Sometimes a good cry can be just the thing to uplift your spirits, especially when life feels overwhelming. Below are 23 movies that will likely have you reaching for the tissues—the moments that yanked on heartstrings and painted tears on many faces.
Past Lives
In Past Lives, Greta Lee plays Nora, whose family emigrated from South Korea to the United States during her childhood. Reconnecting with childhood friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo) forces her to examine her life’s choices. The ending scene, with its profound sense of love, loss, and roads not taken, delivers an emotional punch. 
Dancer in the Dark
Dancer in the Dark, starring Björk, mixes Dogme 95-style filmmaking with Sirk-style melodrama. Selma’s extreme lengths to secure a medical procedure for her son’s vision lead to a heart-wrenching climax. Björk’s portrayal has been described as a conjuring of something brilliant through sheer human spirit alone.
Sounder
In Sounder, Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield play sharecroppers whose lives are disrupted by Nathan Lee Morgan’s arrest. The tear-jerking moment comes when their dog, Sounder, thought lost forever, limps back over the hill—a symbolic celebration of enduring familial bonds.
Beaches
Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey’s Beaches chronicles their life’s ups and downs. The poignant death scene is inevitable but doesn’t lose its impact. Their final sunset together generates a wave of emotion that is impossible to ignore.
Love Story
A classic among tearjerkers, Love Story tells of Oliver (Ryan O’Neal) and Jenny (Ali McGraw) navigating her terminal illness. The scene where Oliver tries to conceal her diagnosis marks an emotional pinnacle that resonates deeply.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Barry Jenkins’ adaptation of James Baldwin’s novel, If Beale Street Could Talk, features KiKi Layne as Tish, grappling with her partner’s wrongful imprisonment. Realizing there is no hope left to undo this injustice is perhaps the most wrenching moment.
The Color Purple
Director Steven Spielberg transforms Alice Walker’s novel into a cinematic journey featuring Whoopi Goldberg as Celie. The film’s highs are built on powerful moments like Celie’s reunion with her sister near its conclusion.
Steel Magnolias
A chick flick turned classic, Steel Magnolias‘s most touching scene sees Sally Field at her daughter’s gravestone realizing she’s surrounded by supportive friends during her breakdown—but ultimately finding strength even in sorrow.
Brief Encounter
This David Lean classic depicts Laura and Alec’s brief liaison interrupted by societal norms. Their final encounter in a train station is heartbreakingly cut short before either can fully express their feelings.
If It Feels To Be Free
Cicely Tyson is one of the six groundbreaking Black women honored in How It Feels To Be Free. Her reunion scene with Paul Winfield captures both actors displaying tremendous range and depth.
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