7 Saddest Films That Are Impossible To Sit Through Without Crying

Crying is an experience most of us reserve for a highly exclusive lineup of a few movies.

While some of us might wind up sobbing at a particularly emotional commercial, most audience members save their tears for movies that truly touch their hearts, be it war films, historical epics, or surprisingly dark family-friendly comedies (cough, cough, Pixar).

Though most viewers have little trouble sitting through films with dry eyes, certain movies have a tendency to bring out viewers’ waterworks with the force and intensity of Niagara Falls after a winter thaw. From colorful children’s movies to sobering historical dramas, here are seven fantastic movies that are almost impossible to sit through without shedding a single tear.

Up (2009)

Try to think of a movie opening as heartrending as the first 10 minutes of Up. Go ahead, we’ll wait. Providing a bittersweet exploration of Carl and Ellie’s 60 year relationship from childhood sweethearts to 70-year-old retirees, Up’s opening chapter is enough to leave the most straight-faced viewers reaching for the closest tissue box. From Ellie’s shocking miscarriage up to her peaceful death by Carl’s side, every second of Up’s initial 10 minutes is a lesson in dramatic storytelling, eliciting constant hard-hitting emotion without relying on a single word of dialogue.

Marley & Me (2008)

As a general rule, any time animals are involved in a film, there’s a high chance viewers will leave the theaters crying. Such was especially the case for a film like Marley & Me, the 2008 dramatic comedy showcasing a Florida reporter’s eventful ownership of the titular Labrador retriever. After spending nearly two hours watching Marley grow from an unruly pup into an equally lively senior canine, audiences are forced to ready themselves for the inevitable as they witness Marley’s health rapidly deteriorate. For anyone who has ever experienced the heartache that comes with losing a pet, Marley & Me is destined to hit like a runaway freight train of pure emotion, even as it leaves you with fond memories of your past animal companions.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Yes, okay, a serious argument can be made asserting that practically every Pixar movie has the potential to make viewers sob uncontrollably, but there’s just something different about Toy Story 3’s final sequence. After escaping their near-incineration and finding their way back to Andy, Woody and his toys experience one last play session with Bonnie and their now adult owner before Andy departs for college. As they watch Andy fade away into the distance, audiences witness not only the end of the Toy Story series as they knew it, but the momentous leap Andy makes from childhood to adulthood. As anyone who grew up watching Toy Story can tell you, Toy Story 3’s ending hits harder than any other in the franchise, bringing Andy’s story to a close with a tender and heartfelt “So long, partner,” from his foremost favorite toy, Woody.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

The fact that 12 Years a Slave is based on a completely true story is enough to make viewers take notice of its historical authenticity. Tracing the story of a free Black musician kidnapped and sold into slavery in the 1840s Southern U.S., viewers are given a harrowing portrait of life in the Antebellum South for millions of enslaved persons decades before the Thirteenth Amendment. Backed by an atmospheric score by Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave’s gripping narrative never fails to take audiences’ breath away, with most viewers spending the bulk of the two hour film sobbing about Solomon’s plight, only to shed tears of joy once they’ve seen him escape from his illegal bondage.

The Green Mile (1999)

A wholly uncharacteristic Stephen King story brought to the big screen, The Green Mile forms something of a spiritual sequel to King’s earlier adaptation, The Shawshank Redemption, if only for its similar themes of wrongfully convicted inmates, morally ambiguous judicial figures, and the systemic abuse of power and authority. While The Green Mile comes packed with gut-wrenching moments throughout, it’s the film’s downbeat climax that continues to tug on audiences’ heartstrings over 20 years later. Having spent the last act of the movie watching John Coffey prepare for his execution, by the time the kind-hearted prisoner tearfully asks his guards not to put the hood over his head, viewers can’t help but guffaw out loud at the bitter unfairness of the whole situation.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Quite possibly the most depressing anime film ever made, Grave of the Fireflies transports audiences back to the latter days of World War II, providing an in-depth study of the devastation wreaked upon the Japanese countryside in the waning days of the conflict. Focusing on two young siblings struggling to survive against the constant bombings, familial deaths, and rampant starvation affecting the nation, Grave of the Fireflies’ increasingly bleak narrative has the potential to trigger a full-blown emotional breakdown for the average viewer. Watching these two children slowly wither away before our very eyes, Grave of the Fireflies emphasizes that, at the end of the day, wars might be fought by soldiers on the frontlines, but often it’s the innocent civilians who struggle the hardest to live for another day.

Schindler’s List (1993)

As with most historical films dealing with World War II, Schindler’s List’s sobering atmosphere and factual narrative tends to affect viewers on an almost cellular level. The magnum opus of Steven Spielberg, Schindler’s List depicts the inspirational humanitarianism of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who saved over a thousand Jewish refugees from persecution by the fascist government. Though the film focuses overarchingly on Schindler’s success in saving hundreds of innocent lives from the Nazi regime’s clutches, Schindler’s List also doesn’t hold back from depicting the harsh reality of the Holocaust, complete with the countless Jewish civilians arrested, wantonly murdered, and/or physically and mentally tortured by the military officials ordered to destroy them. Given its grim subject matter, Schindler’s List can prove to be an incredibly difficult viewing experience – but it’s a movie of immense social and political importance, as well as a film that everyone should make an effort to watch at least once in their lifetime.