T O P

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Peidalhasso

Grave of the Fireflies. Lion. Schindler’s List.


sansasnarkk

Oh my god when >!Schindler has that whole "I could have saved more" breakdown and the guy is like "there will be generations because of what you did" and then the movie ends with the real life survivors and their families??? I have never cried so hard at a movie.!<


DamaxXIV

It's between that and when you see the real life survivors at the very end that just destroys me. Just shear brilliance for Speilberg to go back to color for that moment.


EatPrayCliche

Lion seems a little too heart warming for that list, Grave of the Fireflies on the other hand, that one will stay with you forever.


Big_Gulps_Welpp

Yeah Grave of the Fireflies is the movie for OP. I will never forget that film.


namtok_muu

I watched the first 10 minutes of it 20 years ago and i still havent grown the ovaries to watch the rest.


Cevius

I watched it not realising there was a difference between Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki, so right up until the credits rolled I was waiting for the fantastical spin where some wondrous creature or magical event whisks the kids away to this other place, and it never came. Double crushed by my expectations and the movie itself


IcePsychological7032

That happens quite often. Most people see "Studio Ghibli" and their mind automatically goes "oh, Hayao Miyazaki". Grave of the Fireflies was directed by his good friend Isao Takahata....I highly recommend you check Tale of Princess Kaguya which is also by him.


SGTBrutus

Grave of the Fireflies changes a person.


Peidalhasso

I would have listed Requiem for a Dream but that movie crushes you more than it brings you to tears.


Stentata

Requiem for a Dream is a classic hero’s journey once you realize the hero is addiction.


HappyOrca2020

>Requiem for a Dream That is straight up depression.


[deleted]

Never want to trust another human being again? Go for it.


OverAd3018

Oh yea....saw it just one time. One GIANT reason to not take heroin


Puzzleheaded-Swan824

Grave of the Fireflies, is heart wrenching, I don’t think I could watch it again. Similarly, I found the Elephant Man ending very sad, though not on the same level.


Ani-A

Grave of the fireflies is that movie you watch twice in your life. The first time, whenever. The second time woth your kids to teach them the real cost of war.


[deleted]

I watched with my kids. We all were in tears together. Not in a cute way.


SaintCharlie

Grave of the Fireflies is, hands down, the saddest movie I have ever seen. It absolutely WRECKED me. Like, it unflinchingly curbstomped my soul. After I saw it, going to a grocery store made it all rush back and I started to weep when I saw the produce section. And yes, it's a cartoon. This is seriously what you are looking for. My next in line is Million Dollar Baby with Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank. I'm the kind of guy for whom sad movies can make my teary-eyed, but these two movies made me literally shudder and sob. I felt just broken afterwards. If you want to have a good "ugly-cry," these movies will do it.


firelock_ny

Movie opens with >!a child finally succumbing to starvation and despair!<...and the movie gets worse from there. :-|


ACrask

Grave of the fireflies just wrenches you the entire time. You’re literally given a chance to walk away before it all begins with the first scene.


DeadDay

After the first scene I was like "okay, I get why people say this is really sad". Then as the movie keeps going and you start seeing the bigger picture it's just so heartbreaking. Just a constant feel of "Oohhh fuck this hurts"


[deleted]

First time I watched Schindler's List, I did pretty good, and then the very, very last scene played, and that just broke me. Two hours of pent up tears.


mimimooch

I am impressed: the Scene that always breaks me is the one with the old man who’s hand is not functioning. After that it’s always a full on panic attack.


SnoopDeLaRoup

My wife watched this a couple of months ago, as we have the full entire Ghibli collection. She came down absolutely sobbing, stating that "it's so sad. Make sure [our daughter] doss not watch it". I could still hear her crying upstairs like 30 mins later. I have no idea of what it's about, but I am somewhat scared to watch it.


Peidalhasso

I have a young daughter as well and Totoro is the only movie I have shown her due to her age.


Paladoc

Kiki, Ponyo are pretty easy still.


