10 Movies to Watch if You Need a Good Cry
Because who doesn’t love getting their heart ripped to shreds by sad movies?
1. Hachi: A Dog’s Tale
“In Bedridge, Professor Parker Wilson finds an abandoned dog at the train station and takes it home with the intention of returning the animal to its owner. He finds that the dog is an Akita and names it Hachiko. However, nobody claims the dog so his family decides to keep Hachi.”
If the movie itself wasn’t enough to make you cry, keep in mind that it’s also based off a true story. The events of the movie really did happen, and there is a bronze statue of Hachi in front of the Shibuya train station in Tokyo, Japan to this day.
2. Pearl Harbor
“A tale of war and romance mixed in with history. The story follows two lifelong friends and a beautiful nurse who are caught up in the horror of an infamous Sunday morning in 1941.”
War stories are always tear jerkers. Enough said.
3. The Changeling
“It was the perfect family vacation for composer John Russell and his family when a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter. Consumed by grief, John, at the request of friends, rents an old turn of the century house. Mammoth in size, the house seems all the room that John needs to write music and reflect. He does not realize that he is not alone in the house. He shares it with the spirit of a murdered child who has homed in on John's despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit. With the help of Claire Norman, the one who aided John in procuring the house, they race to find the answers and soon learn that a devious and very powerful man guards them.”
A bit of a horror story, so yes, it’s an odd one to have on this list. But, with its basis in grief and the process of dealing with it, those who have lost someone very close to them will feel a certain connection to it.
4. Marley and Me
“After their wedding, newspaper writers John and Jennifer Grogan move to Florida. In an attempt to stall Jennifer's "biological clock," John gives her a puppy. While the puppy Marley grows into a 100 pound dog, he loses none of his puppy energy or rambunctiousness. Meanwhile, Marley gains no self-discipline. Marley's antics give John rich material for his newspaper column. As the Grogans mature and have children of their own, Marley continues to test everyone's patience by acting like the world's most impulsive dog.”
What can I say? I’m an animal lover, and seeing Marley’s whole life in a span of two hours really puts a dog’s short life span into perspective (in the most heart and soul-wrenching way).
5. Sophie’s Choice
“Sophie is the survivor of Nazi concentration camps, who has found a reason to live in Nathan, a sparkling if unsteady American Jew obsessed with the Holocaust. They befriend Stingo, the movie's narrator, a young American writer new to New York City. But the happiness of Sophie and Nathan is endangered by her ghosts and his obsessions.”
Once more, war stories are always tear-jerkers. However, this one is set apart by the fact that it’s about the life of a survivor. The fighting in a war might end, but the after effects always linger.
6. Titanic
“A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.”
A classic movie, one that everyone knows, but knowing how the movie ends only makes it all that much more heartbreaking. What’s worse? Knowing an ending is inevitable, or hoping that it isn’t?
7. The Notebook
“A poor yet passionate young man falls in love with a rich young woman, giving her a sense of freedom, but they are soon separated because of their social differences.”
Yes, it’s a chick flick. A love story that covers both distance and war, it’s really the ending of this story that will make you cry.
8. Toy Story 3
“The toys are mistakenly delivered to a day-care center instead of the attic right before Andy leaves for college, and it's up to Woody to convince the other toys that they weren't abandoned and to return home.”
This movie will make those that grew up alongside the Toy Story series cry. It was released at the time that the kids who watched Toy Story and Toy Story 2 would also be growing up and heading off to college alongside Andy. That connection only makes the heartwarming feelings of the movie that much more realistic.
9. Brokeback Mountain
“The story of a forbidden and secretive relationship between two cowboys, and their lives over the years.”
A story those in the LGBTQ community can identify with. You don’t choose who you fall in love with; even in the rest of the world choses it for you. Of course, that only makes love hurt that much more.
10. The Impossible
“The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.”
Another movie based on a true story, the reality and struggle that this family goes through is harrowing. Also keep in mind that the true story of this family isn’t the only story like this out there. Nothing can prepare you for the abrupt moment when the tsunami hits; chilling.
Related: 4 Romantic Gestures in Movies That Seem Crazy in Real Life |
Filmography links and data courtesy of IMDb.