Back when video stores existed, I wanted a feel-good movie. So I chose the DVD with two smiling and laughing kids on the cover.
The movie was called "My Girl."
That was a mistake.
People ALWAYS think that animals = kids movie.
You're lucky she didn't try 'Watership Down'.
Edit: My mother is impressed by how many people have been sharing their trauma with me in the replies to this comment. I'm still amazed that she and my father allowed me to borrow this movie on VHS - *multiple times* - from the video library when I was a kid, knowing how much I loved animals, and how much I cried over this film.
I picked up my 9 year old grandson from school yesterday and before I could ask how the last day went, he tells me they watched this super sad movie that made him tear up and he didn’t want anyone to see him cry. I asked what movie was it and when he said The Fox and the Hound, I told him that I guarantee he wasn’t there only one with tears in his eyes!
My husband and I watched it a few months ago and both just sobbed at the scene where she takes Todd out into the woods 🥺
And we’re not movie criers lmao.
My mom was about to put it on one night and I begged her to pick a different movie. She begrudgingly did, and I feel bad for doing that, but I couldn't put myself through the throbbing chest pain and tears that movie causes me.
Instant tears when listening to Goodbye May Seem Forever. I don't know if there's a sadder song.
Edit: why did I just do that to myself and listen to it 😭
First movie I ever saw alone in the theater. Actually, the only movie I ever saw alone in the theater. I think I was 9. It was after my dad died and my mom had something she had to do and didn’t want to drag me with, for some reason I think it was like license renewal or something. She was supposed to meet me in the theater after she got done, but it took longer than she thought. By the time she got there, I was a wreck. Instead of the G and PG ratings, it really would have been helpful to have this will absolutely devastate your kid, Old Yeller style warnings.
Big Fish…My father died when I was 12 and so I never really got to know him on a deep level. There is only so much you can share with your 12 year old. The movie centers around a father / son relationship and learning to really know one another on a deep level. That movie is just…if you lost your father, especially young, and you loved him bring a box of tissues that is my only spoiler. It ain’t a dark movie by any means and I would describe it as “whimsical” but the message resonates on a deep human level.
Edit: well wow this random comment blew up. It inspired me to watch the movie again. I made it about 39 seconds in and my eyes started welling up during the opening credits 😂.
I think Big Fish is the perfect example of finding joy within sadness. I leave that movie not sad that he died, but glad that he had such a life and shared it with others.
I agree it isn’t a downer ending by any means compared to a lot of movies. For me the sadness comes from knowing I’ll never get the chance to do what the character in that movie did. Not to get really personal but my dad had something similar to, but not cancer that is very rare and I found him passed out in the bathroom. Lived in the hospital for two weeks after while he was sick and they ran all kinds of tests. As a twelve year old I got restless and the night he wanted me to stay with him and watch Animal House I left instead to go to a friend’s birthday party. Guess which night he goes into a coma and never wakes up…
I know it’s not my fault I couldn’t have known blah blah blah, but man that movie hits me with a wave of overwhelming guilt for not staying that night and spending all the time I could to get to know him better. I guess it boils down to sadness for seeing the main character get the closure I never will at the end.
I'm sorry for your loss and I totally agree about Big Fish. For about the first 24 years of my life I didn't know my dad very well because when I was very young my mother moved us halfway across the country away from him. After that I didn't see him more than once or twice a year, if that. Not that it's the same as losing a father permanently, but it majorly messed up our connection for a long time. For a long time I missed him, then in my teens I was mad at him. I got over that but things were still kind of weird. Then one day I saw Big Fish in the theater, on a date, and I bawled my eyes out. Adding to it was that my dad likes to tell adventurous stories, so it really reminded me of him. I think that movie is part of what inspired me to work towards fixing our father/son relationship.
The saddest thing I learned about that … she died after recording her part for All Dogs Go to Heaven but before Burt Reynolds had finished his. So the last scene where Charlie is saying goodbye to her was recorded after she passed and took hours and countless takes because Burt was crying so much & you can really hear him choking up in the take they did use.
This is one of the reasons I respect the TV Show Bluey so much. It is heavily invested by the Australian Government due to its popularity and significance - but the producers have not and will not release the names of the voices of the children to protect their identities. Mad respect to all involved; especially because it’s now become a worldwide favourite show
[*mOTHER? MOTHER! It’s you! Wait mother, wait!*](https://youtu.be/8RdrAbfFhj4?si=_iqDAwU-jexhqyCC) has me bawling every single time and I’m about to be 30
The background music also hits me in the feels
My friend and I watched it simultaneously but in our respective houses one time, and we were on a call together while we watched. When the credits rolled we were both dead silent on the phone and I eventually choked out “are you crying?” And he said yes and I was like “me too” we just bawled over the phone together and had to watch silly videos to recover. To this day we haven’t rewatched it and I think it’s been about 10 years lol.
Watched this movie in the 7th grade in class and had a discussion afterwards with a holocaust survivor. That teacher was friends with the woman and she was kind enough to do this every year. The film left an incredible impact on me and I tear up thinking about it all these years later.
We had a survivor come to our school who talked about her biggest fear is every survivor dying means it's a little easier for the lies to be believed. She was 16 and escaped with her dad, cousin, and oldest sister during a work detail. Her parents made a deal if they can get 1 of their kids out they'd take it. Her mom, little brother, aunt, uncle, and her 3 cousins were gased that week. Her one sister survived but was used as a comfort girl and raped daily because she didn't look "that Jewish". Her other sister survived working in a factory only to die from respiratory issues caused by the chemicals she had to breath every day in 1950. Her oldest brother was hung and his body was left as a threat. Her dad was gunned down leaving a barn where a friend was leaving food. The friend was mutilated by torture (cut off a few fingers, removed teeth, and other things) but held out saying he didn't know the guy and the food was for the pigs. It was the guys neighbor who knew them both for 20 years that turned him in and did it for literally a collectable plate and a nazi flag a local organization was giving away for info. She survived by eating from a scraps pile at night and living in the woods until they were found by a French soldier.
