10 Most Emotional Movies of All Time, Ranked

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TIm Robbins and Morgan Freeman looking in the same direction in The Shawshank Redemption.

Jeremy has more than 2200 published articles on Collider to his name, and has been writing for the site since February 2022. He's an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet, so will gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU... well, maybe not the Disney+ shows.
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Well, talking about emotional movies within a ranking is always going to be hard, because how emotional a movie is or isn't can be quite subjective. You might be able to single out a movie that’s trying to go for something emotional, or understand why others might find it emotional without being moved by it yourself, and similarly, a film that doesn’t really move many people might move you if it lines up very specifically with your life experience.

That’s all to say that what follows is an attempt to outline some of the most emotional movies of all time, but with acknowledging that doing this feels a bit more subjective than most other rankings. Also, “emotional” is not necessarily the same as “emotionally devastating,” so if you're wondering why something bleak and despairing like Threads or Come and See isn't here, that might be why. At the same time, a couple of these are kind of bleak and despairing, but most are some level of bittersweet, with the heavier ones admittedly being more bitter than sweet. Anyway, it’s difficult. But an attempt was made, nonetheless.

10 'Marriage Story' (2019)

Adam Driver as Charlie shouting at Scarlett Johansson as Nicole in Marriage Story

Marriage Story goes big, not in a blockbuster sort of way or anything, but emotionally. And that’s the main reason for it being here. If it went any bigger, it would probably feel too much like a melodrama, but it pushes things just far enough while still feeling like a largely grounded look at two people going through the various difficult stages of a divorce, complicated by the question of what’s to be done with their son during – and after – the whole ordeal.

That’s all it is, really. It’s two people painfully and slowly separating while having things simmer for a while, and remain unsaid, and then inevitably blow up. Marriage Story isn't entirely hopeless, though, even if parts of it are quite heavy, and the fact there’s some potential light at the end of it all does make things cathartic, while also making the more harrowing/intense scenes feel all the more gruelling.

9 'Magnolia' (1999)

20 years before Marriage Story, Magnolia was another drama that began with “Ma” that pushed things about as far as they could go, as a drama, without adding a “melo” to the start of such a genre. And even if Magnolia is kind of a melodrama, it’s a damn good one, with some of the best acting you'll see from a bunch of actors in its impressive cast (Tom Cruise, in particular, might well be as good as he’s ever been here).

It’s almost an epic, and Magnolia also stands as a messy – but ultimately striking – masterpiece.

As for the narrative of Magnolia, it’s kind of about lots of different things and people at once, with everyone having their own drama and only some of their stories intersecting in interesting ways throughout. It’s almost an epic, even though the time covered is very short (most of it takes place within the span of less than a single day), and it also stands as a messy – but ultimately striking – masterpiece of sorts.

8 'Coco' (2017)

There are many Pixar movies that are pretty damn effective at making viewers cry, even if – or maybe especially if – those viewers are adults, rather than kids, so picking out the “most” emotional one is hard. You could put any of the first three Toy Story movies here, especially #2 and #3, Finding Nemo is quite the tearjerker, and then so is Inside Out, which is all about emotions, too.

But then there’s Coco, which is a kid-friendly animated movie that, perhaps surprisingly, is about death, the afterlife, and legacy, all in ways that are mature but not too intense for younger viewers. It peaks emotionally, as you might expect, right near the end, being far from the only movie released by Pixar with one hell of a memorable ending.

7 'West Side Story' (1961)

Since West Side Story is based on a stage musical, it is quite theatrical and heightened, but in a way that doesn’t necessarily sacrifice the emotions inherent to the story, nor the capacity for you to feel moved by what goes down. It’s Romeo and Juliet, but with street gangs in New York City during the 1950s, and there’s a whole heap of conflict that gets intensified when two people from “opposite sides” suddenly fall in love.

It's not a happy romance movie, by any means, but you know that from the start, probably even if you're not specifically aware beforehand that it’s a take on Romeo and Juliet (that becomes clear rather quickly). West Side Story is an all-timer of a musical, without a doubt, and it’s consistently bold and in-your-face with its emotional stuff, meaning it’s hard not to feel impacted by it all.

