A Glean movie guide
The Ultimate Cry Guide
Grab the tissues.
From heartbreaking romances to poignant family dramas, these films are guaranteed to move
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Manchester by the Sea
A raw look at a man grappling with an unspeakable past and the weight of sudden responsibility.
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.
- 02
Grave of the Fireflies
A devastating animated masterpiece about two siblings struggling to survive the final days of World War II.
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.
- 03
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
The legendary true story of a dog’s unwavering loyalty that will break even the toughest hearts.
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.
- 04
The Notebook
An enduring romantic drama exploring the power of lifelong love and the cruel reality of fading memories.
An epic love story centered around an older man who reads aloud to a woman with Alzheimer's. From a faded notebook, the old man's words bring to life the story about a couple who is separated by World War II, and is then passionately reunited, seven years later, after they have taken different paths.
- 05
Aftersun
A quiet, deeply moving reflection on a daughter’s childhood holiday and the hidden melancholy of her 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
Coco
A vibrant musical journey through the Land of the Dead that celebrates family legacy and the power of memory.
Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz. Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector, and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.
- 07
Schindler's List
A profound historical epic capturing the horrors of the Holocaust through a story of incredible human sacrifice.
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.
- 08
Past Lives
A delicate exploration of 'what if' as childhood friends reconnect across decades and continents.
After decades apart, childhood friends Nora and Hae Sung are reunited in New York for one fateful weekend as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life.
- 09
Marley & Me
A heartwarming family tale capturing the full life cycle of a beloved pet and the lessons they leave behind.
A newly married couple, in the process of starting a family, learn many of life's important lessons from their trouble-loving retriever, Marley. Packed with plenty of laughs to lighten the load, the film explores the highs and lows of marriage, maturity and confronting one's own mortality, as seen through the lens of family life with a dog.
- 10
Lion
An incredible true story of a lost boy’s 25-year journey to find his way back home using only his memories.
A five-year-old Indian boy gets lost on the streets of Calcutta, thousands of kilometers from home. He survives many challenges before being adopted by a couple in Australia; 25 years later, he sets out to find his lost family.
- 11
About Time
A time-travel romance that evolves into a poignant meditation on the precious bond between father and son.
The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us.
- 12
Blue Valentine
An intimate and painful portrait of a relationship’s beginning and end, told with devastating honesty.
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.