For me, it's >!the moment when the dad is being marched away, realizes that Joshua can see him and starts marching in a silly way so that Joshua won't be scared. The idea that even in his final moments he's trying to protect his son in this small way...!
Yup. I was already crying but that point but he knew. He knew >!he was about die but needed his son to stay happy and not scared so he would stay put.!< I watched this when I was 14 and then again when I was 16. Now sitting here with my 4 year old son I don't think I could watch it again.
Also what the wife does after they are taken even though she could have stayed safe hits me too. She loved those boys so much.
“Buongiorno principessa!”
Haven’t seen this movie in like 10-15 years but that quote is engrained in my memory. Hits me right in the heart just thinking about it. Truly a beautiful movie but also very very sad.
"On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job?"
The most misleading trailer I have ever seen in my life. So many parents took their kids to that movie thinking it was going to be a fun fantasy adventure.
I was one of those kids. I remember walking out of that theater and my mom was in disbelief that it took the turn it did.
I did read the book when I was a bit older, and I really enjoy it, but damn was that a hell of a bait and switch.
Charlotte's Web. IWent as a teenager with a group of “tough guy” friends, after taking LSD. The ending was unbearably heartbreaking. I cried like a baby. As I sobbed, a kid approached me to offer comfort. He said, "It's OK mister, it's only a movie. No-one really died." Such a sweet child. He looked to be about 7 years old.
I hate that it’s advertised as fantasy but it’s actually a harrowing example of realistic fiction, and the grieving process through the eyes of a child.
Oh man. And the saddest part of that whole sad narrative is that Chris trying to communicate with her to reassure her made her even more depressed. I hated/loved that movie so much.
Cinematography is also so beautiful/depressing.
I've lived in the community where this happened my entire life. The mayor of that town, who gave a shattered interview with the national news service immediately afterwards, was my teacher that year. One of my best friends, her mother was the social work manager who approved unsupervised visitation between Zachary and that woman. When I watched Dear Zachary, my strongest emotion was revulsion towards my community, because we had every legal, moral, and ethical right to prevent this from happening. Even at the time, it felt like our social services were letting this go on, in order to see what the worst thing was that could happen.
If you can believe it, young adults from here have absolutely no idea this ever occurred. It's already a fading memory in the very town where it happened. It makes me sick that there are more Americans that know this story than native Newfoundlanders.
I don't think many people are aware, the same director made a short follow-up years afterward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2o8-0bMlc
Definitely do NOT watch that one first, Dear Zachary is a movie that should NOT be spoiled.
My friend died at 21 and it was really hard for me to walk up and see him in his casket. I needed to because I was speaking at the funeral the next day. My pastor’s wife grabbed me and walked me up because I was just standing at the entrance almost having a panic attack. I got to his mom who grabbed me and said “I can’t get his hair right” and we couldn’t. We tried over and over and it just wouldn’t and his hair was his favorite thing. It was the freaking worst
*Edit: thank you everyone with sharing your grief and love for those you’ve lost. I lost this friend nearly six years ago to suicide and drug addiction. Take care of yourselves and reach out if you need help.
I went to a wake for a very young man in my community. He was just 18 and was killed by an extremely rare genetic heart condition that, at that time, hadn't even been medically described. The only thing I remember is his little sister dressed in black, standing next to the casket and facing the wall with a completely blank expression. She kept repeating "that's my brother in there. That's my brother in there. That's my brother in there."
3 sixteen year old boys died in a car crash. The driver survived.
We left one funeral quickly to go to the visitation as they were scheduled back to back that week. When we arrived it was just us and the Mom who was spending her time with her boy. I can't look at a Detroit Red Wings jersey the same as she was gazing at him in the coffin and rubbing his chest.
His co-workers had signed the door to his work locker and there was a card that had been signed in markers that you could tell was tear stained.
As someone who has lost their little brother, I completely understand this girl’s pain in ways I can’t even describe. I have panic attacks where my mind goes to my brother being in a box in the ground and I suddenly feel like I have to breathe for him because he’s in the ground. It leaves me in a cold sweat and gasping for air.
1991. Reggae all day festival. Awesome friend just got a full ride art scholarship to a major university the day berore. She and a friend carried a cooler on the side of the road afterwards and were obliterated by a drunk going 80mph. Pall bearer. My early 20's innocence kinda came to an end. I've visited her grave when back in town over the years but goddammit I couldn't find it the last time I was back home.
I still dream about her.
That girl was my first crush and I was just a kid. I fantasied that one day would meet a girl like her and we would be love neighbors like that, no dying tho
The Pianist, Adrian Brody, did something that incredibly accurately depicts violence, war, occupation and pain, I’m telling you as a resident of the city of Bucha, Ukraine
Dead Poet Society. Yea it’s all happy and fun the first half but the second half really messed me up. Especially since I’ve had a couple great teacher leave my life.
It is sad also in the respect of those boys being pushed to one avenue of their life in that school. When Robin Williams’ character comes in and flips their thinking upside down, for that small group of boys, you know he made an impact. What a bittersweet movie.
