18 movies on Netflix to watch if you need a good cry
A24
There are thousands of movies on Netflix, and finding the right one to watch can be difficult.
That's why Insider has compiled guides for every type of movie (and TV show) you might feel like streaming.
Below, we've listed the best movies to watch on Netflix if you need a good cry.
Keep reading to see our list of titles, which includes poignant rom-coms like "Someone Great" and emotional dramas like "Moonlight."
Sometimes you just need to let it all out with a good cry, and thankfully, Netflix has a great crop of movies designed to make you do just that.
From poignant romantic comedies like "About Time" and "Someone Great" to emotional dramas like "Moonlight" and "Roma," there are plenty of tearjerkers to choose from on the streaming service.
Below are 18 movies to watch on Netflix if you need a good cry.
Note: Numerous Netflix titles drop off the service monthly, so the availability of titles below may change.
Insider has many movie and TV show lists to keep you occupied. You can read them all here.
"About Time" is a romantic comedy with a sobering time travel twist.
Universal Pictures
"About Time" opens as 21-year-old Tim (Domhnall Gleeson) learns that the men in his family can travel through time, with a catch — they can only travel back to moments in their own lives.
He resolves to get a girlfriend, and during his time travel adventures, Tim meets and falls in love with Mary (Rachel McAdams). However, once they start a family, he is unable to travel back in time to alter tragic events or see his late father for fear of erasing his children's existence.
What starts as a charming rom-com with a time travel twist grows into a bittersweet meditation on growing up and dealing with events out of your control that's worth a watch.
"Moonlight" tells the powerful story of Chiron, a gay black man growing up in Miami.
A24
You might remember "Moonlight" from the best picture fiasco at the 2017 Oscars (when "La La Land" was wrongfully announced as the best picture winner), but the movie itself is truly a must-see.
Director Barry Jenkins' movie tells the story of a young black gay man named Chiron (played by Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, and Trevante Rhodes) growing up and trying to find his place in the world.
"Moonlight" manages to be both a universally empathetic look at the pain and beauty of falling in love and coming to terms with one's identity, and a brilliantly specific portrait of lives not often depicted on-screen.
Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams star in the romantic drama "Blue Valentine."
The Weinstein Company
One of the most heartbreaking parts of any separation is attempting to pinpoint where things went wrong. "Blue Valentine" does just that, putting the failing relationship between husband and wife Dean (Ryan Gosling) and Cindy (Michelle Williams) under a microscope to investigate how they went from a carefree young couple to adults on the brink of divorce.
By cross-cutting between different points in their life together, the movie shows that relationships are more than the sum of their best and worst moments (and will resonate with anyone who has been through a rocky breakup).
Real-life father and son Will Smith and Jaden Smith appear in the biographical drama "The Pursuit of Happyness."
Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Releasing
"The Pursuit of Happyness" tells the true story of entrepreneur Chris Gardner (Will), who struggles to raise his young son, Christopher Jr. (Jaden), when they become homeless soon after Chris lands an unpaid, high-profile internship at a brokerage firm.
Watching Chris and Christopher Jr.'s bond be tested to the limit is easily tear-inducing, especially since the two actors are actually father and son in real life.
"A Little Princess" is a classic children's film about a young girl living during World War I.
Warner Bros.
Set during World War I, "A Little Princess" follows a young girl named Sara (Liesel Matthews), whose pleasant life as an aristocrat's daughter is upended when her father (Liam Cunningham) enlists in the British Army and sends her to boarding school.
After he is falsely declared dead, the boarding school's cruel headmistress (Eleanor Bron) makes Sara an indentured servant, but she remains kind and perseveres until she and her father are reunited.
"A Little Princess" is already a classic children's movie for a reason — it's a sweet, emotional coming-of-age story that will make you want to call your parents.
"Someone Great" is a poignant comedy that celebrates female friendship.
Netflix
After breaking up with her long-term boyfriend (Lakeith Stanfield) right before a cross-country move, "Someone Great" follows Jenny (Gina Rodriguez) as she enjoys one last night in New York City with her best friends (Brittany Snow and DeWanda Wise).
Amidst the comedy of Jenny and her friends' raucous escapades is a moving tribute to female friendships, and how they can help you make it through a shattered relationship, navigate a turning point in your life, or simply make the best of a night out.
"Her" uses sci-fi to explore issues of technology, loneliness, and romance.
Youtube/Her
"Her" takes place in a near-future Los Angeles, where writer Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is struggling to make human connections again because of his impending divorce from his childhood sweetheart (Rooney Mara). Theodore soon receives an operating system designed to meet his every need named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), and they develop an unlikely romantic relationship.
The movie is a poignant exploration of loneliness and the bonds that we form and maintain via technology.
"My Girl" is a '90s coming-of-age dramedy.
Columbia Pictures
Much of "My Girl" is comfortably reminiscent of carefree childhood days, as 11-year-old Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) and her best friend Thomas (Macaulay Culkin) spend their summer vacation riding their bikes and getting into trouble in their small town.
But the movie takes a heart-wrenching turn, giving way to more mature explorations of early adolescence and loss.
"First Match" is a searing sports drama.
