If watching a movie can be compared to taking your emotions for a walk, then sad films challenge audiences with a full-on sprint. Since before Rose said goodbye to Jack or even Bambi lost his mother, tragedy has played a vital role in cinema’s most well-loved stories of every ilk.
For romance, the possibility of heartbreak raises the stakes, pitting lover against lover or, worse still, lovers against time in dazzling depictions of humanity’s enduring quest for security and acceptance. “Titanic,” “A Star is Born,” “Moonlight,” “Brokeback Mountain,” “Up,” and countless other legendary titles have crafted couples so heart-rendingly believable that their joyous reunions and painful partings have provided powerful parallels to our own.
Epic tales of war and survival position total devastation similarly, dangling all-consuming grief and loss like narratively juicy carrots motivating the plodding agony of movies from “War Horse” to “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.” (Unsurprisingly, most movies are made significantly sadder by the inclusion of animals, with “Charlotte’s Web” as an especially brutal standout.) Inside the vast expanse of the mind, you’ll find epic surrealist tales like Charlie Kaufman’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” and “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.”
On a smaller scale, intimate family tragedies have inspired detailed portraits of society’s failure to adequately support those in pain. “Still Alice,” for example, examines the staggering loneliness of a middle-aged woman succumbing to Alzheimer’s disease. Or take “Pieces of a Woman”: an exquisitely detailed portrait of a young mother grieving the loss of her newborn daughter. Meanwhile, Jennifer Kent’s “The Babadook” is a horror film looking at the supernatural (read: metaphoric) battle between a widow and the gaping hole left by her late spouse.
The saddest movies consider life’s myriad beauties from the view of unthinkable suffering. Many of the best among those use surprising bursts of comedy to help their heavier beats land. See dramedies such as “The Farewell,” “Steel Magnolias,” or “Dead Poets Society” for starters. Joe Swanberg’s “Drinking Buddies” — about two likable best friends for whom the romantic timing isn’t right — sticks out as tragic rom-dramedy.
Here are 50 of the saddest movies ever made. Please note that this is not a list of the 50definitive saddest films, but instead a curation of melancholy and moody titles that consider a breadth of tragedy types. Selections are listed alphabetically.
Jude Dry, William Earl, David Ehrlich, Steve Greene, Jenna Marotta, Michael Nordine, Chris O’Falt, Jamie Righetti, and Wilson Chapman contributed to this report.
This list was originally published in August 2022 and has since been updated.
“A.I. Artificial Intelligence” (2001)
Can an android really love? The jury is still out on this question, but after watching “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” they can certainly make you cry. Steven Spielberg’s futuristic fairy tale stars Haley Joel Osment as David, a childlike “Mecha” android created as an experiment to test if robots can experience genuine love for their masters. The experiment works a little too well: David develops an intense attachment to his master Monica (Frances O’Connor), but after a series of misunderstandings, is cast aside by her, and goes on a desperate quest to become a real boy and earn her love again. Osment’s wide-eyed, innocent performance results in a truly devastating film about the very nature of humanity, and what it really means to love somebody. —WC
“A Separation” (2011)
Although Simin (Leila Hatami)wants to leave Iran with her daughter, Termah (Sarina Farhadi), her husband, Nader (Peyman Moaadi), does not want to leave, and Simin decides to end their marriage as a result. Nader struggles to keep his life balanced and eventually he must hire a young and deeply religious woman, Razieh (Sareh Bayat), to care for his elderly father, who has Alzheimer’s. Razieh finds the job very demanding, as she is a few months pregnant and lives very far away. One afternoon, Nader comes home and finds his father alone and unconscious on the floor, with his arm tied to the bed. When Razieh returns, she refuses to tell Nader she was at a doctor’s appointment and the two fight, with Nader pushing her out of the apartment, causing Razieh to slip on the staircase on her way out. When Razieh loses her baby, Nader finds himself legally responsibly for the miscarriage and agrees to pay blood money to avoid prison. But the damage has been done and Razieh’s family isn’t the only one destroyed: Nader’s marriage now has no hope of reconciliation and, although we don’t see her decision, Termah has to decide which parent she wants to live with after watching her father’s credibility and honor be forever tarnished. —JR
“A Star is Born” (2018)
Lady Gaga and first-time feature director Bradley Cooper lead the 2018 re-telling of “A Star is Born”: a music industry-set drama about two ill-fated lovers losing each other in the face of fame. Though the actors and settings have changed across each “A Star is Born” remake, heartbreak has remained its steadfast centerpiece, producing myriad tear-jerking moments from talents like Barbra Streisand and Judy Garland. Cooper’s rendition stands out as the most likely to pull on contemporary audiences’ heartstrings though, thanks to its relatable and modern specificity, as well as its Oscar-nominated original ballads from Gaga. The instantly super popular “Shallow” remains a devastating triumph. —AF
