our favourite tearjerkers

We all need a good cry, especially on a Monday... and as we enter a new year... and as Valentine's weekend happens to come around... well never mind the reasons, we'll mind our business.

Our team puts together our favourite tried and tested tearjerkers for when you just need a good sob to reset your system.

You are not entitled to compensation if you don't actually bawl, but leave us a comment and maybe we'll consider sending you something... log along with us on Letterboxd here.

atlanta’s picks

Ringing Bell (1978)

directed by Masami Hata

What looks on the surface to be a charming children's story about a cute little lamb ends up becoming a horrific tale of monstrosity, war, and the nature of violence. There is no happy ending in Ringing Bell, with every moment of possible joy occluded by sacrifice. At a short forty-five-minute run time, this is a strong contender if you ever need a tearjerker to get to work promptly.

Available: on YouTube

Elisa y Marcela (2019)

written & directed by Isabel Coixet

It would be wrong to write about sad films and not include at least one weepy lesbian period drama. Of the almost endless selection, one of my favourites is Elisa y Marcela. It's a concise film with a singular aim and whilst that can often limit narratives, in this case, it offers a cinematic minimalism that is refreshing. Similarly refreshing is its refusal to pander to lesbian yearning, so you're not sitting waiting an hour plus for a gay kiss after drawn-out hand caressing and meaningful glances. Yearning or no yearning, lesbian period dramas are a guaranteed tear-fest, and this one is no different.

Available: on Netflix

emmanuel’s picks

The Only One (2016)

directed by Thitipong Kerdtongtawee

It’s nice to see romance depicted within a clear South East Asian context. The indirect communication, the aloofness, the over-the-top wordy confessions normally seen in Western romances replaced with a more subtle coyness that is just as endearing. The intermix of comedy with sadness and grief leading up to the ending is well executed. The titular song in this film has become one of my personal favourites and when it kicks in during the climax, it truly drives home the emotional heart of this film: to cherish love, in all its simplicity and splendour.

Available: on YouTube

milaine’s picks

Miracle in Cell No. 7 (2013)

directed by Lee Hwan-kyung

In a very classic South Korean way, this movie is both a warm and fuzzy hehe haha fun time while also being the most heartbreaking thing I have ever watched. The story revolves around an intellectually disabled man who is wrongly incarcerated and separated from his six-year old daughter while he has to room with a group of hardened criminals and tries desperately to be reunited with his daughter, who has nobody else but him to take care of her. It’s a little bit about how the legal system is horrifically uninterested in actually delivering justice, and a lot about kindness blooming in the places you least expect. It’s been about 10 years since I first watched it, but I viscerally remember the feeling of dry heaving because I cried so much my tear ducts had dried out.

Available: on Netflix

71: Into The Fire (2010)

directed by John H. Lee

What does it say about me that all the films that make me cry uncontrollably are Korean movies that I first watched when I was a mentally unwell teenager? Everyone was skeptical when T.O.P. of the Big Bang Kpop fame was cast in Squid Game Season 2, but I wasn’t, because I was familiar with his game!!! This movie will destroy you and it’s also based on a true story that will destroy you even more, about a group of 71 student volunteer soldiers defending themselves against the advancing North Korean army during the Korean War in 1950. The entire 2 hours of the film occupies itself with the 11 hours in which this group of untrained teenage boys try to go up against an elite squadron equipped with guns and tanks. It’s not subtle by any means, and obviously you wouldn’t expect it to be. Life is really sad and war is really tragic, and no child should ever have to think about violence and now I’m thinking about Gaza and I want to cry. I actually have the DVD of this, that’s how serious it is.

Available: on DVD

suria’s picks

An Affair To Remember (1957)

directed by Leo McCarey

Two strangers; Nickie Ferrante (Cary Grant) and Terry Mckay (Deborah Kerr) fall in love on a cruise ship despite being engaged to other people, yet, they agree to meet at the Empire State Building in six months to test if their love is real. Initially, I thought there was no way you could convince a womanizer to fall in love and stupidly fall in love with one. But the chemistry between Grant and Kerr is absolutely undeniable. This was a stunningly crafted film, and everything about them was just both so devastating and hopeful.

Available: on DVD

The Journey (2014)

directed by Chiu Keng Guan

In light of Chinese New Year, I felt as if the timing couldn’t have been better to revisit this film. At its core, The Journey is about a father’s difficulty in accepting change and the fear of losing his daughter to a world he doesn’t fully understand. The film’s cinematography is stunning. It showcased Malaysia’s beautiful landscapes as a reflection of Uncle Chuan’s internal journey, with every step representing a piece of his past and the fading traditions that he cherishes. This film is full of laughs, tears and moments that are sure to leave you feeling closer to home than ever.

Available: on DVD

taie’s picks

Saving Face (2004)

written and directed by Alice Wu

For lack of better words, this movie was to me the OG ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’. The struggles are similar where a Chinese-American lesbian, Wil, has a strenuous relationship with her mother due to her sexuality and the limitations of tradition. Perhaps it’s the Asian Lesbian in me, but this movie never fails to pull at my heart-strings with its mother-daughter relationship, where the two are learning that they are their own people. The movie markets itself as a rom-com and in all fairness, it is! I just think that at the heart of it all, learning the heartbreak and the love of being a family is what’ll draw you in.

Available on: Apple TV