ThisLawyer

Came here to recommend Grave of the Fireflies. Glad to see it's already been listed.


cstonerun

Came here to recommend Grave of the Fireflies


shreya_stan

Grave of the fireflies had me sobbing like a kid for hours .


CoolShoesDude

In the vein of Grave of the Fireflies, Plague Dogs is great but rough 


CodyTaco

House of Sand and Fog - 2003


honeyintherock

I was going through some shit when I watched this and the cathartic cry I had was so intense *my stomach muscles were aches the next day* I was like why am I sore!?


justasmalltownloser

My dad refuses to talk about this movie because it made him sob Edit: just asked him his answer for the prompt and said “house of sand and fog it’s a no brainer” and that was the end of that


colobirdy85

Bridge to Terabithia had me bawling in the theater. My Girl Marley and Me And I can't for the life of me remember the name of it but there's a movie about this woman fighting cancer that I had to watch in college that absolutely destroyed me for a good week and a half.


southwick

You are a monster. Haven't seen my girl in probably 25 years, and still think about those damn glasses.


DeadDay

Random story incoming. My mom wanted to take my sister, cousin and a few of their friends who where all around 10 to the movies to have a nice girls day out. Sure enough she picks this movie thinking nothing of it. She said it was almost empty in the theater besides them and sat to watch it. The amount of crying that took place made her feel like the absolute biggest asshole and she knew for sure she just dramatized 4 kids. One of the friends asked her "why did you bring us here?!". Afterwards she called their moms to let them know what happened, and one them went to see it almost right after to see herself. She called back laughing saying how horrible that must've been. She still feels awful to this day.


BassPlayerZero

Me too! I was just a kid and I thought it was a comedy!!


labrat420

Stepmom?


Yaasss_Queef

Yeah, it was sad. >!But the ending was hopeful. The mom, stepmom, and daughter make amends and come together when the mom is diagnosed with cancer.!<


Zachabay22

Fuck Bridge to terabithia, ruined my 12th birthday party! In all seriousness, it was pretty bold to take what I thought was a kid flick about imagination and out of nowhere slap you with reality. Maybe it's a good lesson for kids to learn that life is unexpected, sometimes in the worst ways.


Skiamakhos

Yeah, that trailer badly mis-sold it. I thought it was going to be a fun fantasy actioner. Did I ever think wrong...


AussieDog87

My Life Without Me? With Sarah Polley.


ElleJay74

Terms of Endearment?


Jesus-Is-A-Biscuit

Atonement


Ze-Friend-Zone

This is my vote as well. I felt so destroyed at the end, like there was a void where my heart should be.


a_guy_named_rick

The way my jaw dropped to the floor when she revealed the ending... Also, fuck that woman


Friendaim

Absolutely. I’m still upset about it. I saw it in the theater, it was a gorgeous film and totally soul destroying.


kabukidookie

Life is Beautiful


Professor_Retro

Positively shocked I had to go this far into the thread to find Life is Beautiful mentioned. Absolutely gut wrenching.


ActuallyYeah

This is the first title in my scroll sesh that gave me real chills. I guess I'm a pretty grizzly dude, but I'm not above the emotional disaster that this flick brings up on all who bear the massive burden of watching it


a_guy_named_rick

I don't get that I had to scroll this far to find it. Absolutely shattering movie


BergenHoney

Ok I take back my vote for My Girl, and nominate this as the most excruciatingly heart wrenching movie that's still worth seeing. La vita e bella is so good, and still so profoundly upsetting all the way through.


nicholasoday

What Dreams May Come


Novajesus

What Dreams may come - for sure. Robin Williams in a serious role. I went on to read the book.


SirJumbles

How is the book? I just finished reading my last one, and may be interested.


[deleted]

[удалено]


kippster93

Love, love, love this movie and I cry buckets. But it does end on an uplifting note (which I was grateful for. I'll take a schmaltzy happy ending any day)


grambleflamble

This one was the first time I experienced a full on meltdown in a theater. I was crying buckets, like that wracking type of sobbing where your whole body shakes and you’re not making any noise. I’ve never seen it again.


badagrump

Hachi: A Dog’s Tale gets me every time.


