Sometimes we all just need a good cry - and there are plenty of reasons why you shouldn't fight the feeling.
Stress can have a physical effect on the body and, despite crying being associated with negative emotions, it has been proven to release endorphins.
So, whether it's miserable weather outside and you just fancy hunkering down for the night, or you want a cathartic cry, these films will get you on your way to a healthy wail.
*Expect spoilers for some of these films. If you've been saving them for a special occasion, skip over. Don't come crying to us if you don't...*
32 of the best tearjerker films to watch for a good cry
Titanic (1997)
How could any list of tearjerking weepies not include Titanic? The epic blockbuster broke all box office records and swept the Oscars, winning a total of 11 Academy Awards, tying the record for most Oscars won by a single film.
There are two good reasons to cry – the first being that this tragedy really happened, and many people lost their lives when the ‘unsinkable’ ship went down in 1912. However, the film focuses on the fictionalised love story of rich-but-unhappy Rose (Kate Winslet) who finally learns what love and freedom are thanks to penniless dreamer Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio).
He helps her to really start living, but she has to carry on living without him after the shipwreck. She’ll never let go, and audiences haven’t let go of their love for this all-time weepy.
The Notebook (2004)
Any film adapted from a Nicholas Sparks novel could have ended up on this list, but none of his stories hit quite as hard as the enduring love story between Allie and Noah.
Played by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams – two co-stars who fell in love on set (albeit temporarily) – there’s something of a formula to their romance. Rich girl, poor guy. Kept apart by society.
Eventually, find their way to each other. But it’s the end which is the true kicker – it turns out the entire story has been Noah recounting their story back to Allie who now suffers from Alzheimer’s. He spends his days retelling their love until she briefly remembers him… before dying moments apart.
Nicholas Sparks pulls no punches when it comes to wringing out every single tear.
The Color Purple (1985/2023)
Adapted twice – once as a movie starring Oprah and Whoopi Goldberg and later as a musical starring Fantasia and Halle Bailey - Alice Walker’s novel, The Color Purple, is a painful, depressing, uplifting, heartening and rewarding tale all at the same time.
The story explores the traumas and triumphs of Black women during the early 1900s, hinged on the plight of kind-hearted Celie. A woman subjected to arranged marriage and abuse, the hope of one day seeing her sister again keeps her going. Even the hardest of hearts couldn’t resist being moved when that fateful reunion happens.
Love Story (1970)
"What can you say about a twenty-five-year-old girl who died? That she was beautiful and brilliant? That she loved Mozart and Bach, the Beatles, and me?"
The opening lines of this classic starring Ryan O’Neal and Ali MacGraw lets you know you’re in for a tearful melodrama. Playing two college students from wildly different backgrounds, we see this young couple defy all the odds to chase their respective dreams while relying on just each other. But there’s one thing they can’t overcome – Jennifer’s (Ali MacGraw) terminal illness.
My Girl (1991)
Most young love ends in heartbreak one way or another, but 1991’s My Girl takes the tear-jerking tale of love and loss to a whole new level. Following Vada (Anna Chlumsky) and Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin), they are two misfit kids who become best friends during tough times in both of their lives.
As they navigate their childhoods – including school bullies and unwanted stepmothers – tragedy strikes. A deathly allergy to bee stings sends Thomas J to a premature grave. Vada’s poem to her best friend and her insistence on making sure he has his glasses will break any heart.
P.S. I Love You (2007)
The original novel by Cecelia Ahern was set in Ireland, but the movie lifts and shifts the story to New York City. Starring Hillary Swank and Gerard Butler, the heartbreaking story sees a woman left widowed at a young age. Struggling to move on, letters start arriving, written by her late husband before he passed. Knowing she’d need help to move on, his letters show that love can live on after our bodies have left. You’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll probably cry some more.
Marley & Me (2008)
It’s a fact that anything is either cuter or sadder when it involves a dog. And Marley & Me makes a strong suit of both of these emotions. With plenty of adorable moments of family bliss, as Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson welcome a sweet labrador into their lives, they’re the picture-perfect family. But as the years pass on, the inevitable comes. Anyone who has ever had to say goodbye to a pet should watch with caution.
