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[Andrin]

Torka Aldrig Tårar Utan Handskar (Never Dry Tears Without Gloves), is a three novel series written by one of Swedens' more famous authors and comedians Jonas Gardell, about his friends during the AIDS epidemic in the 80's. The novels themselves are heartwrenching, but it's the title itself that gets to me the most. It's a reference to how the victims were treated like lepers to be locked away and never touched in order to protect 'normal' people from infection. Slight spoilers:

Spoiler

as well as to a scene where one of the main characters is crying over everything that is happening and a nurse comes up to him and helps dry his tears without wearing protective gloves, and just how monumental such a small act of compassion can be.

 

[Philia]

Metal Gear Solid 4

edit: Also, the season finale of season 4 of House - "House's Head" and "Wilson's Heart".

Extremely impactful, honestly my favorite piece of storytelling on TV.

Spoiler

"I'm dead!"

Fuck me when I heard her say that when she realizes it.

Schindlers list

What broke me was when

Spoiler

he cried and said he's no hero, he wished he could had saved way more lives.

Dancer in the Dark

This broke me too because

Spoiler

the way she accepted her fate.

As a child of a single mom, this resonates with me too. More so on fucking point but I was two years old at the time so thankfully I don't remember but still.

The episode in The Wire where

Spoiler

Wallace gets shot

was the last episode I ever watched. That shit hit me hard.

Spoiler

Bodie's death

was fucking senseless and that hit me hard because I really liked him.

 

[Clov]

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya and Millennium Actress are both brilliant movies that left me an emotional wreck. My favorite works from Takahata and Kon respectively; they're absolutely beautiful movies that any fan of animation or cinema in general should watch.

 

[GorillaJu]

Princess Kaguya absolutely murdered me. It had been probably 10-15 years since I had cried during a movie and I thought I had hardened a bit too much or became cynical and that made me depressed. But holy shit I was a sobbing fucking wreck at the end of that movie. I just stuck my face in a pillow and let it all out for like 15 minutes straight while my wife sat there patting my shoulder. An experience I'll never forget. What a film.

 

[Bisnic]

It didn't destroyed me, but that late season 5 episode with the

Spoiler

princess

(you know what I'm talking about for those who watched it) was a bit too much.

 

[Syrus]

Clannad After Story. Especially

Spoiler

the famous field scene, as well as most of the dramatic climaxes in the different arcs and Nagisas parents finally mourning their daughter. But also the moment where Tomoya gets his shit together amd realizes that despote his flaws and the fact that he went down the deep end, his father always ment well for him and did try to juggle work and being a single dad, even if he slipped in the end. Tomoya washing his back and intriducing hhim to his granddaughter was such a big moment.

Clannad is so good. I loved it. Loved the reversal too. They deserved to be togther

 

[johancruijff]

Come and See, its exhausting to watch

Still impressed this film ever got made in the USSR.

It really is

This movie just leaves you there with your guts twisted

 

[bengraven]

The cover alone yanks at my heart. I will never see the movie. The book destroyed me. As a recent first time father when I read it, it made me literally hyperventilate while reading.

What a rollercoaster. I don't read books "like this"...ever. Historical fiction, female memoir, family drama, etc. I'm a genre guy, but a friend of mine sent me this for my birthday and I felt it would be disrespectful not to at least try and read it. I was immediately drawn to the Game of Thrones like dark approach to morals in this small Canadian town. Immediately we get a child bride, abuse, hints of incest, and some dark ghostly visuals. I was hooked.

By the end I had witnessed the birth and death of most of the main characters. I realized that there was only one character left alive at the end, in the middle of her life. That all these people I had invested in were gone and I was never going to see them again. I had felt so in love with this family despite their fuck ups and fuckeries that I couldn't bear to see them go.

Especially "the girls", the main characters of the story. The three sisters who anchored the story, when they started to pass away I was an emotional wreck. I spent the last 20--30 pages just sobbing.

Spoiler

Eddie, Jake, Oy

Eddie wandering around holding his head after a gun fight and you realizing this is the final book so anything can go. Then slowly reading as he dies from his wounds.

Jake and his broken body and Roland burying him in the woods.

And Oy, the final heroic act and the mostly voiceless, possibly over-looked hero of our ka-tet.

