With so much going on in the world today, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. When that happens, sometimes the best thing you can do is just let those emotions out. Crying is cathartic – heck, it’s scientifically proven to make you feel better. So the next time the world gets you down, why not have a day to yourself, hoard up some snacks, and watch some sad movies.
Can’t decide which movies to cry to? Here are our top 10 saddest movies.
RELATED: Feel Good Movies: Top 35 Happy Movies Of All Time
10. Me Before You (2016)
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Steve Peacocke, and Matthew Lewis
Directed by: Thea Sharrock
Box office performance: $USD208.3 million ($AUD307 million)
What it’s about: Wealthy banker Will (Claflin) is paralysed from the neck down following a road accident. The accident leaves him depressed and unable to enjoy life, so his mother employs the help of cheery Lou (Clarke). The two fall in love and Will regains his happiness, but he wrestles with the guilt of holding her back.
Our favourite moment: When Will says “I just want to be a man on a date with a girl in a red dress” before getting off the car on their first date. What’s that? Just the sound of our hearts breaking!
Why we love it: It’s always fun seeing Emilia Clarke play a role diametrically opposite to power-hungry Daenerys on Game of Thrones. In this movie, she’s a bubbly, sweet, and quirky girl-next-door.
Where to watch: Blu-Ray or DVD releases.
9. About Time (2013)
Starring: Rachel McAdams, Domnhall Gleeson, and Bill Nighy
Directed by: Richard Curtis
Box office performance: $USD87.1 million ($AUD128 million)
What it’s about: When Tim (Gleeson) turns 21, his father shares a family secret: all the men in his family are capable of travelling back in time. He uses this power to pursue Mary (McAdams) but discovers that there is always a price to pay in the present for changing the past.
Our favourite moment: Tim and Mary’s hilariously stormy wedding, which Richard Curtis aptly called the “Wet Wedding”.
Why we love it: About Time is one of those movies that teaches a wonderful lesson about living life one day at a time. It’s often counted as one of the top-rated sad movies of all time.
Where to watch: DVD, Blu-Ray, and Netflix.
8. Marley & Me (2008)
Starring: Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson
Directed by: David Frankel
Box office performance: $USD247.8 million ($AUD365 million)
What it’s about: John (Wilson) and Jenny (Aniston) adopt a Labrador pup named Marley who turns out to be the epitome of chaos. Despite this, Marley also turns out to be a great lifelong companion through all the family’s ups and downs.
Best moment: Every single time Marley gets into trouble!
Why we love it: Marley is absolutely adorable. Even at his worst, you can’t help but laugh at his naughtiness!
Where to watch: Blu-Ray or DVD releases.
7. Love Story (1970)
Starring: Ali MacGraw, Ryan O’Neal
Directed by: Arthur Hiller
Box office performance: $USD136.4 million ($AUD201 million)
What it’s about: Oliver (O’Neal) and Jenny (McGraw) are from different worlds – Oliver’s a rich boy and Jenny’s from a working-class background. The two fall in love, but they struggle first with the disapproval of Oliver’s family, and second with Jenny’s cancer diagnosis.
Best moment: When Oliver says the now-famous line, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry”.
Why we love it: This is the oldest of all the emotional movies on this list, but it still packs a powerful punch. Before people could watch movies online, folks would scramble for VHS copies of this film. Some even consider it to be the “The Fault in Our Stars of the 1970s”.
Where to watch: Blu-Ray, DVD, and Netflix.
6. Me And Earl And The Dying Girl (2015)
Starring: Thomas Mann, Olivia Cooke, RJ Cyler, Nick Offerman, and Connie Britton
Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Box office performance: $USD9.1 million ($AUD13 million)
What it’s about: Greg’s (Mann) mum forces him to cheer up his childhood friend Rachel (Cooke), who was just diagnosed with leukemia. Greg and his “co-worker” Earl (Cyler) decide that the best way to cheer her up is to dedicate a brand new film to her.
Best moment: Any time we get a glimpse of Greg and Earl’s ridiculous films!
