We've all done it. The camera pans, we hear the music, that one line that just feels like a sucker punch to the gut, and suddently we're a puddle on the floor.
Movies have this incredible hold on us, because the actors are brilliant and the directors and writers have figured out how to tell the story in just the right way that pulls at our heart strings. In fact, our brains can't even tell the difference between flashing pictures on a screen from real humans, so it's natural to cry.
In fact, if you cry at movies, you actually might be more empathetic, better with people, and an emotionally stronger person.
Redditor lituponfire asked:
"What film scene absolutely destroys you every time? No matter how many times you've seen it?"
Grab your tissues, you're gonna need them.
The Green Mile
"'I am tired, boss,' scene before the execution in The Green Mile."
"Got to say the execution scene is the clincher for me. Hanks was immense."
best movie GIFGiphyHomeward Bound
"Homeward Bound at the end where you think Shadow might not be coming home."
"When I graduated from college I had a set of friends after I moved and one came over one Saturday morning. He looked terrible. I asked him if he was hungover, and he said he had spent the last thirty minutes bawling over that movie. Hahahaha"
homeward bound 90s GIFGiphyLove Actually
"The scene in Love Actually where Emma Thompson realises that Alan Rickman is cheating on her but it's Christmas Day and the kids are happy, she gives herself twenty seconds listening to Both Sides Now by Joni Mitchell and then gets back out there to be 'happy'. Two utterly brilliant actors at the top of their game."
"Oh f*ck, took me a minute to remember the context of this."
"She'd found the necklace previously and was expecting that to be the gift she received. Instead she got a CD. Rough stuff."
- mrdotkom
"If you look in the comments to the video link above showing the scene, a commenter also gives an interesting insight:"
"phoenixfriend: What makes this even sadder is that the CD was actually a thoughtful gift. It shows that he knows something about her and what's important to her. The necklace was expensive and glamorous but also meaningless and lazy. She asked for something pretty so he just went straight to the jewellery section and picked the first thing he saw that he thought would do. It speaks to how he feels about each woman and just makes his affair all the more foolish because he's risking a genuine connection for something shallow."
- Napron
WALL-E
"The end of WALL-E when he loses his personality."
"Before that. When he's keeping the door open. He didn't owe those people anything. Eve thought he was annoying. Nobody cared about him. Yet there he was getting crushed. Giving it his all. F*ck."
"Also the scene when his memories are being played back and she finally understands how much he cared for her and what he went through."
"When I was 15, I saw it in theaters while my parents were going through a nasty divorce. I remember him looking at the stars and wishing he had someone to hold his hand. I felt the exact same. I felt so alone just like he did. I cried and was happy no one noticed."
"I'm tearing up thinking about it now but I'm no longer saddened by it. It's bittersweet and I still love the short before it. I was alone then but I did get people who cared for me like Wall-E :) Happy endings can happen and you are never alone."
wall e GIFGiphyForest Gump
"'Bubba was going to be a shrimping boat captain, but instead, he died right there by that river in Vietnam.'"
"I just get really sad thinking about all of the 'Bubbas' who have senselessly died in war and never got to live their lives and follow their dreams."
"'I wanna go home Forrest' UGH I DIE EVERYTIME."
- K4R1MM
People Share Which Social Norms Absolutely Baffle Them | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
"My answer to this post was going to be:"
"'You died on a Saturday morning, and I had you placed here, under our tree...'"
"I can't type anymore because I'll actually start crying. Every damn time, that scene."
"I remember showing my wife Forest Gump. I hadn't seen it since I was a kid, and remember it being a comedy."
"After it was over my spouse gets up without a word, goes to the bedroom, and starts crying uncontrollably."
"As a kid I thought it was about Forrest, but it was as much about Jenny and just how awful her life was. Just I was too young to understand it."
One Flew Over the Coocoos Nest
"When Jack Nicholson gets lobotomized in One Flew Over the Cucoo's Nest. I'm not a cryer and I dont feel most of the emotionally charged drama scenes in Hollywood movies but that made me cry so hard in so much anger because of the injustice. I may be more calm in my reaction now but it always gets me."
"It's one of those scenes that hits hard when you realize that has actually happened to people."
The Fox and The Hound
"The Fox and The Hound, when the sweet old lady has to leave Todd behind in the woods. Everything about it: the music, the kindness of that lady, Todd not understanding that he has to stay in the woods. Especially the moment when you see a tear rolling down her cheek as she drives off."
"Oh man. I always cry when I hear them say, 'We'll always be friends forever.'"
history moment GIFGiphyLife is Beautiful
"The scene in Life is Beautiful when he puts his son in the locker and then walks away with the guards and makes it funny for his son while he knows he's going to be shot. Oh my god. That movie kills me every single time. I saw it when I was ten and cried for months even at hearing the name of the movie."
"The whole second half is excellent with the way he attempts to desperately and selflessly preserve his sons innocence in a concentration camp is heartbreaking. Then that scene happens and the movie ends with the son getting his tank."
