33 Sad Movies on Netflix to Watch the Next Time You Need a Good Cry

When two teens with cystic fibrosis fall for each other, they must grapple with the sad truth of their shared diagnosis: that it's unsafe for them to be within six feet of each other, let alone touch, kiss, or have a shared life together.

Watch "Five Feet Apart" on Netflix.

This drama stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson as a New York City theater director and his wife, a former teen actress turned stage performer. Charlie and Nicole's already rocky marriage comes apart after Nicole accepts a starring role in a TV pilot and moves to Los Angeles with their son, and the movie follows the subsequent unraveling of their lives together. If you need a good ugly-cry, this one is for you.

Watch "Marriage Story" on Netflix.

Set in the early 1970s in Mexico City, "Roma" is a semibiographical take on the life of Oscar-winning director Alfonso Cuarón (who also produced, coedited, and shot the film), following a formative year in the life of a middle-class family and their live-in housekeeper. It's not only a gorgeous film — it's also a total heartbreaker.

Watch "Roma" on Netflix.

When a young woman, Abbie, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, she decides to make it her mission to find a new lover for her best friend since childhood and fiancé, Sam. The cast is insanely good, including the beautiful Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Michiel Huisman, and their onscreen chemistry is just as beautiful as it is devastating.

Watch "Irreplaceable You" on Netflix.

This French-language romance takes place in Dakar, Senegal, where 17-year-old Ada falls in love with a young construction worker named Souleiman, who's forced to leave her behind when his team relocates (and subsequently gets lost at sea). Little does she know that Souleiman will later return — and of course, it's on the same day she's supposed to marry someone else.

Watch "Atlantics" on Netflix.

Based on Jennifer Niven's YA novel of the same name, this drama romance stars Elle Fanning and Justice Smith as two small-town teenagers, Violet and Finch, who are brought together by fate after Finch talks Violet off the ledge of a bridge before she takes her life. Finch then helps Violet move past her sister's death, and spoiler alert: the ending feels like a punch to the gut.

Watch "All the Bright Places" on Netflix.

In this incredibly dark flick, Abbi Jacobson stars as a burdened big sister who spends a night driving around LA with her heroin-addicted brother (played by Dave Franco) and his 2-year-old daughter. Oh, yeah, and she's also trying to make it back in time for her boyfriend's surprise birthday party, where her friends and family are anxiously awaiting her arrival.

Watch "6 Balloons" on Netflix.

Based on the book of the same name by Robert Kolker, this drama tells the true story of a mother who relentlessly pushed law enforcement agents to search for her missing daughter. In the process, she also uncovered a series of unsolved murders, where the victims were all young female sex workers on Long Island.

Watch "Lost Girls" on Netflix.

Lily Collins stars in "To the Bone" as Ellen, a 20-year-old struggling to cope with anorexia, despite years spent in recovery programs. This one definitely isn't easy to watch, but that's exactly what makes it so powerful.

Watch "To the Bone" on Netflix.

Based on the true story of William Kamkwamba and his book written with Bryan Mealer, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind: Creating Currents of Electricity and Hope", this film follows a 13-year-old boy who discovered a way to save his Malawi village from famine. It is the directorial debut for "12 Years a Slave" actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, as well as the first starring role for newcomer Maxwell Simba, who plays William, and it's a total tearjerker.

Watch "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" on Netflix.

Based on the 2008 historical novel by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows by the same name, a London author (played by Lily James) bonds with the residents of Guernsey Island in the aftermath of World War II and begins to exchange letters with them. Through her correspondence, she learns what life was like during the German occupation, which changes her perspective on everything.

Watch "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" on Netflix.

Starring "Everybody Loves Raymond" actor Ray Romano and "The League"'s Mark Duplass (who also served as writer and director), this Sundance drama follows two neighbors who form an unlikely bond after Duplass's character is diagnosed with terminal cancer. It's a slow burn, but it definitely pays off in a big way.

Watch "Paddleton" on Netflix.

High-school sweethearts reunite after 20 years and take a trip down memory lane to their shared past in this emotional film about going home again. When Jim and Amanda bump into one another at a grocery store in their small hometown, it feels like no time has passed. But in truth, their lives are completely different: Jim recently lost his mother, and Amanda is in town to support her pregnant sister. At first their reunion is a dream come true, but once they return to Jim's mom's house, memories of the past come flooding back.

Watch "Blue Jay" on Netflix now.

Vanessa Kirby gives an astonishing performance in this devastating film about parents attempting to process a pregnancy loss after their homebirth ends in tragedy. As the couple looks for someone to blame, their own inner turmoil begins to tear them apart. Once they begin court proceedings against their midwife, they're forced to face their grief with surprising and heartbreaking results.

Watch "Pieces of a Woman" on Netflix now.

Will Smith plays a man willing to give his vital organs to those in need of a donor. After falling in love with a woman at risk of dying from a heart condition, it becomes apparent there is something else driving his mission to give.

Watch "Seven Pounds" on Netflix now.

Dev Patel will break your heart as Saroo, a man who goes in search of his birth family as an adult. At the age of 5, Saroo was lost on a train that took him thousands of miles away from his parents. He is ultimately adopted by an Australian couple, but the yearning to know where he came from and what happened to his parents sends him on a life-changing journey to India.

Watch "Lion" on Netflix now.

This Dutch drama is based on the book "Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend" by Alison Leslie Gold. The movie chronicles the friendship between Anne Frank and Hanneli Goslar, as told from Hanneli's perspective. From the early days of their friendship in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam to their eventual reunion in a concentration camp, this harrowing movie is the very definition of a tearjerker.

