Every Movie Scene That Made Me Cry

or, a list of movies you need to watch

 

Finch– Finch’s final day

Finch follows a man named Finch Weinberg (played by Tom Hanks), as he tries to survive a nearly uninhabitable Earth and as he builds and teaches a robot to take care of his dog after he dies. This movie is one of my favorite of all times, and one that is near and dear to my heart. The scene that made me cry only has a few lines of dialogue and relies mostly on the connection between a man and his creation. And it goes to show that sometimes the best, most powerful scenes, have little to do with words and more to do with the connection we have with each other.

Inside Out– Sadness saves Riley

Inside Out has been and always will be a movie that stands on its own. With the impending sequel releasing soon, I think the original will always be timeless in the way that it depicts children and teen’s struggle with their emotions. We are always led to believe that happiness and joy are the leading emotions that dictate our life; that the memories of those happy times are what fuels us. Inside Out dared to say, “but what if that’s not true?” In this scene, we see a character that was largely blamed for the whole plot of the movie and everything going wrong, shows us that, even in moments of sadness, there is joy. And that even if the feelings that we feel are not consistent joy and happiness, there is still validation in them.

Barbie– Montage of girlhood/Barbie becomes human 

When it was announced that Barbie was becoming a movie, I think most of us expected it to just be a funny movie about a plastic doll. And I was very surprised to be so wrong in that regard. It is a funny movie, with plenty of laughable scenes but at its core it’s much deeper. It something that hits hard when it comes to girlhood and what it means to be a woman. And many would argue, it even has to do more with being human. There are three scenes for me that hit really hard for me. The one that made me genuinely cry was when Barbie became a human toward the end of the movie and Ruth shows her what it means to be human and we are shown home video footage of young girls through their lives. It’s a stark difference from all the bright pink of Barbie Land, and it shows the true meaning of girlhood. It was a moment that brought back so many happy memories I had with my own childhood. And when Ruth says “We mother stand still so our daughters can look back and see how far they come”? I considered that the most devastatingly beautiful piece of script that has ever been written.

Soul – “Regular Old Living”

Soul is one of Pixar’s greatest masterpieces. In a time where we want our movies to have action an adventure, Soul offers something completely different. Something tangible and real. One of the main characters is reflecting back on his life and thinking about the adventures he had with the soul that he was helping find her “purpose” so she could finally come to Earth. He reflects on the simple things and when the scene of our universe is accompanied by the soul asking if her purpose was walking because she was good at it; to which the other main character states simply. “That’s just regular old living.” It reminds me of a quote by Alan Watts; “The meaning of live is to just be alive. It is so plain and so obvious and so simple. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”

Crazy Rich Asians – Mahjong 

I love this scene simply because of its deeper meaning, and to understand its deeper meaning you have to know how to play Mahjong. But there are a few things that really stick out to me: Eleanor didn’t take the time to know Rachel, if she had, she would know that Rachel is a professor of game theory and she intentionally chose this ancient game that is closely associated with Asian culture; Rachel knows she has the winning hand when she reveals Nick proposed to her and states “there is no winning” and this is where she decides to fold the winning hand; Eleanor tells her that “only a fool discards the winning hand” while Rachel turned Nick down because his happiness was the winning hand and she wanted him to retain his relationship with his mom;  and finally, in Mahjong there are four sitting positions reflecting the cardinal directions, Rachel offers Eleanor the East seat while she takes the West, a detail that reflects their own backgrounds.

And finally, Rachel departing words as she reveals that she could have won the game outright, “I just wanted you to know that one day, when he marries another lucky girl who is enough for you and you’re playing with your grandkids while the Tan Huas are blooming and the birds are chirping, that is was because of me.”

Hope Floats – Bernice crying for her dad as he drives away

This is a movie I would have never watched on my own, but it falls into the category of “movies my mom watched while I was growing up” so that means I’ve seen this movie more times then I can count. A story of a man who has an affair with his wife’s best friend, leaving the wife to pick up the pieces of being unceremoniously dumped while trying to be a good mother and good daughter. But the part that really hits hard is when her young daughter begs her father to take her with him, but he refuses because he doesn’t have room for her in his new life with new girlfriend. There is something so heartbreakingly painful about hearing this young girl begging for her father to want her only to realize that he wants nothing to do with his old life or family.

Top Gun: Maverick – Iceman and Maverick talking about Goose and Rooster

As a child of a Navy family, Top Gun is watched religiously in my home. Whenever we struggle to pick something to watch, we almost always land on Top Gun as a compromise. As an avid, diehard fan of the original, I was skeptical about the sequel when it was announced and then later delayed because of Covid. To me, sequels rarely if ever live up to the pedigree and impact of the first. The first is always, always better. I was so so happy to be wrong about this one. Top Gun: Maverick is a masterpiece that really pays homage to the original and stays true to the emotional journeys of the characters. To me, there couldn’t be a better sequel. This scene hit hard for me because of the obvious guilt Maverick still carries over Goose dying, and talking about Goose’s son with Iceman right before Iceman dies? This scene has me sobbing every single time I watch it.

Hacksaw Ridge – “Lord, help me get one more.” 