Netflix
"First Match" centers around Mo (Elvira Emanuelle), a Brooklyn teenager who joins an all-boys wrestling team in a last-ditch attempt to connect with her estranged father ("Watchmen" star Yahya Abdul-Mateen II).
Elevated by an electric performance from Emanuelle, "First Match" doubles as an engaging coming-of-age sports drama and an incisive look at the struggle of walking away from a loved one, no matter how toxic they are.
"One Day" is a slow burn romance about two friends who meet up on the same day each year.
Giles Keyte/Focus Features
Have you ever had a friendship that you wondered would ever turn into something more? If so, you'll probably relate to "One Day." The movie follows friends Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess), who reunite on the same day each year to catch up and talk about their dreams. As time passes, they continue their tradition while circling around their lingering feelings for one another.
If you're looking for a romance that's full of twists designed to tug at viewers' heartstrings, "One Day" is the movie for you.
"Room" tells the moving story of the bond between a mother and her son.
George Kraychyk/A24
"Room" is told from the perspective of 5-year-old Jack (Jacob Tremblay), whose mother (Brie Larson) was kidnapped and eventually gave birth to him in the small shed where they've lived his entire life. When the pair manage to escape, both mother and son must struggle to cope with life in the outside world.
The drama is definitely a harrowing watch, but it's also a tender exploration of surviving trauma, and the lengths that parents will go to for their children.
"Marriage Story" tells the story of a marriage coming apart and a family struggling to stay together.
Heyday Films/Netflix
"Marriage Story" is titled rather ironically, since it centers on the divorce proceedings between theater director Charlie (Adam Driver) and actress Nicole (Scarlett Johansson), as they attempt to raise their young son (Azhy Robertson) in the meantime.
Unlike many other divorce-centric movies, director Noah Baumbach's film doesn't follow the couple's romantic relationship. Instead, it intimately traces the family's fight to stay together even as Charlie and Nicole's marriage crumbles.
Driver and Johansson give excellent, Oscar-nominated performances, and there's a good chance that a musical theater karaoke scene towards the end will make you cry.
Alfonso Cuarón's "Roma" is an emotional celebration of the women who raised him.
Carlos Somonte/Netflix
Based on director Alfonso Cuarón's memories of his own childhood, "Roma" revolves around Cleo (Yalitza Aparicio), a live-in domestic worker for an affluent family in 1970s Mexico City. As political unrest in the city grows, Cleo and her matriarchal employer Sofia's (Marina de Tavira) personal struggles become increasingly intertwined.
Boasting stunning visuals and a remarkable breakthrough performance by Aparicio, Cuarón's celebration of the women who raised him is also an emotional acknowledgment of the unsung, maligned figures that often hold families together.
"The Theory of Everything" is a biographical romance about physicist Stephen Hawking and his wife Jane.
Liam Daniel/Universal Pictures International
"The Theory of Everything" tells the real-life love story of renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (Eddie Redmayne) and his wife Jane (Felicity Jones). As Stephen does groundbreaking scientific work, he simultaneously becomes increasingly dependent on Jane after being diagnosed with a motor neuron disease, which eventually paralyzes him.
Part-biopic and part-romantic drama, "The Theory of Everything" is a powerful portrait of two extraordinary lives.
The stirring documentary "Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution" looks back on a groundbreaking 1970s camp for disabled teenagers.
Steve Honisgbaum/Netflix
The documentary follows the attendees of Camp Jened, a summertime destination where kids with disabilities could fully express themselves, long before the Americans with Disabilities Act became law in 1990. By tying the campers' experiences to the larger disability rights movement in the United States, "Crip Camp" serves as a feel-good, rousing tribute to the activists who worked to make life more accessible for all.
A young Leonardo DiCaprio stars in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," which centers on a dysfunctional Midwestern family.
Paramount Pictures
Leonardo DiCaprio had his breakthrough role playing Arnie Grape in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," which details eldest son Gilbert's (Johnny Depp) attempts to keep his family afloat in rural Iowa after his father's death.
While the dysfunctional family and personal sorrows of the protagonist at the movie's center could make it a bleak melodrama, "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" proves to be a quirky, disarming take on slice-of-life American family dramas.
Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington star in "Philadelphia."
TriStar Pictures
Tom Hanks stars in "Philadelphia" as Andy Beckett, a gay man who is fired after his employers discover that he's HIV positive. He soon decides to team up with Joe Miller (Denzel Washington), a homophobic man who is the only lawyer willing to represent him in a wrongful dismissal court case. As Andy's health gradually worsens, Joe's compassion for him grows while they seek legal justice.
Although watching a movie with an inevitably sad ending can be difficult, Hanks and Washington's Oscar-worthy performances are worth the price of admission.
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is a poignant teen movie featuring Logan Lerman and Emma Watson.
John Bramley/Summit Entertainment)
"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" follows Charlie (Logan Lerman), a shy teenager who soon befriends an offbeat pair of older high schoolers (played by Ezra Miller and Emma Watson). As Charlie experiences classic high school rites of passage (like his first school dance and first party), he and his friends help one another come to terms with their rocky pasts.
Based on Stephen Chbosky's beloved book of the same name, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is a poignant film that casts a compassionate, unflinching eye on issues of teen loneliness and mental health.
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