I haven't read the book or watched the film, but I read a spoiler filled synopsis when the film was coming out. It fucked me up for at least a day.

And fuck the tagline on this poster for using the word "hope". What the fuck does "hope" mean? I think I forgot it's definition the day I heard this story.

 

[Screaming Meat]

Considered mentioning this too, but decided not to: for me it invoked strong feelings of horror more than sadness.

Later I learned Kaufman had originally written it as a horror film.

I can certainly see that in terms of existential horror, but that doesn't make it any less emotionally devastating. I was Caden watching that film.

 

[Servbot24]

Return of the King got me teared up multiple times. Mainly Frodo and Sam's parts.

 

[Bamboo]

[Boy in the Striped Pyjamas]
Just looked this up... and it sounds historically inaccurate to an offensive degree, frankly. According to reviews a lot of people found it just that.. Not sure why this was made to be honest.

Yes, thank you. It's a horribly offensive and superficial film.

I know this sounds snobbish, but one of the very, very few films that deal properly with the topic is Shoah. It's a long 9 1/2 hours, but that's part of the idea that you cannot squish this topic into a feature length time. And that it shouldn't and doesn't need to be entertaining or easy to watch. It drags on in some parts, but when you know what you're getting into it's actually not that hard to watch (it divided into two parts to take in break in between). It's also not self-contained, which means you learn a lot more when you do some reading before and/or after the film. But the things it transports, especially some of the interviews are just incredible and give an idea on what had actually happened to the people shown that you cannot comprehend through different media. Filip Müller is one of these incredible people. Or the story/interview of the barber Abe Radkin. I can't properly describe all the things that go on in these scenes, it's haunting.

 

[Ourobolus]

I can't read or watch the ending of The Green Mile

Spoiler

when Mr Jangles comes out of the box

without just flat-out bawling.

 

[bengraven]

The Kite Runner

It's really hard to go into it, but I feel like I went through a lot of what happened in the book.

Leaving a childhood friend and never getting to say goodbye. I think everybody should read it. Everybody.

God, this.

Spoiler

The moment he returns home it's all about tension. Even when he isn't sure if he can adopt the boy or not, I was biting my nails. The heart break of losing a person that was considered second to him, despite knowing they were best friends, and worse off later realizing they were half-brothers tore my heart strings out.

The only thing that kept it from being one of my favorite novels of all time was the strangely placed white fascist character. It seemed a bit...James Bondish? I'm not Afghani or anything, but I have a hard time believing someone like him, that cartoonishly evil and fascist, could rise that high up in a theocratic world.

I should read a Thousand Suns but I worry about subjecting myself to more heartache.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

I can certainly see that in terms of existential horror, but that doesn't make it any less emotionally devastating. I was Caden watching that film.

Oh it affected me deeply for sure, only film in my adult life to give me recurring nightmares. Terrifyingly disturbing stuff, the more you think about it. The complete and utter loss of identity by the time the film ends left me legit shook. It was a very different feeling for me than being sad or depressed, but I may have misunderstood the OP in which case Synecdoche, New York applies big time.

 

[BigAl1992]

There's a documentary series that's shown in the UK called Ross Kemp: Extreme World, and it shows episode from places around the world where all sorts of crime, violence ect. occurs. The series itself is very good, but there have been epsiodes in places such as Karachi, India, Latin America where I just can't watch them again because it was just too upsetting to see it once, despite it being about serious topics that have to be shown.

 

[efyu_lemonardo]

I know this sounds snobbish, but one of the very, very few films that deal properly with the topic is Shoah. It's a long 9 1/2 hours, but that's part of the idea that you cannot squish this topic into a feature length time.

I'll remember to watch this, thanks for the recommendation.

 

[Lys Skygge]

I recently listened to the Lost and Found episode of Radiolab. That final story was fascinating and emotional.

 

[whitemex88]

The Green Mile. I was young when I watched it, but I was crying like a little bitch at the end. Michael Clarke Duncan did such an amazing job with this character that I was rekt after it was over.

when he says: "i'm afraid of the dark" refusing to be hooded, i just fucking lost it.

