# Saddest Films You've Ever Seen



## Guttersnipe (May 10, 2020)

It doesn't need to make you cry, but it at least made you feel drained or depressed by the end. Can either be sad throughout or be heartbreaking in the final act. 

Me:
Schindler's List (1993)
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (2008)
The Elephant Man (1980)
Bridge to Terabithia (2007) 
Mask (1985)
The Dead Poets Society (1989)
La Bamba (1987) 
The Saint of Fort Washington (1993) 
The Green Mile (1999)
Room (2015)
The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)


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## tegeus-Cromis (May 10, 2020)

Saddest (in more than one sense of the word) film I've never seen: The Day the Clown Cried - Wikipedia


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## Danny McG (May 10, 2020)

Got to be the last four minutes of 'The Champ' (1979).

Here is the clip, get tissues ready:-


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## Danny McG (May 10, 2020)

And I know this one was only television , but who can forget when Half-pint's dog died in '_Little house on the prairie_'?


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## tegeus-Cromis (May 10, 2020)

_On the Beach_ -- it profoundly traumatized me after, unsupervised at home, I caught a TV showing of it one afternoon when I was ten. 
_Mulholland Drive _(David Lynch, 2001). I'd also list here Lynch's third season of _Twin Peaks_ (2017).
_The Umbrellas of Cherbourg _(Jacques Demy, 1964). It also strongly influenced _La La Land_ (Chazelle, 2016), which has a very similar downbeat ending._
Jeremiah Johnson _(Sydney Pollock, 1972)_
The Ballad of Cable Hogue_ (Sam Peckinpah, 1970)
_Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia _(Peckinpah, 1974)_
A Time to Love and a Time to Die_ (Douglas Sirk, 1958)

Also, I imagine many will understand if I list here _Pretty in Pink_ (surprisingly -- as I've just learned -- NOT directed by John Hughes, only written by him, 1986) for its ending. Test audiences suck.


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## Boaz (May 10, 2020)

_My Sister's Keeper_ (2007) - After dealing with terminal illness in my family, this film is a crusher.
_Glory_ (1989) - How do you keep integrity when you lose your innocence?  How do you find glory when all you've known is shame?
_One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest_ (1975) - Nicholson, Fletcher and Dourif turn in the three best performances I've ever seen in one film.
_The Green Mile_ (1999) - Every time I thought the movie was deep, it went deeper.
_Courageous_ (2011) - Emotional first scene.  When the son shared his feelings and when the dad danced... forget about it.
_Life is Beautiful_ (1997) - How far would you go to keep hatred from becoming a cancer in your child?
_The Joy Luck Club_ (1993) - My mother was a refugee from China. I was raised on hope and sorrow.
_Ordinary People _(1980) - What form will your grief take?  Who will you blame?

Movies I have not seen, yet suspect are terribly sad... _The Passion of the Christ, Bang the Drum Slowly, Schinler's List, The Color Purple, The Killing Fields, The Grapes of Wrath, Not Without My Daugther, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, Three Colours: Blue_, and _Dekalog_.


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## Droflet (May 10, 2020)

Never let me go. Brilliant but oh so sad. Warning: Stick with the British version which is far superior to the American.


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## Guttersnipe (May 10, 2020)

Droflet said:


> Never let me go. Brilliant but oh so sad. Warning: Stick with the British version which is far superior to the American.


Aren't British versions always superior?


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## Coops (May 10, 2020)

The Bridges at Toko Ri 1954 starring William Holden.
Maybe the only movie I cried.  The first time I learned the Hero does not always make it.  Addmittedly, I was but a wee lad at the time


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## kythe (May 10, 2020)

I cried through _The Color Purple._


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## Astro Pen (May 10, 2020)

_Storm Boy    _


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## Paul_C (May 10, 2020)

Grave of the Fireflies.


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## Phyrebrat (May 10, 2020)

_Boys on the Side_. One minute I’m Becky laughing, the next I’m bawling.

_Paris is Burning. _


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## tegeus-Cromis (May 10, 2020)

Guttersnipe said:


> Aren't British versions always superior?


I had no idea there's an "American version," and I can't find any reference to it. Looks like there's a 2016 Japanese TV movie, but that's about it.


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## Foxbat (May 11, 2020)

Silent Running


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## AlexH (May 11, 2020)

I've seen a few films that were so bad they left me drained and depressed, but I won't mention those. Just the good ones...

Still Alice 
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas
The Kite Runner
I, Daniel Blake
Incendies 
Joker
Princess Mononoke
Leave No Trace (heartbreaking but beautiful)
Into the Wild
Bridge to Terabithia
Shooting Dogs
Million Dollar Baby
Mommy (2014)

Pretty much all of those are great films in my opinion.

I haven't seen over half the films in the opening post, and most of those are films I would like to see.


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## Mouse (May 11, 2020)

Fluke. I own it, but can't bring myself to watch it again.


