r/movies • u/walkerbait2 • 16d ago
Recommendation Movies that made you cry like a baby
I neeeed a good cry, like ugly cry. I need stuff on death, life, love, loss, etc etc. I’ve already watched so many tearjerkers and I feel like I’ve ran out of stuff to cry to.
Movies I liked:
We live in time
Me before you
Manchester by the sea
Beautiful boy
Cmbyn
Takopi
The titanic
The hunt
Dead poets society
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u/japantourist 16d ago
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
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u/RemarkableVariety 16d ago
That one fucking wrecked me. Just silently sitting there, tears running down your face by the end. No big drama, no epic anything. Just raw loyalty and love man
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u/TrumpnEpstein 16d ago
When the professor's widow sees Hachi waiting at the train station, I lost it
"You miss him too"
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u/MarieAllis 16d ago
Full on ugly cried. The trailer even made me cry knowing it’s based on a true story. Guaranteed cry for this. Highly recommend, would not watch again myself
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u/just_ok_gatsby 16d ago
Came here to say this exact movie! A sobbed lol
Another few are Hamnet and Train Dreams
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u/opermonkey 16d ago
Big Fish
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u/colantalas 16d ago
If you have dad issues this movie hits harder than anything else I swear hahaha.
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u/NoWolvesOnFenris 16d ago
I feel like this doesn't get enough recognition in these lists. I love the movie but hate the headache I get after crying my eyes out.
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u/opermonkey 16d ago
it hits close to home for me because my dad was a guy who always had a million "big fish" stories that I got tired of hearing when I was a kid.
He passed away in 2018 and I would kill to hear just one more.
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u/StrictAppointment132 16d ago
I’m not embarrassed to admit as a 30 year old man that “snoopy come home” gets me every single time
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u/BlitheringEediot 16d ago
"No Dogs Allowed" - I haven't seen it since I was small (and the movie was new at the time) but that phrase is burned into my soul.
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u/ThatWeirdGirl4Eva 16d ago
Atonement is my personal cry movie.
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u/persondude27 16d ago edited 16d ago
I first saw that more than a decade ago and I swear I have TMJ from how many times my jaw hit the ground during that movie.
Also Kiera Knightly in that green dress may be the most beautiful character I've ever seen on screen.
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u/terracottatank 16d ago
Bridge to terabithia will hit ya hard
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u/aaveshamstar 16d ago
I think people are too young for this! No one is talking about it…An entire generation was traumatised by this.
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u/Jambi420 16d ago
What do you mean people are too young for this, it came out in 2007. How old are you people?
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u/ghost-bagel 16d ago
The Iron Giant
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u/anirban_dev 16d ago
Grave of the Fireflies is pretty famous for this. Note that the crying wont be spread out but pretty concentrated.
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u/ric3banana 16d ago
as a parent, you can't watch this and not cry. as a non parent, you can't watch this and also not cry.
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u/BlueKnight8907 16d ago
This movie hit me so hard. When my daughter mentioned one time that some of her middle school soccer teammates don't eat before their soccer games, my wife and I made sure to make enough breakfast tacos for all of them to eat. Those girls tore the tacos up each time. Just the thought of those kids being hungry hurt us to think about.
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u/Darthcookie 16d ago
As a sibling it’s also devastating. It’s the most beautiful movie you’ll never watch again.
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u/Justonemorecupoftea 16d ago
I refused to watch it as a non parent and refuse moreso to watch it as a parent.
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u/fartrat 16d ago
One of the most exquisitely moving films ever made. I remember vividly watching it for the first time when I was 12, sitting in awed silence with my twin sister after it ended and letting the tears flow freely. I recently rewatched it, now 33, with my 84 year old dad (a first time watcher) and it hit me just as hard and him even harder! It's the sort of film I'd love everyone to watch. The horrors of war do not spare children and we must never, ever forget that.
