Grab the tissues before you watch any of the movies on the “Top Movies that Make You Cry” list. There are some real heartbreakers on the list, but all of the movies were selected for that very reason. Everyone needs a good cry once in awhile, so cozy up on the couch and choose one of these movies for the night. There are some movie details if you want a “spoiler alert,” but I highly recommend all of the movies on the list.
1. Terms of Endearment
Debra Winger gave a stellar performance in this movie. One of the most tear-inducing scenes is when she must face her young sons and explain that she is dying. The powerful words of her youngest son stand out when he screams that he hates her, with words saturated in pain. An A list cast completes this movie.
This heavily awarded movie remains one of the best Holocaust movies of all time. Spielberg combined art and tragedy to produce a movie that leaves viewers thinking and crying at the same time. The movie highlights the work that Oscar Schindler did during World War II to save as many Jews as he could from the concentration camps. A few scenes that stand out in Schindler’s List are when the little girl in the red dress is shown among the black and white filming, the concentration camp scenes, and the interactions that Oscar Schindler has with some of the Nazis. This is a movie that is not long forgotten.
3. Sophie’s Choice
Another Holocaust movie that brings tears to my eyes, is Sophie’s Choice. Meryl Streep gave one of her best performances as Sophie, a woman who is living with the consequences of a tragic choice. There are many sad parts in this movie, but none sadder than the scene where Sophie and her children are lined up in the concentration camp selection line.
4. Titanic
Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslett made the right choice by starring in this mega blockbuster. The movie uses a little bit of Hollywood magic to tell the story of the real life sinking of the Titanic in the early Twentieth Century. This is the kind of movie that succeeds with the formula of a love story mixed with a tragedy/catastrophe.
5. Philadelphia
Tom Hanks gave a commendable performance in this movie, as a man stricken with AIDS. The movie belongs on this list for the way that it cast some light on the modern day health crisis of AIDS. Tom Hanks and cast personalized this movie in a way that public health alerts of the 1980’s could not.
Was Joan Crawford the first child abusing mommy? Probably not, but Mommie Dearest is a sad movie. Christina Crawford is repeatedly emotionally abused throughout her childhood and into adulthood by her adoptive mother, Joan Crawford, according to the movie content. This movie will leave you removing all the wire hangers from your closet.
7. Forrest Gump
This movie made the list of sad movies, but in many ways it is also an inspirational movie. Forrest Gump is a mentally challenged boy of the South who makes friends with a girl named Jennie. The movie takes viewers from Forrest’s early years to later ones, where tragedy and heartbreak leave their mark. This is another great Tom Hanks movie.
8. The Color Purple
One of Oprah Winfrey’s few movie performances was in the highly acclaimed, The Color Purple. This movie shines for its story as much as for the excellent cast. There are enough sad moments, weaved through the lives of a group of black Americans, to warrant a box of tissues when viewing this movie. At times I felt outraged watching the movie, and others I felt the quiet losses.
9. Hotel Rwanda
The tragedy of the Rwandan genocide and mass killings are shown full-screen in this movie, opening viewers eyes to one of the biggest African tragedies of our time. Until I saw this movie, I had no idea that this had happened in recent years in Rwanda and the brutal scenes brought the reality into focus.
10. Alpha Dog
This recent movie (2007) made the list on the basis of one especially shockingly sad scene. Based on the real life story of the FBI’s youngest man on the Most Wanted List, James Hollywood, this movie combines teen drama and drugs with murder. Justin Timberlake delivers the most heartbreaking lines in one of the later scenes in the movie when he promises the boy who they kidnapped that he would never hurt him.
