44 Sad Movies to Watch on Netflix for When You Need a Good Cry
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No matter what is happening in your life, sometimes you just need a good cry to let everything out. Instead of bottling up your emotions, try watching one of these tearjerker movies on Netflix.
We've compiled a list of sad movies currently streaming on Netflix that span across several different types of films, so you're sure to find something that sounds right up your alley. From coming of age dramas to historical stories to animated classics that know just how to push the 'cry' button on your heart, this list has it all. Pick a film for an emotional movie night and sure to have a box of Kleenex handy.
1. Lost Girls (2020)
Mari searches for her missing daughter after not being satisfied with the police's investigation and stumbles upon dozens of cases of murdered sex workers.
2. Blue Jay (2016)
Jim and Amanda were high school sweethearts but haven't spoken in years. Amamda's sister is pregnant and Jim's mother has just passed so both of them are back in their hometown and cross paths again
3. First Match (2018)
Mo is a girl from Brooklyn whose years in foster care have hardened her personality. In order to become closer to her father, she decides to join the boys wrestling team.
4. Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
In this documentary, Alex Lewis is retelling the story of how he relearned who he is. In the 1980s, he woke up from a coma with his memory gone. He relied on his twin brother, Marcus, to tell him about who he is. But Marcus chose to hide serious information that could change the way Alex views his family.
5. Fruitvale Station (2013)
Based on a true story, Oscar is trying to take care of his girlfriend and daughter after spending time in prison although at first, he's unsuccessful. The movie follows the last day of his life before he is killed by police at a train station in California.
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spottless Mind (2004)
After Clementine and Joel breakup, she decides to undergo an experimental procedure to erase all her memories of him. And when Joel finds out, he does the same thing.
7. 6 Ballons (2018)
This movie follows a brother and sister as she tries to watch over his two-year-old daughter while trying to find a detox center for him.
8. The Help (2011)
Set in the 1960s, Aibileen is a black woman who works as a maid for a socialite and her family. She and her friends, black maids of other white families are approached by a woman named Skeeter who is fresh from college and wants to write a book about their experiences to expose the unspoken truths about racial injustice.
9. Lady Bird (2017)
A young girl renames herself Lady Bird and tries to escape her family life for college across the country. But her mom is trying to keep the family together after her husband loses his job.
10. Tallulah (2016)
This movie stars Elliot Page who finds out a baby is being mistreated by her mother. He takes the baby as his own and asks an ex's mother for help by saying the baby is his granddaughter.
11. The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)
After being released from a mental hospital, Charlie returns for his freshman year of high school and writers letters to a pen pal about his brand new life and friends.
12. Someone Great (2019)
Jenny and her long time boyfriend decide to go their separate ways after she accepts a dream job across the country. In an effort to get over her heartbreak, Jenny's friends plan the perfect night out together, but things slowly derail.
13. The Edge of Seventeen (2016)
A young girl's life turns upside down after she finds out that her best friend and her brother have started dating each other. She turns to her English teacher for advice as she tries to find out what kind of person she wants to be.
14. Roma (2018)
Roma follows the life of Cleo, an indigenous maid in Mexico, who works for an affluent family.
15. Charlie St. Cloud (2010)
After the loss of his brother, a young man must try to figure out if starting a new relationship is worth breaking his last promise to him.
16. American Son (2019)
A mother spends the night at a police station trying to piece together what happened to her missing son in the midst of heightened racial tensions between the police and young Black men.
17. Marriage Story (2019)
Through their divorce, a young couple must face the hardships of their relationship and come to terms with what drove them apart.
18. War Horse (2011)
Albert must say goodbye to his horse, Joey, after he is sold to the British Army for use in World War I.
19. West Side Story (1961)
Two teens from rival gangs start secretly seeing each other despite opposition from their friends and family in this Romeo and Juliet remake.
20. Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
In an effort to impress his ex-wife, a man signs up for dance competition with a local woman. As the two continue to practice, they also start to bond and find out they have a lot more in common than they think.
21. All the Bright Places (2020)
Theodore and Violet fall in love and their worlds are turned upside down by their chance encounter. However, not everything is as good as it seems. Things start to change for the both of them as they start their new adult lives.
22. Soul Surfer (2011)
Based on Bethany Hamilton's true story, a young woman must get the courage to return to surfing after a shark attack.
23. About Time (2013)
After discovering his ability to time travel, a man goes back in time to get back the girl of his dreams.
24. Before I Wake (2016)
Parents Jessie and Mark are mourning the loss of their son when they adopt another child, Cody. Strange things start happening overnight and they realize their adopted son's dreams are coming to life. Jessie finds herself doing everything she can to protect Cody from his dreams and make him a part of their family.
25. The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)
In this film based on a true story, a man named Chris is a single father who gets evicted from his apartment. He and his son are homeless while Chris takes an unpaid internship hoping it will be the opportunity that turns their lives around.