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## Overread (May 11, 2020)

Paul_C said:


> Grave of the Fireflies.



This by a long shot. It's one of those films that I'm very glad I watched, but I probably won't watch it again for a very very long time.


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## Jo Zebedee (May 11, 2020)

Not many but —- don’t laugh! — Mamma Mia 2 made me bawl.


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## Toby Frost (May 11, 2020)

I'm not sure that _Threads_ and _1984_ are sad so much as relentlessly depressing, although the last scene of _1984 _is sad. _Heavenly Creatures_ always strikes me as very sad, as does the ending of _Brazil_, for quite similar reasons. Both are quite charming films, in a strange way, which adds to the effect.

One film that should be sad and isn't it _Labyrinth_. There's a bit at the end where it looks as if the heroine is going to "grow up" and bid all the creatures good bye - but no, stuff that, they all appear and dance around. That's the spirit.


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## Astro Pen (May 12, 2020)

Almost forgot _*Truly Madly Deeply*_  1990 with Juliet Stevenson and Alan Rickman

and another underwatched  bittersweet gem is_ *Baghdad Cafe *. _If you liked the sheer  humanity of _Paris Texas _you will probably enjoy it too.
NB The official trailer for Baghdad  Cafe is chock full of spoilers, avoid it if you can.


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## Foxbat (May 12, 2020)

Kes


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## Extollager (May 12, 2020)

La Jetée
A Handful of Dust (still, the book is better)


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## Danny McG (May 12, 2020)

What?
No *Toy Story 2* on this list?
Cold, cold people


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## Toby Frost (May 12, 2020)

Funnily enough, I'd also nominate _Hellboy 2_, which always seems underrated to me (it's far better than _Hellboy 1_). Although it's ultimately a silly film about monsters having fights, the death of the prince and princess always feels very sad. It might be because the characterisation is good and it's enjoyable just to look at.


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## CupofJoe (May 12, 2020)

Drained and depressed after watching it?
*The Time Traveller's Wife* - I think it is the only film that has driven me to drink...


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## M. Robert Gibson (May 12, 2020)

Well I've just watched _The Florida Project_.
I think I must have got something in my eyes when, at the end, the young protagonist goes to her friend's to ask for help


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## Simbelmynë (May 12, 2020)

Many of the above... in particular, Grave of the Fireflies, The Colour Purple, Schindler’s List and The Elephant Man all got me pretty bad. 

Also Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. That film pulls at the heartstrings. 

Oh, and Interstellar made me weep. I’m too sentimental.


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## Boneman (May 12, 2020)

Old Yeller.


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## Mouse (May 12, 2020)

War Horse. Black Beauty.

Films where horses and/or dogs die, basically.


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## Avelino de Castro (May 12, 2020)

Guttersnipe said:


> It doesn't need to make you cry, but it at least made you feel drained or depressed by the end. Can either be sad throughout or be heartbreaking in the final act.
> 
> Me:
> Schindler's List (1993)
> ...


What Dreams May Come


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## Overread (May 12, 2020)

Mouse said:


> War Horse. Black Beauty.
> 
> Films where horses and/or dogs die, basically.



What about Homeward Bound?


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## Extollager (May 12, 2020)

The movie _Ran_, directed by Akira Kurosawa, might be the saddest movie I've seen.


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## Stenevor (May 12, 2020)

A few British ones I haven't seen mentioned - _The Arbor, The Selfish Giant and Dead Mans Shoes _which has some really sad scenes towards the end_._


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## Mouse (May 12, 2020)

Overread said:


> What about Homeward Bound?



Yep, also good.

*Up*'s pretty sad, but mostly just the beginning.


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## Dan Jones (May 12, 2020)

For a sheer depressing ending, I can't believe nobody's mentioned _Requiem For A Dream._ Just a shattering ending. No silver linings there, folks.



dannymcg said:


> What?
> No *Toy Story 2* on this list?
> Cold, cold people



Surely you're thinking of _Toy Story 3_? Not a dry eye in the house for that one... but not depressing, just melancholy.


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## Danny McG (May 13, 2020)

Dan Jones said:


> Surely you're thinking of _Toy Story 3_? Not a dry eye in the house for that one... but not depressing, just melancholy.


Deffo 2, when Jessie does the back story


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## Danny McG (May 13, 2020)

The ultimate ... King Kong (1933) when the big monkey gets shot, falls from the Empire State and lies dying on the street


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## AlexH (May 13, 2020)

Dan Jones said:


> For a sheer depressing ending, I can't believe nobody's mentioned _Requiem For A Dream._ Just a shattering ending. No silver linings there, folks.


That's one I didn't mention because I didn't like the film - so it was depressing for lack of entertainment value as much as anything.

I never know a good way to describe films that have "entertainment value" but are the sort being mentioned in this thread.


