Film

Silence

Name: Silence
Genre: Drama, History
Released: 2016
Cast: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, Tadanobu Asano, Ciarán Hinds

Scorsese's austere, punishing epic about two Jesuit priests smuggling their faith into a Japan that tortures it out of converts. It's slow, unglamorous, and asks a genuinely uncomfortable question: what does silence from God actually mean when you're the one being tortured for believing in him? Not entertainment in any conventional sense — more a vigil. For patient viewers wrestling with faith, doubt, or both.

TMDb rating

7.1

If you liked this

Black Robe1991

A Jesuit missionary treks into the Canadian wilderness convinced he's saving souls, and the land and its people push back in ways that dismantle his certainty. Cold, brutal, and morally unresolved in exactly the way Silence is.

But Bleak and grim with almost no relief; it's a hard, punishing watch with little warmth to hold onto.

The Mission1986

Robert De Niro and Jeremy Irons as Jesuits caught between empire, faith, and violence in colonial South America. Gorgeous, mournful, and asking the same question Silence does: what does devotion cost, and who pays it?

But The score and visuals can tip into the operatic where Scorsese stays austere; some find it too handsome for its subject.

A Hidden Life2019

Malick's quiet, devastating account of an Austrian farmer who refuses to swear loyalty to Hitler. Same interior stillness, same unbearable question of what a private, unwitnessed faith is actually worth.

But Nearly three hours of hushed, meditative pacing with almost no plot momentum — you have to surrender to its rhythm.

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Witch2016

Same question in a different costume: does God actually answer, or is the believer alone with their own terror and interpretation? Eggers takes Scorsese's silence and lets something monstrous fill it.

A Puritan family exiled to the edge of the wilderness slowly comes apart as their faith is tested by isolation, hunger, and something that may or may not be the Devil. Robert Eggers turns Silence's theological dread into full-blown horror.

But It's a genuine horror film with slow-building dread and an ambiguous, unsettling ending — not for anyone wanting reassurance.

Of Gods and Men2010

French monks in Algeria choose to stay as extremist violence closes in around them. Understated, dreadful, and deeply humane — faith as a daily practice rather than a dramatic gesture.

But Very little happens for long stretches; the tension is entirely internal and the ending is known from the start.

Kundun1997no page yet

Scorsese's other great film about faith colliding with politics, following the young Dalai Lama as Chinese forces close in on Tibet. Visually sumptuous where Silence is spare, but asking the same thing about belief under siege.

But Overlooked and underseen for a reason — its pacing is stately and its politics were controversial on release.

The Last Temptation of Christ1988no page yet

Scorsese wrestling with Christ as a doubting, frightened man rather than a serene icon. If Silence made you think about the director's own relationship to faith, this is the film where he says it outright.

But Deliberately provocative and was condemned by some religious groups; Willem Dafoe's performance is polarizing.

Shōgun2024

A Westerner shipwrecked in feudal Japan, navigating a culture that finds his beliefs and manners baffling and dangerous. Same collision of East and West, same sense of being utterly out of your depth.

But It's a political epic first, spiritual drama a distant second — don't expect Silence's interior intensity.

The Passion of the Christ2004no page yet

Gibson's unflinching, physically brutal depiction of martyrdom and suffering as an act of faith. If you can stomach Silence's torture, this is the film that goes even further into the body's cost of belief.

But Extremely graphic violence for nearly its entire runtime; it's an endurance test more than a drama.

First Reformed2018

Ethan Hawke as a modern pastor losing his grip on faith and purpose. Same Schrader/Bresson lineage of quiet men in spiritual crisis, just relocated to a half-empty American church.

But Contemporary and small-scale where Silence is epic; its final act swerves into something stranger and more unsettling.

Ordet1955

Made decades before Silence, Ordet takes total seriousness in belief and doubt and makes it the entire plot — no irony, no safety net, exactly Scorsese's own uncompromising stance.

Carl Theodor Dreyer's severe Danish drama about a family divided by conflicting, competing kinds of faith — one rational, one mad, one miraculous. Shot with the same unblinking patience Scorsese brings to Silence.

But Black-and-white, dialogue-heavy, and deliberately theatrical; its famous ending is either transcendent or a dealbreaker depending on your tolerance for the literal miraculous.

Into Great Silence2005

Where Scorsese's silence is God's terrifying withholding, this film shows silence chosen as devotion — the other side of the same spiritual coin, and just as demanding of the viewer.

A documentary with almost no dialogue, following Carthusian monks through their daily rituals of prayer, work, and silence itself. It's the literal, lived version of what Silence only depicts through torture and doubt.

But Nearly three hours with no narration, no music, and long stretches of monks doing chores — a genuine test of patience even for admirers of slow cinema.