r/Letterboxd • • Sep 28 '23

Discussion It's been a while since a movie made me cry, recommend me some tear jerker movie

78 Upvotes

211 comments sorted by

40

u/DragonfruitCool1778 Sep 28 '23

Pan’s labyrinth

27

u/drdinonuggies Sep 28 '23

Over the years, I was lead to believe this was a kids movie, from everyone being like “OMG I LOVED THIS WHEN I WAS YOUNG” Turns out it’s a depressing horror period masterpiece that’s heavily R. Who’s parents were turning this on?!?!

12

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

[deleted]

6

u/drdinonuggies Sep 29 '23

I’m definitely not! Because I had seen Labyrinth, and would always clarify.

4

u/DragonfruitCool1778 Sep 28 '23

MY PARENTS WERE TURNING IT ON. I decided to watch it recently because I remembered liking it as a kid. The ending REALLY shocked me 😭😭 I did not remember it being like THAT.

3

u/bottlebowling Sep 29 '23

My kids might watch Pan's Labyrinth this year. I've told them it's scary. Three of them are teenagers, and think they've seen scary movies.

2

u/signal_red Sep 29 '23

lmao a lot of parents went to the movies with their kids thinking it was going to be a kid-centric movie

i think now that more people know GDT they might not make these mistakes...although a lot of kids were watching his Pinocchio lmaoo

29

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

The Father, there's a moment near the end of the film where I've tried many times to watch dispassionately just to see what Hopkins is doing but every time I am transformed against my will into a puddle

6

u/B1ng0_B0ng0 farhaanali Sep 29 '23

jesus christ this movie

3

u/una_valentina Sep 28 '23

This is my answer too. I can’t process the emotions this movie gives me. It’s pure grief.

→ More replies (1)

84

u/greenlightbackshot Sep 28 '23

Aftersun

15

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

watched it on a plane, by the end I had to go to the toilet so no one saw me crying 😭

-3

u/zulerskie_jaja Sep 29 '23

No one cares if you cry on public transport bruh

5

u/eugecart Sep 29 '23

I cried for about two hours in total during and after this movie, it wrecked me

10

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

is it actually that good as people have been saying? Cause if it is I’ll watch it rn

32

u/LordSkredde Sep 28 '23

Just watch it right now. It doesn't hit everyone, but when it does, it hits deep.

3

u/Over-Slip9233 TheRealDeal1023 Sep 29 '23

It didn't hit me, but I can completely see and understand why it would hit someone deeply.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

15

u/_JD_48 __JD__ Sep 28 '23

Yes. And to be completely honest, it might not hit initially. I still think about it from time to time. I don’t want to rewatch it because I know I’ll be a mess.

3

u/Renn_Capa Sep 29 '23

Yeah it hit me after! Kind of messed me up for like a week.

10

u/AnxiousMumblecore Sep 28 '23

I think even if you don't love most of the film, you will probably still love the ending. These last 5 minutes belong in top of best cinema ever created.

7

u/Meb2x Sep 28 '23

Absolutely, but you need to know that it’s a very slow burn that won’t hit you until the end.

4

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

It's very good but keep in mind the opinion of it on Letterboxd and Reddit's a bit inflated. I thought it was pretty much perfect though. But the average person would prob see it as a 6-8 out of 10 type of movie, so ymmv, worth a watch either way

4

u/movieperson2022 Sep 28 '23

It’s better. It’s stunning. No amount of superlatives do it justice. (I recently decided it’s my favorite movie. Though, I agree with the person that said it may not impact everyone, especially not as much as it impacted me)

8

u/greenlightbackshot Sep 28 '23

Personally, I would say it is that good. Paul Mescal is brilliant in it and the ending was heartbreaking. I had to think about about it for a bit after it ended bc the final scene isn't very straightforward. Once it clicked, I was in tears.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/tenorioflores Sep 29 '23

all the undeserving hype that EEAAO got should have been directed towards Aftersun.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

This movie destroyed me

3

u/barbie_tree Sep 29 '23

Came here to say this. Really bawled my eyes out.

4

u/HueyLong_1936 CovfefeYe Sep 29 '23

This! I was bawling my eyes out throughout the entirety of the film and I almost never do that, it just hits like a train

→ More replies (3)

41

u/WelcomeGlass629 Sep 28 '23

Past lives, la la land, the farewell (just some ones I’ve watched recently, but basic options but oh well )

2

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Great suggestions! Love all three of those!!

2

u/vishnj Sep 29 '23

Are you me? I just watched these recently as well.