Watch "My Best Friend Anne Frank" on Netflix now.

For anyone who came of age in the '90s, "My Girl" is the ultimate weepie film. The 1991 movie follows Vada Sultenfuss (Anna Chlumsky) over a summer of change as she grapples with her unresolved feelings about her mother's death, the new reality of her father dating again, and the fragile nature of life and friendship with her best friend Thomas J. (Macaulay Culkin) by her side.

Watch "My Girl" on Netflix now.

Teen movie favorite Jacob Elordi stars in this film about young love and all the ways life can take a turn for the unexpected. To say much more would give the plot away, but just know this movie comes with a sucker punch of an ending, even as it also manages to share a valuable message about all of the special ways one life can affect many others.

Watch "2 Hearts" on Netflix now.

A movie doesn't have to be long to absolutely shatter your heart. Case in point: the animated short film "If Anything Happens, I Love You." Over the course of just 12 minutes, two grieving parents navigate the pain of losing their daughter even as they feel they're worlds apart from each other.

Watch "If Anything Happens, I Love You" on Netflix now.

A young journalist's entire life is thrown off course when she begins to hear voices in her head and experience seizures. Doctors are baffled as her condition continues to deteriorate. Soon her physicians are in a race against time to figure out what's causing this formerly healthy young woman's brain to turn against her.

Watch "Brain on Fire" on Netflix now.

Don't let the boppy musical numbers fool you, "Tick, Tick... Boom!" is a searing portrait of a young man dealing with anxiety and self doubt even as he pens plays that touch people's hearts. Based on the true story of playwright Jonathan Larson, the movie is ultimately the story of a creative talent who comes to regret sacrificing his personal relationships as he throws himself into his career.

Watch "Tick, Tick... Boom!" on Netflix now.

A bright high schooler named Amber appears to have everything going for her. But the truth is she's harboring a sad secret in "All Together Now." What no one knows is that she's living in a bus, but as she learns to open up and accept help from the people around her, Amber's life begins to change for the better in this life-affirming film.

Watch "All Together Now" on Netflix now.

He may be best known for his blockbusters, but when Smith decides to star in a drama, he goes all in. Take "Pursuit of Happyness," for example. It's a movie that's based on the true story of a man named Chris who works to give his son the best life possible after they're evicted from their home. The father-son duo bounce between shelters and struggle to make ends meet as Chris works an unpaid internship that could be the key to their future.

Watch "Pursuit of Happyness" on Netflix now.

"Brokeback Mountain" is a stunning love story that never fails to leave viewers weeping. Set in 1963, the story follows two cowboys played by Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal, who fall in love while working together as ranch hands. Over the course of the next 20 years, they marry women and try to stay away from one another, but their love keeps drawing them back together.

Watch "Brokeback Mountain" on Netflix.

Set in an impoverished neighborhood in Istanbul, "Paper Lives" follows a man named Mehmet, who runs a solid waste warehouse and does his best to help the unhoused people in his neighborhood. But when he meets an 8-year-old boy with no home, his life will be forever changed by the bond they form.

Watch "Paper Lives" on Netflix now.

Julianne Moore stars as a brilliant linguistics professor who is shaken to her core when she receives an early-onset Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. Knowing that she doesn't have long before she begins losing her memories and sense of self, Alice grapples with her new reality, while her adult children search for ways to help their mom.

Watch "Still Alice" on Netflix now.

At once achingly romantic and devastating, "If Beale Street Could Talk" will leave you both deeply affected and angry. Set in 1970s-era Harlem, the story focuses on Tish and Alonzo, whose relationship is passionate, beautiful, and built on mutual respect. But when Alonzo is arrested for a crime he didn't commit, the future they imagined with each other falls apart.

Watch "If Beale Street Could Talk" on Netflix.

"Stepmom" is a classic weepie starring Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts. Roberts is the stepmother to Sarandon's character's children, and at first, the kids want nothing to do with her. However, once their mom receives a devastating diagnosis, these two women find common ground in ensuring the children have a future filled with love, even if they both won't be there to see it unfold.

Watch "Stepmom" on Netflix now.

A pregnant mother is diagnosed with terminal cancer in this movie that's all about finding a way to be a part of your family's life even after you're gone. Knowing that she'll never live to see her child grow up, the expectant mother sets out to put together 18 special gifts for her unborn daughter, so each year on her birthday, she'll know how much her mother loved her.

Watch "18 Presents" on Netflix now.

"Les Misérables" more than lives up to its title when Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is unfairly imprisoned and then sets off on a revenge mission upon his release. Even when he becomes the guardian of a motherless child, he still can't stop seeking justice, which ultimately just leads to even more heartbreak.

Watch "Les Misérables" on Netflix now.

"Notes For My Son" is another film about a mother facing a terminal diagnosis. In this one, the mom, Maria, uses her sense of humor and optimism to write letters to her young son that will help him know his mother's love even after she's gone.

Watch "Notes For My Son" now on Netflix.

"The Swimmers" tells the harrowing true story of sisters Nathalie Issa and Manal Issa, who swam alongside a Syrian refugee dingy to prevent it from sinking. The movie chronicles their story as one of the sisters goes on to swim in the Olympics, while the others work to help refugees find a safe place to live and ultimately ends up facing criminal charges for her selfless work.

Watch "The Swimmers" on Netflix now.