27 Movies to Stream When You Need a Good Cry

The thing about Coco is that, if you’re an adult, it isn’t a matter of whether you’ll cry at the end, it’s a matter of how hard and how long it will take you to regain your composure. Kids are watching a fun, colorful animated film with good music and talking skeletons from the land of the dead. Adults are watching a heartwarming story about the importance of family and knowing where one comes from. You will laugh and you will sob, in the most wonderful way. — Meghan Walbert, parenting editor

Where to stream: Disney+

There are a lot of kid’s movies on this list, perhaps because they aren’t afraid to go straight for the heart; like E.T., a story it closely resembles in broad strokes, this story of a mechanical alien who crash lands on earth and befriends a young boy has no qualms about playing into your childhood fears about death and abandonment—but what really makes you cry is not the idea that the boy might lose his giant metal best friend, but the beauty in the meaning behind the machine’s sacrifice to save him, as expressed in a single word. (The word is “Superman.” But then if you’ve seen it, you know that, and you’re already tearing up.) —Joel Cunningham, managing editor

Where to stream: Tubi

The premise is a cognitive hurdle for many—a movie where Adam Sandler plays Charlie Fineman, a 9/11 widower?—but for those who can get past it, Reign Over Me is emotionally cathartic, and one of my favorite movies when I’m feeling particularly down. Aside from its stunning soundtrack and sweeping views of New York City, it’s a beautiful story of friendship where one person, Alan (Don Cheadle) seemingly has it all and is unhappy, and another, Charlie, has nothing and is also unhappy. Their unlikely friendship leads the two of them to find the greener grass on their respective sides, as the film balances charm, humor, and sadness as they help each other navigate love, loss, work, family, and friendship. —Jordan Calhoun, editor-in-chief

Where to stream: Fubo TV, Starz, DirecTV

This well-made, realistic thriller about a shrewd captain (Tom Hanks) surviving a hijacking by Somali pirates was already a compelling watch, but it’s the final scene that catches you off guard. Rather than a jump cut to a reunion with his family at the end of the movie, we watch a crying, traumatized Phillips unravel during a medical exam immediately following his rescue (incredibly, the scene was improvised with a real medical examiner and never originally planned to be part of the movie). This is the only moment in which we see the captain process the emotional toll of the violent hijacking, and Hank’s powerful portrayal of shock and grief gives the film it’s most relatable, humanizing moment. —Mike Winters, finance writer

Where to stream: Fubo TV, digital rental

I haven’t watched this movie in a long time because it makes me sob uncontrollably. The part where they drive away and leave the fox behind is what gets me. I don’t have anything profound to say about it. It’s just really, really sad. I couldn’t even watch it when I was a kid and I’m a little afraid to watch it now. —Claire Lower, senior food editor

Where to stream: Disney+

Terms of Endearment is the first movie I think of when I think of a “tearjerker.” Essentially, it’s the full life story of the complicated relationship between a mother (Shirley MacLaine) and her daughter (Debra Winger). It starts with the daughter’s birth, goes through her adolescence, unhappy marriage, her untimely...uh, spoiler alert—there are tragedies throughout. It’s all bolstered by Shirley MacLaine’s overbearing and complicated performance as the mother who loves too much, and lemme tell you, it’ll break your heart. —Joel Kahn, senior video producer

Where to stream: Fubo TV, DirecTV, Starz

Jojo Rabbit is the most recent movie I can recall making me cry in the theater. (Movie theaters! Remember those?) It’s a very Taika Waititi spin on Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. The main character, Jojo Betzler, is a dedicated Hitler Youth whose own mother happens to be hiding a young Jewish woman named Elsa. Suffice it to say, by the end of the film, the main characters have been through a lot, and Taika somehow manages to capture all of the immense relief, sadness, and the hope Jojo and Elsa are feeling in one simple final scene of awkward dancing. It really makes me weep. —Micaela Heck, podcast producer

Where to stream: HBO Max

If you do not know the story of Selena, you are in for a long, heartfelt cry (also, a rebirth, because you have not been truly living if you don’t know her story). Selena was a young recording artist and fashion designer who sang in her family band Selena Y Los Dinos. She was loved by millions. The 1997 film chronicles Selena Y Los Dinos’ rise to fame and the tragedy that ended her young life. Jennifer Lopez is stellar as the singing sensation, whose unique style and irrepressible personality made her someone little girls looked up to. Heartbreakingly, Selena was killed by an obsessed fan, and when that part of the film comes, just let the tears flow. There’s no point in holding back. —Aisha Jordan, staff writer

Where to stream: HBO Max

Afonso Cuarón’s Roma is a movie that will make you cry, though not through shameless wallowing in someone else’s misery. The cinematography is breathtaking and the recreation of 1970s Mexico City is a marvel unto itself, the black and white imagery somehow capturing the vivid tapestry of life there better than color ever could have. If your tear ducts don’t overflow watching the heroine, Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), overcome her own personal hurdles while navigating the rigors of class as an Indigenous housekeeper for a wealthy family, then you probably cry dust anyway, and I can’t help you. —Sam Blum, staff writer

