Tearjerker movies
Stories that might make you cry — in a good way.
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Titanic
1997
Drama · Romance
101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.
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Everything in this deck
Titanic1997
Drama · Romance
101-year-old Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story of her life aboard the Titanic, 84 years later. A young Rose boards the ship with her mother and fiancé. Meanwhile, Jack Dawson and Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets aboard the ship. Rose tells the whole story from Titanic's departure through to its death—on its first and last voyage—on April 15, 1912.
Grave of the Fireflies1988
Animation · Drama · War
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.
It's a Wonderful Life1946
Drama · Family · Fantasy
George Bailey has spent his entire life giving to the people of Bedford Falls. All that prevents rich skinflint Mr. Potter from taking over the entire town is George's modest building and loan company. But on Christmas Eve the business's $8,000 is lost and George's troubles begin.
Atonement2007
Drama · Romance
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.
Past Lives2023
Drama · Romance
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.
Sophie's Choice1982
Drama · Romance
Stingo, a young writer, moves to Brooklyn in 1947 to begin work on his first novel. As he becomes friendly with Sophie and her lover Nathan, he learns that she is a Holocaust survivor. Flashbacks reveal her harrowing story, from pre-war prosperity to Auschwitz. In the present, Sophie and Nathan's relationship increasingly unravels as Stingo grows closer to Sophie and Nathan's fragile mental state becomes ever more apparent.
Up2009
Animation · Comedy · Family
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.
Brokeback Mountain2005
Drama · Romance
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.
The Notebook2004
Romance · Drama
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.
Blue Valentine2010
Drama · Romance
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.
Cries and Whispers1972
Drama
As Agnes slowly dies of cancer, her sisters are so immersed in their own psychic pains that they are unable to offer her the support she needs.
Interstellar2014
Adventure · Drama · Sci-Fi
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Terms of Endearment1983
Drama · Comedy
Aurora, a finicky woman, is in search of true love while her daughter faces marital issues. Together, they help each other deal with problems and find reasons to live a joyful life.
A Star Is Born2018
Music · Drama · Romance
Seasoned musician Jackson Maine discovers — and falls in love with — struggling artist Ally. She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer — until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.
Brief Encounter1945
Drama · Romance
Returning home from a shopping trip to a nearby town, bored suburban housewife Laura Jesson is thrown by happenstance into an acquaintance with virtuous doctor Alec Harvey. Their casual friendship soon develops during their weekly visits into something more emotionally fulfilling than either expected, and they must wrestle with the potential havoc their deepening relationship would have on their lives and the lives of those they love.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire2019
Drama · Romance
On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman.
Beaches1988
Comedy · Drama · Music
A privileged rich debutante and a cynical struggling entertainer share a turbulent, but strong childhood friendship over the years.
Schindler's List1993
Drama · History · War
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.
The Pursuit of Happyness2006
Drama
A struggling salesman takes custody of his son as he's poised to begin a life-changing professional career.
The Sweet Hereafter1997
Drama
A small mountain community in Canada is devastated when a school bus accident leaves more than a dozen of its children dead. A big-city lawyer arrives to help the survivors' and victims' families prepare a class-action suit, but his efforts only seem to push the townspeople further apart. At the same time, one teenage survivor of the accident has to reckon with the loss of innocence brought about by a different kind of damage.
Ghost1990
Fantasy · Romance · Thriller
After a young man is murdered, his spirit stays behind to warn his lover of impending danger, with the help of a reluctant psychic.
If Beale Street Could Talk2018
Romance · Drama
After her fiance is falsely imprisoned, a pregnant African-American woman sets out to clear his name and prove his innocence.
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father2008
Documentary · Crime
In 2001, Andrew Bagby, a medical resident, is murdered not long after breaking up with his girlfriend. Soon after, when she announces she's pregnant, one of Andrew's many close friends, Kurt Kuenne, begins this film, a gift to the child.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind2004
Sci-Fi · Drama · Romance
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.
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About this deck
The films come from published “best of” lists for this mood, checked by hand and ordered by how often they're recommended. The list above names the top 24. Picks include Titanic, Grave of the Fireflies, and It's a Wonderful Life.
Swipe it on your own and the deck deals 12 cards at random from the whole list — yes, no or maybe. Your yeses become a shortlist, and if you still can't choose, the dice pick one. No account needed.
Deciding with others? Swipe with friends: everyone swipes the same cards on their own phone, and pickaru finds the one you all said yes to — or your top picks.