“Amour” (2012)
“Amour” may be one of the saddest films ever made, but the saddest thing about it is ultimately the fact that it has a happy ending. People were understandably skeptical about a Michael Haneke film with such a disarming title — after all, this is a guy who made a hyper-disturbing meditation on violence called “Funny Games,” and then made it again in case we didn’t get the joke the first time. Unfortunately, however, there’s nothing the least bit ironic about “Amour.” Yes, this confined relationship drama is a lot colder than your average love story. But this sobering portrait, the tale of an old Parisian man (Jean-Louis Trintignant) who’s forced to care for his frail wife (Emmanuelle Riva) after she suffers from a stroke, is profoundly beautiful for its coldness. Hinted at in the startling first scene, this unforgettable film builds to a pure act of mercy, the husband putting his partner out of her misery. It’s a devastating moment, to be sure, but — realistically — it’s also the best possible outcome for a healthy marriage. After helping each other through this life for so long, what better way to honor someone than helping them into the next one? —DE
“Atonement” (2007)
Adapted from Ian McEwan’s shattering novel of the same name, Joe Wright’s similarly merciless “Atonement” is a downcast movie from the moment it starts, but it doesn’treallybreak you until its final minutes. The story spans several decades, with three different actresses playing the tormented protagonist, Briony Tallis. Saoirse Ronan inhabits the role in the days leading up to World War II, and stays with young Briony until a soured crush leads her to falsely accuse the housekeeper’s son — and her sister’s lover — of sexual assault. By the time the war arrives and Ronan matures into Romola Garai, Briony is already paralyzed by her guilt, rightly convinced that her actions ruined two innocent lives.
It’s melodramatic, mournful stuff all the way through, but there’s still no way to set yourself for how brutally the epilogue reopens those old wounds. Abruptly cutting to the present day, where Briony —sporting the same haircut she did as a child — is now an accomplished writer played by Vanessa Redgrave, the film ends with a gut punch that makes good on its title. Giving an interview about her final book, a dramatization of the harm she caused, the dying Briony confesses that much of the movie’s comparatively uplifting second act never happened. Her sister and the housekeeper’s son didn’t actually reunite; they each died horribly, and alone, as a result of a rash decision she made as a 13-year-old girl. We’ve been watching history as Briony misconstrued it in her book, a fanciful tale where the couple survived the war and spent the rest of their days together in a house by the sea. “I gave them their happiness,” Redgrave warbles, leaving us with none. —DE
“Bambi” (1942)
Is there any reference more widely regarded as peak sad than “Bambi”? The majority of this classic 1942 animated feature from Disney is adorable to be sure. With precocious bunny Thumper and the perfectly nicknamed Flower the skunk by his side, Bambi begins the film by exploring the wonders of the woods under the watchful eye of his mother. If only that were the end of this monstrous cinematic cruelty. (OK, that’s an overstatement but you know the scene and it is genuinely tough.) When hunters threatens their herd, Bambi and his father must face humanity’s destruction of their home. —AF
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” (2012)
Benh Zeitlin’s debut is vibrant and joyous, but it’s also terribly sad. All the aurochs and fireworks in the world can’t distract from the fact that, at its heart, this Bayou-set drama is about a little girl learning that her father isn’t immortal and she’ll one day be on her own. Well, not entirely — the Bathtub is a singular community that takes care of its own, even with a great flood threatening to wash it away. Quvenzhané Wallis is heartbreakingly good as Hushpuppy, whose story vacillates between the hyperreal and the fantastical. —MN
“Big Fish” (2003)
Tim Burton has told many tall tales throughout his career, but few are as moving as “Big Fish.” Telling the story of a man (Billy Crudup) attempting to reconcile with his prone-to-exaggeration father (Albert Finney) before the latter’s death, it was made not long after Burton lost both of his parents — and is as suffused with melancholy as that description makes it sound. Burton has spent so much time directing pulpy genre fare that it can be easy to forget his best films are also his sweetest; “Big Fish,” like “Edward Scissorhands” and “Ed Wood” before it, is all heart. It’s also as much about storytelling as it is about strained family dynamics, allowing it to be playfully self-reflexive in a way that tempers how damn sad it all is. —MN
“Blue Valentine” (2010)