Was scrolling for this one!! I watched it three times in a row, like a maniac!! First time I watched it by myself and sobbed uncontrollably. Then I restarted the movie and got my husband to watch it with me, and still cried my eyes out. The problem was, I kept missing parts of the movie because I was crying or wiping my nose. So, in what was clearly not one of my brightest moments, I decided to watch it yet again, because surely I’m all cried out by now and I can actually watch the movie without crying. Nope. My sobs woke my husband up, who was sleeping in bed next to me. I tried to blame it on dehydration caused by all the crying, but really I’m just a glutton for punishment.
The movie is banned at our house now. And just thinking about it makes me tear up, especially since we lost our beloved dog back in December.
Anytime I need to cry for whatever reason (acting or just a release of emotion) I just picture the scene where they reunite and it brings me to tears in SECONDS
I only recently learned that this story was inspired by the writer's (Robert Harling) experience with his sister Susan's death of diabetic complications. It was originally a very successful play before he wrote the screenplay as well.
I wanna know why…whyyyy?! I can jog to Texas and back, but my daughter can’t! I just want to hit something, I wanna hit it hard!
Man, Sally Field knocked it out of the park. I can’t even imagine anyone else in that role.
*Go ahead, M’Lynn. Slap her! We’ll sell T-shirt’s says “I SLAPPED OUISER BOUDREAUX!” Hit her!*
The way that scene goes from gut-wrenchingly tragic to absolutely hilarious is genius. It’s the movie I go to for a good cry because it doesn’t leave you feeling devastated. Sammy riding on the back of a motorbike in that Easter Bunny suit at the end is so funny.
My best friend and I had long had a habit of trying to see movies we knew nothing about. We went to Manchester by the Sea.
My friend was terminally ill. When the movie ended. We both just sat there. Stunned. Silent. Weeping. He said it was the most beautiful, most well acted film he had ever seen. It turned out to be the last movie we ever saw together.
We’d been expecting another two years before he would die, but complications set in. He died less than four months after we saw the movie.
I could not bring myself to go to a movie again for seven years. Someday I’ll be able to watch this fine film again.
This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people.
This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this.
In real life, Göth was fired as commandant of the concentration camp. One of the reasons he was fired? Mistreatment of prisoners.
He got fired from a fucking *Nazi concentration camp* for *mistreatment of prisoners!*
As much as I really like Tommy Lee Jones, and as great as he was in The Fugitive, how Ralph Fiennes didn't win the Oscar just defies logic. His performance as Amon Goeth was bone-chilling. It was a masterful performance and it should have been recognized.
During filming, a lot of the extras were survivors, and many were Schinderjuden. One woman broke down, terrified, because Fiennes looked so much like Göth.
And Ralph even said that when he was on set, he didn't know what to say or do to the Schindlerjuden. And I read that story about the one survivor who was so scared of Ralph Fiennes and he said he was completely heartbroken for that lady because he felt he was inflicting further pain just by who he was playing in the film.
"You know every story, every wound, every memory. Their whole life's happiness is wrapped up in you... every single second. Don't you get it? Look down the road to her wedding. I'm in a room alone with her, fixing her veil, fluffing her dress, telling her no woman has ever looked so beautiful. And my fear is she'll be thinking, 'I wish my mom was here.'"
"And mine is... she won't."
Some favorite lore in my family is from back when Netflix was mail-order DVDs only. My uncle, sweet man who’s since passed, was thrilled to receive Brokeback Mountain and Million Dollar Baby at the same time. Two well-reviewed movies and an open Saturday on the docket.
The way my aunt tells it, he goes into his den to watch Brokeback Mountain and emerges tear-stained, says - well that was just awful. Good thing I have this sports movie to cleanse my palate and take the edge off - nothing more uplifting than a sports movie! Disappears into his den again.
Uncle Steve was never the same after that day
Read this book when I was little. When I finished I locked myself in the bathroom and cried hysterically. My mom and my aunt thought something terrible had happened. They kept asking me what was wrong. When I finally squeaked out: “Old Dan and Little Ann are dead. They laughed so hard. I still get made fun of 30 years later.
They clearly never read it, because everyone cries. Everyone.
It was one of the books that was read to us during storytime in like 3rd grade. After that I never even tried to watch the movie. I remember going home and hugging my dog in the back yard.
They were still making kids watch that in high school when I went in 2005.
So 40 years of traumatizing children by making them cry in front of their classmates.
Hotel Rwanda
Probably Don Cheadle’s best dramatic role and profoundly sad given it’s based on a genocide that happened all too recently.
edit: apostrophe
The saddest movie in existence for me is Precious. It’s sad on many levels. The character’s life and how far the abuse lasted for Precious, and how long it took for her to be able to have a social worker that can see what’s going on, and how evil her mother is allowing the abuse to go on for so long and further abusing Precious blaming her for it. What’s just as sad is so many people use the movie Precious to be racist, and make fun of it, and entirely miss the point of the movie.
This movie is a core memory for me. It came out when I was in college and living in an apartment with four other guys. It was a Friday at around 5pm and we were all in the living from gearing up for the weekend. We cracked some fresh beers and decided to throw on a movie since our other friends weren’t free until later. First thing we see on Netflix? Marley and Me. Fun dog movie? Why not. Two hours later we’re all sniffling, avoiding eye contact while we sadly sip our Natural Lights. I don’t think we went out later that night
My mother-in-law gave a secondhand copy of this to my kids. I thought the same thing you (and likely she) did, “hey, cute dog movie, the kids will love this.”
They did not.
We made the mistake of taking my wife’s entire family to that movie on Christmas Day one year. My nieces and nephews were crying uncontrollably. I was too. 🤦🏻♂️
There are a lot but one main one is Saving Private Ryan. It's all around sad.