Romeo + Juliet (1997)
You’d think after a few centuries the story of the star-crossed lovers would start to get old. But, in 1997, Baz Luhrmann breathed new life into William Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Romeo and Juliet, casting Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the young lovers living in modern times.
Perhaps it’s the more relatable wardrobe and settings, perhaps it’s just the chemistry between the two leads, but this moving epic really proved there never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
Steel Magnolias (1989)
"Laughter through tears is my favourite emotion." This quote, spoken by the iconic Dolly Parton, sums up the feel of 1989’s Steel Magnolias.
A moving love letter to female friendship and bonds that can’t be broken, the film follows a handful of friends in a Southern town. The emotional centre of the movie revolves around Julia Roberts’ Shelby, a diabetic who defies medical advice to get pregnant and give birth to a son.
The pregnancy ends up proving too much for Shelby’s body and she passes away, leaving a bereaved mother (Sally Field) to deliver one of the most moving speeches at her graveside.
Atonement (2007)
Based on the 2001 novel by Ian McEwan, Atonement is a powerful tale of redemption and regret. An imaginative young girl, Briony likes to make up stories. One evening, she gets caught up in her tales and accuses the housekeeper’s son of assaulting her cousin after mistakenly thinking a passionate tryst with her sister was also a forced encounter.
Robbie, an innocent man and the true love of Briony’s sister, is convicted and imprisoned, released only during the Second World War when he’s sent off to fight. Refusing to forgive her family for sending him away, Cecelia also leaves and enlists as a nurse.
As the film moves along, we see all three grown up after the war. Cecelia and Robbie have reconnected. Briony gets a chance to apologise. But it’s just another one of her stories. Her last, in fact. She went on to have a career as a writer, and the one story she wanted to tell was that of Robbie and her sister.
As it turns out, Robbie died during the war, and Cecelia died during the blitz in London. She never got to atone in real life, so she wrote them a happy ending.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
If you could erase all the memories of an ex, would you do it? That’s the crux of 2004’s cerebral Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind starring Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey.
Carrying out a futuristic treatment that can eradicate memories completely, we see a relationship in reverse. And as they relive their memories, they realise it wasn’t always bad. Sure, it ended. But you must take the good with the bad. It’s just too late for these two, who don’t just end up losing their love, but the memories of all the good times.
The Farewell (2019)
A family learn that their grandmother is dying – and decide not to tell her. With her health on the decline, they reunite in China under the guise of celebrations. It gives each one a chance to tell her what she means to them, and she gets to enjoy it all oblivious to her own impending mortality. A bittersweet love letter to family and the power of roots.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Where we start out isn’t where we’re meant to end up. This is at the heart of Good Will Hunting, the film written by and starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, and which cemented them as Academy Award-winning superstars.
Two boys grow up in working-class Boston, one is a mathematical genius. But he squanders it stuck in a cycle of violence and antics with his childhood friend.
Knowing that it’s their past that’s preventing his friend’s bright future, Ben Affleck’s character hopes that one day, his best friend decides to leave him and never look back. And in the end, that’s what he does. A moving tale of friendship, brotherhood and knowing that, sometimes, the hard thing is the right thing.
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
A film so bleak and moving that its very title has entered the cultural lexicon as a shorthand for an impossible choice. The choice refers to something that no parent should ever have to make. It stars Meryl Streep as Sophie, a survivor of the Nazi concentration camps with a painful past.
The film – based on a novel by William Styron - reveals that, upon arrival at Auschwitz, she was forced to choose one of her children to be sent to the gas chamber and killed. If she didn’t, both would be killed.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
"O Captain! My Captain!" As emotional as it is inspiring, Robin Williams stars as a teacher who galvanises the children at an elite boarding school. Pushing them to unlock their potential, they unite under a society – the Dead Poets Society.
One young man discovers a passion for acting, but his strict, machist father rails against it, sending him away to a strict military school as punishment. Feeling lost, he takes his own life. His parents investigate his death and its incorrectly implied that his involvement with the Dead Poets Society was a factor. Robin Williams is fired, but the boys come together in a touching display of solidarity.
