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#10: “Bridge to Terabithia” (2007)
This one still kills us, even all these years later. Leslie is more than just a friend to Jess; she’s something of an awakening. Before meeting her, he’s kind of a surly loner struggling with being made fun of. Leslie teaches him how to stand up for himself, how to open up his mind, and how to dream. Together, they build this magical world that’s everything they could possibly imagine. Then, as quickly as that light came into his life, it’s snuffed out as she tragically loses her life. Her passing, combined with his grieving, breaks our hearts. As if that wasn’t sad enough, the story is said to be inspired by true events, making it even more difficult to handle.
#9: “Marley & Me” (2008)
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The reason this ending is so heartbreaking can be summed up in three words: the dog dies. When John and Jenny Grogan adopt Marley, they get a lot more than they expected. He’s a wild and unruly puppy, but with all the trouble he brings, he also provides joy and hope. John’s career even thrives as he writes about the dog’s antics. Marley practically gives the Grogans everything, so it’s extra devastating when he grows old and gets sick. If you’ve ever lost a pet, you know how hard this kind of thing can be. And if you haven’t, well, you’ll probably still cry your eyes out, because it’s impossible not to fall in love with Marley.
#8: “Charlotte’s Web” (2006)
Pretty much any movie where an animal dies is heartbreaking, and this one is no exception. Charlotte is a spider who lives in the Zuckerman barn. That’s also where Wilbur the pig ends up, destined to become dinner. But Charlotte has other plans. She embraces him and does everything in her power to help save his life, including spelling out nice things about him on her web. Their friendship is unmatched. Through the story, we’re worried about Wilbur’s survival. But in a cruel twist, it’s Charlotte who doesn’t make it in the end. Losing such a dear friend is devastating, to say the least. We know spiders aren’t popular creatures, but she was truly something special.
#7: “Hachi: A Dog's Tale” (2009)
This is the last dead animal one, we promise. Hachi is an abandoned puppy found by Parker at a train station. Soon, the adorable creature starts walking Parker to that same station while he’s headed to work, and waits for him in the afternoon. But one day, Parker doesn’t come back, suffering a fatal stroke at work. Yet for ten years, Hachi goes to the station, awaiting the moment he’ll be reunited with his owner and dear friend. And the day eventually comes when he joins him in the light. The montage of their memories, followed by their loving embrace, is enough to touch anyone. Their friendship outlasts death, and persists through it. It’s a beautiful concept, but an incredibly heart-wrenching one, too.
#6: “Requiem for a Dream” (2000)
When your teachers told you to just say no to drugs, this is probably the fate they were trying to save you from. Harry, Marion, Tyrone, and Harry’s mother, Sara, are willing to try anything to escape their current lives and make their dreams come true. That includes drugs. They all have different goals; Sara, for instance, first starts using to lose weight. But the end result is tragic across the board. The substances that are meant to lead them to their dreams actually lead them to their own living nightmares. We wanted nothing more than to see the characters make it out on the other side, conquering addiction. Instead, they wind up lonely, broken, and helpless, with joy feeling entirely out of reach.
#5: “A Walk to Remember” (2002)
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You can always count on a Nicholas Sparks film adaptation to bring on the water works. Even if you knew that Jamie had cancer before watching the film, it wasn’t any easier to deal with her untimely death. She suffers from leukemia, and even warns Landon not to get too attached to her. Yet they fall in love. Though he doesn’t know about her diagnosis at first, he doesn’t let it stop their love from flourishing when he finds out. Their love and adventures are the romantic stuff of dreams, and they even get married. But they’re also just kids, and Jamie had so much life left to live. So her tragic fate, though inevitable, destroys us every time.
#4: “Million Dollar Baby” (2004)
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Most sports movies have an inspiring ending, even if the protagonist loses their big game or battle. But this 2004 movie sidesteps that, and decides to crush us instead. Underdog fighter Maggie has scrapped and struggled in order to compete in the fight of her life. She has the upper hand until a sucker punch from her opponent leaves her with a spinal cord injury, losing the ability to move her limbs. Sadly, things go far downhill from there. Maggie’s family only wants her money, and is zero help to her. Ultimately, she decides to take her own life and asks her trainer Frank for help. Eventually, he obliges. The ending caused quite a stir, with advocates for people with disabilities disappointed that the film treated Maggie’s injury as a fate worse than death. But no matter how you feel about the controversy, there’s no doubt that Maggie deserved so much better.
#3: “Atonement” (2007)
If you want to talk about a tragic love story, this is one for the ages. Cecilia and Robbie were young and in love, but torn apart when her sister Briony helped spread a serious lie about him. Robbie is sent to prison and subsequently war, but they’re then reunited, with Briony trying to make things right. It sounds like the perfect ending, right? It would’ve been, except we learn that it’s a fictional one. Indeed, an older Briony reveals that she gave them the happy ending they deserved in her book. In reality, they both died apart and alone. The whole thing is made even worse because we see how happy they could’ve been. Needless to say, we need some tissues.
#2: “The Mist” (2007)
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Naturally, you expect to experience some dramatic deaths in any horror-style film. But the ending to this one just flat out fills us with a depressing existential dread. David and his son, Billy, get trapped in a store with several others trying to escape the horrifying monsters outside in the mist. So the former character takes on a leadership role, taking his kid and some of his companions away in his car. But they run out of gas before they can outrun the evil. It’s only after David kills everyone in the car, including his son, out of compassion that the mist clears and he’s rescued. Can you even imagine thinking you’re sparing people only to realize they were seconds away from being saved?!
#1: “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas” (2008)
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This film is set during the Second World War, which tells you everything you need to know about how distressing it is. A young boy named Bruno meets a Jewish friend, Shmuel, who resides on the other side of a fence near his house. They’re too young to understand what’s really going on, and don't realize Shmuel is in a concentration camp. Their friendship has an air of innocence that makes the subsequent events all the more devastating. They unite on Shmuel’s side of the fence, and Bruno’s family desperately try to find him when they realize he’s gone. But they’re too late, and both kids tragically die. Bruno’s family is left shattered, and we’re left sobbing uncontrollably on our couches.