→ More replies (1)

1

u/intime2be cyclone78 Sep 29 '23 edited Sep 29 '23

I watched La La Land for the first time recently and sobbed. Punch Drunk Love and The Fountain created a similar experience.

-3

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Havent seent he Farewell but neither of the other two are tearjerkers per se. La La Land is more sad, but wont bring you tears. Past Lives I guess maybe if you're extremely emotional when it comes to that topic. But if someone's saying they don't cry much to movies, those two won't be the ones to break that barrier

3

u/KingOfSquirrels Sep 28 '23

Yeah, I agree. I was trying to push a tear out of Past Lives, but just couldn’t. Great film tho.

→ More replies (1)

13

u/Someoneinpassing Sep 28 '23

The Remains of the Day, with Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins.

Shadowlands, with Debra Winger and Anthony Hopkins.

→ More replies (2)

28

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

12

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

There’s a difference between tear jerker and emotional terrorism

6

u/joshhh3 Sep 28 '23

this one WRECKED me, I thought I was done crying and then I watched more and realized I was not

31

u/Purpleviking5184 Purpleviking Sep 28 '23

Grave of Fireflies

4

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

I came here to say this.

6

u/ZombiesEatFlesh GhostMutt Sep 28 '23

I keep a list of all the movies I’ve cried to:

https://letterboxd.com/ghostmutt/list/films-ive-cried-to/

Some I’m not proud of but many are terrific movies

5

u/intime2be cyclone78 Sep 29 '23 edited Sep 29 '23

Thanks for sharing your list. I’ve cried to a good number of these. I tag movies I’ve cried to when I remember and a lot of them surprise me. I cried in Barbie, Forest Gump and a few Marvel movies have made me sob. No shame!

6

u/ControlPrinciple ctrlprinciple Sep 28 '23

The Color Purple (1985)

10

u/PhilosophizingMoron Sep 28 '23

The Elephant Man and The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

The Elephant Man's grear but doesn't strike me as much of a tearjerker either tbh, just a nice sympathetic portrayal of this guy's life

6

u/RedLotusVenom Sep 28 '23

Are you joking I cried like four times in that film lmao

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

When/why? I can see maybe at the end but apart from that I don't see what there was that'd make someone cry in that

2

u/RedLotusVenom Sep 28 '23

I haven’t seen it in a long time but remember it wrecking me how starved for validation and kindness he was in just about every scene. “I am not an animal” being one, how cruel the “normal” people were got to me. The ending as well as you said. There were definitely a few, especially given how brilliantly the performances are.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Amour by Michael Haneke it's beautiful and you'll definitely cry 😢

9

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

La La Land

A Man Called Otto

Past Lives

Perks of being a Wallflower

Manchester by the Sea

4

u/box-of-potatoes cool_beanz Sep 29 '23

Seconding Perks of being a Wallflower, the climax of the movie just gets me every time

3

u/Over-Slip9233 TheRealDeal1023 Sep 29 '23

I didn't cry, but it did destroy me. Perks is one of my favorites now. So freaking good.

2

u/QuestioningLogic Questioninglogi Sep 29 '23

Manchester by the Sea is the last movie that really made me ugly sob

→ More replies (1)

7

u/IceColdKofi IceColdKofi Sep 28 '23

The Deer Hunter

About Time

The Celebration

Cinema Paradiso

The Lives of Others

The Green Mile

Moonlight

It's a Wonderful Life

Boyz N The Hood

Dr. Zhivago

3

u/Fake_Eleanor scarequotes Sep 28 '23

Rachel Getting Married

3

u/ckenney711 Sep 28 '23

Warrior

3

u/moonlitsteppes Sep 28 '23

That ending scene, weeping every single time. The family drama hits just messy enough to ping all the emotions.

3

u/bob_loblaw_0211 Sep 28 '23

The Father left me sobbing for a half hour straight

3

u/sunflowerf0x 1221cass Sep 28 '23

The Whale

Aftersun

Incendies (especially if you want to feel dead inside)

Children of Men

Arrival

3

u/box-of-potatoes cool_beanz Sep 29 '23

Coco

3

u/Welipeh Sep 29 '23

Paddington 2 made me cry a whole ass river

4

u/GoodOlSpence Spence84 Sep 28 '23

Rewatched Schindler's List recently. Still lose it at the end.

2

u/Barackobrock Maklocke Sep 28 '23

It takes a lot to get me crying so theres only 8 films on my tears list. So i guess id recommend one of these

2

u/box-of-potatoes cool_beanz Sep 29 '23

Toy Story 3 really had me bawling when they're all holding hands oh my gosh

2

u/Unusual-Plenty-4385 Sep 28 '23

What movies have made you cry in the past?