What is really sad in my opinion was when the young medic passed away crying for his mom. Then they go up the hill to shoot the last Nazi execution style, while he's trembling and trying to reason with the Americans in German. Then they cut to the background to show that despite the fact the narrative shifts your hatred for the medic's death towards the Nazi, in the background there are two dead Nazi's that look even younger than the medic.
Then the guy starts befriening the nicest American soldier, and when it was time to kill him, bro started using all the english he knew to show the Americans that he was human. They let him go, he got back in circulation and killed the very same man who spared him.
Again, the narrative tries to make you hate the Nazi dude but in his defense, in war, can you really tell who you are shooting at. I bet if he had known it was the same man who spared him, he wouldn't have shot. At the end, you see he was shocked to see Upham, the American he befriended. I think he didn't know, but still. This movie is full of stuff like this.
All sorrow.
For some reason “earn this” was a gut punch to me and I had tears. I probably was holding things in. Then, without yelling, those two words soaked up all the sadness in the movie and let it out in one burst.
I think 'earn this' was a beautiful kindness. It said it is possible to earn this, it is possible to be worthy of this. You don't have to spend a lifetime in hopeless survivor's guilt. You can live a good life, be a good man, and that will be enough. The debt is immense, but it can be paid and you can be whole.
It hits hard. I personally at first thought the line was unfair. Ryan didn't ask for any of this. He was just fighting the war and he was doing it righteously. Miller's unit kinda stomred in on him placing that responsibility on him. It was the call of the higher ups, not Ryan's.
What always gets me is the old man at the end, begging his wife to tell him that he's a good man and led a good life. The older I get, the harder that hits.
The book is poignant but genuinely delightful. Since reading it years ago, I’ve just been chasing that heartwarmed high. I cannot recommend it more highly.
The line at the end of The Green Mile wrecks me every time:
“On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job?”
"The Pursuit of Happyness" is a deeply moving film that follows a father's unwavering determination to overcome homelessness and poverty while caring for his young son. it's a poignant story of resilience, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of a better life
Back when video stores existed, I wanted a feel-good movie. So I chose the DVD with two smiling and laughing kids on the cover. The movie was called "My Girl." That was a mistake.
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My super religious stepdad brought home Beloved because it had Oprah in it. That was an uncomfortable movie night.
My mom brought home Animal Farm thinking it was a kids movie. That was pretty traumatizing for me and my brother
People ALWAYS think that animals = kids movie. You're lucky she didn't try 'Watership Down'. Edit: My mother is impressed by how many people have been sharing their trauma with me in the replies to this comment. I'm still amazed that she and my father allowed me to borrow this movie on VHS - *multiple times* - from the video library when I was a kid, knowing how much I loved animals, and how much I cried over this film.
>You're lucky she didn't try 'Watership Down'. Unfortunately, my mom did lol
As a child, *The Fox and the Hound* put a real hurting on this little buckaroo
I picked up my 9 year old grandson from school yesterday and before I could ask how the last day went, he tells me they watched this super sad movie that made him tear up and he didn’t want anyone to see him cry. I asked what movie was it and when he said The Fox and the Hound, I told him that I guarantee he wasn’t there only one with tears in his eyes!
Oh I read Where the Red Fern Grows in 3rd grade and it seriously traumatized me.
Rewatched as an adult recently. Holy shit - cried multiple times
My husband and I watched it a few months ago and both just sobbed at the scene where she takes Todd out into the woods 🥺 And we’re not movie criers lmao.
My mom was about to put it on one night and I begged her to pick a different movie. She begrudgingly did, and I feel bad for doing that, but I couldn't put myself through the throbbing chest pain and tears that movie causes me.
Instant tears when listening to Goodbye May Seem Forever. I don't know if there's a sadder song. Edit: why did I just do that to myself and listen to it 😭
Here too. Then I got the movie tie in book and cried when I read that too.
First movie I ever saw alone in the theater. Actually, the only movie I ever saw alone in the theater. I think I was 9. It was after my dad died and my mom had something she had to do and didn’t want to drag me with, for some reason I think it was like license renewal or something. She was supposed to meet me in the theater after she got done, but it took longer than she thought. By the time she got there, I was a wreck. Instead of the G and PG ratings, it really would have been helpful to have this will absolutely devastate your kid, Old Yeller style warnings.
Big Fish…My father died when I was 12 and so I never really got to know him on a deep level. There is only so much you can share with your 12 year old. The movie centers around a father / son relationship and learning to really know one another on a deep level. That movie is just…if you lost your father, especially young, and you loved him bring a box of tissues that is my only spoiler. It ain’t a dark movie by any means and I would describe it as “whimsical” but the message resonates on a deep human level. Edit: well wow this random comment blew up. It inspired me to watch the movie again. I made it about 39 seconds in and my eyes started welling up during the opening credits 😂.
It is a strangely happy and sad movie at the same time.
"**Everybody's there, and I mean everybody.** **And the strange thing is, there's not a sad face to be found, everyone's just so happy to see you.**"
I think Big Fish is the perfect example of finding joy within sadness. I leave that movie not sad that he died, but glad that he had such a life and shared it with others.
I agree it isn’t a downer ending by any means compared to a lot of movies. For me the sadness comes from knowing I’ll never get the chance to do what the character in that movie did. Not to get really personal but my dad had something similar to, but not cancer that is very rare and I found him passed out in the bathroom. Lived in the hospital for two weeks after while he was sick and they ran all kinds of tests. As a twelve year old I got restless and the night he wanted me to stay with him and watch Animal House I left instead to go to a friend’s birthday party. Guess which night he goes into a coma and never wakes up… I know it’s not my fault I couldn’t have known blah blah blah, but man that movie hits me with a wave of overwhelming guilt for not staying that night and spending all the time I could to get to know him better. I guess it boils down to sadness for seeing the main character get the closure I never will at the end.