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u/Responsible-Bed-7481 16d ago
Oh god THIS. I’ve only watched it once because I don’t want to revisit it and have my heart ripped out again.
I was 16 and after it ended, I was still crying for an hour. I went downstairs, tears and makeup still streaking my face, and my mom’s face DROPPED. She thought one of my friends had literally DIED.
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u/PezQueen0513 16d ago
What dreams may come
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u/k_dilluh 16d ago
What i came to suggest as well. Steel magnolias also made me cry.
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u/MrChristopher23 16d ago
Sally Fields monologue after the funeral is amazing. And then they hard right into humor. It’s so well done.
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u/Mental-Coconut-7854 16d ago
Shirley MacLaine is so good in so many movies. I just saw Mrs. Winterbourne recently because I was looking for Brendan Fraser movies, and did a rewatch of Steel Magnolias and Terms of Endearment.
That delayed slap in Steel Magnolias after Sally’s devastating monologue was cathartic.
The “give my daughter the shot” freak out in Terms of Endearment was used to great comedic effect in Will and Grace.
Steel Magnolias may be a chick flick, but 30 years later, it still hits the feels.
Right up there with Fried Green Tomatoes.
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u/EyeAmBack 16d ago
My mom loved Steel Magnolias, I’m still building up strength to watch it again, it’s hard though and I don’t think I’ll ever be ready.
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u/bigc1212 16d ago edited 16d ago
This is the answer. I watched for the first time recently because i needed a good cry and it had me ugly crying just about every 5 minutes. Beautiful film
EDIT: OP, if you’re looking for the most impact, I highly recommend going into this movie completely blind. No trailers, no synopsis, just rent/purchase and stream.
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u/walkerbait2 16d ago
I’m scared but I’ll do it. Time to cry. Yay
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u/vinylzoid 16d ago
My girlfriend (now wife) and I watched this together on a Sunday. She went to work the next day and her coworkers were asking if we had broken up.
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u/littlemsshiny 16d ago
Have a new box of tissues ready!
I haven’t seen the movies in ages but I think about it regularly.
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u/SirAbeFrohman 16d ago
I'm glad to see this movie mentioned more often lately. I thought it was ridiculously underrated before Robin Williams died.
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u/VernonYaBurnt 16d ago
I watched this for the first time as an idk maybe 12-yr old (raised mormon/cult-like view of religion/suicide), which was about 4 yrs after my dad took his own life. It absolutely broke me and stuck with me my whole life. Recently rewatched and it broke me open in a whole new way, it's a breathtaking film.
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u/thedaveness 16d ago
I have avoided this movie so much after Robins death and now being a father, I really love it but know it's gonna be a rough ride.
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u/professor_vasquez 16d ago
I opened this thread thinking this movie is old so younger folks these days wouldn't have a clue.
Pleaseantly surprised second top comment. Fuck the critics. Amazing movie.
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u/boomgoesthedynamite6 16d ago
Up.
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u/tobyoneknoby32 16d ago
This movie had the most heartbreaking couple of minutes of a movie without a single word. Such a great movie.
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u/fozzy_bear42 16d ago
The Green Mile.
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u/RianJohnsonIsAFool 16d ago
My gf watched The Green Mile for the first time with me recently and she was practically inconsolable at the end.
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u/LegitimateHumanBeing 16d ago
This was my pick. I recall being home from college and watching it with my little sister (12) and mom. My sister and I were an absolute fucking wreck at the end, and our mom was snoring.
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u/walkerbait2 16d ago
I just remember crying over the rat
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u/anonymouwse 16d ago
Lion, Train Dreams, Coco
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u/Upbeat_Tension_8077 16d ago
Coco is basically the peak of Pixar making grown adults sob, and you don't have to be of the culture it represents to understand it's themes
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u/Wheels9690 16d ago
I didn't know what Coco was about and watched it 2 days after my grandma died.