There’s a sad sense of inevitability to how Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy’s (Michelle Williams) love story crumbles. The slow-motion dissolution of both their marriage and their family happens as they realize it. It’s two people narrating the decline of a relationship, almost powerless to stop it from happening. All of this would be devastating enough to watch unfold, but Derek Cianfrance’s film bounces back and forth between present and past, showing how the two got together. To see genuine affection in sequences like Gosling’s ukelele serenade curdle into twin silos of sorrow of self-doubt is a crushing downward spiral. “You Always Hurt the One You Love,” he sings in that moment of handheld pre-trouble bliss. It’s all the more gutting to know that these two knew it all along. —SG
“Bones and All” (2022)
Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet star in Luca Guadagnino’s “Bones and All”: a soul-scratching marriage of fraught intimacy and visceral horror that seductively blends elements of the director’s varied filmography — 2018’s “Suspiria” and the earlier “Call Me By Your Name” come to mind — to concoct a romance as life-affirming as it is lethal. With an unprecedentedly terrifying Mark Rylance in pursuit, two cannibal lovers explore their painful pasts as they embark on a road trip to find fresh meat. —AF
“Brief Encounter” (1945)
One of the most iconic missed connection stories of all time, David Lean’s “Brief Encounter” focuses on the brief but passionate love between two married Brits right before the beginning of World War II. On a train station platform, bored housewife Laura (Celia Johnson) meets handsome doctor Alec (Trevor Howard), and what begins as a platonic friendship soon develops into an intense emotional connection. But their loyalty to their spouses prevent them from giving into their desires, forcing them both to bid each other a wistful and heartbreaking goodbye —WC
“Brokeback Mountain” (2005)
The love affair between Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) is so pure and passionate, but it’s complicated both by each man’s marriage, as well as the strict social confines of the time. Ennis’ love and attraction to Jack is unbridled when two are alone and isolated, but he also struggles with his own sexuality, haunted by childhood memories of the murders of two men suspected of being gay. Although Ennis continues to see Jack on fishing trips, he is gruff with both Jack and his family, and eventually his marriage ends in divorce. Year later, when Ennis learns that Jack has died, he finally lets his emotions slip when he visits Jack’s bedroom and finds a shirt from their time on the eponymous Brokeback Mountain. He buries his face and lets a torrent of emotions break through, weeping into the shirt and bringing the audience to tears. —JR
“Charlotte’s Web” (1973)
As far as illustrated animal tragedies go, “Charlotte’s Web” is arguably even sadder than the aforementioned “Bambi.” Even if you’re not a fan of spiders, author E. B. White’s essential children’s story makes you spend so much time with the titular arachnid and her characteristic bravery that it’s practically impossible not to feel sad when she goes. “Charlotte’s Web” has been adapted for the big screen twice, first as an animated feature from Hanna-Barbera in 1973 and again as a live-action telling with Dakota Fanning starring as Fern in 2006. Both will make you weepy, but the animated version is particularly melancholy. —AF
“Dancer in the Dark” (2000)
It’s Selma’s earnest and innocent belief that everything will work out that makes “Dancer in the Dark” so absolutely heartbreaking. As a struggling single mother, Selma (Bjork) lies about her deteriorating eyesight in order to keep her menial factory job and trades sleep for extra work. She’s saving every penny she makes for an operation for her son, who is also genetically predisposed to blindness as she is. It is this, plus her charming ability to turn every moment into a romanticized version of a Hollywood musical, that gets her through each day. Things are going well as well as can be for Selma, until her landlord, who is in dire financial straits, discovers her secret stash of cash and steals it from her. Selma’s story takes an abrupt turn when she tries to get her money back. She clings to the hope that everything will work out, just as it does in Hollywood, but Selma finds herself literally singing her way to the gallows in the film’s absolutely heartbreaking climax. —JR
“Dead Poets Society” (1989)
The late Robin Williams pulled sobs from audiences watching everything from “Hook” to “Aladdin.” Still, “Dead Poets Society” may very well be his most earnestly moving performance. When an out-of-the-box English teacher starts at an all-male prep school, he inspires his troubled students to challenge the norms society has set out for them. Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard, and Josh Charles among others complete the memorable ensemble cast. Director Peter Weir’s steady hand adds to the knowing wisdom of Tom Schulman’s script, gently guiding the characters and audience through his film’s most devastating scenes. —AF
“Drinking Buddies” (2013)