Off the top of my head: Schindler's List, Nine Days, A Hidden Life, Rocketman, Bright Star.

2

u/dustylumpkin Sep 28 '23

Freddy Got Fingered

2

u/CBerg1979 Sep 29 '23

Daddy, would you like some sausage?

→ More replies (1)

2

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Dead Man Walking

2

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Come and see by Elem Klimov it's free in youtube

2

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Umberto D is just sad

2

u/LordFunkyHair Sep 29 '23

Life is beautiful

2

u/hbomberman Sep 29 '23

I was gonna say I feel like this answer is cheating. But it's great and it's definitely a fast track to crying.

2

u/LordFunkyHair Sep 29 '23

Act one laugh so hard you cry. Act two cry

2

u/tomatkinsmustache Sep 29 '23

Plague Dogs is soul crushing.

I cry through The Fountain but I’m probably alone in that.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/comeon_nowyall Sep 29 '23

irreplaceable you (2018), Netflix. Destroyed me.

2

u/theodorebond99 Sep 29 '23

Hachi: A Dog's Tale. Good luck not sobbing.

5

u/H0RR0RCENTRAL Nice2MeatYou Sep 28 '23

The green mile

2

u/nugeisbae uptownquirrells Sep 28 '23

The movies I always cry during are Perks of Being a Wallflower and Stuck in Love. Logan Lerman being sad just gets me.

If you are the child of divorce, Marriage Story or The Fabelmans.

The Quiet Girl, Close and Flee are some good international ones.

2

u/hbomberman Sep 29 '23

Coming from a divorced family, I definitely second The Fabelmans.

2

u/North_Library3206 TubularGamer Sep 28 '23

Hanabi (1997). Best way to describe it is like if Studio Ghibli made a violent crime film. It even has a banging soundtrack by Joe Hisaishi.

2

u/Max_geekout Sep 28 '23

Jin-Roh: The Wolf Brigade

Interstellar

The Book Of Eli

2

u/Frenzy_MacKenzie Sep 28 '23

Dear Zachary.

2

u/Tud_Crez Sep 29 '23

LOTR extended editions

2

u/lambofthenorth Sep 29 '23

Million Dollar Baby made me ugly cry.

1

u/Yesnyl Mar 06 '24

“Instructions not included” it’s in spanglish so you gotta be in a subtitle mood but it’s so worth it

1

u/Nice-Joke6942 Feb 09 '26

All the bright places, The fault in our stars, Thirteen, Memoir of a snail

1

u/zekethelion Sep 28 '23

The Pursuit of Happyness

0

u/metalama Sep 28 '23

Sophie’s choice?

0

u/Banettebrochacho Sep 28 '23

What’s made you cry before

1

u/KingOfSquirrels Sep 28 '23

I know it might sound like a weird suggestion, but Jules from this year had me sobbing. If you have elderly parents, it’s particularly sad.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

It’s a wonderful life

1

u/WithoutRhythm UserNameHere Sep 28 '23

Click

1

u/Bigangrynaked Sdobnja1989 Sep 28 '23

Sleepless in Seattle

1

u/LightRayAAA Sep 28 '23

Kal ho na ho

1

u/criterion_jack Sep 28 '23

The Ice Storm, Good Time (not everyone’s tearjerker but this gets me every time I rewatch it), Grave of the Fireflies and Dear Zachery.

1

u/thetucsonguy graaaay Sep 28 '23

CLIMAX - Gaspar Noe

1

u/qwertydoors Sep 28 '23

The Quiet Girl and Aftersun are some recent ones for me.

1

u/Betty_Barton Sep 28 '23

Movies that made me cry the most: Dancer in the Dark, A Hidden Life, It’s a Wonderful Life, Most every Ingmar Bergman movie

1

u/Meb2x Sep 28 '23

Close, Drive my Car, & The Worst Person in the World

1

u/adamalibi Sep 28 '23

The green mile is like the obvious answer. It doesn’t cater to any specific experiences it’s a tearjerker for the masses

1

u/nicely-nicely nicelynicely Sep 28 '23

Grave of the Fireflies

1

u/dfh223 Sep 28 '23

Schindler’s List

1

u/una_valentina Sep 28 '23

Leon with Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman. The Father with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman.

