Drama, suspense, action, explosions — these are all the common ways in which movies seek to hold our attention. Seeing such grand spectacles enacted on the screen evokes similarly magnificent responses within us. But movies aren’t all about flashy tricks, and a good movie can do all that, and more, simply through the power of good dialogue. There is no way to downplay the importance of visual spectacle in cinema. However, there is a different allure to a movie that can command your attention with nothing but deeply woven conversations.
It’s almost a separate genre of its own at this point. Filmmakers have done it for years to various effects — some of these conversational films impart incisive commentaries on the human condition, while others are powerful works of fiction that craft tantalizing drama with nothing but everyday conversation. Let’s look at 11 of the best movies that revolve around conversations.
11 The Before Trilogy
The Before trilogy by Richard Linklater is one of the most essential movies in the modern romance category. Starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy in the leading roles, the three movies are set about a decade apart from each other. Each movie chronicles broad conversations about love, life, art, and philosophy that the two characters have over the course of a long walk.
Through these conversations, they fall in love in the first movie, reconnect in the second, and rediscover each other through a broken marriage in the third. For some, the Before trilogy is among the purest expressions of the ideal romance in cinema. At the same time, the films come with a measure of realism that is missing in most rom-coms.
10 Midnight in Paris
Midnight in Paris is possibly the most charming role ever by Owen Wilson, and he stars in the movie as a Hollywood screenwriter on a vacation in Paris. Struggling to find inspiration in his work, he becomes captivated by the artistic history of Paris. What follows is an enchanting medley of history and time travel as Wilson’s character seemingly travels back to the 20s during late-night promenades, interacting with a variety of historic figures like Salvator Dali, Gertrude Stein, Ernest Hemingway, and many others.
9 The Man from Earth
Anchor Bay
The Man from Earth is a critically acclaimed indie film that revolves around an intriguing concept: an immortal human who has been alive for more than 14,000 years. Actor David Lee Smith stars in the movie as the protagonist John Oldman, who lives life as a college professor who moves regularly to avoid being discovered. The movie takes place entirely in his home, where a group of his colleagues gather to give him a farewell.
Through the course of an evening, he reveals his secret to his friends who express incredulity and seek to debunk the idea through their own academic expertise. The conversations take some deeply philosophical turns as Oldman shares his experience of different ancient civilizations and talks about his participation in important historical events including major religious movements.
8 12 Angry Men
12 Angry Men is an iconic movie from 1957 that fully utilizes the power of dialogue to craft a gripping story. The entirety of the movie takes place in a single, cloistered jury room and follows a jury’s deliberation over the fate of a teenager charged with murder. Actor Henry Fonda appears in the movie as the sole juror who seeks to give due diligence to the young soul, and becomes the catalyst for heated conflicts until one by one, every single juror decides that the evidence is simply not enough to give a guilty verdict.
7 My Dinner with Andre
My Dinner with Andre is a film where the conversation is truly the centerpiece of the movie. Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn appear in the movie as two old, not-so-close friends who meet after more than a decade. Andre has spent the past 10 years in an extended spiritual adventure, travailing with monks and roaming through unusual parts of the world. Meanwhile, Wallace has spent that time living a straight life in New York, busying himself with the conventional human comforts. The movie chronicles a deeply incisive debate between these two people, with their drastically opposing life experiences and principles.
6 The Breakfast Club
The iconic coming-of-age movie The Breakfast Club is another movie whose charm resides in its conversations. An assorted crew belonging to different high school cliques find themselves spending an entire day together for a weekend detention. After some initial hostilities, the students begin to find points of connection with each through sharing their life stories. This endearing story ultimately sees a group of seemingly opposing personalities bond over relatable personal woes and develop a genuine friendship.
5 Coffee and Cigarettes
Take My Dinner with Andre and shuffle it up with numerous similar conversations, and you get Coffee and Cigarettes. Directed by Jim Jarmusch, this 2004 movie is structured as an anthology of 11 different interactions recorded in black-and-white. Different celebrities make appearances in each section, having loose conversations about anything from the Tesla coil to the dangers of smoking.
Recorded in varied settings and over an extended period of time, these conversations are as real as they are composed. The odd topics and differing opinions roll over each other through the minutes into a rich, engrossing stream that is the most unique portrayal of life’s obsessions you have ever seen.
4 The Hateful Eight
It makes sense that a movie by Quentin Tarantino would find its way into this list, as he is famous for his love of writing lyrical, naturalistic dialogues. Most of his movies, though, have a lot more than just plain old conversations as they are also filled with enthusiastic displays of violence. Although The Hateful Eight is no different in this regard, violence in this movie is more like the dessert than the main course. The entirety of this three-hour-long movie keeps you hooked with tense, suspenseful conversations as a group of weary travelers are forced to spend a night together to avoid a blizzard. Set in the period after the American Civil War, the movie is filled with dangerous characters, all of whom are suspicious of each other’s identities and intentions.
3 Locke
- Shoebox Films
IM Global
A lesser-known gem in actor Tom Hardy’s filmography, Locke is a powerful movie that employs the full force of his dramatic chops. The movie takes place in its entirety in a car while Hardy as the sole actor to appear on-screen drives from Birmingham to London. A married man, his destination is a hospital where a woman he had an affair with is undergoing premature labor. The movie takes place over the course of a series of phone calls where Hardy’s character finds his entire life crumble before him, with Locke being forced to examine his entire life due to the circumstances.
2 Exam
The 2009 psychological thriller Exam is another movie on this list that takes place in a single location. The movie reveals precious little for much of its runtime, and the viewer gets the sense that it takes place in a dystopian world. It begins with a group of people appearing for an employment assessment exam for a secretive company. They are given a few very specific rules, and are told that they need to answer a single question in order to qualify for the position.
But when the clock starts ticking, they find that the sheet of paper they received is blank. The movie depicts the extreme lengths to which the candidates go in order to solve this puzzle and qualify for the job.
1 Night on Earth
The 1991 film Night on Earth is a charming but underrated film that explores the temporary bond that forms between taxi drivers and their passengers. This film is composed of five vignettes that each trace five different interactions taking place in taxis in different cities. Its characters tend to be at odds with each other and the differences in socioeconomic backgrounds is often the crux of these interactions. Night on Earth can be odd and hilarious, and the clashes between worldviews often lead the way to unexpected results.