Movies Guaranteed To Make Anyone Cry

Whether it's over a gut-wrenching political drama, a slow-burning slice-of-life biopic, or even a seemingly comical animated flick, we've all shed a tear or two watching a film (though some of us may never admit it). Crying can be cathartic, especially when catalyzed by something as artistic and carefully crafted as a movie, and scenes that spark the waterworks are usually among the most memorable. If you're looking to let it all out over some particularly poignant films, and even some unexpectedly sentimental ones, you've come to the right place. Grab your pint of Ben & Jerry's and a box of tissues (and beware of spoilers!) as we take a look at some movies sure to make you cry.

If you've caught Christopher Nolan's unexpectedly touching space epic Interstellar, which picked up a handful of Oscar nominations in 2015, you'll know what's coming next. This story of headstrong astronaut Joseph Cooper (played wonderfully by Matthew McConaughey), determined to complete a galactic mission that spans decades, isn't one you'd anticipate to have you bawling like a baby, but oh, it absolutely does.

Let's rewind a bit and ask why astro-McConaughey is even launching into the stars in the first place. Simple: Earth has been ravaged of its crops, and humanity's survival is in doubt, so Cooper and the crew of the spaceship Endurance head out in an attempt to bring energy back to Earth before their children pass. This is what makes Interstellar so heartbreaking. While en route, Cooper receives messages from his children, Murphy and Tom, who have aged significantly since he left. In the clips, Tom catches Cooper up to speed on his marriage and the birth (and eventual death) of his son, and Murphy mentions that she's the same age as Cooper was when he left. Compound this with McConaughey's gripping performance, and this scene has left us decidedly not "alright, alright, alright." (Don't even get us started on when Cooper and Murphy eventually reunite.)

Adapted from the 1996 Stephen King novel, The Green Mile can seem on the surface a darker, weightier film than most, but what lies below is a web of relationships that will tug at your heartstrings. The most touching of all? John Coffey (the late Michael Clark Duncan) and Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks), who form an unusual alliance at Cold Mountain Penitentiary, where Paul is the death row supervisor and John is awaiting execution for a crime he didn't commit. Supremely and supernaturally gifted, John cures many of their ailments, including (you guessed it) Paul.

While The Green Mile has plenty of emotional moments, one in particular will leave you in disbelief at just how many tears your eyes can produce in a single sitting. Though the entire group of Cold Mountain guards know John is an innocent man, and have difficulty coming to terms with ending his life, John confides in Paul that he wants to die, as the world is too cruel a place for him to live, and so the men respect his wishes. Moments before John is killed, Paul steps forward to shake his hand, a subtle reminder that their bond was true and a thank you for sending him onward.

Even fans of one of the most beloved novel-to-film franchises of all time aren't immune from tear-stained cheeks. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, based on the second and third volumes of J. R. R. Tolkien's epic series The Lord of the Rings, doesn't wrench us with all-out brutality or countless gruesome deaths, but with its purity and its people. The moment everything falls to tears is a small but impactful one, when the newly-crowned king recognizes the Hobbits for what they're worth and delivers a line none of us will soon forget: "My friends, you bow to no one." After watching them bravely trek the world to finally vanquish Sauron once and for all, we couldn't agree more. Pass the tissues, please.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest films ever made, The Shawshank Redemption, adapted from the Stephen King novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, received seven Oscar nominations, glowing critic reviews, and the attention of a ton of heartbroken moviegoers. This 1994 flick stars Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne, a banker sent to Shawshank Prison following his murder conviction, and Morgan Freeman as Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, another prisoner serving a life term. The pair learn from one another the virtues of patience, fortitude, mild manners, and the intricacies of justice against reality. Alongside the initially unlikely duo is Brooks Hatlen (James Whitmore), a convict incarcerated since 1905, who's finally released in his old age. Realizing just how much the "the world went and got itself in a big damn hurry" while he was locked up, Brooks is unsure how to navigate even the simplest tasks, and his health suffers because of it.

"I have trouble sleepin' at night. I have bad dreams like I'm falling. I wake up scared. Sometimes it takes me a while to remember where I am," Brooks says. "I don't like it here. I'm tired of being afraid all the time. I've decided not to stay. I doubt they'll kick up any fuss. Not for an old crook like me. P.S: Tell Heywood I'm sorry I put a knife to his throat. No hard feeling, Brooks."

Brooks delivers this farewell monologue, addressed to those still inside Shawshank Prison, in a cutting and ugly-cry-inducing scene that culminates in his suicide. Just before he passes, he carves "Brooks was here" into a ceiling beam inside his home. (Yeah, we're welling up just thinking about it.)