Brief Encounter (1945)
Based on the 1936 one-act play, Still Life, by British legend Noel Coward, Brief Encounter is often hailed as one of the greatest films of all time, despite the fact that not a lot really happens. Two people meet. They don’t have a passionate affair. There are no major twists or crazy plots. They connect at a railway station and realise they love one another. But, they are both married and cannot risk societal ruin or scorn. Muted. Understated. Full of yearning. It’s a tale of ‘what could’ve been.'
Little Women (2019)
Based on the beloved novel by Louisa May Alcott, Little Women has been adapted several times, but Greta Gerwig’s 2019 adaption brought a whole new generation of fans to the tale of the March sisters. Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy – plus their good-hearted mother – are left to deal with poverty and general life issues as their father is away in the Civil War.
There’s plenty that’ll have you reaching for the tissues – from Jo’s relatable issues with wanting to be loved but still wanting independence – to the touching scenes of their generosity. But the ultimate heartbreak comes when Beth dies from scarlet fever.
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
Based on James Baldwin’s novel, If Beale Street Could Talk is set in 1970s Harlem, and follows the tale of a Black man, Fonny, wrongly accused of rape. They fight to clear his name and keep their family together.
Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009)
Anyone with a pet dog should probably avoid this 2009 movie starring Richard Gere unless they’re looking to cry. Hard. A testament to the loyalty and love between dogs and humans, Hachi: A Dog’s Tale is an American remake of a Japanese film based on a real story.
The tale follows a dog who follows his owner (Richard Gere) and waits for him at a train station after his day of work. The dog meets him every day at the station until one day, Richard Gere’s Parker doesn’t step off the train. He’s had a stroke and died at work.
Still, after his (human) family members mourn him and move away, Hachi continues to work his way back to the station, hoping to be reunited with Parker once again.
Arrival (2016)
If you knew how everything in life would end, would you do it again? This is the heart of the innovative movie, Arrival, starring Amy Adams. What starts out feeling like an alien film becomes a deeply human experience, as it’s revealed that Amy Adams’ character has acquired the ability to view time like the aliens do – in a non-linear way.
This means that what we thought were flashbacks are actually snippets into her future. We see that she’ll fall in love, have a child, and that that child will sadly die from a terminal illness. After losing her child, her marriage falls apart. The ending of the film is the start of her life’s journey – and the movie asks us to understand that life is worth experiencing, both good and bad.
Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Loosely inspired by tragedies including Verdi’s opera, La Traviata, and Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge! was Baz Luhrmann’s all-singing, all-dancing spectacular musical that is often cited as one of the best films of all time.
A whirlwind of sequins, star power and anachronistic songs at its core, Moulin Rouge! is simply a tale of love. A love that was meant to lift Nicole Kidman’s courtesan out of her trapped life and give life to Ewan McGregor’s eternal romantic. Alas, Nicole Kidman’s Satine is struck down by consumption, leaving behind a life of promises and a heartbroken Ewan McGregor.
Fruitvale Station (2013)
With Fruitvale Station, a lot of the pain comes from the fact it’s based on a real-life tragedy. The movie, starring Michael B Jordan, depicts the last day of the life of Oscar Grant III, a 22-year-old from California, before he was fatally shot by police in the early morning hours of January 1, 2009.
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
Based on a real-life story, Will Smith starred alongside his real son, Jaden Smith, in this touching story of struggle and persistence. A man, down on his luck but toiling away for his son, fights the odds, homelessness and poverty to eventually land a well-paid job, just when he was close to losing all hope.
Ghost (1990)
One of the all-time romantic greats, Ghost starred Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore as two lovers torn apart by tragedy. Swayze is shot dead when a betrayal by his own friend goes horribly wrong, but he’s able to come back as a ghost.
Demi can’t see him, but a psychic (Whoopi Goldberg) can. Together, they expose the friend who betrayed him – and he gets his chance to say a real goodbye to Demi. One word that’ll have you weeping: “Ditto.”