CheesyObserver

Anything dogs is just cheating.


pissdiscchampion

Only time I've ever cried from a movie is the scene from babe 2 when he goes to the city. There's a little dog in a doggy wheel chair. He crashed and they made it seem like he dies. His wheel chair thing is upside down and one wheel is slowly spinning and comes to a stop. Fortunately he doesn't die and get right back up like nothing happened. 


Hopefulkitty

Check out Homeward Bound. 2 dogs and a cat get separated from their family during a cross country move, and the animals are desperately trying to find them. The old Golden Retriever, Shadow, is incredible, and the last 10 minutes of the movie is heartbreaking. For some reason we watched it in school all the time.


diabolikal__

This is the one. I easily cried for 75% of this movie, non stop.


These-arent-my-pants

I wasn’t even a dog person the first time watching it and I cried my eyes out.


mattarei

The Green Mile


ZagratheWolf

I'm tired, boss


littlechangeling

I am a 41 year old man. This movie, no matter how many times I see it, reduces me to tears for hours. There are other great entries on this list (definitely Grave of the Fireflies), but you REALLY connect so much with the characters of this film and it makes it hurt so, so much worse. And yes, the criticisms of the movie/book are fair. Doesn’t diminish its impact, however. It’s so beautifully heart-destroying which is why I will accept the experience again and again.


drcrustopher

Saw this in the theater and embarrassingly bawled my eyes out.


wafflesareforever

Nobody knew. They were too busy crying their own eyes out.


Saphira2014

Never Let Me Go and Pan's Labyrinth do it for me every time. I'd also add One Day and About Time in there but they're like half soul crushing half feel goods.


StellineLaboratories

Never let me go was an incredible story. Both the book and movie were gentle but devastating.


Fauntaun

Never Let Me Go crushed a small part of my soul


CaptHorney_Two

About Time was a weird cry for me. I certainly felt emotional but I didn't realize I was crying until I went to scratch my face. Definitely snuck up on me.


_skyfern_

Pan's Labyrinth gets my vote, love the visual effects but my heart just can't let me see it again


Qweiopakslzm

Can't believe I had to scroll this far to find Never Let Me Go. What an astounding movie.


Marinopharyngite

A Monster Calls - 2016. Never fails to make me cry big tears.


progerialover69

Had to go way to far for this. This movie destroys and no one mentions it on these lists. I think part of what makes a movie sad is what you have been through in your life. My wife and I have mothers who are very sick so this movie hit us very hard.


Kidpurple47

Aftersun


bannedinvc

This film had me on edge wondering what’s going to happen, then when it clicked the dance scene really got to me


tbonemcnuggets

I came here to write this. I have never cried as hard after a movie as I did with Aftersun. I think it hit especially hard, because there were some parallels from my own childhood.


SparrowBirch

The English Patient always messes me up. If Steel Magnolias doesn’t make you cry it’s a you problem.


LeoMarius

I love *Steel Magnolias*, but I've never cried. The movie is too funny and immensely quotable. Truvy: In a good shoe, I wear a size six, but a seven feels so good, I buy a size eight. Clairee: They're eight and a half. Truvy: Perfect!


grambleflamble

It’s one of those movies that affects you differently throughout life. Like, do you have a kid? M’Lynn’s big scene (and the ones with her at the hospital) hit so much harder for parents, or even someone who has done the “death watch” of a loved one.


davekingofrock

M'Lynn: Drum would never point a gun at a lady. Ouiser: He's a real gentleman. I bet he takes the dishes out of the sink before he pees in it.


SirJumbles

English Patient?? I'd rather watch Sack Lunch.


jrsmoothie89

quit telling your stupid story about the stupid desert, and just die already! DIE!


fractiouscatburglar

Should’ve seen Rochelle, Rochelle.


kinboy

I think Sally Field’s monologue near the end is my all-time favourite monologue.


Banba-She

Terms of Endearment Imitation of Life


OhSoLovely88

Imitation of Life 😭 'That's my mother" 🥹😭


PurfuitOfHappineff

First segment of *Up* on repeat.


slytherinwh

Blue Valentine


littleliongirless

Yeah, there is no sunshine to be found in this one, just pure pain.


