A Glean movie guide
The Ultimate Cry List
Grab the tissues.
From quiet melancholia to devastating heartbreak, these films are guaranteed to move you.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Grave of the Fireflies
A devastatingly beautiful look at the human cost of war through the eyes of two siblings.
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 raw, unflinching portrait of a man grappling with an unthinkable family tragedy.
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
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
A simple, heart-wrenching story of loyalty that will leave every animal lover in tears.
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
Aftersun
A shimmering, melancholic reflection on a daughter’s final memories 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.
- 05
The Father
A disorienting and deeply moving journey into the reality of a man losing his grip on memory.
A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages and, as he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
- 06
Coco
A vibrant celebration of family and remembrance that builds to a profoundly emotional musical climax.
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 monumental historical drama that finds overwhelming humanity amidst the darkest of times.
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 quiet, poetic exploration of the paths not taken and the bittersweet weight of a final goodbye.
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
Up
An adventure that begins with one of the most famous and effective emotional sequences in cinema history.
Carl Fredricksen spent his entire life dreaming of exploring the globe and experiencing life to its fullest. But at age 78, life seems to have passed him by, until a twist of fate (and a persistent 8-year old Wilderness Explorer named Russell) gives him a new lease on life.
- 10
The Iron Claw
A powerful true story of brotherhood and the crushing weight of a family legacy.
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.
- 11
About Time
A charming time-travel romance that evolves into a poignant meditation on saying goodbye to a parent.
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
A painfully honest autopsy of a relationship that contrasts hopeful beginnings with a bleak end.
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.