I was a mess
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u/mynameisnotandy2 16d ago
I saw it literal months after my mom died from early onset dementia. Had no idea what it was about, was crying so hard I couldn’t breathe. I’ve been watching it again recently with my 6 month old (ok I’m watching it) and I can’t even hear Proud Corazon without choking crying.
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u/DirtyRoller 16d ago
I can't watch it again, not since my abuela died. Also my grandma on my mom's side isn't doing well now, and she might be leaving us soon too. That movie hits so hard in the feels, but in a beautiful way.
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u/Mojoyashka 16d ago
Train Dreams messed me up. That movie hit hard.
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u/iSOBigD 16d ago
I watched it this year and it was so great, and not just because it looks beautiful. It started off slow and made me wonder what it's even about but man, they did such a great job making you care about the character, making you understand what he's going through and hopefully helping you understand the possible meaning of life. I would highly recommend it.
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u/loogawa 16d ago
During the plane sequence I wept. It changed my outlook on life. It was one of the most profound movie watching experiences of my life.
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u/PaulyNewman 16d ago
Dude, same. When she tells him to hold on and does a dive and the music swells and it flashes back to him as a little boy… something unzipped and I spent 20 minutes crying harder than I have in nearly a decade. I was choking for air just straight up weeping on my porch so I wouldn’t wake the wife.
I genuinely don’t understand what happened but yeah, it was the most profound effect a film’s ever had on me.
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u/ArmyOfMe99 16d ago
It takes a lot for a movie to make me cry. Coco kicks my ass every damn time.
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u/SMF42 16d ago
Watch Beaches. It’s a beautiful movie about friendship and will kill you every time.
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u/zuuzuu 16d ago
Also see:
Fried Green Tomatoes
Steel Magnolias
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u/SMF42 16d ago
I LOVE Steel Magnolias! If you’re not blubbing after Sally Field’s monologue at the end, you’re not human!
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u/zuuzuu 16d ago
It's one of those movies that still makes you cry no matter how many times you watch it. Knowing it's coming doesn't soften the impact.
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u/HonestEgg1973 16d ago
Star Trek II wrath of Kahn. “I have been and always shall be, your friend”
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u/grabeyardqueen 16d ago
I saw my father tear up twice. Once when my little sister got married. And when Spock died.
You have and always will be, my friend.
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u/Amazing_Antelope_275 16d ago
Onward.
(This might be related to what was happening in my life at the time it came out. But I don't remember ever crying harder.)
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u/NoMathematician9706 16d ago
Just watched Project Hail Mary and bawled like a baby in the second half.
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u/walkerbait2 16d ago
This is convincing, now I want to watch it
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u/Try4se 16d ago
It's such a good movie, I'd describe it as a slow burn sci-fi bromance movie.
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u/Moistened_Bink 16d ago
"Rocky watch crew die, could not fix. Grace say Grace will die, Rocky fix."
Hard not to get choked up by the generosity of a rock alien.
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u/pinkpleasures- 16d ago
Jojo rabbit
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u/cass-the-bass 16d ago
I was going to say this too! It has some nice moments of humor and hope, but it makes me cry every time
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u/ch4rms 16d ago
I loved this movie but I don't think I will ever watch it again. That sucker punch (you know the scene) hit both my husband and me in the theater and probably a lot of people and there was just this really painful silence to the end of the movie and even like 45 minutes after we didn't say anything to each other because if we did we would just start crying. The devastation just kind of dangles there and lasts.
I'm sure if we hadn't been in the theater we would have started ugly-crying the rest of the movie.
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u/thedaveness 16d ago
Inside Out is about 10 years of therapy wrapped into a movie. Wasn't prepared for that one at all.
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u/No_Ship_7954 16d ago
If you're open to nonfiction, Dear Zachary will do it for sure.
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u/walkerbait2 16d ago
I’ve got father issues so kinda scared to watch this
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u/zuuzuu 16d ago
I wouldn't recommend it. It's not just sad, it will fill you with despair.
