Movies With the Best Sound Design of All Time
Sound design is one of the most powerful, yet underappreciated aspects of filmmaking. It isn’t just about what you hear, it’s about how what you hear makes you feel. Good sound design completes a movie. Great sound design goes the extra mile.
Movies with great sound design can immerse you in an environment, heighten tension, bring fantasy to life, or even become a character of its own. Whether it’s the subtle rustle of leaves in the forest, or the deafening roar of battle, sound guides our emotions and deepens our connection to the story.
Countless studios around the world, like these 10 audio production studios in Singapore, pour their blood, sweat and tears into perfecting the auditory experience. From voiceover work, to sound design as a whole, each aspect is considered in order to craft movies with the best sound design possible.
The following 12 films exemplify the art of sound design. Some are classics, other blockbusters, and a few might surprise you, but each one features an intricate soundscape that elevates the cinematic experience.
- A Quiet Place (2018)
- The Social Network (2010)
- The Lighthouse (2019)
- The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001–2003)
- Birdman (2014)
- Gravity (2013)
- The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012)
- Saving Private Ryan (1998)
- Under the Skin (2013)
- Dune (2021)
- Arrival (2016)
- No Country for Old Men (2007)
1. A Quiet Place (2018)
A Quiet Place is a horror-thriller directed by John Krasinski that tells the story of a family trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by monsters. What makes the film unique is that the monsters can’t see; the only sense at their disposal to hunt down humanity is sound.
Sound becomes the film’s primary storytelling tool. Every footstep, every whisper, every roll of the dice is amplified and excruciating. Supervising sound editors Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn played with silence to build up intense suspense. As a result, the audience becomes acutely aware of every tiny sound, and just like the characters, dreads the moment things get too loud.
2. The Social Network (2010)
The Social Network chronicles the controversial founding of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and his college peers. The story moves between startup chaos and courtroom drama as Zuckerberg tears apart friendships and mints money.
The dialogue is quick, clean, and razor sharp. Mixed with a rhythmic, electronic score, the film always feels like it’s moving rapidly, winding viewers up in the chaos. The scene in the nightclub utilizes ambient noise in a way that threatens to overwhelm you, conveying the social tension and alienation of the moment. Contrastingly, the echoing silence of the conference room each time the film cuts to the various depositions forces the audience to hear the emotion in each line.
3. The Lighthouse (2019)
The Lighthouse is a psychological thriller film set in the late 1800s that stars Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson as two lighthouse keepers descending into madness while isolated on a remote, stormy island. Shot in black-and-white, and framed in a nearly square aspect ratio, the entire movie feels bleak, primal, and claustrophobic.
Its sound is oppressive and relentless. The howling winds and crashing waves layered over distant foghorns and the creaking of each old, wooden beam coalesce into a sense of dread and insanity. Music is absent in key scenes, amplifying the eerie atmosphere of their surroundings. The occasional bursts of discordant sound then serve to mirror the unraveling sanity of Dafoe and Pattinson. What makes it one of the best sound design films is that sound is as much a tormentor as the sea itself.
4. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001–2003)
J.R.R. Tolkien’s writing is undeniably amazing, but when brought to film, it’s more than just Peter Jackson’s direction that brings the story to life. A large, and arguably the most memorable, part of what makes the series the cinematic spectacle it is, is its sound design.
Following the journey of Frodo Baggins and the Fellowship of the Ring, the story unfolds across diverse landscapes, from the peaceful Shire to the fiery depths of Mordor.
A layered mix of ambient sounds, creature effects, and booming battle sequences gives each location and race a unique auditory identity, simultaneously grounding the fantasy world in realism and heightening the emotional stakes. The trilogy is a masterclass of movies with great sound design.
5. Birdman (2014)
Birdman, directed by Alejandro González Iñárritu, is known more for its visuals than its sound design. The film is presented in what looks like a single, continuous shot, as it follows a washed-up actor known for playing a superhero as he tries to stage a serious Broadway play. However, Birdman is also a movie with good sound design.
Jazz drumming weaves in and out of scenes, reflecting the character’s mental state. Background noise blends seamlessly with dialogue in a current that flows with the motion of the camera, making the audience feel like they’re moving through the scene, not just watching it.