 

[paragonpro]

Her. The movie was so accurate to the stages of a relationship, from its inception to its death. The jelousy, the dishonesty, the contempt, the joy, the laughter, the small moments togeather that make the world stop. Watching it fairly recently after breaking up with my gf of nearly two years at that point god damn wrecked me.

 

[ASilentProtagonist]

Recently it would be Bokurano.

NieR as well.... man.

 

[rexor0717]

Yep, this right here. I have never had characters feel so real before. This book gives you glimpses of the happiness they could have, but you know it can't last.

 

[-Pyromaniac-]

+1 to Hachi and the Fresh Prince speech about his father. As someone raised by only his moms it's pretty accurate.

 

[Mr. E. Yis]

Oh, forgot to mention an older one - Ponette.

 

[Bamboo]

Oh, forgot to mention an older one - Ponette.

That child actress is incredible. INCREDIBLE. I remeber hearing somewhere that she doesn't ever remember the shoot because she was so young, haha.

 

[Transistor]

The cover alone yanks at my heart. I will never see the movie. The book destroyed me. As a recent first time father when I read it, it made me literally hyperventilate while reading.

I read the book in one sitting because I was afraid what would happen if I put it down. I think it's the first book that really ever pulled me in like it did. The movie did a great job portraying it, too. Viggo Mortensen did an amazing job as The Man.

 

[Waldo Lydecker]

- The ending of Dances with wolves when they leave the wintercamp. This scene destroys me...

 

[Rimon-hanit]

Saw Anomalisa yesterday, a real punch to the gut.
The thing is, that you can see what's going to happen so early into the movie, and you wish it won't but you know it has too.

 

[BizzyBum]

I read the book in one sitting because I was afraid what would happen if I put it down. I think it's the first book that really ever pulled me in like it did. The movie did a great job portraying it, too. Viggo Mortensen did an amazing job as The Man.

Kodi Smit-McPhee as the kid, too. Some of the best acting I've seen from a kid.

 

[ZackieChan]

The Wire
Elephant Man
The Shield "Family Meeting"

Had to take a time out after this episode. That was too much. Just absolutely heartbreaking.

 

[Osahi]

Another one i just tought about: The Broken Circle Breakdown

http://youtu.be/raaHRyBtIEo

Trailer only gives a tiny glimps of what the movie is about and how deep it cuts. Of you can go in blind, do so.

Spoiler

it's about a couple passionatly in love loosing their kid, and in their grief loosing each other too. Truly devastating, especially with the wonderfull folk songs on top of it. I saw half the movie trough tears

 

[kinn]

The Shield ending
The Green Mile
The Fountain

 

[FyreWulff]

I won't mention the book that does it since it's a bit too personal, but a weird one for me was Phantom Dust. I wasn't expecting to care about the ending but my brain was suddenly "this is very, very sad". Only game that's ever done that to me.

 

[OniBarubary]

"Dr. Cox, where do you think we are?"

I can't watch that episode.

Or the one where Dr. Cox patients died one after another and he just flips out and gives up.

Scrubs had some devastatingly emotional episodes.

 

[Boombloxer]

Cowboy Bebop.

Spoiler

You're gonna carry that weight.

Spoiler

Yea, just thinking about this one is tough. Great ending.

I find I have no mouth unsettling still. And Nightingale was draining.

The Twin Peaks intro makes me sad for some reason.

Both of those are good--I Have No Mouth can be nightmare fuel.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy.

Can't imagine how i would have felt if i would have had kids when i read it. I was devastaded even without them

This and No Country For Old Men.

Mass Effect 3 when

Spoiler

Thanes prayer was actually for me, Mordin sacrificed himself, and Legion said 'I' instead of 'we'.

Me during that scene when I thought I'd

Spoiler

lost Grunt...

.

"Anyone else would have gotten it wrong."
That was it for me. Legions scene was also strong.

The season 5 finale of The Shield. Never before had I seen TV this powerful and with characters that I actually truly felt for. I remember watching this with my roommates at the time. After it was over, we all just got up and went to our rooms without saying a word.

The Mountain and the Viper from Game of Thrones. Terror. Absolute terror. I'd never felt terror on this level from TV before. I was watching this episode with my wife, and neither of us slept well that night. All we could hear was his screams. If I ever rewatch the show, I might have to skip this episode.