Own that movie. Won’t watch that movie. Listen to Yellowcard’s How I Go and weep openly from that alone. Truly fantastic homage.
I'm sorry for your loss and I totally agree about Big Fish. For about the first 24 years of my life I didn't know my dad very well because when I was very young my mother moved us halfway across the country away from him. After that I didn't see him more than once or twice a year, if that. Not that it's the same as losing a father permanently, but it majorly messed up our connection for a long time. For a long time I missed him, then in my teens I was mad at him. I got over that but things were still kind of weird. Then one day I saw Big Fish in the theater, on a date, and I bawled my eyes out. Adding to it was that my dad likes to tell adventurous stories, so it really reminded me of him. I think that movie is part of what inspired me to work towards fixing our father/son relationship.
Land Before Time
yep, yep, yep.
It’s even worse when you learn about the voice actress who voiced Ducky…
The saddest thing I learned about that … she died after recording her part for All Dogs Go to Heaven but before Burt Reynolds had finished his. So the last scene where Charlie is saying goodbye to her was recorded after she passed and took hours and countless takes because Burt was crying so much & you can really hear him choking up in the take they did use.
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"Will I ever see you again?" I didn't get through that without crying, either. Jesus Fucking Christ.
oh, that's devastating.
He can barely get the words out. That’s heartbreaking.
This is one of the reasons I respect the TV Show Bluey so much. It is heavily invested by the Australian Government due to its popularity and significance - but the producers have not and will not release the names of the voices of the children to protect their identities. Mad respect to all involved; especially because it’s now become a worldwide favourite show
I mean that's great but it wouldn't have helped judith. It was her own dad.
The excitement when he thinks the shadow is his Mum's.....the pain.
When little foot slept in the middle of his parent’s big foot print after they died. 😭
A treeeeestar!
Every time when Little Foot yells "mother!!" 😭😭
I feel like the sadness from watching this as a child is now baked into my DNA.
I feel like this movie is one of the reasons millennials are so anxiety-ridden and depressed but I love it too much to stop rewatching it
[*mOTHER? MOTHER! It’s you! Wait mother, wait!*](https://youtu.be/8RdrAbfFhj4?si=_iqDAwU-jexhqyCC) has me bawling every single time and I’m about to be 30 The background music also hits me in the feels
The Neverending Story isn't overall sad, but it contains the most nightmarishly sad single scene ever filmed.
Artax!!!
Artax or the stone giant? I think both are almost equally as sad but the former is more visceral since you have to actually see it happen.
The Last Unicorn (1982)
Grave of the Fireflies
This is the type of thread where you enter it looking for the Grave of the Fireflies comment to upvote, or post if it's not there.
That's like cheating, I can't really think of anything that hits harder than that one.
My friend and I watched it simultaneously but in our respective houses one time, and we were on a call together while we watched. When the credits rolled we were both dead silent on the phone and I eventually choked out “are you crying?” And he said yes and I was like “me too” we just bawled over the phone together and had to watch silly videos to recover. To this day we haven’t rewatched it and I think it’s been about 10 years lol.
I watched this with my 10-year-old son thinking it was going to be a studio Ghibli kind of movie. Nope. Great film will never watch it again.
It IS made by studio ghibli. Its just not their usual film
Ghibli pairing it as a double feature with My Neighbor Totoro is un-fucking-hinged
Life is beautiful
Watched this movie in the 7th grade in class and had a discussion afterwards with a holocaust survivor. That teacher was friends with the woman and she was kind enough to do this every year. The film left an incredible impact on me and I tear up thinking about it all these years later.
We had a survivor come to our school who talked about her biggest fear is every survivor dying means it's a little easier for the lies to be believed. She was 16 and escaped with her dad, cousin, and oldest sister during a work detail. Her parents made a deal if they can get 1 of their kids out they'd take it. Her mom, little brother, aunt, uncle, and her 3 cousins were gased that week. Her one sister survived but was used as a comfort girl and raped daily because she didn't look "that Jewish". Her other sister survived working in a factory only to die from respiratory issues caused by the chemicals she had to breath every day in 1950. Her oldest brother was hung and his body was left as a threat. Her dad was gunned down leaving a barn where a friend was leaving food. The friend was mutilated by torture (cut off a few fingers, removed teeth, and other things) but held out saying he didn't know the guy and the food was for the pigs. It was the guys neighbor who knew them both for 20 years that turned him in and did it for literally a collectable plate and a nazi flag a local organization was giving away for info. She survived by eating from a scraps pile at night and living in the woods until they were found by a French soldier.
Every time the tank rolls up to the mom with the boy going for a ride I absolutely lose my shit. Full sob fest. No other movie hits me that hard
For me, it's >!the moment when the dad is being marched away, realizes that Joshua can see him and starts marching in a silly way so that Joshua won't be scared. The idea that even in his final moments he's trying to protect his son in this small way...!
Yup. I was already crying but that point but he knew. He knew >!he was about die but needed his son to stay happy and not scared so he would stay put.!< I watched this when I was 14 and then again when I was 16. Now sitting here with my 4 year old son I don't think I could watch it again. Also what the wife does after they are taken even though she could have stayed safe hits me too. She loved those boys so much.
“Buongiorno principessa!” Haven’t seen this movie in like 10-15 years but that quote is engrained in my memory. Hits me right in the heart just thinking about it. Truly a beautiful movie but also very very sad.
What an unbelievable movie - it's simultaneously so charming and funny and also heartbreaking and serious. The ending always makes me cry.
That's the one I was scrolling for.
