Top 10 Heart-Melting Netflix Films and Series

Liz March 25, 2024 | 11:45

This post is ideal if you're searching for the ideal romantic films and TV series to get you in the mood. Take a look at the top 10 Netflix films listed below to start crying.

Contents
1. About Time (2013) 2. Set It Up (2018) 3. Mr. Sunshine 4. Someone Great (2019) 5. A Walk to Remember (2002) 6. The Theory of Everything (2014) 7. Our Souls at Night (2017) 8. Runaway Bride (1999) 9. To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018) 10. The Prince & Me (2004)

Not really sure who is out there looking for a cry right now, but everyone hurts and heals in their own way. Be it the middle of a breakup or just a hair of existential dread, for some, the solution to a bad day (week, month, or even a year) is to sit down and have a good cathartic cry over a coffee table of two pizzas, an order of garlic knots, a small order of french fries, a heavy pour of whiskey, and some Oreos. Not that we're speaking from any kind of experience.

A movie that will literally bring you to your knees is a must-see for any smorgasbord of sadness. It feels like there's a unique type of pressure associated with sadness that accumulates in your face and can only really be let out when your tear ducts open. So take a look at the list below and start crying. Release it. We promise to bring the whiskey.

Netflix movies that can make you cry. Photo: BuzzFeed

1. About Time (2013)

Photo: Letterboxd

Would you arrange the ideal meeting between yourself and the one lost connection you'll never forget if you had the chance? Director Richard Curtis of Love Actually's fanciful romantic comedy, which centers on a time-traveling young man (Domhnall Gleeson) who uses his ability to find the love of his life, explores that idea and the possible consequences. Alongside Rachel McAdams, the duo exudes charm as they navigate the space-time continuum to be together. Like Curtis' other works, About Time is a meditation on family and what permanence means in a world where time passes without stopping.

2. Set It Up (2018)

Photo: Variety

Desperate for some work-life balance, two desperate assistants create a ploy to bring their two workaholic bosses romantically together. Starring Zoey Deutch, Glen Powell and Lucy Liu, this rom-com sticks straight to the formula for tried-and-true guilty pleasures.

3. Mr. Sunshine

Photo: Dramabeans

The most recent work by Kim Eun-sook, the author of the hugely successful K-dramas Descendants of the Sun and Guardian: The Lonely and Great God (also known as Goblin), is currently available for streaming with new episodes released every weekend. This period drama, which is set in the 19th century during the pivotal moment of America's first expedition to Korea, stars Lee Byung-hun as a US Marine Corps officer who returns to his homeland and develops feelings for a noblewoman.

4. Someone Great (2019)

Photo: FLARE

Most people have a lot of figuring out to do after graduation. A large portion of our lives are still a complex web of unknowable factors. For Gina Rodriguez's portrayal of our main character, this is not the case. After dropping out of school, she moves in with her boyfriend, and the two of them spend years getting to know one another. Their existence is entwined. Not everything in life goes as planned.

Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson depicts the journey of three women who are bonded by friendship through the use of her talent and keen sense of expression. The idea of Someone Great is not new to romance, and its story has been repeatedly told in numerous films. Because of the director and actors' amazing screenplay work, it stands out as the best inspirational film available on Netflix.

5. A Walk to Remember (2002)

Photo: Amazon

A Walk to Remember, an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks' novel, is a classic star-crossed lovers tale about a high school bad boy who falls in love with the local preacher's daughter, who (brace yourself) is battling leukemia. Sparks is the author of The Notebook and Dear John, so that should tell you enough. Sure, it fulfills all the requirements for a typical YA depressing film, but you would be foolish to ignore the bleak romance that develops between Shane West and Mandy Moore—the latter in her big screen debut. Just be prepared with a box of tissues because you will start crying as soon as you hear Moore sing the original song or see the walk-in question.

6. The Theory of Everything (2014)

Photo: Business Insider

Eddie Redmayne, who won an Oscar for the role, plays renowned physicist Stephen Hawking. However, The Theory of Everything is more of a lovely, romantic film about Hawking's marriage to Jane (Felicity Jones) than it is a biopic. This film depicts the difficult romance throughout it all, tracing his life from his early days as a young cosmology student to the time he was diagnosed with ALS at the age of 21. It also follows him as he battles the illness and advances as a theoretical scientist. This James Marsh-directed film, which veers in and out of love, will make you feel everything there is to feel, even though it may be set in space.

7. Our Souls at Night (2017)

Photo: Variety

An elderly man and woman who have both lost their spouses decide to begin having platonic relationships in order to overcome their loneliness may not have the most romantic beginning, but the outcome is a touching, if conventional, love tale. Robert Redford and Jane Fonda are supporting a script based on a Kent Haruf novel, which is significantly less YA than you might think from the somewhat cloying adaptation. Still, give it a look if a love tale is what you're after!

8. Runaway Bride (1999)

Photo: Plugged In

With 1990's Pretty Woman, the rom-com trio of Richard Gere, Julia Roberts, and director Gary Marshall proved too good for a single film. It was only fitting that nine years later, for Runaway Bride, the group reunited. The twosome's chemistry rekindles in this quirky comedy, which is by no means as iconic as Pretty Woman. Gere plays a journalist who is profiling Roberts' free-spirited character Maggie, who has notoriously turned down three suitors and is now seeing her fourth, possibly unlucky, fiancé. Though it's rife with clichés, there are moments when it's the most consoling to watch a romance develop between an innocent couple who gradually gets to know each other and then convinces you they're meant to be.

9. To All the Boys I've Loved Before (2018)

Photo: Vox

If you haven't heard, Netflix is spearheading the comeback of romantic comedies. Critics and fans praised this adaptation of Jenny Han's best-selling Young Adult novel right away because of its charming plot and the remarkable performances of its young leads, Lana Condor and Noah Centineo. You will experience the agony of suppressed and misinterpreted teenage desires when Lara Jean (Condor) learns that her five crushes have received her covert love letters, which she mailed to them. The nightmare of a high school student.

10. The Prince & Me (2004)

Photo: Common Sense Media

There was this amazing 2000s film before Netflix started producing corny romantic comedies with the novelty of a charming, royal prince playing the lead role. Although The Prince & Me is a predictable film, it has all the elements you could possibly want about a story about a Danish prince who dreams of the traditional coed college experience and falls in love with a Wisconsinite. It's a contemporary American fairy tale that's brimming with adorable moments, made all the better by Julia Stiles' constant charm.

There are times when you just need to cry, and nothing will make you feel better than watching tearful movies. Whether you enjoy medical dramas or heartbreaking romances, spending two hours sobbing uncontrollably can be quite therapeutic. Disregard the remarks made about cry babies. Go ahead and cry all you want; it can actually help to calm and lessen pain. If melodrama is what you're feeling (and it has nothing to do with your own life), check out one of these incredibly depressing Netflix films.

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