The 20 Saddest Movies on Netflix That Will Have You Bawling Like a Baby

If you’ve never seen Charlie St. Cloud, we won’t ruin it for you, but just know that you will see Zac Efron cry. If that’s what you need to encourage your own crying marathon, then do you.

Watch Charlie St. Cloud on Netflix.

Ah, The Notebook. If you added up the collective tears cried by audiences watching this Nicholas Sparks adaptation over the years, you could fill one of the smaller seas.

Watch The Notebook on Netflix.

Sick of The Notebook? Skip to A Walk to Remember, the second-greatest Nicholas Sparks adaptation of all time. We’re still in our feelings about the crush Mandy Moore had on Shane West while filming.

Watch A Walk to Remember on Netflix.

Remember Me is often overlooked in the pantheon of great young romance films, but damn if it won’t make you cry a million times over. Robert Pattinson stars with Emilie de Ravin in the drama, and if you haven’t read anything about the plot – don’t.

Watch Remember Me 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.

Starring Amanda Seyfried and Channing Tatum, this heartbreaking romance tells the story of a soldier and an idealistic college student who embark on a tumultuous relationship, which only grows in intensity, even though it is often interrupted by John’s increasingly dangerous deployments. Why do you keep ruining us like this, Nicholas Sparks?

Watch Dear John on Netflix.

This coming-of-age drama follows a young man named Chiron as he grows up poor, gay, and Black in Miami, and it’s stunning in just about every way. Spoiler alert: you’ll need to keep a tissue box on hand for this one.

Watch Moonlight 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 byDave 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 Stephen Chbosky’s novel of the same name, this drama chronicles a high school freshman’s first brushes with romance, parties, and drugs, all while coping with his friend’s suicide and a painful repressed memory that finally begins to make itself known. No matter how many times you watch this one, it will still bring on the waterworks.

Watch The Perks of Being a Wallower 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.

Laura and Vanessa Marano coproduced (and star in) this drama, which is based on Alyson Noël’s novel of the same name. Saving Zoë tells the story of Echo (played by Laura), who enters high school still trying to understand her older sister Zoë’s (played by Vanessa) murder, only to find out her sibling was a victim of sexual exploitation.

Watch Saving Zoë 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.

Set in mid-1980s Texas, this biographical drama tells the story of Ron Woodroof (played by Matthew McConaughey), a man who is diagnosed with AIDS and told that he has just 30 days left to live. Desperate, Ron forms a bond with another AIDS patient (played by Jared Leto), and together, they attempt to find a treatment that might save their lives.

Watch Dallas Buyers Club 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‘s 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.