Where to stream: Netflix

A comic book movie? I know. But just think of the outpouring of emotion you felt when every superhero ever Sling Ring-ed up to pummel poor Josh Brolin. And then how that fight went (and everything that happened after). No spoilers, so the three of you who haven’t seen one of the best superhero movies ever can still enjoy every minute of it. Bring the tissues. —David Murphy, senior technology editor

Where to stream: Disney+

Is Beaches overly sentimental? I don’t know—or I don’t care. This movie, which is now more than 30 years old, is an ode to the power of enduring female friendship. Even its iconic theme song, Bette Midler’s “Wind Beneath My Wings,” carries the potential to form a lump in your throat whenever or wherever you may hear it. If it’s been a couple decades since you last watched it, now is the time to cue it back up. —Meghan Walbert

Where to stream: Fubo TV, digital rental

This weird would-be blockbuster, the strange child of Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, two filmmakers with profoundly different approaches to making movies, flopped upon its 2001 release. The sci-fi Pinocchio story was often lambasted for its treacly ending, in which a young robot boy who longs to to be a real boy finally gets his wish, but anyone who calls the finale a happy one has profoundly misunderstood what’s actually going on. It’s bleak as hell, and the fact that Spielberg delivers it with a twinkle of fairy dust only makes it hit that much harder. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Prime Video

Into the Wild, the Sean Penn-directed movie adaptation to Jon Krakauer’s novel of the same name, is the first movie I watched as an adult and then immediately, despite its 2.5-hour runtime, watched a second time. Emile Hirsch plays Christopher McCandless, the son of well-off parents who rejects his privilege—and society as a whole—for a journey to Alaska that would lead him to a now-famous bus where he lived, briefly, and then died. Since then, countless others have tried to mimic his journey, so many that the Alaskan government recently removed the bus altogether to save from the frequent rescue missions of would-be Christophers who were looking for the same thing he was: a sense of an authentic, meaningful life uncorrupted by modern society. The film captures the awe-inspiring beauty of the American landscape, but also the friendships that Christopher makes along the way, and is a movie I watch whenever I feel particularly down or, perhaps oddly, particularly happy. —Jordan Calhoun

Where to stream: Netflix

This one’s obscure and weird, but it still gets me. The plot of this 1980s French-Canadian film is simple: two factions of kids engage in an ever-escalating snowball fight in a world that’s like a Peanuts comics strip brought to life, where most of the action is outdoors and parents are unseen. The movie’s climax is an increasingly vicious snowball fight on the parapet of a giant snow castle, which (spoiler-slash-dog trauma alert!) collapses and crushes a St. Bernard that has been happily following the kids around the entire movie. It’s only then that the kids finally realize the true cost of war, and they end up burying the dog in a grave together. This parable hit me pretty hard when I was a kid, and I still tear up when I see that lifeless pup dug out of the snow. —Mike Winters

Where to stream: Apple TV+

This documentary, from Barbara Kopple, focuses on a grueling coal miners strike in rural Kentucky. It’s heartbreaking and inspiring, and a really good primer for anyone who looking to learn about the history of unions and labor in this country. Kopple is able to capture footage that is frankly pretty terrifying. The workers clash with the cops, scabs, and strike breakers, and a worker is killed, but it’s an older woman saying “If I get shot, they can’t shoot the union out of me” that always turns on the waterworks. —Claire Lower

Where to stream: HBO Max, YouTube

You knew Up was going to be on this list. It’s the definitive Pixar tearjerker. Up is so sad that I was once on a redeye flight and woke up to see the little girl in front of me was watching the opening montage of Carl and Ellie’s life together, and even without hearing the sound coming from her monitor I burst into tears. On a plane. Watching someone else’s screen. Now that’s a damn good cry. —Joel Kahn

Where to stream: Disney+

I know a Steve Martin movie is probably not at the top of anyone else’s tearjerker list, but I can explain myself. In general I’m far more apt to cry at really sweet, heartwarming things in movies rather than actually sad things, and the whole premise of a father loving his daughter so much that he doesn’t want to see her grow up and no longer need him is, to me, very sweet. To top it off, my own dad also happened to look a lot like Steve Martin, which makes the character’s sentimentality seem all the more real. —Micaela Heck

Where to stream: Digital rental

I don’t cry easily in life, so a movie has to hit a specific cord for me to get emotional. The drama Seven Pounds had me sniffling unexpectedly. Will Smith plays Ben Thomas, a man who feels a sense of responsibility to a number of people in need of organ transplants. On his journey, he meets Emily (Rosario Dawson) who steals his heart. As the movie progresses you realize (spoilers!) he is giving all of these people his own organs. I don’t know what made me cry more, the fact that he’s so selfless, or that no sooner does he find someone he wants to give his heart to then he actually gives her his heart. I watched this movie alone and bawled my eyes out. —Aisha Jordan

