Summary
Some movies ensure that they live long in the memory by delivering powerful emotional blows right at the end. Whether they are dark dramas or more approachable comedies, a tragic ending can reframe any movie. Thebest movie endingsmanage to leave audiences feeling satisfied, tying up the main plot threads and creating lasting images. However, a good ending doesn’t have to be a happy ending.
A heartbreaking movie ending doesn’t necessarily have to be overwhelmingly tragic. A failed romance can feel just as sad as a death, depending on what it represents in the story and how the movie delivers the final scenes. If a movie does enough to make audiences feel a deep connection to the characters, it can deliver an emotionally devastating finale where the pain is all too relatable.
10 Sad Movies Guaranteed To Make You Cry
Through their visuals, great character development, sound design, and choice lines, these movies are guaranteed to evoke tears from viewers.
The Graduateis a brilliant coming-of-age comedyabout a young man who graduates from college and doesn’t know what to do with the rest of his life. Feeling the pressure from his parents and society at large to either apply for graduate school or get a job, Benjamin Braddock instead retreats into his own fantasies, and he becomes obsessed with the ideals of romantic relationships.
The couple initially giggle like teenagers during their escape, but as they sit in the back of a bus, the reality sets in.
The Graduate’s iconic endingshows Benjamin crashing Elaine’s wedding and whisking her away from a potentially unhappy marriage. The couple initially giggle like teenagers during their escape, but as they sit in the back of a bus, the reality sets in. Benjamin is no closer to finding any purpose in life, and his romantic pursuit of Elaine was all folly, meant to distract him but never meant to end.
Pixar has plenty of emotional moments, butmovies likeUpandFinding Nemodeliver their most devastating moments at the beginning. This makesToy Story 3’s heartbreaking finaleall the more surprising. As Andy gets ready to go to college, he realizes that he should give his old toys away to someone who will appreciate them more. The toys say an emotional farewell to Andy as he drives off, never to see them again.
Woody’s goodbye also symbolizes the franchise parting ways with the audiences who grew up watchingToy Story.
Toy Story 3delivers the perfect ending to the trilogy, at a time when another movie seemed unlikely. In that context, the ending is even more tragic, as Woody’s goodbye also symbolizes the franchise parting ways with the audiences who grew up watchingToy Story.Just as Andy has to grow up and leave his youth behind, fans of theToy Storymovies are forced to accept that their childhoods can’t last forever.
David Fincher’s crime thrillerSevenfollows the police investigation into a sadistic serial killer who chooses his victims based on the seven deadly sins. Ultimately, when Mills and Somerset think they have captured John Doe and put the case to rest, the killer reveals his final move. Mills receives a package containing the head of his wife, enraging him to the point that he shoots John Doe in cold blood.
The ending ofSevenis so devastating because it provides a false dawn before John Doe’s final reveal.
The ending ofSevenis so devastating because it provides a false dawn before John Doe’s final reveal. In his twisted game, he needs two more murders to complete the set: envy and wrath. He recognizes his own envy of Mills' idyllic family life, and he urges the detective to give into his wrath and shoot him.After the final act of rage, Mills is left with nothing.Somerset is helpless to stop him, and he can only watch as he sees a good man corrupted by evil.
La La Landtells the tumultuous love story of Seb and Mia, two people who try to balance their career aspirations in show business with their commitment to one another. From the beginning, Seb says that he wants to open his own jazz bar, and Mia has aspirations of making it big as an actor. Ultimately,they get what they both wanted, but it comes at the cost of them being able to share it together.
The dream sequence showing their idealized love story is an impossible illusion.
When Mia stumbles into Seb’s bar, they lock eyes before he plays one last song for her. There are no splashy theatrics and choreographed dancers in this final scene, just the dim blue light that washes over the room. Theending ofLa La Landshows that Seb and Mia have sacrificed everything for their dreams, even each other. The dream sequence showing their idealized love story is an impossible illusion.
Grave of the Firefliesopens with the scene of Seito’s death. Somehow, the knowledge that it’s coming doesn’t make the ending any less heartbreaking. In fact, watching Seito’s struggles to stay alive and care for his younger sister deepens the tragedy of his death. The historical context also makes the callousness of the people walking past him in the train station more alarming.
Somehow, the knowledge that Seito’s death is coming doesn’t make the ending any less heartbreaking.
