Entertainment

These Netflix Picks Will Make You Emotional

by Michelle Lulic

If there's one thing that Netflix is good for, it's helping you unwind. Movies are there to cuddle up with you before bed, chill out with you on a rainy afternoon, or make you feel better when you're not at 100 percent. However, Netflix's job is not limited to cheering you up when times are low. In fact, sometimes all you need from the streaming service is a little bit of support while you sit there and sulk over your own dilemmas. Since there's no shortage of emotional content to help get those tears flowing, it won't surprise you that there are tons of movies on Netflix that will make you feel all the feels.

When you have the streaming service, you don't need a significant other or a best friend to talk you through your problems. Netflix can help you feel all of your feelings so that you can make it out on the other side. Sometimes, having your own problems reflected back to you or put into perspective through the stories of others can be just the thing to pull you out of even your toughest funk. So cuddle up in bed, grab yourself a pint of some Ben & Jerry's, and select one of the following films to help you handle your emotions. Netflix, you've really got our backs.

1. Frances Ha (2012)

Is the crush of adulthood almost too much to handle? If you're a millennial going through life unsure of the way, Greta Gerwig's groundbreaking performance in Frances Ha might be just what you need to feel like you're not alone. Between moving to the big city, struggling to support herself, losing her best friend, and relationship drama, Frances' journey is the perfect tear-worthy reflection of an entire generation.

2. 6 Years (2015)

Not all romances have a happy ending. However, for Melanie (Taissa Fermiga) and Dan (Ben Rosenfield), the unraveling of their six year relationship doesn't occur because of things they can control. Instead, 6 Years follows the heartbreaking reality of life getting in the way of love. If their love story doesn't bring tears to your eyes, I honestly don't know what will.

3. The Best Of Me (2014)

Personally, I don't consider myself a huge Nicholas Sparks fan. However, on a rainy Sunday afternoon, I cried my way through a large portion of this movie. In this story about a woman (Michelle Monaghan) reunited with her past love (James Marsden), love is proven to withstand the test of time — despite their lives taking separate paths in the past.

4. Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)

When Clementine (Kate Winslet) and Joel (Jim Carrey) have each other erased from their own minds, the value of their love finally begins to shine through. A commentary on love, loss, and appreciating what you already have, Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind can easily be deemed an indie-film classic — and an emotional rollercoaster.

5. Blue Is The Warmest Color (2013)

Finding yourself is never an easy feat. But, for Adele, falling in love with Emma is all she needed to help her along the journey. This critically-acclaimed French film explores homosexuality, growing up, and what it means to be human even when you may feel as if you don't fit in.

6. Short Term 12 (2013)

Before Brie Larson won her Academy Award for Room, she stole audiences' hearts in 2013's Short Term 12. As a mentor for troubled youth, Grace (Larson) must balance out her own personal dilemmas with the struggles of others. In that way, humanity learns to look deeper than what's seen on the surface.

7. In Your Eyes (2014)

Written by Joss Whedon, this love story is anything but classic. In Your Eyes is a love story that transcends space as two people are brought together through their senses as opposed to meeting one another face-to-face. This concept helps to teach the true value of love while diverting audiences from any of their pre-conceived notions of it. Talk about those major feels.

8. Cake (2014)

When you're done watching Friends, you can add to your feels by diving headfirst into one of Jennifer Aniston's most critically-acclaimed performances. In Cake, Aniston plays a woman dealing with her own tragedy. However, her dark road leads her to become fascinated by the suicide of a girl she knew in her support group.

9. August: Osage County (2013)

Based on a play, August: Osage County stars Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts as it chronicles a family's struggles both before and after a major loss. However, while their family may make your family seem like a walk in the park, that certainly doesn't limit the level of feels the movie is providing. Remember, Meryl Streep's in it.

10. The Little Prince (2015)

The Little Prince is far from your typical animated kids' film. In fact, this mind-bending story merges imagination with reality through the eyes of a young girl. For that reason, it creates an emotional tale fit for the whole family.

11. The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby (2014)

With a cast that includes Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis, and James McAvoy, this movie proves it's got to be good right off the bat. The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby captures the life of a couple after a family tragedy. Three different versions of the film are available on Netflix for you to watch if you want to get all sides of the story. Thanks to the subtlety of the its storytelling, it's easy to place yourself in the characters' shoes.

12. Philomena (2013)

What's sadder than a sad movie? A sad movie that's based on a true story. Philomena follows a woman desperately searching for the son she was forced to give away. It's a story that chronicles the unbreakable bound of motherhood and her convent's long-term effects on her life.

13. Rent (2005)

This musical movie may be full of song, dance, and friendship, but that certainly doesn't limit its feels. Rent takes on everything from drug use to homosexuality to the AIDS epidemic. In fact, by the end of the film, you'll feel as if you tagged along on their heartbreaking journey.

14. The Last Five Years (2014)

The Last Five Years is a musical starring Anna Kendrick and Jeremy Jordan, but it's not as fun as that might make it sound. Instead, the movie, based on a stage production, follows a five year relationship from two different perspectives: Beginning to end and end back to the beginning. By giving an inside look on both characters' lives and perspectives, this movie makes the struggles of love abundantly clear.

15. Black Mirror: San Junipero (2016)

You don't have to watch Black Mirror — or even be a fan of science fiction — to get the emotional results you'll get watching Episode 4 of Season 3, San Junipero. This particular story in the Netflix anthology series follows two women falling in love in the most unusual of circumstances. Once you figure out what each of them is going through, the tears will start flowing without you being able to stop them.

16. Titanic (1997)

When I think sad movies, I think Titanic. So it's a good thing that the classic film starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet is available for streaming on Netflix. Considering it's a story of romance, tragedy, and heartbreak, I dare you to try and not shed a tear.

So grab yourself a box of tissues and get watching. By the end of these movies, your own struggles might seem just a little bit easier.

Images: Focus Features; Giphy (16)