Time for a cozymovienight! Grab thepopcorn, gummy bears, chocolate-covered raisins, and I’ll prepare the fluffy blankets. Put on your PJs, grab your sparkling beverage of choice, and settle into the couch. Now, what would you like to watch this evening: anupliftingfilm full of laughter and joy or a depressing drama that will turn you into a puddle of tears?
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The Green Mile.I spent the whole movie hoping for the truth to come out and for him to be exonerated.>!Then the truth comes out and everyone that matters is poised to do exactly that and the poor f**k is just so tired and beaten down from all the hate and hurt in the world that he just wants to get it over with. Everyone involved knows full and damn well he’s innocent and they go ahead with the e******n anyway, because this literal angel full of childlike love and innocence basically begs them to set him free from this mean as world. !<It’s one of only a couple of movies that are both on my “Favorite movies of all time” list and also on me “Can never ever watch it again” list.
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Stand By Me. Listening to narrator talk about how friends fade into obscurity and only memories remain becomes more relatable every time I watch it.Awesomekip:“I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?”Hits hard.
Dead Poets Society.ihavesomestuff:In my top 10 favorite movies. One of the few movies that destroyed me emotionally but I’ve still watched multiple times. It’s just that good.
“Maybe the saddest for me, though, isChinatown, where Evelyn is shot, and her daughter is left alone with her abusive father,” the cinephile says. “Truly tragic and highlights the theme of the film, the futility of fighting corruption.”
Hands down it’s Grave of the Fireflies.ravravioli:In the 90s, my parents found this movie for us because we loved Totoro. They put it on for us and then went out to dinner. They came back to utter chaos. 20+ years later I am still traumatized.
My girl. His glasses, he can’t see without his glasses.Professional-Text495:Saw that movie in the theatre. No one expected that- they thought it was going to be another comedy from that kid in Home Alone.My biggest memory from that movie was walking up the aisle and seeing kleenex all on the ground from people wiping their tears.It was several years later when I’d see that much kleenex on the ground leaving a theater, but that time it was for “eyes wide shut.”
On the other hand, we wanted to know if there were any upsetting films that John wouldn’t ever want to watch again.“Requiem for a Dreamis one; a film about addiction that ends with all characters in varying states of ruin,” he shared. “A finale far too bleak for more than one viewing - for me, anyway.““The Boy In The Striped Pajamas: Set during the H*******t, the ending involves the death of the main characters,” he continued. “Something we’ve seen before, but the way in which it happens (no spoilers) is pretty shattering, and unexpected.““The one that stayed with me the longest was probablyGrave of the Fireflies,” John added. “It’s an animation, but there’s not much you can call fun about it. Set during World War II and following the tale of two orphans, describing the end would reveal too much. It’s superb, but you’ll probably not want to watch it again.”
On the other hand, we wanted to know if there were any upsetting films that John wouldn’t ever want to watch again.
“Requiem for a Dreamis one; a film about addiction that ends with all characters in varying states of ruin,” he shared. “A finale far too bleak for more than one viewing - for me, anyway.”
“The Boy In The Striped Pajamas: Set during the H*******t, the ending involves the death of the main characters,” he continued. “Something we’ve seen before, but the way in which it happens (no spoilers) is pretty shattering, and unexpected.”
“The one that stayed with me the longest was probablyGrave of the Fireflies,” John added. “It’s an animation, but there’s not much you can call fun about it. Set during World War II and following the tale of two orphans, describing the end would reveal too much. It’s superb, but you’ll probably not want to watch it again.”
The boy in the striped Pajamas.PaperStSoapCO_:God damn I recently rewatched this and it f****d me up real good. Everything about it, obviously the ending but I was bawling through the entire thing. It hurts me.
Hachi: A Dog’s Tale - a serious tearjerker this one.michyeosseo1998:Even to this day, I tear up the moment I hear the soundtrack of the movie, let alone watch the movie itself…
Finally, we wanted to know if John believes viewers should go into a film knowing that there will be a sad ending or if the element of surprise can make these endings more powerful.“Knowing a film has a sad ending allows the viewer to prepare themselves, meaning they can focus on how the story is crafted, or on what the message of the film is - this is probably a benefit for more artistic filmmakers,” he noted. “On the other hand, the act of unfolding a story can be an artform in itself. A sad ending can be a more powerful and memorable way to climax your story, and the user not knowing what is coming allows a filmmaker to build narrative tension - a key part of many films.”
Finally, we wanted to know if John believes viewers should go into a film knowing that there will be a sad ending or if the element of surprise can make these endings more powerful.
