10 Movies That End In Utter Silence

The sound of silence.

By Jack Pooley /

United Artists

The transition from a movie's final shot to its end credits sequence is an arguably underappreciated aspect of the filmmaking process, because as much as a memorable final shot will linger in the audience's mind forever more, the credits are truly the last thing the audience sees before exiting the cinema.

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And as the majority of credits sequences are just a regular list of white-on-black names, their mood is often best defined by the director's choice of music to play audiences out.

Would The Dark Knight's stunning ending have left everyone on quite the same high without Hans Zimmer's immortal score playing into the credits? Of course not, but to the same token, filmmakers occasionally employ silence to similarly disarming and impactful effect.

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Silence can be just as evocative and emotional as a great piece of music, and at the best of times, the absence of sound will leave audiences to ponder on what they've just spend two hours of their lives watching.

It goes without saying that silent credits are most commonly reserved for movies with downer endings, though as this list will prove, that's thankfully not always the case.

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Either way, when it's done right, a silent credits roll can lend added gravitas and dignity to a stunning final scene...