Manywar movies end with an emotional bombshell.Paths of GloryandAll Quiet On the Western Frontpress home their anti-war messages with scenes of senseless death and violence, butGrave of the Firefliesmay be the most upsetting of all war movies. The sweetness of the animation highlights the dire circumstances of Japan as World War II dragged to a close, and Seito’s story is deeply personal.
Marianne first meets Héloïse when she is sent to secretly paint her portrait. This means that she spends long hours during the day watching her carefully, trying to commit her face and body to memory so that she can paint in the privacy of her room. In the ending ofPortrait of a Lady on Fire,Marianne watches Héloïse for one last time from across a concert hall. She knows that they can never be together in peace the way they were on the island.
Héloïse may not be allowed to experience passion for herself, so she clings to the fabricated catharsis of the music.
Portrait of a Lady on Fireuses music very infrequently, and always with intent.It’s very powerful when there is any music to punctuate the dreamlike stillness of the time Marianne and Héloïse spend together. The tremulous strings in the final scene provide an outburst of emotion, even while Héloïse tries to remain calm amid the stuffy confines of high society. She may not be allowed to experience passion for herself, so she clings to the fabricated catharsis of the music.
Chinatownis a masterpiece of film noir, partly thanks to a career-defining performance from Jack Nicholson as private investigator Jake Gittes. It takes Jake a while to untangle the water conspiracy that causes the deaths of Hollis Mulwray and Ida Sessions, but he tries to help Evelyn and her daughter when he does eventually figure things out. Ultimately, Noah Cross stands in his way.
Jake realizes he may not be able to fight Cross' corruption, but he thinks that he can at least help two people who need him.Chinatown’s devastating ending proves that he can’t even have that much.
Jake realizes he may not be able to fight Cross' corruption, but he thinks that he can at least help two people who need him.Chinatown’s devastating endingproves that he can’t even have that much. The wealthy business executive wins once more, as Evelyn is gunned down by the police and Cross takes custody of her daughter, despite his many crimes.The famous final line"Forget it Jake, it’s Chinatown"sums up the futility of the whole affair.
The Green Miletells the story of a falsely-accused death row inmate and the prison guard who strikes up an unlikely friendship with him. The ending has ensured thatThe Green Mileholds a place in the conversation of thebest Stephen King movie adaptations, alongside the likes ofCarrieandThe Shining.It’s just as intensely emotional asThe Shawshank Redemption,but it has a supernatural element like most of King’s books.
Although he spends a long time protesting his innocence and fearing his death, John Coffey approaches the electric chair with an air of serenity.
Although he spends a long time protesting his innocence and fearing his death, John Coffey approaches the electric chair with an air of serenity. He knows that he will finally have his freedom from a world that has been unfair and cruel to him. Coffey accepts his fate with the knowledge that he has passed on some of his powers to Paul Edgecomb.His death is senseless, but he can at least control how he acts in his final moments.
Meryl Streep’s Oscar-winning performance is the beating heart ofSophie’s Choice,constantly providing a link between the industrial scale cruelty of the holocaust and the human element of the survivors. Sophie carries her trauma around with her throughout her life, but the third act ofSophie’s Choicealso reveals the immense burden of guilt that she also has to deal with.
Sophie’s Choiceends with the grim reminder that the holocaust’s effects lasted well beyond 1945, as many survivors had their lives destroyed.
Sophie finds some solace in her fledgling relationship with Stingo, but she feels that she doesn’t deserve any happiness after making the choice to sacrifice her daughter to the gas chambers. She remains in her abusive relationship with Nathan as a form of penance.Sophie’s Choiceends with the grim reminder that the holocaust’s effects lasted well beyond 1945, as many survivors had their lives destroyed.
1Kes (1969)
Jud Kills Kes
Set in an English town dominated by the coal mining industry,Kesfollows a teenager without any direction in life as he finds a passion for falconry.Billy’s relationship with Kes is the only thing that provides him with any glimmer of hope in his otherwise dreary circumstances. Although he struggles in school and has a troubled home life, he finds that he can apply himself when learning about falconry, and Kes is the best friend he could ask for.
Kes’ending is so powerful because Billy starts and ends the movie with nothing, but he is given just enough hope to believe that his life can be something more.
After Billy ignores his brother’s request to put some money on a horse race, Jud reacts by killing Kes. It’s a petty act of retaliation, but it’s also a brutal way for Jud to assert his dominance and snuff out the one thing that brings Billy joy.Kes’ending is so powerful because Billy starts and ends the movie with nothing, but he is given just enough hope to believe that his life can be something more.