This Benedict Cumberbatch and Keira Knightley-led historical drama brings light to one of Britain's most brilliant minds: Alan Turing, the computer scientist and cryptanalyst famous for his efforts to crack the code on the German-backed Enigma machines, used during World War I to transmit diplomatic and military communication. Though lauded for his exceptional talent and unwavering perseverance, Turing was subject to extreme ridicule by the United Kingdom's legal system following the discovery that he was in a same-sex relationship with a young man named Arnold Murray. The Imitation Game depicts this arresting account of discrimination and unjust, inhumane treatment with dexterity, but the tipping point comes in a minute moment of vulnerability.

Facing the risk of losing his career, accomplishments, and credibility because he's gay, Turing collapses inward, begging Joan (Knightley) to help save his latest machine, which he lovingly named Christopher after a boy he fell in love with in school. "They'll take him away from me," he says. "You can't let them do that. You can't let them leave me alone. I don't want to be alone."

We're ending on a softer note, one that doesn't center around loss or grief or any of that trademark sad stuff. Instead, we bring you hope so bright and gleaming, it'll leave your eyes glassy with inspiration.

The LEGO Movie might seem like a peculiar choice for this list, and the majority of the block-based animated flick focuses on its dazzling cast takin' on the bad guys with a badass ferocity, but it all takes a deeper turn in the last few minutes. Beneath the comical exterior is a real-life family, Finn and "the Man Upstairs," whose story is framed in the context of the tiny toy characters and their topsy-turvy world; Finn uses the LEGO figures to work through the strains of his relationship with his father.

In a final moving speech, the Man Upstairs (Will Ferrell) realizes his son's dreamt-up antagonist, President Business, is actually based on him, his perfectionism, and his tendency to resort to condescension. He asks Finn what his protagonist, Emmet, would say to President Business, and the response will have you weeping.

"You don't have to be the bad guy. You are the most talented, most interesting, and most extraordinary person in the universe," Finn says to his father, through the LEGO character Emmet. "And you are capable of amazing things. Because you are the Special... and you still can change everything."

Excuse us, we have something in our eye...

Pixar has a particular way of pulling at your emotions (need we remind you of the "I look at you, and I'm home" moment from Finding Nemo?), but there was something uniquely devastating about its 2010 flick Toy Story 3. Eleven years after the second installment in the twee tale of personified toys, a series that an entire generation of people grew up watching, Toy Story 3 had no shortage of the hilarious moments and tongue-in-cheek references that only adults would pick up on, and it also carried with it a plotline that drove straight into its audience's heart: the gang of toys don't belong to Andy anymore, a circumstance that leaves their fates hanging on a wire.

During the climax of the film, the whole bunch—Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr. Potato Head, Rex, Slinky Dog, and even the new antagonist Lots-O'-Huggin' Bear—are tossed into an incinerator after an escape plan goes wrong. Of course, watching characters you were first introduced to when you were just a tiny tot in immediate and fatal danger is difficult enough, but the moment the crew realizes that they're going to die and decide to link up hands so they can face their misfortune together is next-level cinematic torture. Only those with hearts (and eyes) of steel can make it through this scene without shedding a ton of tears.

The word association between the Fast and Furious film franchise usually doesn't involve phrases like "poignant," "heart-rending," or "emotionally complex," but the 2015 installment Furious 7 is undoubtedly all those things. Far more moving than most action flicks of recent memory, the James Wan-directed pic encapsulates the true final job of Brian O'Conner, played by the late Paul Walker.

Walker, who was killed in a car accident in November 2013 during a Furious 7 filming break, had a tangible presence in the film after his passing, despite the director using Walker's younger brothers as doubles to wrap up his physical appearance on screen. After all the madcap action sequences (like the cars jumping out of a plane and then between two buildings) of the film have slowed to a stop, Furious 7 tributes Walker with a simple and sentimental final scene.

As Walker's Brian plays on the beach with his wife Mia (Jordana Brewster) and son, and a montage of previous Fast and Furious films flash on screen, Vin Diesel's Dominic Toretto delivers what feels like a eulogy to Walker: "I used say I live my life a quarter-mile at a time. And I think that's why we were brothers. Because you did, too. No matter where you are, whether it's a quarter-mile away or halfway across the world, the most important thing in life will always be the people in this room... You'll always be with me. And you'll always be my brother."

Pass the tissues, please.

The late Robin Williams' Oscar-winning performance as Professor Sean Maguire in the 1997 drama Good Will Hunting is one of his finest, as the Academy can clearly tell you, and it can all be boiled down to one tiny phrase: "It's not your fault."

Any Good Will Hunting fan can recite the scene in question in their sleep: Matt Damon's Will Hunting is speaking to Williams' Sean (albeit reluctantly) about the abuse he suffered as a child, the physical trauma his foster parents inflicted upon him. Will asks Sean if he had experience with "that," and the moment spirals out into a stunning breakthrough grounded in that single sentence that sits sincere amongst a film that's littered with sarcastic, quippy one-liners.

Just as Will holds on to Sean's empathetic words,"It's not your fault," so too does the audience. We all want—nay, need—to be reminded every once in awhile that the dealer of the bad cards we've been given is to blame, not us.