“Knowing a film has a sad ending allows the viewer to prepare themselves, meaning they can focus on how the story is crafted, or on what the message of the film is - this is probably a benefit for more artistic filmmakers,” he noted. “On the other hand, the act of unfolding a story can be an artform in itself. A sad ending can be a more powerful and memorable way to climax your story, and the user not knowing what is coming allows a filmmaker to build narrative tension - a key part of many films.”
Old Yeller. Sad ending for a good dog.
“It can depend on genre too,” John continued. “Going into a war or horror film, a viewer has certain expectations and is probably more prepared for a potential sad ending than they might be if watching another genre. This is one of the reasonsGrave of the Fireflieshits so hard.““As with many things in movies, to say which ‘works better’ is totally subjective,” the cinephile added. “Most viewers probably want to have expectations subverted. There are some, though, who might find a shock, sad ending genuinely upsetting. Cinema is all about storytelling so it is - or should be - the filmmaker’s call on how the story is told. If they think the tale works best with a sad ending - surprise or not - they are the ones to make that creative decision.”
“It can depend on genre too,” John continued. “Going into a war or horror film, a viewer has certain expectations and is probably more prepared for a potential sad ending than they might be if watching another genre. This is one of the reasonsGrave of the Fireflieshits so hard.”
“As with many things in movies, to say which ‘works better’ is totally subjective,” the cinephile added. “Most viewers probably want to have expectations subverted. There are some, though, who might find a shock, sad ending genuinely upsetting. Cinema is all about storytelling so it is - or should be - the filmmaker’s call on how the story is told. If they think the tale works best with a sad ending - surprise or not - they are the ones to make that creative decision.”
Marley and me.Oh god I started watching this, got sucked in even though I KNEW how the ending would go. My bf came home in the middle of it, asked me why the f**k was I watching this, and then just handed me a roll of toilet paper. (We only bought actual Kleenex if someone was sick.) PS I used half of it.
The Fox and the Hound.arothmanmusic:I saw that in the theatre as a birthday party. You know what ruins a birthday party? A bunch of crying children. That ruins a birthday party.
Se7enCynthus68:This is the one that popped into my head right away. That was horrible. Definitely no warm and fuzzy feels with that ending.“What’s in the boooox?”
Bridge to Terabithia, I saw that movie as a kid and rewatched it last year and again I cried like a b***h.Kotekan:I was NOT prepared for that in the slightest, me and my best friend sat in shock.
One who flew over the cuckoo’s nest.
Donnie Darko. That rendition of the song Mad World further makes the ending more depressing and full of dread.
The Lovely Bones.Sammie2Dope:I cannot finish this movie without getting anxiety and stressing out. This is one of the saddest movies.
Forrest Gump!I cry every single time I watch the scene where he visits Jenny’s grave. Tom Hanks’ talent is extraordinary!
Leaving Las Vegas.moinatx:This one wrecked me for some time. When people hate on Nic Cage as an actor I think about how affecting he was in this film.
No Country for Old Men. Nobody wins, except maybe Anton.Research_Liborian:This…x 10.Only movie that ever left me hungover, despite my watching it completely sober.
The road.Cloaked42m:I read the book. Once.I’m never reading it again or watching the movie. They should have a warning on that thing.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father.beamer4:Yes. Worst part is this isn’t fan fiction, it’s a real life nightmare that no family ever deserved. One of the few times I have felt physically gutted regarding people I’ve never met.
Memento is a singular movie to me where I thought it was brilliant and I never want to watch it ever again.YariAttano:The ending lines are forever burned into my mind:“I have to believe in a world outside my own mind. I have to believe that my actions still have meaning, even if I can’t remember them. I have to believe that when my eyes are closed, the world’s still there. Do I believe the world’s still there? Is it still out there?… Yeah. We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are. I’m no different.”
The Butterfly Effect.hellsbelle51:I actually watched it with the Directors cut playing. didnt know. felt so f**king empty inside after that.
Brokeback Mountain.Anon:I put off watching this for so many years because I knew it was sad. I watched it this year, a few months after my relationship didn’t work out. I think I had to carry the movie sadness with me for months. I don’t know if I can watch it ever again.
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The ending of American History X hit me pretty hard the first time.SkyBlueRoan:Just watched that and I knew something was coming, but I didn’t want it to be true. Heartbreaking.
Melancholia.rawpunkmeg:Great movie but damn did the ending really leave a hopeless feeling in me.
Brazil.sexyf23:One of the best uses of dissonance in a scene, for sure.
The Truman show is depressing as hell when you think about the trust issues and paranoia he’ll have for the rest of his life.
