10 Movie Scenes That Do So Much Without Actually Saying Anything

10. Rey's Introduction - Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars isn't really a franchise we associate with the "show, don't tell" principle, but The Force Awakens did a fantastic job of introducing audiences to new protagonist Rey (Daisy Ridley) in meaningfully wordless fashion.

Rey's first scene in the movie goes three minutes without any dialogue whatsoever, instead offering up a montage of her scavenging scrap materials from the fallen Star Destroyer on her home planet Jakku.

But these three minutes tell us everything we need to know about Rey: she's poor and needs to scavenge to make ends meet, she's brave and resourceful by skulking around inside the Star Destroyer, and she's on her own as she has to drag the salvaged scrap around without anyone's help.

Yet perhaps the most telling moment in the entire scene occurs when Rey is cleaning her scrap and looks over at an elderly woman doing the very same thing. Nothing is said, but it's clear that Rey is desperate to avoid a fate where she's condemned to live this way forever.

Say what you want about The Force Awakens being overly indebted to A New Hope, but this scene was as smartly conceived as it was narratively efficient, with no need whatsoever for dull expository dialogue.