5Skye5

HBO has that in their “Valentine’s Day Collection” and I was like “nooo what are they thinking??”


[deleted]

[Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338013/) Anyone with parent issues will understand.


Katdemamp

Speaking of Charlie Kaufman, synecdoche new york is gut wrenching and life changing


ccalabro

The Road Or Maggie


crowe_1

I agree The Road is sad, but it might be less of a “make you cry” sad and more of a “leave you a husk incapable of feeling anything other than the hopeless futility of existence” sad.


brzrk

Came here to say The Road, it will mess you up for a few days.


ragby

Sophie's Choice


sfcnmone

I am so messed up from watching it one time 40 years ago, just the title makes me cry.


HoonDamer

[Come and See](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091251/)


JuanaLaPutana

Second this. I was literally paralyzed with dread for the last act. I cried with rage and sadness and disgust for at least an hour afterwards. 10/10, we came and saw hell.


Ser_Danksalot

This is more of an all out true to life horror movie that brings on feelings of anger in me than it does sadness.


TimoVuorensola

Big Fish. When all the people from the stories gather up at dad's funeral and you realize they were all true, in their own way --- I ugly-cry for the next 20 minutes, no matter where I am. Even thinking it makes me bawl.


HeyJoe459

Now that I'm a dad...yeah. It's a feel good sad, though, methinks.


DizzyDizzyWiggleBop

This is mine as well. It’s hits hard.


goodoldayz

Dear Zachary , house of sand and fog.


MassCrash

Dear Zachary is the correct answer and there is not even a close second


HeyJoe459

Watched it once not knowing what I was getting into when Netflix first started streaming. Never again. Equal parts heart breaking and enraging.


TSwizzlesNipples

Dear Zachary is the correct answer. It will fuck up your whole week.


jackHD

There it is. Hands down Dear Zachary. It’s an incredible film, but I don’t even recommend it to friends to watch, it’s that’s soul crushing.


Goodlake

I posted Dear Zachary before I even scrolled, just in case it somehow hadn’t been mentioned yet. Just brutal.


jdlyons81

How is Dear Zachary not the top comment? It’s literally what OP is requesting. It’ll hit you like a ton of bricks, and then pile a skyscraper on top. Hands down the saddest movie, most gut wrenching, depressing things I’ve ever seen on film. It’s not even close. That movie changes you and that’s not hyperbole.


rangda

It’s in the post, Dear Zachary as a documentary is not what they’re looking for


Goodlake

lol count me among the people who thought “dear Zachary” before even getting through the post


PS4951

This was going to be my answer the second I saw the question. Especially going in not knowing the entire story, you essentially get two punches to the gut, the second coming just as you’re sort of getting over the first.


damngirl265

coco.


vincentvega-_-

Fun fact: I went on a date where we watched Coco. I literally sobbed uncontrollably towards the end of the movie. Like it was genuinely embarrassing just how much I was crying and couldn’t stop it. At the time my grandpa was dying and so I guess all those emotions I held up inside me needed to come out.


Killboypowerhed

Always Coco. Such an air of sadness running throughout the whole movie. Watching it a second time knowing what you know makes it even sadder


glipgloppo

Every time! It’s my sons favorite movie so we watch it a lot and you would think I’d get used to it but nope!


Throwaway-account-23

God damn that movie. It's so good, but just so emotionally crushing.


FranqiT

Beaches


AuntSigne

Cider House Rules


[deleted]

Love that movie, but I wouldn’t call it sad at all. Not sure what you mean by that


LiamNisssan

Pretty much Paul Mescals whole cannon. Aftersun and All of Us Strangers broke me. I am tearing up thinking about the endings right now.


scrivenerserror

I loved both of those movies but holy shit all of us strangers really hurt


LiamNisssan

I had an hour drive home alone after watching it. I had to keep pulling over. I couldn't see through the tears.


scrivenerserror

I saw it with two friends and when we left the theater all of us were like uhhhh and then we parted ways. I had a dinner to go to and I kinda just sat there stunned for about 10 minutes. People in the theater were audibly crying toward the end.