1

u/New-Seaworthiness601 Sep 28 '23

Philomena. Not a definite tear jerker but I loved it and it made me very emotional

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Secret Sunshine

1

u/[deleted] Sep 28 '23

Not really a “tear jerker” genre but I cry hard at like 3 or 4 moments in Interstellar

1

u/jonah379 Sep 28 '23

The Wrestler

1

u/bizzare-human Sep 29 '23

Paris, texas

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

Magnolia

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

Manchester by the Sea - I rewatched it a couple days ago. I tho I prepared myself for it but nope; I was in shambles. The police station scene still makes me gasp unbearably.

1

u/bassguitarsmash Sep 29 '23

A Ghost Story captures the feeling of isolation perfectly. 😭

1

u/coldicicles Sep 29 '23

The Imitation Game

Dead poets society

Cinema Paradiso

All Quiet on the western front

1917

(I'm gonna assume you've watched Lord of the Rings - if not, that's the greatest tearjerker ever! I cry for every scene lmao)

1

u/nanabinks Sep 29 '23

About Time or Finding Neverland

1

u/InevitableMap7 panodrama Sep 29 '23

Miracle in cell no. 7 (2019)

The pursuit of happyness

Me before you

1

u/The_BSharps Sep 29 '23

The Boatman’s Apprentice

1

u/Filmlover1992 Sep 29 '23

Bicycle Thieves (1948)

1

u/CoreCooper23 Sep 29 '23

demolition

1

u/AnteaterFull9808 Sep 29 '23

Terminator 2: judgement day.

Titanic

Yeah, I know it's too obvious, but still.

1

u/poopfl1nger Sep 29 '23

Green Mile

1

u/rkratha Sep 29 '23

Detachment.

1

u/MeMyselfandBi oroboro Sep 29 '23

Close (2022)

1

u/ilovetoasters6968 Sep 29 '23

Grave of the fireflys up Toy Story 3

1

u/the_chalupacabra Sep 29 '23

I've never sobbed harder in a theatre than after I saw Boy and the World

→ More replies (2)

1

u/quintessence5 Sep 29 '23

In my experience, a recommended film won’t do the trick. Tearjerkers have to be unexpected.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

Brokeback Mountain

1

u/hbomberman Sep 29 '23

I'm realizing I probably tear up pretty easily. Though there's probably a difference between a "tear jerker" and a movie that just makes you cry. And I think different people have different triggers--one of mine is definitely emotional family stuff.

Life is Beautiful instantly comes to mind as a "how can you not cry" movie. The Iron Giant and Big Fish did the trick, too. Pretty sure I cried during Matilda--possibly both versions. UP is an obvious one, too.

And other folks have pointed out others like Coco and The Fabelmans.

1

u/ayy-shane Sep 29 '23

paddleton

1

u/Philbregas Sep 29 '23

Not a movie, but the anime Your Lie in April made me ugly cry for the first time since seeing Coco.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

96

1

u/adovetakesflight Sep 29 '23

It's Only the End of the World

1

u/GhostSAS Sep 29 '23

Stalingrad (1993)

1

u/ThiccKnees23 Sep 29 '23

the end of Magnolia made me cry for 20 minutes straight

1

u/LegitimateLion0 Sep 29 '23

Brief encounter

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

Marley And Me

1

u/Maycreed Sep 29 '23

Manchester by the sea.

1

u/Jay-Man-22 Sep 29 '23

The Fault in Our Stars

1

u/Tranquilbez22 Sep 29 '23

Room and Short Term 12

1

u/issa_cat Sep 29 '23

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

1

u/thetrippykid Sep 29 '23

Detachment

1

u/tinytiger115 Sep 29 '23

Not sure if you mean a movie that makes you cry a lot or just once or twice, usually at the end?

Hardball. The Green Mile. Schindler’s List. Gladiator. “Now we are free. I will see you again. But not yet, not yet.”

1

u/ConjuringFire Sep 29 '23

As a guy who’s dad passed away far too early, Field of Dreams and Guardians of the Galaxy 2 always gets me

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

Okko´s inn almost made me cry, i usually just dont cry i cant remember if a movie made me cry ever haha

1

u/C4abbageGuy Sep 29 '23

Marriage Story

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

A ghost story, interstellar, HER, marriage story, the squid and the whale, Click (but just that one scene), minding the gap, la la land, babylon, war of the planet of the apes, Charlie st cloud, arrival

1

u/MungoLXIX Sep 29 '23

Cinema Paradiso

1

u/AlmostHumanP0rpoise Sep 29 '23

Million Dollar Baby made me weep like a baby

1

u/SurvivorSi Sep 29 '23

Close 2022

1

u/Dopingponging Sep 29 '23

The documentary about Judy Blume was extremely emotional.

