12 Best Silent Films of All Time

By Vlad Zakh · August 18, 2026

Arthouse slow and atmospheric thought provoking

Without dialogue, silent films had to say everything with faces, bodies and the odd title card, and the best of them still work without a word of explanation. Chaplin runs right through this list: The Kid, City Lights, Modern Times and The Gold Rush. Buster Keaton’s The General is in here too, and Harold Lloyd dangling off a skyscraper in Safety Last! is one of those images you’ll recognize even if you’ve never seen the film.

The Kid (1921)

IMDb ★ 8.2 RT 100%

A tramp raises an abandoned baby into a scrappy young accomplice.

Directed by Charlie Chaplin · 1h 08m · Rated NR

2 wins

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, HBO Max Amazon Channel, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, MGM Plus Roku Premium Channel, YouTube TV · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Modern Times (1936)

IMDb ★ 8.5 RT 98% Metacritic 96

A factory worker's sanity frays under an assembly line, as silent comedy meets the sound era on its own terms.

Directed by Charlie Chaplin · 1h 27m · Rated G

6 wins & 1 nomination

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max Amazon Channel, YouTube TV, Criterion Channel, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

City Lights (1931)

IMDb ★ 8.5 RT 95% Metacritic 99

A tramp falls for a blind flower seller and works to pay for the surgery that will let her see him.

Directed by Charlie Chaplin · 1h 27m · Rated G

6 wins

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, HBO Max Amazon Channel, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Gold Rush (1925)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 98% Metacritic 90

A prospector's Klondike misadventures include a starving cabin-mate and a famous boot dinner.

Directed by Charlie Chaplin · 1h 35m · Rated NR

Nominated for 2 Oscars7 wins & 3 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Criterion Channel, History Vault, Eternal Family, HBO Max, FilmBox Live Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Safety Last! (1923)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 97%

A store clerk's publicity stunt has him climbing the outside of a skyscraper by hand.

Directed by Fred C. Newmeyer & Sam Taylor · 1h 13m · Rated NR

4 wins & 1 nomination

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Philo, Fandor Amazon Channel, HBO Max · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The General (1926)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 92%

A train engineer chases his stolen locomotive behind enemy lines during the Civil War.

Directed by Clyde Bruckman & Buster Keaton · 1h 19m · Rated NR

3 wins & 1 nomination

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, MGM+ Amazon Channel, Philo, MGM Plus, FlixFling · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 98% Metacritic 95

A man's planned murder of his wife unravels into an unexpected reconciliation over one day in the city.

Directed by F. W. Murnau · 1h 34m · Rated NR

Won 3 Oscars10 wins & 2 nominations

Where to watch

Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Metropolis (1927)

IMDb ★ 8.2 RT 97% Metacritic 98

A wealthy city's son falls for a worker organising the oppressed labourers who keep it running underground.

Directed by Fritz Lang · 2h 28m · Rated NR

7 wins & 6 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Brew, FlixFling, Eternal Family, Kino Film Collection, Artiflix · Rent: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling · Buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

IMDb ★ 8.1 RT 98% Metacritic 98

Joan of Arc's trial and execution, shot almost entirely in unflinching close-up.

Directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer · 1h 21m · Rated NR

4 wins & 1 nomination

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, FlixFling, HBO Max, France Channel Amazon Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

IMDb ★ 7.9 RT 100% Metacritic 97

A mutiny aboard a Russian battleship becomes a founding piece of revolutionary cinema.

Directed by Sergei Eisenstein · 1h 15m · Rated NR

1 win

Where to watch

Stream: HBO Max Amazon Channel, Brew, YouTube TV, Criterion Channel, FlixFling, Klassiki · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Nosferatu (1922)

IMDb ★ 7.8 RT 97%

The original unauthorised Dracula adaptation, still one of horror's most influential silent films.

Directed by F. W. Murnau · 1h 34m · Rated NR

3 wins & 2 nominations

Where to watch

Stream: Amazon Prime Video, AMC+ Amazon Channel, Shudder, Shudder Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, FlixFling · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

IMDb ★ 8.0 RT 96%

A hypnotist and his sleepwalking medium are suspected in a string of murders, told in a famously warped, expressionist style.

Directed by Robert Wiene · 1h 17m · Rated NR

2 wins & 1 nomination

Where to watch

Stream: fuboTV, Philo, Shudder, Fandor Amazon Channel, Screambox Amazon Channel, Eternal Family · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home

▶ Trailer Letterboxd

Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix. He started the site because most recommendation pages felt like noise. Here, lists are sorted by who's in the film, where it's from and what mood you're in tonight.

12 Best Silent Films of All Time

The Kid (1921)

Modern Times (1936)

City Lights (1931)

The Gold Rush (1925)

Safety Last! (1923)

The General (1926)

Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans (1927)

Metropolis (1927)

The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Nosferatu (1922)

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

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