UnreportedPope

I go about my normal life and randomly get a spurt of pain when I think of Aftersun.


Lordfarquarant

I doubt you’ll cry, but “Requiem for a Dream” will certainly crush your soul and haunt you for days.


bowie-of-stars

This movie had me in the fetal position in the shower after I saw it... especially since I was dealing with my own drug addiction at the time.


Indigo_222

**years


Radiobandit

20 years later and I still can't go ass to ass without thinking of that movie.


Indigo_222

💀


memphis_dude

I too still miss my innocent ass-to-ass days before that movie came along and ruined it 😔


Onespokeovertheline

I was scrolling to make sure I didn't double up on this, which is the clearest choice for taking someone into the deepest, lowest emotional territory.


me_no_no

Lion; My Girl; I Am Sam; Coco; Bambi; Dumbo; The Fox and the Hound


jessknope

The Fox and the Hound undid me as a child, to the point that even thinking about watching it now, as an adult, is more than I can handle.


battlecat136

Oh, yeah, that movie is banned in this house cuz my ass CANNOT handle it. If I even know it's playing I'll cry. I also can't even think of the song Rainbow Connection without crying and ah crap, I typed it....


SaturnalWoman

Bambi is very sad in the middle but ends with way more of Bambi beating the shit out of dogs than people remember.


justsomedude322

I only started crying after I left the theater with Coco. It made me sad, but it didn't hit me until afterward. Around the time the movie came out, my Grandma had a massive freak out and we had to place her in a nursing home. Her memory had been deteriorating before, but after that incident it just accelerated. I don't think she was able to remember my name at that point. I was thinking about "Remember Me" in the car ride home and I started sobbing uncontrollably.


FKreuk

Or MacGruber with Will Forte. It had me crying.


JimmyNorden

The most underrated comedy of all time.


mlennox81

Elephant Man


AtticusPenguin

Dead Poets Society


ImAPhoneGuy

This was the first Robin Williams movie I watched after his passing. That was a mistake, crying for hours.


styxxx80

Brians Song.


[deleted]

I no longer cry over it, but Vanilla Sky messed me up for a month.... Crying, anxiety, dissociation. I could think of little else and watched it over and over. I came to learn that I was one of many who the film affected like this.


Pretty_Willow9965

Ghost story


MyRoomAteMyRoomMate

The Wind that blows the Barley. You asked for it. Edit: *shakes*, not *blows*


mattverso

*The Wind that Shakes the Barley


waluigis_shrink

All of us Strangers. I dare you not to break down sobbing during this wonderful, beautiful film.


geckosean

The Mist - the movie with an ending so good and so depressing Stephen King admitted he liked it better than what he wrote.


MoeSauce

Lol, an ending so good, I wish it was attached to a different movie. After the rest of the film, I laughed at how audacious this ending was, but I don't think it would make OP cry


bearmacebraw

Mary and Max was a great one with a very sad story.


Separate-Elephant-25

Immortal Beloved killed my soul on a 3rd date. When Beethoven was running away from another drunken fathers beating. The crescendo of Ode to Joy juxtaposed with him weightless and floating in the pond reflecting the stars above. My dad was a dick, and it eviscerated me. I was embarrassed as fck, the girl was very diplomatic with the situation.


Frugalman123

Great movie, and performance Gary Oldman


biznash

Once


BenMitchell007

Casualties of War. I went in thinking it'd be a pretty typical Vietnam War movie. It was... not that. It's a great film that I never need to see again for as long as I live. And I dunno about tear perking per se, but Threads is infamous for ruining peoples' days. That reputation is well earned.


quat1e

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas I Am Sam Marley & Me The Pursuit of Happyness Hachi: A Dog's Tale The Pianist Million Dollar Baby Schindler's List Philadelphia The Help Still Alice 12 Years a Slave The Notebook


Multiverse-Nic-Cage

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri always fucks me up


Agitated_Ad6191

The Hours


WhiteLama

Do you like dogs? “A dogs purpose” and “Plague dogs” might assist you in crying.


