Sometimes you just feel like it. You want to wallow in emotional drudgery and let your tears run free. This works particularly well in gray autumn weather. And with these films!
It’s raining. The sky is overcast. It’s freezing cold, windy and uncomfortable. In all honesty: If you go out there voluntarily, it really has to be important. Then you’d better hang out on the couch with popcorn, chips, gummy bears, chocolate and ice cream and watch sentimental films in a melancholy autumn mood. Basic renovation for the tear ducts, balm for the soul – yes! Here is a small selection of wonderfully sad blockbusters to cry on.
1. PS I love you
How it feels to lose the love of your life is something you don’t want to imagine. But that’s exactly what happens to Holly. She married her Gerry young, 10 years later he dies of a brain tumor. The world is collapsing for Holly. Until her 30th birthday when Gerry posthumously sent her a cake. Even after his death, he keeps his promise never to leave her. And in the end he even lets his beloved wife meet one of his childhood friends …
2. Time of awakening
A real film pearl from the 90s. “Time of Awakening” is moving and grandiose cast. A film about a doctor who brings coma patients back to life with a drug. Unfortunately, luck only lasts for a short time. The effectiveness of the drug is limited. A story that is all the more touching because it is based on true events. And let’s be honest, Robert de Niro is just a god – even now, at 75.
3. Everything we had to give
Based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro, “Everything we had to give” is about the fate of three young people, Kathy, Ruth and Tommy, who grew up in isolation in an English boarding school at the end of the 1970s. Over time, they will learn why they live there and what the reason for their existence is. Not only the fate of the three youngsters, but also the love triangle between them moves to tears. A film that one cannot prepare for.
4. Side by side
A family, a divorce and the “new one” at Papa’s side. Isabel is quite successful at work, but not at all as the stepmother of two teenagers who suffer from the separation of their parents. No wonder, the two of them make life really difficult for their father’s new friend and of course always side with mother Jackie. And she diligently pours fuel on the fire. Until Jackie was diagnosed with incurable cancer. A wonderful story about hate, love, friendship and what really matters in life.
5. Manchester by the Sea
Lee is a caretaker and lonely. Until the death of his brother takes him back to his hometown, where he has to take care of his nephew. Not only is his nephew waiting in Manchester, but also his own past: a trauma that has not yet been dealt with. A film full of sadness and characters with an excess of emotions that really hurts the viewer.
6th room
It becomes oppressive in the truest sense of the word in “space”. The Oscar-winning film adaptation shows the depressing everyday life of the kidnapped Ma, who is raising her son Jack in her prison. Ultimately, after more than five years, the two managed to escape, but the new freedom doesn’t feel as good as it should and puts their relationship to the test. Handkerchiefs out!
7. Fate is a lousy traitor
Anyone who has read the book knows what to expect. You don’t need to put your handkerchiefs to one side for the last 50 pages alone. In his bestseller, John Green tells of the love between the cancer-stricken adolescents Hazel and Gus. A love that has death on the neck from the start. Illness, love, despair, romance and suffering in true Hollywood fashion. How not to cry?
8. Love, in fact
The classic. With whom does this howling film not flicker on the screen at Christmas? This is not just about one wonderful love story, but about a lot. And everyone can find themselves in one of these stories. Worth seeing, also before and after the holidays.
9. Above
After the death of his great love, the balloon seller Carl goes up high. Carl takes off and flies to South America with his house and a stowaway, Boy Scout Russell. A very special adventure awaits them there. Above is a heartwarming film about a friendship where age knows no limits and a love that lasts beyond death.
10. Half a year
“A whole six months” – according to Jojo Moyes’ customer: Will is paraplegic in a wheelchair after an accident. He cannot stand this stroke of fate to this day and looks back wistfully at his exciting past. Only his supervisor Louisa can temporarily tear him out of his melancholy and shows him with all her might that his life is still worth living. So beautiful.
11. My girl
Back to the 90s! My Girl is one of the saddest films in which we left a lot of tears back then. The focus is on eleven-year-old Vada: she fell in love for the first time – with her English teacher. Vada’s father Harry, who had withdrawn very much since the death of Vada’s mother, develops feelings for the pretty Shelly, which Vada doesn’t like at all. She discusses her problems with her best friend Thomas J., with whom she also explores the strange world of kissing. But then fate strikes: Vada’s teacher is engaged and Thomas J. is stung to death by wasps. Only the love of her father and the understanding of Shelly help her over the loss.
12. With you by my side
Ronnie is said to be spending the summer holidays with her brother Jonah with their dad Steve by the sea. The teen doesn’t feel like that at all, because she has never forgiven her father for the separation of her parents. Until she meets the handsome Will … But then Ronnie finds out that her dad has had stomach cancer for a long time and wanted to spend what was probably the last summer of his life with his children.
13. In my sister’s life
Brian and Sara’s two year old daughter Kate has leukemia! Since the family cannot find a suitable donor for the little girl, they decide to have a third child who is genetically matched to the older sister. From now on, Baby Anna is regarded as a living spare parts store for Kate. At the age of eleven, however, she resisted further donations – and even brought in a lawyer. If you really want to cry, this is the right place for you.
14. Two in one day
After their graduation ceremony on July 15, 1988, shy Emma and daring Dexter spend a passionate night together. The next morning the two fundamentally different people part ways, but every year on the same date they meet again. The result is a friendship that has accompanied her through all the ups and downs of life for 20 years. By the time their friendship finally turns into a romantic love, it is almost too late.
15. A star is born
The aging rock star Jackson Maine discovers the talented singer Ally and falls in love with her. Ally almost gave up on her dream of a music career. With him as a mentor, Ally becomes a pop star. But the personal relationship between the two suffers as a result. Jackson’s inner demons and alcohol addiction put their love to the test. Who doesn’t howl here at the end of snot and water …