While movies such as the Notebook might make your S.O. cringe at the thought of a movie night with you, these movies will definitely make them grab a tissue box or two. Nicholas Sparks has established the standards for the sappy romance genre, but these seven movies most definitely will make both of you ugly cry. (I, of course, included at least one Sparks movie)
The movies below will be ranked on a scale of One tissue box to Five tissue boxes. Just so you can plan ahead.
Dear John (3 tissue boxes)
From exploring the raw emotions of being in the honeymoon stage of a relationship to having that shattered by a dangerous deployment to Afghanistan that Channing Tatum has to embark on, Dear John is perfect for getting your obsession started with sad movies! You’ll grab your first box of tissues when Tatum’s strained relationship with his father does not ever get restored due to his sickening death. The second tissue box comes around when Amanda Seyfried, who plays Tatum’s love interests, breaks up with him while away at war. Over a letter. Yes, that’s right, a letter. Frustrating, I know. Instead of hating Seyfried for leaving a gorgeous guy like Tatum behind, you’ll fall in love with her all over again when she decides to take care of her best friend’s autistic son. It’s not over yet. The third and final tissue box goes to the ambiguous ending of whether or not Tatum and Seyfried decide to stay together. If you ever find out, definitely let me know. This stuff keeps me up at night. Seriously.
One Day (4 tissue boxes)
We’ve all wanted to fall in love with a best friend and have that typical love story. That’s exactly what One day is. But so much more. The main characters, Emma and Dexter, become best friends after college and embark on a lifelong friendship where they support each other while on the search for love and success. With their lives being polar opposites with insane schedules, they vow to dedicated one day a year, July 15, to each other. After a lifetime of searching for “the one,” they realize that what they’ve always wanted was each other. Don’t worry it’s not that cliche. After spending about an hour falling in love with Dexter’s mama’s boy personality and his British accent, your happiness will surely end soon when their relationship comes to an end due to Emma’s last-minute death by a vehicle accident. You think the story and tears end there, but absolutely not. We, unfortunately, see Dexter drinking his way into depression after her death, only to be discovered by his daughter constantly passed out after starting bar fights. What may seem like a very generic movie, makes you want to re-watch time and time again due to the genuine acting, and the raw chemistry between Dexter and Emma.
The Best of Me (5 tissue boxes)
When A high school relationship gets torn apart due to rejection from society and their families (very Romeo and Juliet like), Amanda and Dawson move on with their lives with others and elsewhere. After a short time, they are reunited by a funeral back in their hometown. While falling in love with the nostalgic moments between Amanda and Dawson throughout the film, you’ll think you spent the last hour and a half watching a happily ever after movie, but you, once again, get let down. Don’t you just love Hollywood? The first tissue box goes to witnessing Dawson being constantly abused by his family growing up, and then only to be shot by his brother later, and you would think he would recover and that would bring the two lovers together, but he dies a cold and lonesome death. I wish I could put it in a nicer way, but that’s why you’re reading this with tissues, right? When you think it could not get worse, it does. You’ll go through about four tissue boxes when Amanda’s son is in need of a heart transplant, and Dawson’s timing of death coincidentally matches with the son’s surgery, prompting for an anonymous heart transplant. Don’t worry, I could not get out of my bed for two days either.
Me Before You (2 tissue boxes)
Yes, another one involving a tragic death. Seeing a pattern yet? The genuine relationship between Will, a paralyzed banker, and his caregiver, Louisa, give you endless hope until the absolute last ten minutes of the movie. I’m sparing you the heartbreak I felt, trust me. Will’s negative outlook on life begins to change for the better once Louis shows him life is still beautiful and worth living. Right when you think Louisa showed Will the purpose to live, especially for love, Will decides to be euthanized. You see the disappointment, but support, when Louisa lays in bed with Will as he takes his last breath. You get so invested in the movie that you yourself are in that room with them. The entire movie gives you motivation and a perspective on love that no other movie has. Until the happiness literally gets ripped from you, and you’re left sitting in a puddle of tears from the shock that you probably still can’t comprehend.
A Walk to Remember (2 tissue box)
Yes, the classic. Did you really think I won’t include this one? A Walk to Remember was the first movie to allow me to literally feel sadness throughout my entire body. It’s a very generic plot: boy meets girl, the boy is a jock, the girl is a nerd, and the world (AKA high-school), does not want them to be together. So original! Even though Landon, the main love interest, is an ass for most of the movie, you’ll fall in love with his charm and eagerness to change for Jamie. Unfortunately, it gave me a great deal of false hope sophomore year of high-school. You begin to blush throughout the whole film while watching a never-ending sequence of tacky moments, only until it is revealed that Jamie is dying of cancer. All Jamie wanted was a miracle, and you’ll finish the second tissue box once you realize that Landon was her miracle.
Remember Me (1 tissue boxes)
With the opening scene having a mother shot in front of her daughter by two men in a train station, you know you’re in for quite a ride. Tyler, portrayed by the perfect Robert Pattinson (still not over Twilight #TeamEdward), makes you instantly fall in love with his witty personality and over protectiveness for his younger sister. Tyler puts up a strong front but also has the typical bad boy persona. Tyler meets Ally, who heals him and makes him a better man (what’s new) and all that other basic love stuff. While their relationship grows, more gets revealed about Tyler’s dark side: a bad rep with the law enforcement, especially with one officer who happens to be Ally’s father. Oh, how small the world is. You begin to root for Tyler as he mends his relationship with his family and Ally, and tries to focus on school. Just as you think to yourself that nothing can go wrong and you found that perfect romance movie, you’ll be left with your mouth wide open when the movie ends with absolutely no closure for the viewer because you witness Tyler die at the World Trade Center.
So grab those tissue boxes, a bag of popcorn, and get comfortable. Embrace the roller coaster of emotions that are about to hit you.