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Ever in the mood to just cry? Wail? Bawl your eyes out? Don’t worry: it happens to the best of us. Every now and then, when you’re crippled by sadness, watching a ridiculously morbid movie is the ideal catharsis to purge you of the tears built up inside you. There are plenty of sad sub-categories populating the “drama” genre, but nothing kickstarts the waterworks quite like doomed romances. The only thing about a tear-jerking romantic drama, however, is that almost all of them were meant to be watched alone. Which is why you should avoid seeing Carol this weekend with anyone but yourself and a bag of popcorn that you can cry into.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4z7Px68ywk]Based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith and directed by Todd Haynes (I’m Not There, Safe); the film follows young Therese (Rooney Mara), a department store clerk desperate to break free of her everyday monotony when she meets an intriguing older, married woman, Carol (Cate Blanchett). In addition to its rave preliminary reviews and guaranteed shot in the Oscar race, Carol is sure to be a heartbreaker.
To welcome the weeping, however, we’ve curated the saddest romances on streaming. So go ahead and cry. Seriously, just let it all out. And if you find your eyes dry even halfway through the following ten films, we’re pretty sure you’re made of stone. Without further ado, here they are, ranked by the sheer power of their sadness (and don’t worry, you won’t see The Notebook on here).
'Revolutionary Road' (2007)
You thought your heart was broken when Kate let Leo float to the bottom of the ocean in Titanic? Psh, that’s because you haven’t experienced the pain and suffering that is Revolutionary Road. Sam Mendes (Winslet’s husband at the time) directs this gut-wrenching drama about the slow-building resentment that goes hand-in-hand with being married to someone you no longer love. Don’t let the fact that Winslet are DiCaprio are in it fool you — this is anything but a glossy romance.
'Love & Basketball' (2000)
Ugh, you know when people are all like, “If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be?” Well, in Love & Basketball, Quincy (Omar Epps) and Monica (Sanaa Lathan) are one-hundred percent meant to be, but everything in their lives tears them apart. Including basketball! If you think about it, the majority of sports dramas are already sad, but throw a turbulent romance into the mix and cue the waterworks.
'Brokeback Mountain' (2006)
Sometimes the romances that rip your heart out are the ones where there’s no one to root against. Even though you desperately want Ennis (Heath Ledger) and Jack (Jake Gyllenhaal) to live happily ever after, it’s tough to watch their affair slowly but surely tear their families apart and destroy the lives they once knew.
'The Fault In Our Stars' (2014)
Sure, it’s pretty basic. And you’re going to be furious with yourself for crying. But try keeping it together during a movie about two cancer-ridden teenagers (Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort) who fall in love at a cancer support group and then embark on an extra sad European vacation before, sniff, the inevitable.
'P.S. I Love You' (2011)
Based on the equally heartbreaking novel by Cecelia Ahern, P.S. I Love You follows the intense marriage between Holly (Hilary Swank) and Gerry (Gerard Butler) before their turbulent romance is cut short by Gerry’s terminal brain tumor. If that’s not enough to kickstart the tears, Holly discovers Gerry left her ten letters before he died to help her begin a new life.
'6 Years' (2015)
Up-and-coming director, Hannah Fidell, isn’t exactly known for making feel-good movies and 6 Years is no different. Intimately shot, we’re invited into the innocent world of two college lovers (played by Taissa Farmiga and Ben Rosenfield) who have been together most of their young adult lives. But with graduation right around the corner and looming pressures to explore unfulfilled desires lead them down a violent, destructive path.
'Amour' (2012)
So imagine you find the perfect match and you spend the next fifty or sixty years together. Got it? Cool. Now picture one of you suffers a stroke and everything goes to shit. Amour is a beautiful, crushing reminder to live life to the fullest because old age takes no prisoners.
'Like Crazy' (2011)
If you’re in a long-distance relationship, it’s highly suggested you avoid this one. Felicity Jones and Anton Yelchin star as Anna and Jacob in this maddening heartache of a movie about two college students kept separated after — not kidding — Anna overstays her visa and is banned from the United States. If there was an award for saddest story ever told that could have easily been avoided by filling out paperwork in a timely manner then Like Crazy would win, hands down.
'Blue Is the Warmest Color' (2013)
If you were lured into seeing this French masterpiece because of the provocative NC-17 rating and promise of extended lesbian sex scenes: the joke was on you. While the sex certainly pushes boundaries, Blue Is the Warmest Color will haunt you for days, weeks, and years to come because, frankly, you’ve never seen true love (or heartbreak) quite like Adèle’s (Adèle Exarchopolous) and Emma’s (Léa Seydoux).
'The Broken Circle Breakdown' (2013)
Here it is, folks: the most dismal, disparaging debilitating, frustrating, stunning love story ever depicted. No, seriously, The Broken Circle Breakdown is all those things and more. Veerle Baetens and Johan Heldenbergh star as Elise and Didier: two artists brought together by bluegrass music and kept together by an accidental pregnancy. Told non-linearly, the film is a whirlwind of passion and pain set to one of the most emotional soundtracks you’ve ever heard.