The Green Mile. I was young when I watched it, but I was crying like a little bitch at the end. Michael Clarke Duncan did such an amazing job with this character that I was rekt after it was over.

The Shield for seasons 5, 6 and 7 is a roller coaster.
Game of Thrones is great to see the big scenes from the book, and I'm happy that I don't know what's coming these next few seasons.

 

[LocalE]

Every time, I weep near the end of Stranger in a Strange Land.

Spoiler

I hurt so much for Jubal. Mike and everyone else understood what was going on and why it was ok, why it was cool, even. But Jubal is seeing things just like all of us humans always do - all he knows is that he has just lost a beloved friend. And on top of that he also feels responsible, and he just can't take it. It hurts him so much, and it hits me hard because Jubal is awesome. It doesn't matter that now I know how it gets better for him; that I know that his soul-crushing hurt will be soothed in very short order. Learning the truth about what happens when we die may soothe the pain we endure when losing our loved ones - but the pain is heart wrenching and real when it happens. And short of dying ourselves, we mere mortals are not likely to actually learn the truth about the existence or absence of an afterlife, or the immortality of the soul, if such a thing even exists. It sucks to have to endure such pain, but we have little choice. Even if we are freed of our ignorance after death, and find that our loved ones are not gone forever we still will have experienced that pain and sorrow - and it is tough to see people, especially those we care deeply about, have to endure that misery. It's worse to see my loved ones so hurt than it is to endure my personal grief.

Also:
Jason Isbell - Elephant

https://youtu.be/LHJhyrrUTgc

Wrecks me. If I had to hear that very often, I'd be dehydrated as shit.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

There are a few moments in Sandman that hit me pretty hard in the feels, but otherwise most media don't get me to tear up or anything. I don't think a movie ever has, and I know sure as fuck an anime hasn't (this includes Grave of the Fireflies which I didn't care for).

I'm mostly a robot D:

 

[Mokujin]

Daaaaamn.

 

[Transistor]

Daaaaamn.

Jurassic Bark is good, but Luck of the Fryish had me weeping

 

[Sunster]

came here to post this

 

[IonicSnake]

Grave of the Fireflies is the greatest film I never want to watch again.

100% this. That movie haunted me for days afterwards.

 

[John Kowalski]

Eden: It's an Endless World!

Just endlessly exhausting, i was deeply spent by its end.

 

[Sunster]

Actually gonna change my answer. This movie made me sad for days, still does.

 

[katsubento]

I'll add Hachi.

If I watch this, my weekend is wrecked. I am done. I've had one akita, and now have another who's 11 months old, and watching this would have me hugging him for the rest of the weekend. Basketcase.

(Yes, akitas are as devoted as the movie portrays.)

This film broke me.


Also: Angel Season 1: "I will Remember You", Season 5: "You're Welcome" and end of Season 4: "Home"

Buffy: "Becoming: Part 2"


Life is Strange. The long ending

 

[iPaul93]

5 centimeters per second

 

[CHC]

Six Feet Under.

You spend YEARS in the relatively mundane lives of this family of funeral home owners, just absorbed in the nuances of their relationships and their realistic, everyday difficulties. Never have I met such a cast of average, relatable, REAL feeling people.... yet they are so divisive. One viewer may love a character (with very good reason) while another can't stand them (for equally good ones).

The whole show is just such a grand and effective meditation of life, death, and everything in between. While that sounds so cliched, it's remarkably effective at it. By the finale of the show you'll be a mess, simultaneously realizing that life is such a great gift but that there is probably so much you already regret or would have changed if you had the power.

 

[mrklaw]

Big time: grave of the fireflies, and Kramer vs Kramer (watched it when I was single, it was ok. Watched it again as a father when I had a son the age of the kid in the film - wrecked me)

General tears: silent running; AI

 

[Ratrat]

Actually gonna change my answer. This movie made me sad for days, still does.

Why? Its a satisfying revenge flick.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

The Road

We just our first kid, a son, and I was the stay at home parent. No sleep, stress and everything that comes with a newborn.

I made it to page 20, maybe

 

[Zeus Molecules]

This indie comic had me near tears as a guy who has made the mistake of "going for the cool girl instead of sticking by my loyal friend" one time too many...... it just had me near tears.

 

[RangerBAD]

Grave of the Fireflies.