Why we love it: In recent years, there have been a lot of teen dramas centred on terminal illnesses, from The Fault In Our Stars to Five Feet Apart. Me and Earl and the Dying Girl stands out for its unconventional storytelling.
Where to watch: Blu-Ray and DVD.
5. Still Alice (2014)
Starring: Julianne Moore, Alec Baldwin, Kristen Stewart, Kate Bosworth, and Hunter Parish.
Directed by: Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland
Box office performance: $USD43.9 million ($AUD64.7 million)
What it’s about: Alice (Moore) is a linguistics professor who discovers that she has early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. The film follows Alice and her family as they cope with her illness, which quickly takes away her memory and sense of independence.
Best moment: We get so weepy whenever we watch Alice deliver her heart-rending and deeply moving speech at an Alzheimer’s conference.
Why we love it: While Still Alice isn’t based on a true story, it does paint a very accurate picture of life with Alzheimer’s. If you and your mum are close, it might just be the saddest movie in the world for you. Who knows, it might compel you to give her a call and check up on her too.
Where to watch: Blu-Ray and DVD
4. Blue Valentine (2010)
Starring: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams
Directed by: Derek Cianfrance
Box office performance: $USD16.6 million ($AUD24 million)
What it’s about: Compared to all the other breakup movies out there, Blue Valentine is easily the most crushing one. Unlike your typical rom-com, the film examines married couple Dean (Gosling) and Cindy’s (Williams) relationship as it slowly unravels through through the years.
Best moment: When Dean asks Cindy to dance for him while he sings and plays the ukelele.
Why we love it: Blue Valentine often makes it to best movies lists because of Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams’ palpable chemistry.
Where to watch: DVD and Blu-Ray
3. A Walk To Remember
Starring: Mandy Moore and Shane West
Directed by: Adam Shankman
Box office performance: $USD47.5 million ($AUD70 million)
What it’s about: High school rebel Landon (West) and Jamie (Moore), the daughter of the town minister, form an unlikely friendship when he seeks her help rehearsing for the school play. Landon realises there’s more to Jamie than meets the eye. As the two fall in love, Jaime reveals that she’s terminally ill, which leaves her future with Landon uncertain.
Best moment: When Jamie blows everyone away when she sings ‘Only Hope’ at the play’s opening night.
Why we love it: Before the dawn of romantic Netflix movies like To All The Boys I Loved Before and Always Be My Maybe, A Walk to Remember had everyone head over heels for this sad love story. It’s the classic popular-boy-falls-in-love-with-the-weird-girl story, but Shane West’s does a great job at balancing Landon’s rebellious spirit with his heart of gold.
Where to watch: DVD and Blu-Ray.
2. Brokeback Mountain
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Heath Ledger, Anne Hathaway, and Michelle Williams.
Directed by: Ang Lee
0Box office performance: $USD178.1 million ($AUD262.6 million)
What it’s about: Jack (Gyllenhaal) and Ennis (Ledger) are two cowboys who fall in love while on the job in the mountains. Because they live in rural Wyoming in the 1960s, Jack and Ennis aren’t free to express their love and must keep their relationship a secret.
Best moment: When Jack and Ennis share a long and passionate embrace when they’re reunited after several years of being apart. The sad, romantic moment is rarely seen between two men.
Why we love it: It’s a tender and painful story of forbidden love that (unfortunately) is still as relevant as ever in 2019.
Where to watch: DVD and Blu-Ray
1. My Girl
Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis, Macaulay Culkin, and Anna Chlumsky
1Directed by: Howard Zieff
Box office performance: $USD59.5 million ($AUD87.7 million)
What it’s about: My Girl is a coming of age film about a precocious 11-year-old hypochondriac named Vada (Chlumsky) and her best friend Thomas J. (Culkin). As Veda and Thomas J. transition into adolescence, the best friends begin to develop feelings for one another. Sadly, their friendship is cut short by an unspeakable tragedy.
Best moment: When Vada gets her first period and she panics thinking she’s hemorrhaging!
Why we love it: My Girl is one of those movies that make you cry no matter how many times you’ve seen it. Young Macaulay Culkin and Anna Chlumsky are so cute and such good actors!
Where to watch: DVD and Blu-Ray
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