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)
You just never know how important you’ve been to someone else’s life. That’s the heartwarming, life-affirming message of Frank Capra’s Christmastime classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. James Stewart’s George Bailey is down on his luck, out of money and debating ending it all.
On that fateful night, an angel shows George all the lives he changed, directly or indirectly. Realising how much he has to live for, he gets the chance to rush back to his loving family. It’s almost impossible not to get something in your eye when the town comes together to help George pay off his debts. With friends and family, he truly is “the richest man in town”.
Truly, Madly, Deeply (1990)
Alan Rickman’s Jamie passes away, leaving Juliet Stevenson’s Nina devastated. As anyone who has lost a loved one could relate to, she wishes she got one more day with him – and it’s granted. Somehow, Jamie is able to come back to her in their flat.
In quintessential British fashion, the film eschews overwrought romance and follows the reality that, actually, even when you get a second chance, sometimes your lover can annoy you.
As their supernatural second chance shifts to classic couple fare – including rows over the central heating – it becomes clear that Jamie only came back to remind Nina that they weren’t ‘perfect’ and she should focus on her future, not the past. A selfless gesture, and a gut-wrenching film.
The Way We Were (1973)
"Your girl is lovely, Hubbell."
Sometimes, love isn’t enough to make a relationship work. And The Way We Were explores this notion to heart-breaking effect.
Barbra Streisand’s trailblazing Katie is in love with Robert Redford’s Hubbell. And he loves her. But they come from such starkly different backgrounds that they can’t seem to get past it. Her power and stubbornness threaten his ideals. In the end, Hubbell chooses the easy option. A nice, simple woman who fits into a nice, simple life – leaving Katie and their child to forge their own life without him.
An Affair to Remember (1957)
"Winter must be cold for those with no warm memories."
An Affair to Remember is one of the greatest romantic melodramas ever made. Starring Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr as two people who meet one another when betrothed to others, they realise they must meet again. If they both want to risk it all and bet on one another, they’ll meet at the top of the Empire State Building and start a life together.
He goes. She doesn’t. Or so he thinks. For years, the pair must live apart as she never made it up the Empire State Building in time, after being hit by a taxi while on her way to meet him. Thinking she didn’t choose him, they reunite by chance when he discovers the truth.
Stepmom (1998)
Stepmom, starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon, is a bittersweet tale of a family coming together during the worst of circumstances. Julia Roberts plays the stepmother in question, marrying Susan Sarandon’s ex and dealing with his two children. Navigating that tricky dynamic gets even trickier when it’s revealed Susan Sarandon’s character has cancer.
The Lion King (1994)
Disney has a penchant for breaking hearts, especially with many of its stories involving the death of a parent. Perhaps one of the most famous, and heartbreaking, is The Lion King. Simba coming across the body of his father, Mufasa, can bring a tear to anyone of any age’s eyes.
Terms of Endearment (1983)
A mother-daughter relationship is ripe for storytelling. Sometimes best friends. Sometimes worst enemies. Always unconditional love. This is the heart of Terms of Endearment, the sweeping tragicomedy starring Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger.
Rumour has it the pair didn’t get on during filming, but that didn’t stop them from capturing the essence of a true mother-daughter bond on screen. As Shirley disapproves of most of her daughter’s life choices, she’s still there for her, through thick and thin. Right up until the end – which comes sooner than expected, thanks to her daughter’s terminal cancer.
Beaches (1988)
From the film’s theme song, Wind Beneath My Wings, to the moving tale of an evolving friendship over decades, Beaches is the ultimate weepie. Anyone who has ever had a best friend knows that there are ups and downs, and Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey capture this dynamic perfectly.
From youngsters with big dreams to marriages, disappointments, successes and children, the pair come and go out of one another’s life, but they are there when it matters most.
Barbara Hershey’s character, Hillary Whitney, needs her best friend more than ever when she realises her heart condition will soon prove fatal. After she dies, Bette Midler’s CC Bloom adopts Hillary’s daughter, promising to always recount the story of her mother – and of their friendship.
