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Everything Everywhere All At Once
This has me all the way from to tears of sadness to tears of joy and really made me feel for the main character. It seems too whimsical to take seriously at first, but if you let it wash over you it rewards you. it can be an incredibly powerful movie and I loved the message.
Also, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. It’s a really sad breakup movie. Lots of emotion. Some of Jim Carry’s best acting.
EEAAO is truly a masterpiece and I do not say that shit lightly. For all it's multiverse goofiness there really is a solid layer depicting the struggle of women, mother, and girls becoming women. There's also cultural bits obviously as well, and marriage. My god the dad breaks my heart every time. Just good from beginning to end.
The dad is just such a good person.
The googly eyes, the silliness, he just wanted to make his family smile.
In the original script, they would continue to meet up, fall in love, spend time together and then one or the other of them would erase the other person after which the other person would follow and then they would meet and fall in love again and this repeated until they were old and gray
"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013 version) is beautiful and thoughtful. Completely unlike any other Ben Stiller movie that I know of.
"The Fountain" (2006) might qualify too, though it's a lot heavier.
"Amélie" (2001)
"Hector and the Search for Happiness" (2014) is decent too, though I'm a Simon Pegg fan so it gets extra points for that
The Fountain hits me hard. Especially with that beautiful Clint Mansell soundtrack.
Not knowing what usually makes you cry and what kind of movies you may enjoy, here are the first movies I know make me cry. Me being a a 50+ years old dude:
And those are from Ghibli:
Porco Rosso is so Full of melancholy. love the movie.
I saw “What Dreams May Come” in high school and wept the entire way from the theater to the car.
Even met some friends on the way and had to explain I was crying because it was so beautiful.
So underrated, always loved that movie. Lots of dark but honest.
I haven't been able to re-watch it since... you know. :(
"Your Name", anime film about a high school age boy and girl that swap bodies in their sleep, they don't know anything about eachother and have to figure out how to not ruin eachothers lives and relationships, it's very bueatiful, and you'll cry for sure.
Grave of fireflies - film that you watch only once as it's too sad to watch the second time.
Life is Beautiful
Manchester by the Sea
The Green Mile
My recommendations are more sad than uplifting, but still beautiful and emotional.
Mistakenly watched life is beautiful at a drunken party in high school. Still remember everything.
Great movie that I will never watch again.
A Silent Voice. I watched it while I was going through a rough time, and the visual metaphor used to portray the main character's isolation hit me so hard.
(not trying to sound like a hipster but) I read the manga a fair while before the movie came out and the relationship with the girl's mom is explored more deeply. God. It hits so hard.
haven't watched a lot of shows that aren't anime so here are my recs:
your name and a silent voice have really good animation btw
i almost cried during weathering with you which is a movie in the same universe as your name but it isn't as emotional as your name ig
Can confirm Your Lie In April made me cry like a baby. But I would say anime wise Violet Evergarden was even more cathartic. I ugly cried more than once watching it.
Walk in the Clouds
What Dreams May Come
The ending of Sixth Sense
Big Fish
Came here to say what dreams may come, Beautiful but unbelievably sad movie that you will not want to rewatch.
If you like Big Fish you should watch Five People You Meet in Heaven (not a religious movie)
Not so much a movie but you should watch The Last of Us up to the first 3 episodes. I got through Episode 3 and it had me in tears the whole day 😭
Last movie that made me cry was The Whale. I saw it in a theatre and rarely I had to refrain myself from crying in public this bad. Once I got home though I just bawled my eyes out.
Not a movie but rather a season, Your Lie in April. It's around a 7 hour series so sorta super deluxe extended edition movie adjacent if you're up for that. Fireflies and Silent Voice have already been mentioned, this is the honorary third place in my opinion.
The Wild Robot is well worth a watch. It looks like a kids movie, but I think the themes work just as well if not better for adults.
There are some moments in that which are pretty brutal and I was like, "Oh wow... Not sure if my kid should be watching this yet..." but it was an incredible film.
Two movies that usually appear on lists like this, but I don't see them: The Fountain, and The Fall.
I sob like a baby when I watch Practical Magic (Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman.) Same with Disney's Moana. Neither movie is really advertised as bring particularly deep or philosophical, but both of them have more profundity than appears on the surface. PM is about love, death, and family. Moana is about determination, joy, and redemption. Big emotions.
Never cried in a movie. Then I watched "Marley" (my friend Marley in German)
I have not seen this film in decades, but I remember it being quite lovely, it is a Serbian film called "Black Cat, White Cat":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Cat,_White_Cat
This next film will not make you cry, but it is an amazingly brilliant romantic adventure comedy, Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Those_Magnificent_Men_in_Their_Flying_Machines
I don't remember much about Black Cat White Cat but I remember enjoying it.
Username checks out. Also try Your Name.
Atonement
And agree on Big Fish, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Interstellar Suzume A Silent Voice - guaranteed to fuck you up Grave of the Fireflies
Idk, all these movies make me cry but for different reasons. The last two will sincerely fuck you up if you are any sort of empath.
I get you man, sometimes I need a good cry as well. I'm telling you though...A Silent Voice is a doozy.
Martian
Armageddon
If you are in a hurry, try Up.
Chariots of fire.
Troop Zero pulled my heart strings. About a little girl scout obsessed with space that is coping with the death of her mother. It's done in a very uplifting manner, and you're more likely to cry from the beauty of how the character handles it.
One Liter of Tears fits the bill.
It portrays the life of a real girl named Aya Kitou who develops a neuromuscular disease as a teen. It's an old film but great for making you think about the value and beauty of life.
There is a JDrama with the same name. The show takes some artistic liberties with the real story but since it has a longer run time it goes more in depth about the family dynamics and explores other plot lines.
Adam's Apples
Tout le bleu du ciel - 2025 Netflix french movie. The whole roadtrip thing made me watch it and I enjoyed it. Might be what you're looking for as well.
And speaking of road trips, Into the Wild. Amazing movie, amazing soundtrack by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder.
Both movies quite sad and beautiful.
Another Earth
50/50
Grave of the fireflies
5 centimetres per second
First movie that popped into my head was What Dreams May Come. Robin Williams goes through heaven and hell to try and save his wife's soul. Great flick with some amazing visuals (especially for the time).
Far and Away
