A Glean movie guide
Movies That Will Break Your Heart
Keep the tissues close.
A curated selection of the most emotionally devastating and somber films ever made.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Grave of the Fireflies
A devastating look at two siblings' struggle for survival in the final months of WWII.
In the final months of World War II, 14-year-old Seita and his sister Setsuko are orphaned when their mother is killed during an air raid in Kobe, Japan. After a falling out with their aunt, they move into an abandoned bomb shelter. With no surviving relatives and their emergency rations depleted, Seita and Setsuko struggle to survive.
- 02
Manchester by the Sea
A powerful exploration of a man forced to confront an unspeakable past while caring for his nephew.
After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.
- 03
Schindler's List
A monumental historical drama depicting the profound human cost of the Holocaust.
The true story of how businessman Oskar Schindler saved over a thousand Jewish lives from the Nazis while they worked as slaves in his factory during World War II.
- 04
Blue Valentine
A raw, unflinching portrait of a marriage's hopeful beginning and its painful dissolution.
Dean and Cindy live a quiet life in a modest neighborhood. They appear to have the world at their feet at the outset of the relationship. However, his lack of ambition and her retreat into self-absorption cause potentially irreversible cracks in their marriage.
- 05
Aftersun
A hauntingly beautiful reflection on a daughter’s final holiday with her troubled father.
Sophie reflects on the shared joy and private melancholy of a holiday she took with her father twenty years earlier. Memories fill the gaps between camcorder footages as she tries to reconcile the father she knew with the troubled man she didn't.
- 06
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
The heartbreaking true story of a dog’s unwavering loyalty to his owner long after he is gone.
Professor Wilson discovers a lost Akita puppy on his way home. Despite objections from his wife, Hachi endears himself to the family and grows to be Parker's loyal companion. As their bond grows deeper, a beautiful relationship unfolds.
- 07
Sophie's Choice
A harrowing drama centered on a mother’s impossible decision during the horrors of the Holocaust.
Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.
- 08
The Iron Claw
A crushing biographical drama about the tragic string of losses within a legendary wrestling family.
The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.
- 09
Requiem for a Dream
A visceral and relentless depiction of the total destruction caused by drug addiction.
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island residents are shattered when their addictions run deep.
- 10
Bridge to Terabithia
A poignant coming-of-age story that captures the sudden and profound impact of childhood loss.
Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school. So he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences including that she's rich, he's poor, she's a city girl, and he's a country boy the two become fast friends. Together they create Terabithia, a land of monsters, trolls, ogres, and giants where they rule as king and queen.
- 11
The Green Mile
An emotional supernatural drama about an innocent man on death row and the guards who witness his grace.
A supernatural tale set on death row in a Southern prison, where gentle giant John Coffey possesses the mysterious power to heal people's ailments. When the cell block's head guard, Paul Edgecomb, recognizes Coffey's miraculous gift, he tries desperately to help stave off the condemned man's execution.
- 12
Million Dollar Baby
A gritty boxing drama that takes a sharp, tragic turn into themes of sacrifice and end-of-life choices.
Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.