Could the casting have been any more perfect for Joe Swanberg’s melancholic “Drinking Buddies”? We think not! The 2013 dramedy sees Olivia Wilde opposite Ron Livingston, and Jake Johnson opposite Anna Kendrick, before an unusually messy couples’ weekend shakes things up: leaving the four characters grappling with next steps. Wilde and Johnson steal the show as flirty friends, whose shared interest in craft beer and poker make for an especially likable centerpiece. But arguably, it’s Kendrick and Johnson who ground the film as longtime fiancés fighting to stay in love. —AF
“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet venture inside the human psyche for Charlie Kaufman’s exquisite “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.” The emotional sci-fi dramedy is so named for an Alexander Pope poem titled “Eloise to Abelard,” and explores the captivating possibility of a world where people can pay to have their most painful memories erased. Recognizable for its breathtaking set-pieces and mesmeric rhythm, the 2004 Best Original Screenplay Oscar winner stares into the abyss of betrayal, boredom, and regret but cuts the brutality of those themes with whimsical visual representations of psychology and a likable cast including Kirsten Dunst, Elijah Wood, and Mark Ruffalo. —AF
“Fried Green Tomatoes” (1991)
Much like “The Notebook,” “Fried Green Tomatoes” begins as a tale told between two characters visiting at a nursing home. Also like “The Notebook,” director Jon Avnet’s 1991 dramedy builds to one of the saddest endings ever inflicted on viewers. Kathy Bates and Jessica Tandy portray Evelyn and Ninny respectively: a frustrated housewife-turned-captive audience and the enchanting narrator she meets by chance. Mary-Louise Parker and Mary Stuart Masterson play Ruth Jamison and Idgie Threadgoode: the characters in Ninny’s Alabama-set story. —AF
“Fruitvale Station” (2013)
Oscar Grant was another young African American man we remember through grainy, removed cell phone video of his death at the hands of the police (the officer was later found guilty of involuntary manslaughter). That was before “Fruitvale Station,” based on a remarkably simple premise — the last day of Grant’s life leading up to his tragic homicide on the BART platform that evening — delivered with remarkable emotional complexity from a then-27-year-old director, Ryan Coogler. We see Grant (Michael B. Jordan) as a young man struggling to be a better one, in a realistic portrayal of his up-and-down relationship with his girlfriend (Melonie Diaz), his desperate attempt to get his job back at the grocery store, and even a brief flirtation with selling pot to make ends meet. Coogler and Jordan find humanity and beauty in Grant’s desire to be a good son, father, and provider. Before Black Lives Matter became a movement, this was a film that refused to let a grainy video of death be how this life was remembered. When Grant’s real-life family gathers at the end of the film, his daughter having grown four years, it’s a devastatingly powerful moment. —CO
“Her” (2013)
Joaquin Phoenix devastates opposite just the voice of Scarlett Johansson in the heart-rending tale of Theodore Twombly: a poetic-minded writer who falls in love with his artificially intelligent assistant in the not-so-distant future. Writer-director Spike Jonze’s soft touch makes “Her” a remarkably rewarding watch, building an intensely believable romance against a backdrop of more outlandish sci-fi tech that gives way to a painful reflection on lovers’ growing apart. Amy Adams steals a handful of scenes as Theodore’s concerned friend, also named Amy. —AF
“Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” (1993)
“Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey” may very well be the most agonizing road trip “comedy” ever made. Dogs Chance and Shadow are joined by a cat named Sassy in this live-action adaption of Sheila Burnford’s 1961 novel of the same name. When the furry pet-tagonists fear themselves abandoned, they set out on an impossibly difficult journey to find their owners. This one won’t totally devastate you, but it gets pretty close. —AF
“I’m Thinking of Ending Things” (2020)
There are a lot of ways one could interpret Charlie Kaufman’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things.” Still, you’d be hard-pressed to classify any of those as “happy.” The dreamlike adaptation of Iain Reid’s novel of the same name follows a woman (Jessie Buckley) and her new boyfriend (Jesse Plemons) on a snowy trip to meet his parents (Toni Collette, David Thewlis). Once there, a surrealist vision blooms as what once appeared like a psychological thriller becomes the soul-shattering portrait of an artist facing mortality and meaning. —AF
“Keep the Lights On” (2012)
One mark of a great film is a scene so raw and unexpected that it stays with you for years, and Ira Sachs’ films are filled with them. For his heartbreaking mid-career feature, the New York-based filmmaker drew from personal experience to tell a story of a man left shattered by his partner’s debilitating drug addiction. Sachs delivers one of the most excruciating love scenes ever put to film; Erik (Thure Lindgardt) holding Paul’s (Zachary Booth) hand as he is entered from behind by a stranger. Addiction runs rampant in some gay communities, but Sachs is far too nuanced a filmmaker to ever make an obvious “issue” film. Like his equally stunning “Love Is Strange,” “Keep the Lights On” is about the pain of romantic love and its inevitable disappointments. It’s not a fun story, but it’s a profoundly brave one. —JD