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## Phyrebrat (May 13, 2020)

I watched _Personal_ _Shopper_ last night. It's not a sad film in the traditional sense, but it's a beautifully melancholic take on grieving and loss - certainly not the horror it was marketed as - and the ending is wonderfully ambiguous and relies on your own beliefs of the afterlife. 

It reminded me of Welsh/English film_ A Dark Song _but whereas that deals with grief in a sense of horror and bleak isolation, through ritual magic to communicate with angels, _Personal Shopper_ is far more insular.

pH


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## Toby Frost (May 13, 2020)

Gosh, I'd forgotten _Dead Man's Shoes_. What a bleak film that is.


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## Parson (May 13, 2020)

How about _Charlie_ the movie version of _Flowers for Algernon_. ---- I want to tell myself that it's better to have a few moments in the sun than none, but that's just not how it feels.


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## Vince W (May 13, 2020)

I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned yet, but _Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan_. I can't make it through the death and funeral of Spock with dry eyes.

Also, the opening sequence of _Saving Private Ryan _where he is searching the graveyard.


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## JimC (May 14, 2020)

Portrait of Jenny


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## Guttersnipe (May 14, 2020)

@Parson I forgot that one! Sad, but the scenes leading up to it made me more scared than anything.

@Vince W I didn't see that one, but I saw the second film in the newest franchise, where the roles were reversed. I almost cried when Spock was speaking with Kirk. I did see the one scene in the film you referenced, but it didn't tug at my heartstrings. It's probably because in the newer one, Spock actually cries. I was also touched when Spock's dad finally told him that he married Spock's mother because he loved her.


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## Narkalui (May 17, 2020)

Most of mine have been mentioned, except for:
D.A.R.R.Y.L. and Space Raiders

Now these two never actually made me cry and I've not seen either of them in at least 30 years but I do remember watching them over and over out of some sense of morbid fascination with that sense of bleakness. I seem to remember them both having happy endings but the journeys are rocky ones!

@dannymcg never seen The Champ but that wee lad had me tearing up just now!


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## Toby Frost (May 17, 2020)

I watched _Twelve Monkeys_ recently and was struck by how downbeat it is. I'm not sure "sad" is exactly the word - more bleak and depressing - but I'd expected a much jollier film given that Terry Gilliam directed it.


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## JimC (Jun 10, 2020)

Predestination


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## paranoid marvin (Jun 10, 2020)

Toby Frost said:


> I watched _Twelve Monkeys_ recently and was struck by how downbeat it is. I'm not sure "sad" is exactly the word - more bleak and depressing - but I'd expected a much jollier film given that Terry Gilliam directed it.




You'd think that Terry would make happy, jolly films - but really when you think about it most of them aren't, or at least rarely work out well for the protagonist.


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## paranoid marvin (Jun 10, 2020)

Toby Frost said:


> I'm not sure that _Threads_ and _1984_ are sad so much as relentlessly depressing, although the last scene of _1984 _is sad. _Heavenly Creatures_ always strikes me as very sad, as does the ending of _Brazil_, for quite similar reasons. Both are quite charming films, in a strange way, which adds to the effect.
> 
> One film that should be sad and isn't it _Labyrinth_. There's a bit at the end where it looks as if the heroine is going to "grow up" and bid all the creatures good bye - but no, stuff that, they all appear and dance around. That's the spirit.



Now Threads seems like an overly grim drama; back in the 80s it was a  forecast of what everyone was expecting to happen at any time.

And yes, Labyrinth has a great ending; David Bowie could _never _be all bad, and anyway who _wouldn't _want to grow up to be King of the Goblins?


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## BAYLOR (Jun 10, 2020)

*Shindler's List  *When I watching it in the movie theaters ,  all of us in the audience were crying .


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## CupofJoe (Jun 10, 2020)

BAYLOR said:


> *Shindler's List  *When I watching it in the movie theaters , all of us in the audience were crying .


Same here... Then the entire audience stood up and applauded. Never seen that before or since.


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## Pyan (Jun 10, 2020)

*Serenity*
Rule 1: never get attached to a character in a Joss Whedon production...


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## Pyan (Jun 10, 2020)

CupofJoe said:


> Same here... Then the entire audience stood up and applauded. Never seen that before or since.


Only seen it once: Leicester Square Theatre, January 1978, _Star Wars_


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## Guttersnipe (Apr 26, 2021)

Moonlight (2016): that poor, poor boy.


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## farntfar (Apr 26, 2021)

I'd certainly agree with Foxbat's Silent Running. (The closing music helps)
But even more, Peter O'Toole's Don Quixote makes me cry every time. 

He's just so pure and pathetic.


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## biodroid (Apr 26, 2021)

The Green Mile


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## BAYLOR (Apr 26, 2021)

Toby Frost said:


> I watched _Twelve Monkeys_ recently and was struck by how downbeat it is. I'm not sure "sad" is exactly the word - more bleak and depressing - but I'd expected a much jollier film given that Terry Gilliam directed it.



And for that, I truly hate  that film.


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