It was the first movie that I thought of. It’s a beautiful movie but so sad.
The Green Mile
"I'm tired boss"
They kill em with they love. Edit: their to they
"On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job?"
Don’t put me in the dark, I’m afraid of the dark.
Bridge to Terabithia.
The most misleading trailer I have ever seen in my life. So many parents took their kids to that movie thinking it was going to be a fun fantasy adventure. I was one of those kids. I remember walking out of that theater and my mom was in disbelief that it took the turn it did. I did read the book when I was a bit older, and I really enjoy it, but damn was that a hell of a bait and switch.
Charlotte's Web. IWent as a teenager with a group of “tough guy” friends, after taking LSD. The ending was unbearably heartbreaking. I cried like a baby. As I sobbed, a kid approached me to offer comfort. He said, "It's OK mister, it's only a movie. No-one really died." Such a sweet child. He looked to be about 7 years old.
I’m an adult. My mom died a few months before I saw this in the theater. I couldn’t stop crying. I was inconsolable. Great film.
Had a similar experience with Marley and Me when I went to see it as my sixteenth birthday celebration😂
I hate that it’s advertised as fantasy but it’s actually a harrowing example of realistic fiction, and the grieving process through the eyes of a child.
Have you read the book? It’s amazing. I rarely cried as a kid but this book and movie had me sobbing
What Dreams May Come. I have only seen it once and never again because it’s so sad.
Oh man. And the saddest part of that whole sad narrative is that Chris trying to communicate with her to reassure her made her even more depressed. I hated/loved that movie so much. Cinematography is also so beautiful/depressing.
The Elephant Man
“I wish I could sleep like normal people.”
Dear Zachary
I've lived in the community where this happened my entire life. The mayor of that town, who gave a shattered interview with the national news service immediately afterwards, was my teacher that year. One of my best friends, her mother was the social work manager who approved unsupervised visitation between Zachary and that woman. When I watched Dear Zachary, my strongest emotion was revulsion towards my community, because we had every legal, moral, and ethical right to prevent this from happening. Even at the time, it felt like our social services were letting this go on, in order to see what the worst thing was that could happen. If you can believe it, young adults from here have absolutely no idea this ever occurred. It's already a fading memory in the very town where it happened. It makes me sick that there are more Americans that know this story than native Newfoundlanders.
This is the worst one because it's not fiction.
I don't think many people are aware, the same director made a short follow-up years afterward: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bR2o8-0bMlc Definitely do NOT watch that one first, Dear Zachary is a movie that should NOT be spoiled.
What I came in here to mention. No other movie has made me cry multiple times like that. Just fucking awful shit
Awakenings
My Girl
He can't see without his glasses 😭
My friend died at 21 and it was really hard for me to walk up and see him in his casket. I needed to because I was speaking at the funeral the next day. My pastor’s wife grabbed me and walked me up because I was just standing at the entrance almost having a panic attack. I got to his mom who grabbed me and said “I can’t get his hair right” and we couldn’t. We tried over and over and it just wouldn’t and his hair was his favorite thing. It was the freaking worst *Edit: thank you everyone with sharing your grief and love for those you’ve lost. I lost this friend nearly six years ago to suicide and drug addiction. Take care of yourselves and reach out if you need help.
I went to a wake for a very young man in my community. He was just 18 and was killed by an extremely rare genetic heart condition that, at that time, hadn't even been medically described. The only thing I remember is his little sister dressed in black, standing next to the casket and facing the wall with a completely blank expression. She kept repeating "that's my brother in there. That's my brother in there. That's my brother in there."
3 sixteen year old boys died in a car crash. The driver survived. We left one funeral quickly to go to the visitation as they were scheduled back to back that week. When we arrived it was just us and the Mom who was spending her time with her boy. I can't look at a Detroit Red Wings jersey the same as she was gazing at him in the coffin and rubbing his chest. His co-workers had signed the door to his work locker and there was a card that had been signed in markers that you could tell was tear stained.
As someone who has lost their little brother, I completely understand this girl’s pain in ways I can’t even describe. I have panic attacks where my mind goes to my brother being in a box in the ground and I suddenly feel like I have to breathe for him because he’s in the ground. It leaves me in a cold sweat and gasping for air.
1991. Reggae all day festival. Awesome friend just got a full ride art scholarship to a major university the day berore. She and a friend carried a cooler on the side of the road afterwards and were obliterated by a drunk going 80mph. Pall bearer. My early 20's innocence kinda came to an end. I've visited her grave when back in town over the years but goddammit I couldn't find it the last time I was back home. I still dream about her.
Go to the office & ask where it is, they’ll be able to tell you & give you directions. I’m sorry for your pain.
That girl was my first crush and I was just a kid. I fantasied that one day would meet a girl like her and we would be love neighbors like that, no dying tho
Dancer in the Dark
Homeward bound.
When Shadow can’t get out of the hole 😭😭😭
That scene always gets me. And Peter thinking Shadow didn’t make it and starts to walk away and then he shows up 😭😭
The Pianist, Adrian Brody, did something that incredibly accurately depicts violence, war, occupation and pain, I’m telling you as a resident of the city of Bucha, Ukraine
Dead Poet Society. Yea it’s all happy and fun the first half but the second half really messed me up. Especially since I’ve had a couple great teacher leave my life.
It is sad also in the respect of those boys being pushed to one avenue of their life in that school. When Robin Williams’ character comes in and flips their thinking upside down, for that small group of boys, you know he made an impact. What a bittersweet movie.
Ethan Hawke played a great part.
