7 Saddest Films to Watch When You Need a Good Cry

Source: Quora

From tragic romances to sorrowful times to heartbreaking adaptations of true stories, the best heartbreaking movies bring the good with the sad.

We feel gratitude, empathy, new perspectives, and the comfort that comes from feeling less alone in the face of our own struggles.

So, if you need a good cry, you have come to the right place! These 7 saddest films feature stories of star-crossed lovers, grieving mothers, and ill-fated victims of circumstances, all waiting to wet your cheeks and punch you right in the feels.

Grab the tissues and your emotional support blanket, because you’re gonna need them. 

1. Pieces of a Woman

Source: The Zone

Pieces of a Woman is popular and one of the saddest films on Netflix.

It is originally based on a play. The movie was created by the film’s director, Kornél Mundruczó, and screenwriter, Kata Wéber, themselves a couple who experienced miscarriage.

In this film, Martha (Vanessa Kirby) and Sean (Shia LaBeouf) are expecting their first child, however, when it comes time to deliver, their midwife is unavailable and sends another, Eva (Molly Parker), in her place.

During the home birth, the tragedy happens and the baby dies of cardiac arrest. In the traumatic fallout, the sadness overwhelms the couple and extends to Martha’s mother, Elizabeth.

Now this family must figure out how to move forward, with or without each other.

2. All Together Now 

Source: GMS

Everybody admires Amber (Auliʻi Cravalho) who is a high school senior with a sunny disposition, generous spirit, and dreams of studying musical theater at Carnegie Mellon University.

But there is a secret underneath the huge smile, Amber and her mom, Becky (Justina Machado), are homeless and living in the school bus Becky drives for work.

As their money situation becomes awful, Becky begins accepting favors from an abusive ex-boyfriend who exacerbates her alcoholic tendencies.

When Carnegie Mellon invites Amber to a music audition, the girl who offers so much to everyone else will have to learn to accept help herself. 

3. Les Misérables

Source: Playbill

How is it possible to not put the film Les Misérables on the saddest film list?

The film is based on the hit stage musical, which is based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 French historical novel, Les Mis tells the story of Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman), an ex-con on a quest for redemption.

The story begins with Valjean attempts to escape his past and provide a promising future for Cosette (Isabelle Allen as a child; Amanda Seyfried as an adult).

The film has a star-studded cast, including Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Russell Crowe, and Amanda Seyfried. Additionally, it has some of the most beautiful and moving musical numbers ever written.

4. Passing

Source: Roger Ebert

Passing film is based on Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel and about the intertwined lives of two light-skinned Black women who can “pass” as Caucasian — a plot that’s underscored by the film being shot in black and white.

With brilliant lead performances, Passing provides a quiet, mesmerizing watch until a crescendo ending that’ll take you out. 

5. Titanic

Source: CNN

Titanic is undoubtedly one of the saddest movies of all time. The film, James Cameron’s historical epic tells a sweeping love story amidst the tragic 1912 sinking of the “Titanic” ship.

Those lovers are Kate Winslet’s Rose, an upper-class passenger traveling with her mother, and arrogant fiancé, Cal, whom she’s agreed to marry at her mother’s pressure because they need his money. 

Once aboard the Titanic, she meets with Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio), a poor artist who won a third-class ticket in a poker game. 

Despite their class differences and Rose’s engagement, the pair begin a passionate romance. Later,  as they’ve found one another, disaster strikes. At more than 3 hours long, it’s certainly not a short film, but it’s a true classic. 

6. Roma

Source: TechCrunch

Roma is the first Mexican film to win the Academy Award for “Best Foreign Language Film.” And that explains why I’m adding this movie to our list of saddest films to watch. 

This black-and-white drama film from writer-director Alfonso Cuarón takes its name from Mexico City’s Colonia Roma district. 

It’s here, during a time of domestic and political turmoil in the early 1970s, that a housekeeper named Cleo works as a live-in maid for an upper-middle-class family. 

The father, Antonio, is constantly away for “business,” prompting the mother, Sofía, to suspect he’s having an affair. Meanwhile, Cleo has suspicions of her own that she’s pregnant. But when she tells her boyfriend, Fermín, her boyfriend leaves her.

This movie is intensely personal and it has received many awards following its release, and its 10 Oscar nominations also yielded wins for best director and cinematography. 

7. Still Alice

Source: YouTube

Julianne Moore won an Oscar for her character as  Alice Howland, a prodigious linguistics professor with early-onset Alzheimer’s.

As her disease progresses, Alice struggles with losing her abilities and sense of self, getting lost in once-familiar places, and eventually becoming unable to do her job.

At this time, her husband, John, and children struggle in their own ways, watching their mother decline and not knowing how to help her.

This devastatingly poignant drama is another one of the saddest films, you should watch if you need a good cry.

“Still Alice” is based on a novel written by Lisa Genova, a neuroscientist whose grandmother developed Alzheimer’s disease and whose story ultimately inspired the book and film.

The bottom Line?

I hope these 7 saddest films will leave you feeling a good cathartic release! If you have any recommendations for other sad films I should add to this list, please let me know in the comments below!