"Whenever someone asks me what my favorite movie is, I always say this one. Refuse to tell them what it's about, because I went in blind and was completely shell shocked when the happy romantic story suddenly goes BOOM HOLOCAUST. The wife getting on the train, the silly walk moments before death, the tank, ugh I can't."
"Right? This film is a TEXTBOOK example of why, when recommending films to people, I tell them nothing about it other than the title."
"I've never understood people who give away what happens in a film, be it maliciously or not. I would never want to rob somebody of the chance to feel the intense emotional impact a film had on me, and that's something you just can't truly get when you know what's coming."
Big Fish
"Big Fish. The end when the son starts making up the story and then the funeral when you see the 'real' versions of those characters."
"The end of the movie has always killed me, but after my dad passed away 11 years ago it hit me on a completely different level. Then I became a father myself a couple years ago and then it got me on ANOTHER completely different level!"
"Calm down, Big Fish."
- tfbillc
"I watched this with an ex-boyfriend and he was joking for almost the whole movie. Until the last story, then he was crying. At first I thought he was making fun of me, but no, tons of real tears."
- MiaHouse
Shawshank Redemption
"Brooks was here."
- Zal_17
"'I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me.'"
- redr2290
"I found the scene where he's struggling to keep up in the supermarket due to his arthritis hard to watch too (knowing the outcome)."
- Zal_17
the shawshank redemption life GIFGiphyLand Before Time
"This scene from The Land Before Time where Little Foot thinks he sees his mom, but it's just his shadow and the narrator says, 'Then Little Foot knew for certain he was alone.' still gets to me every single time."
- -eDgAR-
"That whole movie f*cked me up. I still can't watch it. I watched that movie at a very young age when I was still getting a grip on the concept of death. We had just given my goldfish a burial at sea, so his Mom dying in the rain really got me."
"To be fair, the original is a f*cking dark movie for preschool and young elementary kids. Like even the color scheme is dreary. I think it's probably the first movie a lot of kids in my generation remember watching and it was a doozy. Add on The Brave Little Toaster, The Secret of Nimh, and it makes me think that the animation studios hated kids or something lol."
"Fun fact: Secret of NIMH and Land Before Time were both Don Bluth movies. He left Disney because he felt the movies were becoming too 'soft.'"
"An explanation from the man himself:"
"'What we in the animation world are doing is presenting symbols that are reflective of real life,' Bluth says. 'If you show the dark moments, then the triumphant moments have more power. And if animators don't understand that, I don't think they're animating. What they're doing is drawing.'"
"Source: https://www.vulture.com/article/don-bluth-the-land-before-time-interview-animating-death.html"
Schindler's List
"'I could have got more...' - Schindler's List."
"That scene has made me sob since I was 10."
"'This pin. It's gold. That's two more people. They would have given me two more. At least one!'"
"My daughter came home from school and said her teacher had assigned her to watch Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. I warned her she should wait a bit in between watching them but she knew better and wanted to knock them out. So, after Schindler's List I asked if she was ready to watch Saving Private Ryan. In a very small voice she said, "No, mom" and went off to her room."
"Everyone should watch both movies but not back to back. Then give yourself a week before you watch Band of Brothers."
- ivylass
"Jesus Christ. I wouldn't assign those two films in the same semester, let alone the same day."
The Iron Giant
"When Iron Giant sacrifices himself to stop a nuke."
"For me it's the 'You stay. I go. No following.'"
"I loved the movie as a kid and handled it fine."
"I re-watched it in college and when that scene came up I felt myself welling up, man."
"Am I the only one who wishes he didn't get rebuilt?"
"I get it, and honestly I'm not sure. On the one hand, it is a family movie, and animated so you have to account for children, but the finality of death and wrestling with people dying is a central theme."
"The Iron Giant definitely makes a sacrifice when he decides to fly into the nuke and risk his life to stop it. I think the scene hits harder and is more powerful if The Iron Giant makes the ultimate sacrifice though. 'It's bad to kill, but it's not bad to die.' Brad shaped the script around that message as an attempt to deal with his own personal tragedy."
"I don't know who made the decision to show that The Giant didn't die, the studio or Brad, but I can see how that cheapens the sacrifice and undercuts a core message. The older I get, the harder this movie hits, but the more I love it (I saw it in theaters back in 99, as a small child, and it is still my favorite movie as an adult over 20 years later)."
feels love it GIFGiphyTitanic
We couldn't have a list of sad movies without mentioning Titanic.
"The scene at the sinking of the Titanic showing the 2 older couple laying on the bed, the husband holding his crying wife and kissing her on the cheek as she holds her eyes tightly shut and the water rushing in under their bed."
"Always. F*cks. Me. Up."
- SiNDiLeX
"The Strausses. The reality is so sad. He begged her to get on a boat and she said she'd lived her life thus far with him and she wouldn't live it without him. They were last seen together on one of the decks."
If this didn't make your eyes aren't wet, we don't know what will.
Actually, maybe it's better if you do cry. It has some serious benefits like releasing toxins and emotional stress from the body.
Here's to a good cry!
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.