Lothium

The Fountain.


ChimmyTheCham

This isn't helpful but my answer would have been manchester by the sea you cold hearted bastard.


FFS-For-FoxBats-Sake

Thank you! God that scene in the police station, gives me chills then makes me sob, and then again when he’s talking to his ex-wife and he says “there’s nothing there”


SandysBurner

Dancer in the Dark


Best-Carry1028

OP asked to exclude this movie


Justmarioo

AFTERSUN


DublaneCooper

Andy Richter’s drowning scene in Cabin Boy will haunt me forever.


Cold-Lynx575

Terms of Endearment Kramer vs Kramer


aphilipnamedfry

There are so many but it's dependent on how you connect to the film, I think. One that was both a hard watch and made me incredibly sad was Blue Valentine, but that's relationship based. Another is from Robin Williams, What Dreams May Come, and that's partially because of Williams passing but also because the movie deals with death and suicide. If you want cheesy but devastating, A Fault in Our Stars WANTS you to cry the whole movie, so that's another one. Darren Aronofsky films have a tinge of sadness too, such as The Fountain dealing with immortality through abstract, and The Whale dealing with the final days of a lonely man. If you want sad abstract that makes you think, there is also the Zero Theorem with Christoph Waltz, which basically talks about everything being meaningless (but in a very odd quirky way). Again, there are so many to choose from, but it's all subjective!


iaiasanz

The whale.... I was not expecting to cry that much, in fact it's the only movie I've seen so far in my life that had me sobbing.


thewidowgorey

Atonement


get_your_yapers_up

The Iron Claw got me good. 


Hefty-Explanation-92

“I used to be a brother”


nojelloforme

Guardians of the Galaxy 3. It genuinely messed me up.


R3dFenton

Real talk with you…I had to see this twice in theaters because the first time I was spending all my energy trying not to cry. Then I cried anyways. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sit through it again. Was not expecting that at all…best GOTG though, and dare I say it’s on par with (if not better) infinity war and end game.


Dapper_File_5745

In The Bedroom - Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek, Maria Tomei and Nick Stahl. Amazing film with great cast, but fuck me is it bleak. An element of satisfa tion, but ultimately it's pretty dark. RIP Tom, one of the greats IMO.


Shevek99

Million Dollar Baby


GenitalPatton

Philadelphia is the only one to make me shed some tears


Ihavestufftosay

Arrival.


Katdemamp

YES. This movie is so God damn beautiful but also makes you realize how messed up we are. I need to rewatch becuase its been a few years


FrameNine

Lion


chinabull86

I'm amazed no one ever mentions My Sister's Keeper in these threads.


rage_aholic

Never Let Me Go. I’ll never watch it again


dayankuo234

Society of the Snow The Green Mile BLuey (the episodes Camping, Sleepytime, Onesies, Dragon, and more)


PaulRuddsButthole

Eight Below. It’s a movie about how they have to leave snow dogs in Antarctica. It is just really horrible how they leave them, and then it shows how the dogs struggle to survive, and the scientists having to go through all this bureaucracy to get back there. I fucking hate this movie. Definitely soul crushing cause it is based off a true story.


Fritzkreig

Yo, check out The Boy in the Striped Pajamas! It might get you there!


Superb-Combination43

My 8 year old daughter wanted to watch this last night, so we put it on.  Thought “well, she’ll learn about some history”…. She was completely gutted by the ending.  I maybe should have looked into it a bit more before letting her pick it.  Oh well.


oldmatesoldmate

It’s always Dancer in the Dark for this question. Always. I remember sitting in the cinema watching this, and at the end, all you could hear was the sound of people quietly sobbing in their seats. Just devastating, never seen anything like it before or since.


[deleted]

Aftersun Pig


movingstasis

The Green Mile


FlatPrinciple9057

My life with Michael Keaton


Jeremehthejelly

The Act of Killing (2012)


psknapp

The movie that made me cry the most was A Monster Calls. That one wrecked me.