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Schindler’s List.Heartbreaking because it’s the truth.Liam Neeson should’ve won an Oscar.The guy who played Amon Goeth, he should’ve received an Oscar for that role also, they both got robbed.The part where he cries and says: I could’ve got one more!!I know he probably lived with all that guilt til the end of his days..Also, passion of the christ, I’m not even overly religious but I cried nonstop from the moment they captured Jesus, and when they whipped him with the blades.. until the very end.. I kept thinking to myself why is nobody helping?? Why are they letting this happen?? I keep thinking to myself that I would’ve tried to help because that suffering, oh God, I ugly cried..
Up, I can’t watch that movie without crying. Russell doesn’t have a dad to look up to, Carl is trying to complete he and his wife’s childhood dream, Carl then meets his childhood hero who in turn tries to kill him. It’s all around an emotional movie.
Shutter Island.The guy went crazy after his wife m**dered all his children.. his consolation prize was a lobotomy.
We need to talk about Kevin.MyBallsMyWord:Ya that movie is fked. Took me a while to figure out that Kevin’s sole purpose in life was to te his mother. Not kl her, but te her. The inverse of a boys undying love for his mother. He had undying hate for his mother. To an extent that he kled the people she loved most just to te her. The movie is great but so fked up. Idk why but the part that messed with my head the most in that movie is when she walked in on him jerking off an he just jerked off even harder. So f*ked up an gross an weird.
Precious. Great acting. Compelling story. This is one of those movies I will only ever watch once because I can’t go thru that movie again.Dinkableplanet:I cannot see the movie. I read the book and that alone pushed my limits.
Seeking A Friend For the End of the World.jackarooster:The ending of this never fails to make me cry.
Into the wild.I went into this film blind, I had no idea of it being a true story. Thought it would be a survival against the odds deal.Spoiler - it was not.
Remember Me.I randomly came across it in a subscription service many years ago and decided to put it on. Wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did, and sure as hell wasn’t expecting that ending. F**k.
Dancer in the Dark.MeMaccaron:I think it’s not just the ending. The whole movie is just hopeless. Terrible, beautiful hopeless.
There is a short film called The Snowman. It has no dialogue and is a cartoon. I guess it’s a “Christmas” movie, but not really. The ending absolutely crushes me every time. No spoilers. The first time I saw it was in grade school and I remember trying to hide my face in my hands while I bawled my eyes out. Same effect now and I’m 38. Also, the song Walking in the Air is from that film, and it’s a hauntingly beautiful song.
Cold Mountain. If you skip the last 5 minutes the ending is pretty awesome.principaleigh:I don’t even remember the details of this movie as much as how affected I was and how I know to this day I don’t think I could go through the emotional turmoil of it again!
Midsommer, goddamn that s**t was dark.
Cast Away.cropguru357:Yeah that one really sucked. The rain-drenched scene near the end.
Man on Fire.ambigious_meh:I’m glad someone else agrees that the ending is a gut punch.
End of Evangelion. All these traumatized and depressed kids are trying to prevent the apocalypse, and then it just happens anyway. The movie is f*****g incredible, but super depressing in an existential way.
Interstellar.funmasterjerky:Agreed. That moment when he watches the messages after the water planet stuck with me for the rest of the movie. While it’s a happy ending for humanity, Murph had a tough life and he never got to see his kid grow up. That was one of the few movie where I felt stunned when I left the cinema.
The Time Traveler’s Wife. A friend claimed it was a great chic flic for our PJ party. We all threw our pillows at her when it was over.
Don’t look up was just really sad. The only thing that makes it better is the post-credit scene.
The Big Short.They got away with it. They crashed the economy, made themselves rich, and fd over everyone else.EditBy ‘they’ I don’t mean the ‘protagonists’, I mean the banks. The banks got away with the b**t they pulled. And sure, some people got fired. But the system overall? The system’s still the same, they’re just “regulated” now.
Skeleton KeySpoiler Alert: The main character, a hot young blonde, gets her body swapped with an elderly woman and she basically becomes completely disabled in that old body as a result of the process. Turns out a couple use voodoo to systematically steal bodies whenever the current ones get old and leave the home to the new bodies, etc. They spend the movie tricking the girl to believe in voodoo so that the swap will work.The old dude the main character had been trying to understand and help the whole movie was actually another dude she had been talking to who had his body swapped and thus was why he was also so severly disabled. The two people, now trapped in old bodies and unable to basically move or talk are being carted off to die in some home as the body swappers look on and enjoy their victory together in front of their “new” house.
Click.whatdoidonate:I always find myself surprised when I cry at the end of Click. It’s an Adam Sandler movie, I shouldn’t be crying!
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Linas Simonaitis
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