As a medic, there is no one I have more respect and admiration for then US Army Corporal Desmond T. Doss. If you were to ask me who my personal hero is, it would be this man. He is the only conscientious objector in American history to receive the Medal of Honor for bravery and heroism on the battlefield; meaning he served in a war, never once held a weapon, and was awarded a medal given to those who go above and beyond in the line of duty. Recently, I’ve not been very spiritual, and my relationship with a higher power is practically non existent, but something about Desmond Doss and his story make me want to believe. His story and his motivations are so close to my heart and so deeply personal, that I have a tattoo dedicated to him and his ideals. If you want to ever talk about bravery on the battlefield and what the true American spirit is; look no further then Desmond Doss.

Good Will Hunting – “The terms visiting hours don’t apply to you. You don’t know about loss.”

Robin Williams will always be one of the greatest actors known to humankind. And this single-take monologue was, in my opinion, of the greatest pieces of dialogue that Robin Williams ever performed. His delivery of this gut wrenching monologue hit me really hard to first time I watched this movie as an adult. Williams’ character sits down and has a real emotional heart of to heart with Matt Damon’s character, citing what pain and loss feels like on a level that involves losing something other then yourself. “You don’t know about real loss, because that only occurs when you love something more than you love yourself.”

Barbie – It’s impossible to be a woman

Surprisingly, the only movie to get two entries on this list, but it’s because I think it is a phenomenal movie. And this moment has more to do with the actress that delivers the messages for me. America Ferrera is an iconic actress, known for many of her equally iconic roles where she portrayed strong and independent woman. America has also been a role model for me, and to hear this speech coming from her healed something I didn’t realize needed healing. I first discovered her when she played the role of Betty in Ugly Betty, a show which earned her the Emmy for the Lead Actress in Comedy. An award in which she was the first and only Latina to accomplish. First and only. She is an amazing role model to young Latina girls and she’s part of the reason that I love this movie so much.

The Whale – one thing right

I don’t relate to the character of Charlie in this movie in a lot of ways. But, in a lot of other ways, I do. I relate to the struggle with ones health, mine had less to do with obesity and more to do with the possible of irreversible brain damage due to seizures. I had little to no control over that and I felt like I had no control over the trajectory of my life. I also relate to the big topic of this movie: mental health and depression. Watching Brendan Fraser portray this character, was a kind of heartbreak that I wasn’t expecting from this movie. The struggle with mental health and the feeling of trying to regain a purpose with one’s life and to finally believe you’re doing something “right” even if it sometimes feels like you aren’t is something that I related to on a personal level. This performance, this scene right here, is what I believe won Brendan Fraser his Oscar. This scene is heavy, emotional, and something that had me crying over the shared expression of depression.

The Pursuit of Happyness – basketball and dreams

This movie was the first movie I ever watched the made me cry. I remember watching on TV, holding my baby sister in my lap. My mom was sitting next to me, and I remember asking her questions throughout the whole movie because when it started, I couldn’t comprehend the trials that the father and son were going through. I had a home, a warm bed to sleep in, and food in the fridge. It was inconceivable to me that there were people, kids, in this world that didn’t have a place to call home. It shows how sheltered I was. But of all the emotional scenes in this movie, this scene stuck with me. We see Will Smith’s character shoot down his son’s dream at first. Then we see him recognize his own weakness in real time as he is projecting his failures onto his son by telling him he would be average at basketball like he was. Then we see him realize his mistake and quickly correct himself. “You want something, go get it. Period.” And I think the choice to have Will Smith’s son Jaden play his character’s son in the film was a fantastic move; because it makes this scene and all the others feel that much more real. This isn’t an actor performing his lines, this is a father giving his son a life lesson.

Forrest Gump – Jenny’s grave

Another movie that falls into the category of “movies my mom watched while I was growing up”. This movie is a rollercoaster between some of the funniest and saddest moments I’ve seen in a single movie. The emotional whiplash this movie gave me for the first time watching it as an adult is something I’ll never forget. Watching it over and over as a kid is one thing, but when you’re finally old enough to understand the journey, it’s something else entirely. Throughout the movie, Jenny is constantly telling Forrest he doesn’t know what love is, and is constantly denying his proclamations of it, but in this scene we see that Forrest understood love even better then she ever could. In fact, we see that he understands love so deeply that he marries the woman who had constantly broken his heart and sat with her on her deathbed. He buried her on his property and tore down the house of her father, which she hated. And when their son wrote her a letter, Forrest sat it down on her grave saying that he wasn’t going to read it. The biggest part of the movie is the understanding of you don’t have to be a genius to understand what love is and the gravity of how it can change the course of your life and change who you are. And as an add fact, most heartbreaking detail in this scene lies in the things that aren’t spoken. Earlier in the movie, we are shown Jenny praying to God to turn her into a bird so that she could escape the abuse she suffered at home. As Forrest walks away from her final resting place, we see a birds flying off into the sunset.

Selena – Dreaming of you 

I saved the most emotional for me as the last. Selena Quintanilla, the Queen of Tejano Music, was arguably one of the great musicians of her time. This movie is near and dear to my heart, as it tells the story of her journey from a small little music group with her siblings to becoming one of the most recognizable musicians in the world. And how she went from being in the prime of her career to being brutally killed by someone she trusted. Selena was one of my heroes growing up. I remember dancing to her songs and singing them with my mom while dancing around the living room. Selena, at her core, embodied what it meant to be a Latina woman. This is the final scene of the movie, where she sings the last song she ever performed before her death, while split with a montage of her family and her fan mourning her. Her loss was truly a loss for Latin culture.