6 'Hachiko' (1987)

Hachiko is a family movie that, quite surprisingly, goes for the jugular in terms of being emotionally devastating. There is a cute dog, and some heartwarming stuff found within an ultimately tragic story, but it is also about that dog continually waiting for his master to return, unaware (being a dog and all) that said master has passed away.

It’s based on an actual story and a real-life dog whose statue can be seen outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo, which is where Hachiko would visit with the hope that his master would come home one day, on the train. Of all the tearjerking movies about dogs out there (and there are quite a few), Hachiko might well be the most moving, which is saying a lot, so anyone with even a moderate fondness for dogs will probably be left crying at some point during this one.

5 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003)

There were emotional moments throughout the entire The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but probably the most contained within the third and final one: The Return of the King. That makes sense, because a concluding chapter to a trilogy this epic in scale and ambitious emotionally should be cathartic and moving, and you get that a lot with the extended ending (or series of endings, some might say) that make up the last 20 to 30 minutes of The Return of the King.

Everything here is necessary though, and moving, and it doesn’t feel overlong when you consider how three movies’ worth of story had to be wrapped up here. The massive battles help, but it’s the emotional punch of The Return of the King that might well contribute the most to the argument that The Return of the King is the potential best movie of its decade.

4 'Cinema Paradiso' (1988)

A man smiling while looking at the movie screen in Cinema-Paradiso

A movie all about nostalgia, Cinema Paradiso is inevitably going to be moving, and it is throughout, but then it really becomes more so by the time it reaches its final sequence. It’s an ending not worth ruining, even if the film is nearly 40 years old, but as to what can be said about Cinema Paradiso’s story? It’s about a kid who grows up to be a movie director, and how he looks back on his past after a funeral brings him back to his old hometown.

It's one of the best movies out there about loving the movies themselves, and so it’s the kind of thing that’s likely to move any film fan. Or if you're just a romantic sort of person more generally speaking, then Cinema Paradiso will also likely prove to be a rather potent tearjerker. It’s moving and bittersweet without ever being too much, or too sappy, and that helps further the feeling that Cinema Paradiso will continue to stand the test of time and stuff.

3 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994)

Stephen King is more well-recognized for his ability to scare than to move readers, but he’s got an emotional side and can indeed pen moving stories when he wants to, as evidenced by the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, which was adapted into The Shawshank Redemption. And 1994’s The Shawshank Redemption is one of the most popular and well-liked movies of all time, so what else can really be said about it at this point?

Like, yes, it’s about the human spirit and finding connection with others during dark times, and never giving up hope and all that, which all sounds like it could be corny if mishandled, but nothing is mishandled in The Shawshank Redemption, as it’s a pretty much perfect movie. If you can get through this one without feeling something at least once, then, like, check your pulse or something, because you might be dead.

2 'Schindler's List' (1993)

Both Marriage Story and (to a slightly greater extent) Hachiko were inspired by real life events, but neither were about as significant – or devastating – an event as Schindler’s List was. So, putting it in the same ranking does feel a little strange, as does putting it alongside a Pixar movie (albeit one of the heavier ones), but Schindler’s List is emotionally hard-hitting enough that it feels stranger to leave it out altogether.

It lays bare the horrors of the Holocaust, but also highlights an act of heroism that happened amongst all the devastation: Oskar Schindler and what he did to save more than 1000 Jewish lives from perishing in a concentration camp. It could well be Steven Spielberg’s greatest achievement, as a filmmaker, and it deserves to stand alongside (admittedly more gruelling and harrowing) documentaries like Night and Fog and Shoah as an essential film about one of the darkest chapters of 20th century history.

1 'Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father' (2008)

David and Kate Bagby with baby Zachary in 'Dear Zachary.'

Things are ending heavily, with another movie that’s about a real-life case, and it’s also a documentary, which keeps things feeling more real, but it’s Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father, and it’s hard to look over when talking about emotionally hard-hitting movies. It’s about a young man being murdered by an ex-girlfriend, and what happens when it turns out she’s pregnant with his child.

So, that’s where the “Letter to a Son About His Father” angle comes in, with Dear Zachary being made for that infant, Zachary, since his father died before he was even born. But there is more to the overall story that proves further devastating, particularly as regards Zachary’s grandparents, and their concerns over their grandson and his mother. It’s one of the most intense crime documentaries ever made, and if there’s a sadder movie made since the 21st century began, then this writer hasn’t seen it.

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