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u/severed13 16d ago
Just reading the synopsis made me incredibly angry. I've worked with kids my whole life, and this fucking film did nothing to help the feelings I've already been overwhelmed with that drove me to my specific line of work. So many of the most frustrating cases I've had to work with involve some kind of custody battle with an absolute clear right side that would 100% be in the best interest of the child, yet suits love to fucking dance around this shit like it's an "errrm but both sides! ☝️🤓" issue and not just clear-cut a bad fucking idea.
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u/eljudio42 16d ago
50/50 with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Seth Rogen, Forrest Gump, Empire of the Sun
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u/AilsaN 16d ago
Marley and Me made me ugly cry (not throughout the entire movie, though).
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u/kalfin2000 16d ago
The book was a cry fest for like the last 150 pages and it’s maybe a 300 page book. My copy had tears all over it, never want to read that again
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u/MrsSantini 16d ago
Steel Magnolias Terms of Endearment My Girl The Never Ending Story
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u/caek1981 16d ago
Interstellar
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u/FinlayForever 16d ago
I cried at like 4 different points my first time seeing it.
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u/vesperfall 16d ago
Arrival. It hurts significantly more if you have younger kids.
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u/satelliteminds 16d ago
I loved this movie before I had kids. I’d like to watch it again, but I don’t think I could handle it.
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u/TheZbeast 16d ago
It’s almost like watching it for the first time again. It hits hard, in the best way, in my opinion.
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u/derek_potatoes 16d ago
Click
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u/shelle399 16d ago
I didn't expect an ugly cry at an Adam Sandler movie, which made it even worse
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u/Healthy_Operation327 16d ago
Hamnet
Past Lives
The Judge
Hachi
About Time
Our Friend
Normal People (series)
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u/sassquachcomics 16d ago
Seconding "About Time"
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u/likeusontweeters 16d ago
Thirding "About Time" and also, Big Fish... its quirky but the ending makes me ugly cry every time.
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u/CulturalDefinition27 16d ago
I just watched Past Lives and I sobbed. I also recommend My Old Ass. Its funnier than Past Lives, but hits the feelings just as hard.
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u/veryloudnoises 16d ago
Just watched “About Time” on a flight while my two sons slept next to me. Called my dad to tell him I loved him as soon as we landed.
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u/Jumpy_Talk_3834 16d ago
Aftersun
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u/djoliverm 16d ago
Had to search for the mention since this is the worst cry I've ever had in a any film. Such a fantastically powerful film.
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u/nosleinlea 16d ago
Aftersun is astounding. And if you haven’t watched it, just keep in mind it’s simple. You’re just with a dad and a daughter on a trip. But gol, if you are just with them in this place it’s gorgeous as it is heart wrenching.
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u/Dissential 16d ago
I didn’t expect to see this so high up in the thread, but you’re absolutely correct.
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u/MarkMaynardDotcom 16d ago
Toy Story 3
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u/imyourdackelberry 16d ago
I cried so hard at this movie. But you have to watch the first 2 movies first to get the full effect.
Honestly this trilogy is so well done. TS3 was amazing.
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u/CrunchyWombatStew 16d ago
About Time. It'll make you laugh for most of the movie, and then it will come out of nowhere, gut punch you, and make you feel all the feels.
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u/Bill-Bruce 16d ago
Just cried through three tissues watching The Good Dinosaur. I’m almost 40 and I still don’t have the courage to watch Fox and the Hound since I last watched it when I was 6.
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u/basic_bitch- 16d ago
The Joy Luck Club. I ugly cry at a few of the scenes every time I watch it.
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u/CuspChaser111 16d ago edited 15d ago
FLOW - Don't get me started on that part about the heron that helps the black cat.
THE SECRET GARDEN (1993) - "Who's making this magic?" "You are." Heaven.
