A Glean movie guide
The Ultimate Cry List
Keep the tissues close.
From quiet melancholia to devastating tragedy, these films are guaranteed to move you.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Manchester by the Sea
A raw, unflinching look at a man paralyzed by the weight of an unthinkable past.
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
An animated masterpiece that captures the pure, devastating vulnerability of children in wartime.
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
Aftersun
A quiet but profoundly heavy reflection on memory and the hidden struggles of a 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.
- 04
Blue Valentine
A brutally honest and exhausting portrait of a relationship slowly falling apart.
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
The Green Mile
A powerful tale of empathy and injustice that builds to an unforgettable emotional climax.
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.
- 06
The Fault in Our Stars
A poignant exploration of young love and the unfairness of terminal illness.
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a patient named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
- 07
Brokeback Mountain
A sweeping, somber drama about the lifelong cost of repressed love and regret.
In 1960s Wyoming, two men develop a strong emotional and sexual relationship that endures as a lifelong connection complicating their lives as they get married and start families of their own.
- 08
Lion
A deeply moving true story of identity and the overwhelming power of a long-awaited reunion.
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.
- 09
Close
A tender and heartbreaking examination of guilt and the sudden end of a childhood friendship.
Two 13-year-old boys spend an idyllic summer together, but their connection is put to the test when they become the subject of speculation at school.
- 10
The Iron Claw
A heavy, true-life family saga about the crushing weight of toxic expectations and loss.
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
Atonement
A beautifully shot tragedy centered on a single mistake and a lifetime of missed opportunities.
A young girl irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit.
- 12
Hachi: A Dog's Tale
A simple, soul-crushing story of loyalty that will resonate with every animal lover.
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.