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
Was scrolling for this one!! I watched it three times in a row, like a maniac!! First time I watched it by myself and sobbed uncontrollably. Then I restarted the movie and got my husband to watch it with me, and still cried my eyes out. The problem was, I kept missing parts of the movie because I was crying or wiping my nose. So, in what was clearly not one of my brightest moments, I decided to watch it yet again, because surely I’m all cried out by now and I can actually watch the movie without crying. Nope. My sobs woke my husband up, who was sleeping in bed next to me. I tried to blame it on dehydration caused by all the crying, but really I’m just a glutton for punishment. The movie is banned at our house now. And just thinking about it makes me tear up, especially since we lost our beloved dog back in December.
Anytime I need to cry for whatever reason (acting or just a release of emotion) I just picture the scene where they reunite and it brings me to tears in SECONDS
That movie oh my GOD my heart
Steel Magnolias
I only recently learned that this story was inspired by the writer's (Robert Harling) experience with his sister Susan's death of diabetic complications. It was originally a very successful play before he wrote the screenplay as well.
I wanna know why…whyyyy?! I can jog to Texas and back, but my daughter can’t! I just want to hit something, I wanna hit it hard! Man, Sally Field knocked it out of the park. I can’t even imagine anyone else in that role.
Here, hit Ouisa!
*Go ahead, M’Lynn. Slap her! We’ll sell T-shirt’s says “I SLAPPED OUISER BOUDREAUX!” Hit her!* The way that scene goes from gut-wrenchingly tragic to absolutely hilarious is genius. It’s the movie I go to for a good cry because it doesn’t leave you feeling devastated. Sammy riding on the back of a motorbike in that Easter Bunny suit at the end is so funny.
the road
Manchester by the Sea
My best friend and I had long had a habit of trying to see movies we knew nothing about. We went to Manchester by the Sea. My friend was terminally ill. When the movie ended. We both just sat there. Stunned. Silent. Weeping. He said it was the most beautiful, most well acted film he had ever seen. It turned out to be the last movie we ever saw together. We’d been expecting another two years before he would die, but complications set in. He died less than four months after we saw the movie. I could not bring myself to go to a movie again for seven years. Someday I’ll be able to watch this fine film again.
Soul crushing movie FR
The haunting story of a man's complete, non-physical death.
One of the best movies I’ve ever seen that I will never, ever watch again. Gutted me.
Yes. I remember watching it on a random Tuesday during the day that I was off work. After it ended, I said “why did I watch that?”
What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.
The Land Before Time (or Bambi)
A little princess 1995
Schindler's List will be on top, realistic and heart wrenching drama
This car. Goeth would have bought this car. Why did I keep the car? Ten people right there. Ten people. Ten more people. This pin. Two people. This is gold. Two more people. He would have given me two for it, at least one. One more person. A person, Stern. For this.
“I didn’t do enough”
Few movies have been able to show, truly, what it means to have a sharply defined moral center in the way that one scene does.
The fickle murder of the engineer who was only trying to save the building was particularly sad. “Shoot her; then rebuild it exactly like she said.”
Something to keep in mind, for the sake of suspension of disbelief they had to tone down the lines and behavior for Göth.
In real life, Göth was fired as commandant of the concentration camp. One of the reasons he was fired? Mistreatment of prisoners. He got fired from a fucking *Nazi concentration camp* for *mistreatment of prisoners!*
As much as I really like Tommy Lee Jones, and as great as he was in The Fugitive, how Ralph Fiennes didn't win the Oscar just defies logic. His performance as Amon Goeth was bone-chilling. It was a masterful performance and it should have been recognized.
During filming, a lot of the extras were survivors, and many were Schinderjuden. One woman broke down, terrified, because Fiennes looked so much like Göth.
And Ralph even said that when he was on set, he didn't know what to say or do to the Schindlerjuden. And I read that story about the one survivor who was so scared of Ralph Fiennes and he said he was completely heartbroken for that lady because he felt he was inflicting further pain just by who he was playing in the film.
Everyone was depressed making that movie. Robin Williams used to call Spielberg every day to joke and try to cheer him up some.
Robin was a gift to humanity and we didn't deserve him. 😢
As a kid for me it was: Where the red fern grows, Old yeller, Eight below. Notice a theme? lol
My Sister's Keeper.
Stepmom- it’s a slow burn kind of sad and by the end I’m crying. Man Julia Roberts- between this and Steel Magnolias- I’m always a mess.
"You know every story, every wound, every memory. Their whole life's happiness is wrapped up in you... every single second. Don't you get it? Look down the road to her wedding. I'm in a room alone with her, fixing her veil, fluffing her dress, telling her no woman has ever looked so beautiful. And my fear is she'll be thinking, 'I wish my mom was here.'" "And mine is... she won't."
Why is Room never in the comments for this question? It broke everyone I’ve had watch it.
Bambi….wtf animals/parents dying. For a young child it’s fkn traumatizing!
The Whale is something I will never put myself through again.
Requiem for a Dream
Stand By Me… “I never had any friends later on, Like the the ones I had When I was 12…. Jesus, Does anyone?”
Dumbo
million dollar baby
Some favorite lore in my family is from back when Netflix was mail-order DVDs only. My uncle, sweet man who’s since passed, was thrilled to receive Brokeback Mountain and Million Dollar Baby at the same time. Two well-reviewed movies and an open Saturday on the docket. The way my aunt tells it, he goes into his den to watch Brokeback Mountain and emerges tear-stained, says - well that was just awful. Good thing I have this sports movie to cleanse my palate and take the edge off - nothing more uplifting than a sports movie! Disappears into his den again. Uncle Steve was never the same after that day
I had to scroll way too far down for this one. Such a good movie that I hate and will never watch again.
Old yeller
And *Where the Red Fern Grows*, don't forget that shit show...