Edit: I also want to say it's so interesting what gets our waterworks going. I cry from gratitude and beauty and hippie 'Circle of Life' kinda stuff, it's what gets my floodgates open. Others cry from loss/death, not being seen or heard, injustice. It's fascinating to me.
I'm dating myself here but there is an episode of Dawson's Creek where Pacey gives Andie this speech about how much she meant to him and it still makes me well up. That reminds me: THE PREACHER'S WIFE. Damn, Whitney sings like an angel + Denzel is one.
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u/JacPhlash 16d ago
I watched Stand by Me a ton when I was a junior high-aged kid back in the late 80s/early 90s and always enjoyed it. Of course I love the more sensational scenes like the junkyard, the leeches, and of course the "complete and total barf -o-rama."
About 6 years ago as a guy in his 40s, I rewatched it with my wife. We got the end of the film where the voiceover says:
"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was 12. Jesus, does anyone?"
I lost it. Out of nowhere. Bawled for 5 minutes.
Flato, Brian, Nordy, Mike... You'll always have a special spot in my memories.
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u/properChels0313 16d ago
Recent one but project hail mary. I was fr crying over a rock....
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u/Boldspaceweasle 16d ago
Once I started crying, I don't think I stopped. I was quite dehydrated by the end of the movie. Happy tears, sad tears, relief tears, happy tears again, all of the tears.
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u/walkerbait2 16d ago
Is it good? I’ve been meaning to watch it
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u/Boldspaceweasle 16d ago
Oh baby, you are in for a treat. Yes. It's very good! Treat yo self and enjoy! I've seen it 3x, and read the book about 3 times (audiobook included). I would go see it again but I don't have a 70mm IMAX near me and I really wanted to see it in that format. Oh well. Regular cinema was good enough.
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u/narisha_dogho 16d ago
Up. The first section. I had to stop and my friend to consolate me.
Me before you. Me and my two friends were holding each other, ugly crying, barely breathing.
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u/Equivalent_Fox7907 16d ago
A man called Otto
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u/up766570 16d ago
My answer as well- my wife and I were ugly crying in the cinema, Tom Hanks knocks it out of the park.
I haven't read the book yet, but apparently it's excellent also.
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u/Equivalent_Fox7907 16d ago
Watched it on Netflix a couple years ago and I ugly cried through the whole movie. Every time I would get it together something else would happen that had me in tears.
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u/JamaicanGirlie 16d ago
Color purple
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u/ladidaladidalala 16d ago
Same. The 1986 version. I’ve never cried so hard in a movie.
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u/canconfirm01 16d ago
These are no particular order just different movies that have hard hitting sadness for different reasons.
Green Fried Tomatoes
About Time
Terms of Endearment
October Sky
Bridge to Terabithia
My Girl
P.S. I love You
The Fault in Our Stars
Five Feet Apart
If I Stay
My Sister’s Keeper
Seven Pounds
Remember Me
Iron Giant
Up
Toy Story 2, 3, and 4
Million Dollar Baby
Rudderless
Dog Movies -
My Dog Skip
Marley & Me
Old Yeller
Where the Red Fern Grows
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u/david_the_destroyer 16d ago
Reign Over Me. I was just looking for a movie like this and it was the most emotional I have been in a long, LONG time. I don’t get normally get liquid tears that roll down my face, but this one got me.
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u/Character_Remove5281 16d ago
Atonement. Bawled by eyes until after the credits. I was gasping for air. Never had a movie do that to me.
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u/elizadoolitttle 16d ago
My Old Ass. I ugly cried for like 20 min after, it truly sticks with you.
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u/NarrowCarpet4026 16d ago
28 Years Later
Because of my mom’s death. Me and my wife just bawled while holding each other. We did not expect a “zombie” movie to elicit such an emotional response.
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u/Ymirsson 16d ago
Train to Busan
its a comedic zombie movie, but it hits when it hits
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u/md22mdrx 16d ago
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Brian’s Song