If you’re here, you need a good cry. Lucky for you, I’ve got a plethora of movies and shows that make me cry my eyes out. Sometimes you just need a movie or a show to lure you in and make you cry. Sometimes you need to let it out as self-care!!
I’ll start with One Day, the new series on Netflix. My friend heard of it from TikTok, so we watched it. All in one day. By the end, we were bawling our eyes out. 10/10 get ready to ugly-cry. Later, we watched the movie version from 2011, we didn’t like it as much. So, the Netflix series version is number one on this list. OH. MY. LORD. The PAIN. The PLOT. The character DEVELOPMENT. The PAIN (yes, again). Leo Woodall’s performance GOT me. PSA: You will need to wash your sweatshirt clean of all the tears and snot. It’s been a few days and I’m STILL recovering.
Another good one is the movie Clouds, written by actor Justin Baldoni. Justin Baldoni played Rafael in Jane the Virgin. I watched this movie over Winter Break. It had bad acting and some scenes I didn’t enjoy, to be honest, but overall still made me cry. Good movie to cry to. A similar one is The Fault in Our Stars and Five Feet Apart. These three all relate to medical illnesses and love. All good options.
A coming-of-age movie that also makes me ugly-cry is The Edge of Seventeen. Get the box of tissues ready.
Now onto “kids” movies that make me cry sometimes, or at least emotional. I love Rise of the Guardians, Finding Dory, Toy Story 3, Inside Out, Coco and Frozen 2. All of these hit important issues in people’s lives such as mental health, death, family, and identity; all very real and difficult things. For this reason, these movies tend to make me cry.
Now onto alternative-reality/science-fiction type of movies! Generally speaking, I’m a huge fan of this genre. I love the Harry Potter movies, the Divergent Series, the Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games Series. Some movies within these make me cry, but you have to see all the movies to really get it. I love Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows Part 2, Twilight: New Moon and Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2. 10/10 on character development, plot and music. Just all of it.
Now for musicals: La La Land and Hamilton always get me. La La Land is so beautiful and ugh I just love it for so many reasons that I can’t say without spoiling it. For Hamilton, knowing some of the fun facts about the actors and then specific parts of the plot just hit hard. I also love how these two are musicals; I find it to be an amazing way to keep an audience engaged!
Ever heard of the Age of Adaline? My sister recommended this one to me and just wow. ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED ME. The PAIN, the PLOT, the characters. AHHHHH!!!
Now, onto the next. To preface, usually, someone’s acting doesn’t make me cry (I say this, but then the performance of Leo Woodall in One Day killed me…), but Timothée Chalamet’s performance in Little Women had me on the floor. I’m not a crazy, die-hard fan of Timothée Chalamet, but when I watched his performance in the movie, I was speechless. He conveyed his role so well and the pain, the PAIN he felt, YOU could feel it. I couldn’t recover for a few days.
To go back to TV shows, all I can say is, usually the last episode(s) get you emotional because you know the end is coming. My favorite endings to cry to are The Office, Friends and Jane the Virgin.
That about sums up my list. If you end up needing a night to cry, I hope these help!