The 33 Saddest Movies on Netflix: These Movies Just Make You Cry

Sometimes you are not in the mood for suspense, mystery, or comedy. Sometimes it just has to be about pain, loss, and the big emotions. The following 33 movies on Netflix will ensure that no eye is left dry!

1. Pieces of a Woman


The first part of the film, “Pieces of a Woman,” is the strongest – it is harrowing, heartbreaking, and really pulls the viewer along. I’ve seen a lot of movies about women giving birth, but never have I seen a birth scene that was so visceral and intense. I was excited throughout the moment watching Vanessa Kirby’s Martha experience a home birth with her partner Sean (Shia LaBeouf).

Impermanence envelops every moment because, like Martha, we sense something is wrong. At the same time, we do not want to be right.

While the rest of the film doesn’t quite match the strength of its opening moments, Kirby’s performance is outstanding and the reason she was nominated for an Oscar. She can do a simple thing like shopping and make you intensely feel her character’s sadness. This movie is a tough one to get into and will likely be a movie you only watch once, so be aware of that if you ever decide to take the plunge into one of the saddest movies on Netflix.

2. The Notebook


A summer vacation in Seabrook brings country boy Noah Calhoun (Ryan Gossling) together with wealthy city girl Allie Hamilton (Rachel McAdams). Even though the two young people are from different worlds, they still take a liking to each other. Over time, a tender vacation love develops.

But Allie’s parents don’t like that at all. Anne (Joan Allen) ‘s mother decides it’s best to cut the vacation short and break up the young people. But despite the distance between them and the changing times, Noah and Allie can’t stop thinking about each other.

Though the subject isn’t new, “Like a Single Day” reimagines the tangles of love in a heartbreaking way that makes for damp tissues.

3. Honey in the Head


Amandus Rosenbach (Dieter Hallervorden) has led a good life. As a veterinarian, he has carried out a reasonable profession and led a normal family life with his wife Margarethe and his son Nico (Til Schweiger). When Margaret dies, Amandus is left to fend for himself.

But not only his son but also his granddaughter Tilda (Emma Schweiger) notices that Amandus is changing. Because he has dementia and slowly loses his mind. When Nico wants to put his father in a nursing home, the pensioner escapes with his granddaughter and goes on a road trip to Venice, where Amandus spent his honeymoon with Margarethe in his younger years.

The film starts with a lot of humor but quickly twists into a sad and thoughtful experience about the changes in someone who has dementia.

4. Remember Me


Ally Carter (Emilie de Ravin) has lost her mother. Her father, Neil (Chris Cooper), changes because of it. The cop turns cold and comes down hard on the alleged gangsters. The latter seeks revenge when he busts young Tyler (Robert Pattinson) in a street brawl. Tyler befriends Ally. A relationship quickly develops. But young happiness is tested when Ally learns why Tyler approached her in the first place.

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As an unusual film about getting to know each other and love, “Remember Me” sticks in your mind. Not only the young Robert Pattinson provides more than just wet corners of the eyes when watching.

5. Brain On Fire


Susannah Cahalan (Chloë Grace Moretz), at 21, is at the beginning of a career. As a journalist, she has a coveted job at the New York Post, and with her boyfriend, Steve, she has the right partner at her side. But suddenly, Susannah notices that her behavior is changing. At first, she just has trouble concentrating. Soon she suffers from mood swings and gets epileptic seizures.

Susannah begins an odyssey through medicine. Physically the young woman seems to be completely healthy. Some doctors consider them mentally ill. Other doctors think Susannah is faking it all. Slowly, the young woman begins to question her own state of mind.

The film is based on true experiences and is gripping and tragic. The anguish of the young main character is almost palpable to the audience.

6. P.S.: I love you


Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank) has to cope with a blow of fate. Her husband Gerry (Gerald Butler) has just passed away, and the young woman no longer sees any meaning in her life. But suddenly Holly gets a letter. It’s from Gerry, who left a total of 12 messages to his wife before his death.

In each letter, Gerry sets tasks for his wife to accomplish in order to cope with her grief and find her way back to life. For each letter, Holly’s husband has thought of something very special, and so the woman begins a journey down memory lane, always accompanied by the last sentence of the letters, “P.S.: I love you!”

This literary adaptation not only has a great cast, including Hilary Swank and Gerald Butler but also tells an incomparably beautiful story of a love that outlasts even death.

7. All the Bright Places starring


Violet (Ellen Fanning) and Theodore (Justice Smith) are two teenagers who go to the same school in Indiana. Although they don’t know each other, they have one thing in common. Both young people have experienced bad things in their past and have lost meaning in life.

Violet suffers from depression, and Theodore contemplates suicide. The two teenagers come together through a school project. They quickly realize that they are both in a bad place in life. They begin to befriend each other and see some light in their bleak lives again.

A coming-of-age film, “All the Damn Perfect Days” deals with youth, life, and death. Heartbreaking and tear-jerking.

8. Marriage Story (2019)


Oscar-nominated filmmaker Noah Baumbach’s incisive and compassionate look at a broken marriage and a family that stays together has made history. The film stars Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. Laura Dern, Alan Alda, and Ray Liotta co-star in the movie.

The film is funny and sad, sometimes within a single scene. Marriage Story weaves a plot out of the chaotic collapse of a shared reality and tries to make music out of disharmony. The melody is full of heartache, loss, and regret, but the song is too beautiful to be completely melancholic.

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9. 28 Days


Gwen Cummings (Sandra Bullock) lives her life to the fullest with alcohol and drugs. When she crashes her car in a drunken stupor, she is forcibly committed to 28 days of therapy. At first, she sees the whole thing as a big joke. But she quickly realizes that life in rehab is anything but easy. Still, Gwen wants to fight to start a new life.