“Little Women” (2019)
Greta Gerwig brought Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women” to the big screen for the sixth time in 2019. In doing so, the “Lady Bird” director imbued the 19th century author’s enduring words with a freshly poignant grace practically designed to break audiences’ hearts. The casting is perfection, from Florence Pugh as Amy to Timothée Chalamet as Laurie to Saoirse Ronan as Jo. The direction and cinematography are even more exquisite, bringing as much life to the film’s myriad celebrations of sisterhood as they do tenderhearted understanding to its more sorrowful plot points. —AF
“Love is Strange” (2014)
Despite the overwhelming beauty of Ira Sachs’ fifth feature (sun-glinted Manhattan streets and gloriously simple moments between longtime loves), there’s tragedy in how quickly the lives of the central couple transform. George (Alfred Molina) loses his job at a Catholic school after being outed, leading he and partner Ben (John Lithgow) to leave their apartment before they have time to fully regroup. There’s resiliency in how the two get through their changing world, but “Love is Strange” also shows the consequences of intolerance. Late in the film, another unexpected turn of events shakes the family that George and Ben have reconnected with. Though the film ends on a greater sense of uplift than most of the other entries on this list, there’s still an overwhelming sense of time and chances lost.—SG
“Manchester by the Sea” (2016)
This aching tale of family and tragedy is a masterclass in screenwriting and direction from Kenneth Lonergan, but emotion leaps off the screen thanks to a brilliant cast. Casey Affleck’s Oscar win will always have an asterisk by it due to sexual harassment allegations made against him, but his performance as the eternally grieving Lee Chandler ripples with energy through his entire being. Paired in powerful scenes with Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, and Lucas Hedges, it’s impossible not to get misty-eyed as this group of proud blue-collar Massachusetts characters learn to move on in the face of unthinkable loss. —WE
“Marriage Story” (2019)
Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver tear the house down in writer-director Noah Baumbach’s visceral “Marriage Story.” The six-time Academy Award nominated film follows a couple in the arts as they navigate separating their lives and sharing their son Henry, played by Azhy Robertson. Alan Alda, Ray Liotta, and Laura Dern, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her cutting performance, round out the cast as the attorneys who get involved when the pair’s plans to split amicably begin to fail. It’s a painstaking watch that illuminates the nefarious nooks and crannies of heartbreak, anger, and acceptance. —AF
“Melancholia” (2011)
Lars von Trier’s “Melancholia” blows right past sad and plummets into the limitless depths of existential despair. As an ominous planet passes by Earth, a depressed bride (Kirsten Dunst) contemplates the unknown with her sister (Charlotte Gainbourg), brother-in-law (Kiefer Sutherland), and their young son (Cameron Spurr) against the backdrop of a lavish wedding in shambles. With wondrous, painting-like visuals and a moving classical score, the 2011 Cannes favorite wraps its severe, cynical underpinnings in a diaphanous cloak of beauty just distracting enough to keep you questioning von Trier’s intention til the bitter end. —AF
“Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
An elegy on paternal guilt, the 2005 Best Picture winner enlisted Clint Eastwood as director, co-producer, actor, and composer. Thirty-something Los Angeles waitress and aspiring boxer Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank, in a performance that secured her second Oscar) was born in the Ozarks, “somewhere between nowhere and goodbye.” With much persistence, the lifelong underdog — she weighed just over two pounds at birth — finally convinces surly gym owner Frankie Dunn (Eastwood) to train her, becoming a proxy for his estranged daughter while accumulating prize money. Throughout the film’s three acts (which co-star Morgan Freeman as Frankie’s assistant and our narrator, Eddie “Scrap-Iron” Dupris), Maggie endures a broken nose and neck, confinement to a wheelchair, plus bedsores and a leg amputation. When her actual family visits her hospital bedside, it is only to lay claim to her cash, after touring the local theme parks. Dunn, who attends daily mass, defies his priest by helping Maggie commit suicide, delivering the fatal adrenaline shot and revealing the meaning behind “Mo chuisle,” the touching, Gaelic nickname that she never understood. —JM
“Moonlight” (2016)
“Moonlight,” Barry Jenkins’ 2016 Best Picture winner and one of A24’s most well-regarded titles, combines arresting visuals with excruciating drama to craft a gripping depiction of a gay Black man dealing drugs in Atlanta. The protagonist is shown at three stages of his life and is played by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes (in that order.) His childhood best friend appears in the same way and is played by Jaden Piner, Jarrel Jerome, and André Holland. Naomie Harris also appears as the hero’s troubled mother, alongside Mahershala Ali who won Best Supporting Actor for his part as a kind father figure and mentor. —AF
