robot for the Best Animated Feature Oscar.

I’m trying to make it the ultimate “show, don’t tell” project, maybe. But to make it, I have been watching a lot of movies without dialogue in order to gain inspiration.

No, I’m not talking about silent films, but more modern movies where characters simply don’t talk for most of it.

I have some options on which of them I think are the best, so let’s dive in.

1. Wall-E

Director: Andrew Stanton
Writers: Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon Story by: Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter
Voice Cast: Ben Burtt: WALL-E / M-O, Elissa Knight: EVE, Jeff Garlin, Fred Willard, John Ratzenberger, Kathy Najimy, Sigourney Weaver.

For me, this is the gold standard. of all Pixar movies. we actually cared about a robot, the repopulation of Earth, and the environment without words.

2. All is Lost

Director: J.C. Chandor
Writer: J.C. Chandor
Cast: Robert Redford

I remember seeing this at the Arclight and you could hear a pin drop in the audience. The boat is sinking and there’s not even cursing, it’s just determination and skill.

3. The Bear

Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Writer: Gérard Brach (adaptation and screenplay), James Oliver Curwood (novel)
Cast: the main cast of this movie are real Bears.

When I was a kid, I loved watching this movie. We follow a family of bears around, and there’s a really emotional story at its center.

4. Cast Away

Director: Robert Zemeckis
Writer: William Broyles Jr.
Cast: Tom Hanks

The middle stretch of this movie is just a wordless plan for survival. Zemeckis and Hanks keep it all minimal, and you really need a strong actor to pull off all the emotions involved when he returns home.

5. A Quiet Place

Director: John Krasinski
Writers: Bryan Woods, Scott Beck, John Krasinski
Cast: John Krasinski, Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe

Not having a lot of dialogue was built into the story in such a clever way. We have aliens who listen, and we have a family that needs to say a lot of repressed things out loud.

6. Under the Skin

Director: Jonathan Glazer
Writers: Walter Campbell, Jonathan Glazer (based on the novel by Michel Faber)
Cast: Scarlett Johansson

This is one of my favorite weird movies. Such a strange look at aliens watching humans, and a fun dissection of humanity in general.

7. Duel

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writer: Richard Matheson
Cast: Dennis Weaver

I saw this movie as a kid, and I frequently go back to it. Spielberg had such complete control of this story without words. We get all the terror and worry about being stalked across the highway without anyone even having to make a phone call or exposition dump. It’s isolating.

Summing Up 7 Great Movies That Don’t Have Dialogue

These are the tops on my list of seven, but I bet you have some movies without dialogue that you love. I steered completely away from classic silent films, only focusing on more modern fare.

We have a great post that covers silent films you should check out.

And I want to hear your favorite movies without dialogue.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

7 Great Movies That Don’t Have (A lot Of) Dialogue

1. Wall-E

2. All is Lost

3. The Bear

4. Cast Away

5. A Quiet Place

6. Under the Skin

7. Duel

Summing Up 7 Great Movies That Don’t Have Dialogue

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1. Wall-E

2. All is Lost

3. The Bear

4. Cast Away

5. A Quiet Place

6. Under the Skin

7. Duel

Summing Up 7 Great Movies That Don’t Have Dialogue

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Keep Updated About Our Product

Service

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