Sandra Bullock plays the role of the over-the-top troubled party girl hauntingly and thought-provoking, with twists and turns in the film that bring tears to the viewer’s eyes.

10. Hillbilly Elegy


Ron Howard’s vision of the small-town South – and a family suffering from the cycle of addiction – has been largely on point. The audience is perhaps more interested than the critics. Hillbilly Elegy is already a big hit for Netflix.

If the film occasionally veers into the cartoonish or soapdish – and it does – strong performances by Amy Adams and Glenn Close keep the story’s emotional core alive. Close’s versatile and surprisingly understated performance is especially impressive.

11. Brokeback Mountain


Temporary workers Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) apply for a spring job. They’re supposed to ride up Brokeback Mountain and herd the sheep until the animals can be led down into the valley in the fall. At first, the taciturn Ennis and the rebellious Jack don’t get along.

But because they only have one tent, they have to spend the night together. In the process, the two men become closer. However, after the end of the work, the contact goes apart. Four years later, Ennis receives a letter from Jack asking if the two should meet again on Brokeback Mountain. It begins with an unusual love that must be kept secret from society.

“Brokeback Mountain,” tells the story of how two lives evolve with only one thing in common and how difficult it can be to come to terms with your own feelings. Not least because of Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, the film became one of the saddest masterpieces of all time!

12. Moonlight


Chiron lives in difficult conditions. His mother is a drug addict, and the two live in a poor neighborhood in Miami. Only the drug dealer Juan seems to be a friend of Chiron. When the boy falls in love with his classmate Kevin, his life becomes even more complicated. As a gay black man in a world of violence and drugs, Chiron doesn’t know his place or how to cope.

Impressively presented, “Moonlight” is no easy fare. The conflict between the main characters, in particular, is gripping and moves viewers to tears more than once.

13. The Fundamentals of Caring


Paul Rudd is at his most charming and charismatic here. He plays a newly trained counselor to a distant teenager with muscular dystrophy named Trevor. After the ice is broken, the two set out to see some of the most boring roadside attractions Middle America has to offer. The film is a bit more upbeat than others on this list, but don’t let Paul Rudd’s cuddly charisma fool you – there will be tears.

14. The Trial of the Chicago 7


What was supposed to be a peaceful protest at the 1968 Democratic National Convention ended in a violent confrontation with police and the National Guard. The protest organizers – including Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, Tom Hayden, and Bobby Seale – were charged with inciting a riot, and the subsequent trial was one of the most notorious in history.

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The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a thrilling introduction to a chapter of American history that was both bizarre and sadly significant. The film offers a fast pace and bristles with director Aaron Sorkin’s signature verbal attacks.

15. First They Killed My Father


This historical thriller, directed and written by Angelina Jolie, is based on the memoir of the same name by Loung Ung. The film tells the story of Loung Ung, who was trained as a child soldier in Cambodia at the age of five while her siblings were sent to labor camps during the Khmer Rouge regime.

16. 6 Balloons


Abbi Jacobson and Dave Franco play siblings in this gritty film, with most of the action taking place over the course of one night. Jacobson’s character drives her little brother (Franco) to rehab in hopes that he can survive his heroin addiction. Franco’s two-year-old daughter is sitting in the back seat, and Jacobson is supposed to take care of her.

It’s incredibly difficult to love an addict. Not only does their addiction constantly dictate the dynamics of the relationship, but they are like a drowning man, dragging you down with them as they flail their arms and gasp for air. Rarely has a film captured this better than Marja-Lewis Ryan’s 6 Balloons.

17. The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind


Believe it or not, this movie might bring tears of joy to your eyes. The film is based on the story of a 13-year-old boy with a gift for science that sets out to end famine in his village in Malawi. It’s a redemptive, hopeful story.

With a skill that suggests a far greater directorial experience, Ejiofor proves himself a master of staging. Its visual approach is sweeping and striking, thanks in part to the excellent work of cinematographer Dick Pope.

18. Someone Great

Jenny, a music journalist just days away from moving across the country for a job at Rolling Stone magazine, is unexpectedly dumped by her longtime boyfriend, leading to a weekend of adventure, healing, and tears.

Aside from an overreliance on neon lighting, a general misunderstanding of how entertainment journalism works, and perhaps more alcohol consumption than is responsible for a film sure to be seen by teenage girls and young women, Someone Great is heartfelt, funny feature film with plenty of female talent.

19. Other People

Other People was a very personal film for writer/director Chris Kelly. Drawing on his own experiences dealing with the death of a parent, the drama explores the relationship between an unsuccessful comedy writer named David and his mother, Joane, as he moves back home to be closer to his family while she has cancer.

As David finds himself in a difficult situation, facing a strained relationship with his homophobic father on top of Joane’s terminal fate, the film is meant to tug at your heartstrings – and Shannon does just that with her sublime, moving performance. The funny moments and the intimacy of the main characters’ relationship, as well as the personal experiences on which the film is based, make it all the more authentic and beautiful film about the love for the family we have.

20. American Son

Kerry Washington and Steven Pasquale play the parents of a teenage son who disappears under suspicious circumstances that suggest police involvement. All too relevant in modern America, the film explores race relations and police brutality from the perspective of two frightened people trying to put aside their differences to find their son.

21. Roma

22. Beasts of No Nation

23. To the Bone

24. Mudbound

25. Lost Girls

26. Charlie St. Cloud

27. Tallulah

28. Irreplaceable You

29. Blackfish

30. Click

31. A Fall From Grace

32. Blue Jay

There’s not a dry eye in the house! The above films are prime examples of works that shed light on the sad side of life. If you’re in the mood to cry again, you’ll definitely get your money’s worth!

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