15 Movies Screenwriters Should Watch to Study Dialogue

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What are the best movies that you should study if you want to learn how to write amazing dialogue?

The best dialogue is lightning in a bottle. There’s no real formula. It’s not a paint-by-the-numbers process that everyone can follow.

We’ve explored the “secrets” of writing great dialogue.

Read ScreenCraft’s The Single Secret of Writing Great Dialogue!

Lack of dialogue is where you start — that’s the first key to unlocking the mysteries of memorable movie dialogue. The best practice is less about injecting those great one-liners and speeches and more about cutting and cutting and cutting every line of dialogue that you can until you find that great one-liner, fragment, or phrase hiding amidst the noise — that diamond in the rough that encapsulates the moment at the core.

The second and final key to unlocking the secret of writing great dialogue is to understand that there is no secret. There is no single final secret. And the moment you realize that will be the moment that you’ll feel a heavy weight lifted from your shoulders.

There are no dialogue rules that can apply to each and every screenplay.

Some scripts require expositional dialogue — others would suffer from it.

Some scripts require the added touch of stylistic dialogue — others don’t need it.

Some scripts require no dialogue, letting actions speak louder than words (Dunkirk, The Road) — others would benefit from it.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from the best cinematic dialogue that has graced the big and small screens. Part of the learning process of writing is seeking out the best inspiration you can find. Then you can build on that inspiration and apply your own style and choices.

Here we offer fifteen movies — in no specific order — that screenwriters should watch to study cinematic dialogue. We’ll also briefly break down what you can learn from each.