Where to stream: Starz, DirecTV

The characters in Stepmom are all relatable in that way that makes you conflicted over who to root for in any given scene. But for me, it’s the moment when Isabel (Julia Roberts) and Jackie (Susan Sarandon) are talking about what a future without Jackie will look like. Isabel says, “I’m in a room alone with her, fixing her veil, fluffing her dress, telling her no woman has ever looked so beautiful. And my fear is, she’ll be thinking, ‘I wish my mom was here.’” And Jackie says, “And mine is... she won’t.” SOB. —Meghan Walbert

Where to stream: Starz

I was going to put Titanic on this list, but that’s pretty basic (even if I do cry pretty much non-stop from the part where the lady is telling the story of Tír na nÓg to the kids in bed as the water spills in, through to the dreamlike ending). Instead, I’ll highlight a more obscure—if revered by film geeks—classic. This 1966 French drama, directed by Robert Bresson, focuses on the plight of the titular donkey, who is shuttled from one owner to another and repeatedly subjected to the indignities of life; no sooner does he encounter a kind stranger than his luck takes a turn for the worse, and he encounters someone else just as cruel—or crueler. There’s a metaphor at work here—we are all Balthazar; filmmaker and critic Jean-Luc Godard called it “the world in an hour and a half”—but also, those big donkey eyes just make me sad. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: The Criterion Channel

I’m not much of a crier, which makes Ryan Coogler’s directorial debut stand out in my memory: It was actually the first movie that made me cry. It paired Coogler with an actor who would become a frequent collaborator, Michael B. Jordan, who plays Oscar Grant, the 22-year old who, in real life, was shot by police in California on New Year’s Day 2009. The build up to that moment—the challenges and love in his life—gave me so much hope that I couldn’t help but believe his outcome could be different, if only I could hope hard enough that he would survive. It wasn’t enough, and when he died, the reaction of those who loved him was hard enough to take—even portrayed by actors—that while I love the movie, I haven’t returned to it since. —Jordan Calhoun

Where to stream: Netflix

This recent film is based on the life and work of Chicago Black Panther leader Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), who was killed by police in his own home in 1969. The story follows traitor in the Panthers’ midst, Bill O’Neil (LaKeith Stanfield), who aids in the final demise of Hampton. The tension in the movie is almost unbearable; I felt on the brink of tears throughout. I was inspired by Hampton’s words; the impact of his work filled me with anger and compassion. It’s a movie that makes you cry because it is true, and because the truth is painful. —Aisha Jordan

Where to stream: Digital rental

I’m not an easy crier, but documentaries always get to me. In that sense, this new one about the life and career of Tina Turner really delivers. Above her just being an absolute diva, Tina’s story is enthralling, and even better, she’s still kicking (not literally) in a Swiss chateau. Come for the music, stay for the tears. —Joel Kahn

Where to stream: HBO Max

How could any tearjerker movie list be complete without The Lion King? It probably doesn’t even need to be said, but I’ll say it—Mufasa being betrayed by Scar and trampled by wildebeests amounts to one of the most tragic movie deaths of all-time. First, it’s so sad to see the good-hearted, loving Mufasa realize that his own brother is willing to let him fall to his death. Then, of course, to see little lion cub Simba nudging his big dead dad, not wanting to accept that he’s gone, and also believing it might have been his fault. I think even a rock would shed a tear. —Micaela Heck

Where to stream: Disney+

This is the unusual, heartfelt, true story of a granddaughter grappling with her grandma’s mortality. Chinese-American writer Billi (Akwafina) learns her beloved grandmother Nai Nai (Shuzhen Zhao) is terminally ill, but in order to spare the family matriarch the ordeal of waiting to die, they decide not to tell her. Instead, they stage a big wedding that will serve as Nai Nai’s living wake, and Billi travels to China to pretend to say goodbye, pretending her tears are tears of happiness. You’ll cry too, but it’s a good, clean cry—one that releases your fear, leaving more room for joy. —Aisha Jordan

Where to stream: Prime Video, Kanopy

In this 1937 weeper, Barbara Stanwyck plays Stella Martin, an ambitious working class woman who marries a rich man and has a daughter, but the marriage falls apart because of their class differences—which also affect Stella’s relationship with her daughter, as it becomes belatedly clear Stella is too vulgar for her daughter’s fiancé’s high-society family (in a particularly painful scene, Stella overhears people making fun of her within earshot of both her and her daughter). Realizing that she’s jeopardizing her daughter’s engagement, Stella intentionally alienates the girl to ensure that she’ll stay with her fiancé. In the heartbreaking climax, and unbeknownst to her daughter, Stella watches her exchange wedding vows through a window while standing out on the street in the rain. Stanwyck’s performance is perfect—triumphant, beaming with pride, yet devastated by the sacrifice. —Mike Winters

Where to stream: Prime Video

Leave it to Lars Von Trier to make a musical so depressing, it will leave you curled into the fetal position and shaking with wrenching sobs. Zero percent of this grim fable, in which Icelandic singer Bjork plays a vision-impaired factory worker struggling to care for a son who has inherited her congenital disease, is realistic, but what musical is? I often cry at happy musicals too, but not like this. Not like this. —Joel Cunningham

Where to stream: Hoopla, digital rental