“Moulin Rouge!” (2001)
Director Baz Luhrmann’s third feature — a frenetic, glimmering reverie set in Paris on the eve of the 20th century — remains his most critically-acclaimed, having earned eight Oscar nominations and awards for art direction and costume design. “Moulin Rouge!” also reignited the currently-thriving movie musical genre with its tale of a ambitious, bewitching Satine (Nicole Kidman), who wants to wrench control of her body and talent away from the men in her lives. Most of the film is devoted to planning a theatrical extravaganza called “Spectacular Spectacular,” interwoven with multiple cases of mistaken identity — Satine first assumes that the show’s goodhearted writer, Christian (Ewan McGregor) is a rich duke (Richard Roxburgh) who will only exchange an investment for a night in her bed. She and Christian prove ill-fated soulmates: Satine learns that she has highly-contagious tuberculosis, never tells him, and dies at the end of her lone performance in their beloved production. —JM
“My Girl” (1991)
“My Girl” is decidedly uneven, with the meandering drama of a whip-smart kid named Vada including as many charming coming-of-age beats as it has awkward platitudes about girlhood. That said, 9-year-old Anna Chlumsky brings surprising gravitas to the energetic role, finding unexpected multitudes in the death-obsessed daughter of a mortician. Director Howard Zieff’s best known film is infamous for one especially agonizing event involving a young Macaulay Culkin and a swarm of bees. (“He can’t see without his glasses!“) —AF
“On the Count of Three” (2021)
Making his feature directorial debut, Jerrod Carmichael stars as a depressed man who makes a spur-of-the-moment suicide pact with his best friend. In this two-hander with Christopher Abbott, Carmichael deftly explores the kaleidoscopic nature of depression: carefully considering both how circumstance can suddenly mutate into existential despair and what it means to manage serious mental illness over a lifetime. The result is an unflinching meditation on permanence with a final scene that will burn in your brain as only the most resonant renderings of our humanity can.—AF
“Pieces of a Woman” (2020)
Vanessa Kirby delivers a career best performance in Netflix’s “Pieces of a Woman.” The crushingly sorrowful 2020 film from director Kornél Mundruczó and writer Kata Wéber expands on a play the husband-wife team wrote about a miscarriage they experienced, incorporating a tortured legal process following a home birth that results in the death of Martha (Kirby) and her partner Sean’s (Shia LaBeouf) infant daughter. Ellen Burstyn appears as Martha’s mother, alongside Iliza Shlesinger as Martha’s sister and Sarah Snook as Martha’s cousin and the prosecutor in a criminal case against a midwife played by Molly Parker. —AF
“Rabbit Hole” (2010)
A meditation on grief that never hits a false note, John Cameron Mitchell’s big screen version of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play of the same name (the playwright also penned the screenplay) stunningly dramatizes every parent’s worst nightmare. Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart are the ill-fated Corbetts, a seemingly everyday couple who have lost their young son to a tragic accident — and that it really was an accident somehow seems to make things worse — and who are unable to find solace in each other or various attempts to heal up. As their grief grows, so too does a gulf between them, with Howie Corbett opting to pursue more traditional ways of healing (a group of similarly situated parents, a new friend) while Becca Corbett masterminds a plan to befriend the young man who technically killed their son (a wrenching Miles Teller in his first big screen role). The question looms: what will hurt most? And will it be worth it? —KE
“Spencer” (2021)
Kristen Stewart plays Princess Diana in this ethereal revisitation of the famous fracturing between Spencer and the British royal family. Rather than recreate the tragic beats of Spencer’s short life, director Pablo Larraín expands upon their emotional essence in a revisionist history that both honors the lasting legacy of the late icon as well as lambasts the systemic cruelty on display in the months and years leading up to her death. The result is a one-of-a-kind ghost story that earned Stewart an Oscar nod for Best Actress. —AF
“Steel Magnolias” (1989)
The bonds of womanhood are tested in director Herbert Ross’ “Steel Magnolias”: an ensemble piece set in Louisiana starring Sally Field, Julia Roberts, Dolly Parton, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, and Daryl Hannah. The 1989 dramedy intertwines the highs and lows of six women’s lives to stupendous effect, bringing audiences along for weddings, funerals, births, and more of the formative events that make us who we are. There’s plenty that’s joyful and funny in “Steel Magnolias,” but its the film’s tragic beats that bring its prescient message of enduring through grief to the forefront. —AF
“Still Alice” (2014)