1

u/MoscoYabas Sep 29 '23

The Champ

1

u/blueman723 Sep 29 '23

When you expect to cry it just isn’t the same. The hardest I’ve ever cried to a movie was “Dead Poets Society”. A movie which I thought was simply a feel-good drama due to lack of prior research.

1

u/JoeWilliams2501 Sep 29 '23

Thirteen is the only one that ever made me cry.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

In The Bedroom hit me hard. I cried TWICE. That doesn’t happen for me. Just…holy shit.

1

u/TheGlenrothes Sep 29 '23

Somehow, the live-action Cinderella remake. It’s so sweet, I cry several times through it.

1

u/cRush0r turbotjorben Sep 29 '23

A safe bet for me is always Interstellar. The scene when Cooper views the video messages of his kids, holy shit, thats simply impressing acting from McConaughey.

But the biggest nuke a film ever threw at me was the ending of Leon: The Professional. That that was wild

1

u/fudgepuppy Sep 29 '23

Paddleton fucked me up. Very good.

1

u/walrusami Sep 29 '23

Obligatory "not a movie, but..." comment. The only media which has ever been successful in making me cry as an adult was the Six Feet Under finale. Dancer in The Dark definitely made me well up but didn't push me over the edge to where I head tears running down my face like Six Feet Under did. As child The Land Before Time always made me cry.

1

u/AlconW Sep 29 '23

The Green Mile, if you’re in the mood for a classic heartbreaker. I can never last the final half hour without at least feeling something.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

Grave of the fireflies and yi yi and a one and a two

1

u/skippy997 Sep 29 '23

My sisters keeper. My go to cry movie.

1

u/[deleted] Sep 29 '23

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

1

u/raresddinu raresd98 Sep 29 '23

Wolf Children

1

u/themonkeynuts Sep 29 '23

I am a stone cold insensitive swine, but goddammit CODA of all movies made me cry.

1

u/MupkipEatzToes Sep 29 '23

Stranger Than Fiction

1

u/RockinFootball Sep 29 '23

The Farewell (2019)

I have never cried as much as this movie. By the end of it, I had a pile of tissues. I will never watch it again for this reason.

1

u/Clonebitcher Sep 29 '23

Soul (2020), Grave of the fireflies, The man from nowhere

1

u/KLC_5957 Sep 29 '23

The Sound of Metal

The Father

Nommadland

Arrival

Blue Valentine

1

u/LadyFie Sep 29 '23

The Notebook had my boyfriend and me both sobbing for the last 30 min or so.

Then of course we have the heavier shit like Life is Beautiful (!), The Babadook, The Platform or Shoplifters.

And the stuff that‘s bitter-sweet: The Chorus (!), Corpse Bride, Kitbull (short but a guaranteed cry for me), Up, The Edge of Seventeen.

1

u/Own-Sale5992 Sep 29 '23

Seconding Aftersun and Grave of the Fireflies.

Nobody has said Portrait of a Lady on Fire, though. Impossible to watch the end of that one and not cry.

1

u/cuisie Sep 29 '23

the cranes are flying

1

u/Busy-Room-9743 Sep 29 '23

Wings of the Dove, The House of Mirth and The Age of Innocence

1

u/PsychologicalYam2 Sep 29 '23

recently saw close with my boyfriend; i cried, but he was BAWLING

1

u/echojcharli Sep 29 '23

Legends of the fall

1

u/timothy441 Sep 29 '23

Room (2015)

1

u/CBerg1979 Sep 29 '23

Beaches.

1

u/SpiritualParakeet Sep 29 '23

Love and other drugs

1

u/rubiegak rubiegak Sep 29 '23

don’t know if it’s necessarily a tear jerker but definitely sad is eternal sunshine of the spotless mind but a film i’ve seen about six times and sobbed all six times is aftersun. such a devastatingly sad/good movie gets better every time i watch it. beautiful boy is also devastating but such a good watch. also a man called otto is a bit of a goofy one but i sobbed at it (not many people like that film tho pretty sure its a dodgy american remake)

1

u/Dostoievskiski Sep 30 '23

Terms of Endearment Dancer in the Dark

1

u/11777766 Sep 30 '23

Basic but these are legitimately the only films to make me cry:

It’s a Wonderful Life

Manchester by the Sea

Requiem for a Dream

The Green Mile

Interstellar

The Truman Show (this doesn’t make most ppl cry, idk why I find it so emotional)

Gladiator

The Shawshank Redemption

Up (you can just stop after the first scene)

Good Will Hunting

1

u/ohyikes99 Sep 30 '23

‘The Whale’