6. Gravity (2013)
Gravity stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded in space after debris destroys their shuttle. The story follows Bullock’s Dr. Ryan Stone as she struggles to survive and return to Earth.
What makes Gravity one of the best sound design films is its use of silence. Sound Supervisor Glenn Freemantle realistically depicted how sound travels (or doesn’t travel) in space, with long stretches of nothing except for Bullock’s breathing. It creates an intimate, isolating experience perfectly capturing the sheer nothingness of space in a way that makes the return of sound a relief.
7. The Dark Knight Trilogy (2005–2012)
When Christopher Nolan brought the Dark Knight to the silver screen, he redefined superhero films. Centering on Bruce Wayne’s journey from a troubled billionaire orphan to protector of Gotham city, the trilogy explores themes of chaos and justice.
The Dark Knight trilogy isn’t a well-lit, squeaky-clean Marvel Studios superhero film. It’s layered and corrupt and rooted in a gritty realism that can’t be carried by the latest pop hits. Instead, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s compositions are used to build tension in a way that no radio hit can.
The Joker’s untelling theme, Why So Serious, perfectly encapsulates character, oscillating between long, drawn out notes that put you on edge before explosive bursts of sound catch you off guard. As unsettling and unpredictable as the Joker himself.
The rumbling roar of the Batmobile, the explosive action sequences, and immersive city ambiance all work together to establish a dark and thrilling atmosphere unlike any other superhero film.
8. Saving Private Ryan (1998)
Saving Private Ryan is a harrowing depiction of the D-Day Normandy invasion. The film centers on a group of US soldiers sent to bring Private James Francis Ryan home safely. It is a movie known for its brutal realism in its storyline and sound design.
The Omaha Beach landing sequence is a benchmark in realistic battlefield sound. Gunfire, explosions, muffled hearing, and environmental chaos put you directly into the fog of war. Despite being released in the 90s, without any of the high-tech audio tools utilized by Hollywood today, it is still a movie with great sound design.
9. Under the Skin (2013)
Under the Skin is an arthouse sci-fi film that follows an alien playing at being human, preying on the men of Scotland. It is minimalist, eerie, and haunting both visually and auditorily.
Sound Design Strength: Eerie and experimental, the soundscape mirrors the alien protagonist’s detachment from humanity. Mica Levi, in his debut as a film composer, wields silence, distortion, and abstract tones unsettle the viewer, earning Under The Skin praise as one of the best sound design movies.
10. Dune (2021)
Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi classic follows Paul Atreides as his noble family is drawn into a conflict over the desert planet Arrakis and the most valuable resource in the galaxy, spice. The story blends politics, mysticism, and science fiction seamlessly, and so too does its sound design.
Arrakis is not Earth, and this is made abundantly clear by its unique, otherworldly sound. However, the futuristic technology and fantastical environments feel tangible and real because we can hear how the characters interact with them. Each thump of the Ornithopter’s blade, each crunching footstep in the sand. The desert becomes a character in its own right, with Hans Zimmer’s score heightening the grand scale of everything we see.
11. Arrival (2016)
Denis Villeneuve depicts otherworldly people and places incredibly well, and does so again in Arrival. The film explores the arrival of a mysterious alien spacecraft on Earth and humanity’s efforts to communicate with those within it.
The sounds of the aliens are deep, resonant, and eerie. Even with your eyes closed, you would be able to tell they weren’t from Earth. The audio design as a whole mirrors the themes of communication and translation by creating a sense of mystery and awe as attempts are made to interpret the alien’s complex language.
12. No Country for Old Men (2007)
Movies with good sound design elevate the story, as is the case with No Country for Old Men. This Coen Brothers film follows a hunter who stumbles upon a drug deal gone wrong, and a suitcase full of money. What ensues in the desolate Texas landscape is a tense chase involving a weary sheriff, and a relentless hitman.
The movie uses minimal music, relying instead on natural sounds the characters hear. Footsteps, wind, gunshots. The raw, diegetic approach grounds the film in reality, which intensifies the suspense felt by the audience.
If reading about some of the best sound design films makes you feel completely out of your depth as a filmmaker, don’t worry. There are countless sound design studios, such as Zynth Studio, ready to help you create an auditory experience for the generations.