The indication that something is very wrong with Alice (Julianne Moore, in one of her best roles in a career principally composed of “best roles”) comes care of an ironic twist: the linguistics professor can’t remember a word. It’s a small thing, a tiny bump, a brain trick wholly relatable to everyone, but Alice — and us, the audience — instantly know it’s indicative of so much more. Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland’s finely tuned drama follows Alice and her family (including Kristen Stewart as her quietly heartbroken and immensely dedicated daughter) as they attempt to navigate a world suddenly ruled by her early-onset Alzheimer’s, a disease that damages all of them in very different ways. It’s the care and grace that every member of the production put into it — Moore herself made it a priority to spend time with those effected by the disease and studied for months, co-star Kate Bosworth was clear with Glatzer and Westmoreland how personal the material was to her, and Glatzer himself was suffering from ALS during shooting — that set “Still Alice” apart and makes it hurt so deeply, because it hurts so truthfully. —KE
“The Babadook” (2013)
Writer/director Jennifer Kent explores the grief and pain too big to keep inside yourself with “The Babadook.” On the surface, the 2014 Australian supernatural horror film tells the story of a woman (Essie Davis) who is struggling to raise her troubled son (Noah Wiseman) in the wake of her late husband’s (Ben Winspear) death. After a mysterious book, baring the name “Mister Babadook,” appears on her son’s shelf, however, the widow is confronted by a strange creature capable of manifesting her darkest thoughts. —AF
“The Banshees of Inisherin” (2022)
Martin McDonagh movies are practically synonymous with tragicomic clashes of philosophy,particularly if they’re punctuated by outbursts of over-the-top violence. (See past works “Seven Psychopaths” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” for starters.) Still, riding on the wee legs of little Jenny the miniature donkey, “The Banshees of Inisherin” pulls far ahead in the race for McDonagh’s outright saddest film when two old drinking partners suddenly go their separate ways. “In Bruges” stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson reunite as Pádraic Súilleabháin, a simple man with a boundless capacity to forgive, and Colm Doherty, an older and more pensive man plagued with a sense that he’s running out of time. —AF
“The Farewell” (2019)
Based on writer-director Lulu Wang’s real life, “The Farewell” centers on a Chinese-American family’s plan to host a reunion honoring their terminally ill grandmother, without letting the elderly Nai Nai (Zhao Shu-zhen) know that she is dying. Awkwafina shines in the leading role of granddaughter Billi, bringing Wang’s perfectly balanced dramedy to fiercely felt life. Be it from laughing or crying, “The Farewell” is the definition of a tearjerker, weaving intricately crafted family dynamics into a classic comedy structure that keeps you off-balance in the best way possible. —AF
“The Help” (2011)
Sad movies often get branded with the “guilty pleasure” label — sometimes unfairly. That’s certainly the case with “The Help,” a blockbuster period drama about two Black maids working for white families in 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. The movie somewhat regrettably centers the perspective of its white protagonist (Emma Stone), who is inspired by the family of the source novel’s white author (Kathryn Stockett), and directed by a white man (Tate Taylor). However, “The Help” is guaranteed to produce tears, and it’s all thanks to two stellar performances by stars Octavia Spencer and Viola Davis, whose work sets the film a cut above. “The Help” launched Spencer’s career to new heights, and she would have run away completely with the movie if it hadn’t been for Davis, who received her second Oscar nomination for best lead actress for the film. —JD
“The Notebook” (2004)
Nick Cassavetes’ beloved big screen adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ novel of the same name is basically engineered for maximum tearshed, but it’s bolstered by stars Ryan Gosling, Rachel McAdams, James Garner, and Geena Rowlands’ full-tilt dedication to the story, eschewing its cheese factor and instead leaning into the raw emotion of a genuinely classic love story. Sparks’ novels have inspired scores of film adaptations, from weirdo misfires like “Safe Haven” to the imminently forgettable “The Best of Me,” but “The Notebook” is a testament to the power of his love stories when they’re populated by the exact right people. A time-spanning epic that hinges on some handy misdirects, Cassavetes steadily unspools mystery and romance alongside one another, before hammering home heartbreak after heartbreak. You’ll sniffle when the real reason why young Noah and Allie were kept apart is revealed, sob when the full extent of elder Duke’s dedication is revealed, and openly weep when the pair finally come to their inevitable end. Yes, it’s built to make you cry, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. —KE
“The Tale of the Princess Kaguya” (2013)
