Saddest Films You've Ever Seen

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.
 
La Jetée
A Handful of Dust (still, the book is better)
 
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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.
 
Drained and depressed after watching it?
The Time Traveller's Wife - I think it is the only film that has driven me to drink...
 
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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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.
 
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)
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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What Dreams May Come
 
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.
 
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 :cautious:
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Surely you're thinking of Toy Story 3? Not a dry eye in the house for that one... but not depressing, just melancholy.
 
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.
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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.
 
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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