26. 1 Mile To You (2017)
A high school track star named Kevin loses people he loves in a car accident and is sent to finish out his senior year at another school. He realizes that running helps him deal with his past and the track coach at his new school not only wants him on his team, but wants to understand why running is so serious to him.
27. A Fall From Grace (2020)
This Tyler Perry movie follows the story of a woman named Grace who meets the man of her dreams, or so she thinks. After she marries him, he goes out of his way to ruin her life and reputation. So when he turns up dead, Grace is the one who's pinned for the crime. But wether or not she killed anyone is up for debate.
28. The Princess and the Frog (2009)
A young woman from New Orleans is struggling to chase her dreams of opening up a restaurant. When she meets and unintentionally kisses a frog prince she turns into a frog herself and makes friends with some unlikely characters, as she goes on a journey across the city while trying to become human again.
29. The Little Prince (2015)
The animated film adaptation of Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's book of the same name is about a little girl who's mother is trying her best to get her ready for the grown up, serious world around her. But her neighbor has other plans. He takes her into the world of The Little Prince where anything is possible as long as she believes.
30. The Theory of Everything (2014)
This tearjerker is inspired by the life of the life of physicist Stephen Hawking. Over the years, his body was taken over by ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and he became more and more dependent on his wife, Jane.
31. Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (2018)
This movie follows a small boy named Mowgli who is raised by wolves in India's jungles. He faces many challenges growing up in such a harsh environment, but almost all of the animals accept him as one of their own — except a tiger named Shere Khan. The face-off between the boy and tiger causes Mowgli to face his humanity and discover how he ended up living in the wild to begin with.
32. Leap! (2016)
This animated movie follows two French orphans, Fèlicie and Victor, in 1880s France. They dream of bigger and better lives as a dancer and inventor respectively, but dreams aren't too important where they're from. So they plot their escape and dare to dream big.
33. The Spectacular Now (2013)
Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller star in this rom-com based on the Tim Tharp novel of the same name. While not nearly as sob-worthy as, say, The Fault in Our Stars, this film will still leave you gasping and reaching for Kleenex. Sometimes, love is just really, really, really hard.
34. Moonlight (2016)
This Oscar-winning film follows the exploits of one man's childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood as he explores his sexuality while growing up in a rough Miami neighborhood.
35. Beasts of No Nation (2015)
Netflix's war film follows the journey of a child solider named Agu as he fights a civil war in Africa. Your heart will tear in half watching everything this child has to go through. It's based on the Uzodinma Iweala novel of the same name.
36. Brain on Fire (2016)
This Netflix film stars Chloë Grace Moretz, who plays a New York Post writer who begins suffering from erratic behavior, and none of the doctors can figure out why.
37. Mudbound (2017)
Netflix's film adaptation of Hillary Jordan's book of the same name follows the struggle two men face after returning to rural Mississippi after World War II. Racism and post-war struggles run rampant.
38. Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Based on a true story, this Matthew McConaughey-led film involves the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s in Dallas, Texas. It follows the horrifying mistreatment Ron Woodroof (McConaughey) dealt with after his diagnosis. Ron eventually starts working to get other people suffering from the disease the medication they need.
39. 3 Generations (2015)
When Ray (Elle Fanning) comes out as transgender and wants to transition from female to male, his mother, grandmother, and absentee father must all come to terms with his decision.
40. Irreplaceable You (2018)
Abbie and Sam have been best friends since childhood and have taken their relationship to the next level after officially getting engaged. While everything in their lives seems perfect, Abbie soon receives a cancer diagnosis and only has a short while to live. Before she dies, she hopes to find the perfect partner to be with Sam once she's gone.
41. Her (2013)
After his divorce, Theodore purchases an artificial intelligence operating system that is able to talk to called Samantha. Through their deep and meaningful conversations, Theordore finds himself falling in love with Samantha despite the fact that she is not human.
42. Five Feet Apart (2019)
Stella has cystic fibrosis and had spent most of her life in and out of the hospital. Her life is full of routines, schedules, and self-control but that is all put to the test when she meets Will a boy with the same illness. Starring Cole Sprouse this movie will bring you to tears when Stella and Will must decide if their feelings for each other are worth risking it all.
43. Remember Me (2010)
After his brother's suicide and his parent's divorce Tyler wonders if he will ever feel happy again. Then he meets Ally, a girl who lives each day like it is her last after witnessing her mother's murder, but their budding romance is put in jeopardy when secrets emerge.
44. The Last Song (2010)
This movie gave us the iconic couple that was Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth. Ronnie Miller, an angsty New York teen is sent to live with their father in a small beach town for the summer. After refusing to attend Juilliard school of music for piano Ronnie discovers a new side of herself when she meets Will.
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