When it comes to movies adapted from ancient folklore, it’s never wise to hold out hope for a happy ending — the storytellers of yore weren’t quite as gentle as the movie executives who followed in their wake. In other words, people raised on Disney movies might not be prepared for what’s in store for them at the end of Isao Takahata’s “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” which is based on a 10th century Japanese legend and builds to a degree of emotional devastation unseen in any animated film this side of Takahata’s own “Grave of the Fireflies.” There’s a bittersweet sparseness drawn in to Takahata’s style, but the fairy tale story is so simple and gently told that its finale still manages to sneak up on you. It starts when a humble woodcutter finds a glowing miniature girl in a bamboo shoot, and decides to raise the enchanted child with his wife. Young Kaguya grows into a beautiful young woman whose natural radiance condemns her to a revolting life of royalty. In a fit of frustration, she prays to return to her life on the moon (she’s from the moon, by the way). Tragically, her prayers are answered just as Kaguya has reacquainted herself with the bucolic splendor of her childhood and the warmth she found there, the princess spirited away into outer space with no memory of the love that she’s leaving behind. The film ends with an extraordinary celestial parade, an explosion of color descending from the heavens, but all of that beauty only makes things that much sadder. —DE
“The Wrestler” (2008)
“The Wrestler” wouldn’t be nearly as sad were it not so realistic. Randy “The Ram” Robinson’s plight is not at all unique among professional wrestlers, who die before their time at an alarming rate — though choreographed, there’s nothing fake about years and years of concussions and broken bones. Mickey Rourke is as magnetic as he is tragic in Darren Aronofsky’s best film, which sees a former main-event grappler looking for one last moment in the spotlight as he tries to forge a relationship with his estranged, perpetually disappointed daughter. The end may be ambiguous, but the implication is not: Even if Randy isn’t down for the count, his glory days ended long before we met him. —MN
“Titanic” (1997)
James Cameron’s nautical tragedy from 1997 is undeniably re-watchable. (See the nearly nine months “Titanic” spent docked in theaters upon its release.) But even more impressive is its enduring emotional impact: the keen sting of Jack and Rose’s untimely parting that’s miraculously not blunted, but sharpened by earnest rewatches as well as decades of criticism and parody. Sure, you can put on “Titanic” to see the titular ship sink, a feat of visual effects that’s still dazzling years later. But when you think of 11-time Oscar winner, you can’t help but picture Kate Winslet and Leo DiCaprio in the most romantic roles they’d ever play. —AF
“Toy Story 3” (2010)
Pixar is famous for imbuing its family-friendly stories with pangs of verisimilitude that really only land with adult audiences. Still, parents who took their kids — particularly their high school and college age kids — to see “Toy Story 3” got metaphorically cold-cocked by the poignant yet painful second sequel about Andy finally moving out of his parents’ house and away from his toys. The 2010 film became the first animated sequel nominated for Best Picture, and only the third animated nominee in the category after “Beauty and the Beast” and “Up.” —AF
“Tully” (2018)
Charlize Theron, director Jason Reitman, and writer Diablo Cody combine their characteristic brilliance to produce the singular “Tully.” This Sundance darling from 2018 stars Theron as Marlo: an overwhelmed mother whose life is totally changed by the arrival of her third child and later the baby’s new night nurse Tully, played by Mackenzie Davis. The 2018 film constructs a searing-yet-beautiful meditation on the unending demands of motherhood and the inevitable grief and fatigue that follows for so many parents. Ron Livingston plays Marlo’s husband in Drew, an understated supporting role that further elevates the film’s complex consideration of child-rearing and division of labor among spouses. —AF
“Up” (2009)
Not all of Pete Docter’s “Up” is especially sad: a point best illustrated by just how much of the kid-friendly film features a talking dog and “Seussical”-esque sidekick. That said, the 2004 animated adventure’s prologue went down in Pixar history for its introduction of the widowed Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner), whose plain to fulfill his late wife’s dying wish motivates the rest of the film. “Up” delivers a pocket-sized drama as painful as any feature-length tragedy, but chases it with an adorable exploration epic that will quite literally lift your spirits. It was the second animated film ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars. —AF
“War Horse” (2011)
Steven Spielberg ponders the unbreakable spirit of friendship in the World War I drama “War Horse.” Nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, the 2011 film is based on author Michael Morpugo’s novel of the same name and chronicles a horse’s fight to reunite with its owner (Jeremy Irvine) after being taken by the army. That through-line is reason enough to watch, but more memorable are the countless war tragedies the horse stumbles across during his inconceivable journey. —AF