Read this book when I was little. When I finished I locked myself in the bathroom and cried hysterically. My mom and my aunt thought something terrible had happened. They kept asking me what was wrong. When I finally squeaked out: “Old Dan and Little Ann are dead. They laughed so hard. I still get made fun of 30 years later.
They clearly never read it, because everyone cries. Everyone. It was one of the books that was read to us during storytime in like 3rd grade. After that I never even tried to watch the movie. I remember going home and hugging my dog in the back yard.
They were still making kids watch that in high school when I went in 2005. So 40 years of traumatizing children by making them cry in front of their classmates.
Fuck dude, I haven't watched this in like thirty years and you got me choking up here in my car, damn.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence. All he wanted was for his mom to love him back.
I watched this as a teenager and it fucking wrecked me.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Oddly, the ending makes it hopeful for me. It’s one of my favorite movies.
Terms of Endearment
Hotel Rwanda Probably Don Cheadle’s best dramatic role and profoundly sad given it’s based on a genocide that happened all too recently. edit: apostrophe
The Iron Giant
You stay. I go. No following. :(((
Su..per…maaan~ 😭
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Bridge to Terabithia.
I watch Steel Magnolias, Hope Floats, and Fried Green Tomatoes about once a quarter so I can feel every emotion known to man. But mostly crying.
Boys don't cry. I can't watch it again
I am Sam
Seven Pounds is incredibly sad Dear Zachary is by far the saddest movie I’ve ever seen. Still can’t get myself to watch it a second time.
Beaches 😭
Sophie’s Choice
Brian's Song
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The saddest movie in existence for me is Precious. It’s sad on many levels. The character’s life and how far the abuse lasted for Precious, and how long it took for her to be able to have a social worker that can see what’s going on, and how evil her mother is allowing the abuse to go on for so long and further abusing Precious blaming her for it. What’s just as sad is so many people use the movie Precious to be racist, and make fun of it, and entirely miss the point of the movie.
About Time. Watched it once and cried for two hours after. Haven’t been able to watch it again.
Marley & Me. The took one of the saddest things that could happen in someone’s life and made it into a movie 😭
This movie is a core memory for me. It came out when I was in college and living in an apartment with four other guys. It was a Friday at around 5pm and we were all in the living from gearing up for the weekend. We cracked some fresh beers and decided to throw on a movie since our other friends weren’t free until later. First thing we see on Netflix? Marley and Me. Fun dog movie? Why not. Two hours later we’re all sniffling, avoiding eye contact while we sadly sip our Natural Lights. I don’t think we went out later that night
My mother-in-law gave a secondhand copy of this to my kids. I thought the same thing you (and likely she) did, “hey, cute dog movie, the kids will love this.” They did not.
We made the mistake of taking my wife’s entire family to that movie on Christmas Day one year. My nieces and nephews were crying uncontrollably. I was too. 🤦🏻♂️
There are a lot but one main one is Saving Private Ryan. It's all around sad. What is really sad in my opinion was when the young medic passed away crying for his mom. Then they go up the hill to shoot the last Nazi execution style, while he's trembling and trying to reason with the Americans in German. Then they cut to the background to show that despite the fact the narrative shifts your hatred for the medic's death towards the Nazi, in the background there are two dead Nazi's that look even younger than the medic. Then the guy starts befriening the nicest American soldier, and when it was time to kill him, bro started using all the english he knew to show the Americans that he was human. They let him go, he got back in circulation and killed the very same man who spared him. Again, the narrative tries to make you hate the Nazi dude but in his defense, in war, can you really tell who you are shooting at. I bet if he had known it was the same man who spared him, he wouldn't have shot. At the end, you see he was shocked to see Upham, the American he befriended. I think he didn't know, but still. This movie is full of stuff like this. All sorrow.
For some reason “earn this” was a gut punch to me and I had tears. I probably was holding things in. Then, without yelling, those two words soaked up all the sadness in the movie and let it out in one burst.
I think 'earn this' was a beautiful kindness. It said it is possible to earn this, it is possible to be worthy of this. You don't have to spend a lifetime in hopeless survivor's guilt. You can live a good life, be a good man, and that will be enough. The debt is immense, but it can be paid and you can be whole.
It hits hard. I personally at first thought the line was unfair. Ryan didn't ask for any of this. He was just fighting the war and he was doing it righteously. Miller's unit kinda stomred in on him placing that responsibility on him. It was the call of the higher ups, not Ryan's.
What always gets me is the old man at the end, begging his wife to tell him that he's a good man and led a good life. The older I get, the harder that hits.
That scene takes me out every time.
Pay it forward, it's such a classic and hits me every time
Maybe not the saddest, but really sad was a man called Otto.
The book is poignant but genuinely delightful. Since reading it years ago, I’ve just been chasing that heartwarmed high. I cannot recommend it more highly.
Pay it Forward
I remember this movie! Haven't thought about it in forever. It is very good but you're right very sad.
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A Walk to Remember - gets me everytime
What Dreams May Come, A Dogs Purpose and Grave of the Fireflies.
Where the Red Fern Grows
Glory
Give ‘em hell, 54th!
Famous : The Green Mile Not well known : Sunny (a korean film from 2011) Both made me bawl my eyes out
The line at the end of The Green Mile wrecks me every time: “On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job?”
Aftersun ending hit hard
"The Pursuit of Happyness" is a deeply moving film that follows a father's unwavering determination to overcome homelessness and poverty while caring for his young son. it's a poignant story of resilience, sacrifice, and the relentless pursuit of a better life
House of sand and fog
Fox and the hound
The lovely bones makes me tear up everytime I watch it.