10 Movies That Made Me Cry in 2016

So, despite 2016 being one of the best years I’ve had, I did a lot of crying. I didn’t cry on my wedding day, but I cried at home making a cup of tea the next day. That scared the life out of my very new husband I’m sure! For the record, I hadn’t changed my mind, the emotions of the day just hit me 24 hours later. I cried as I walked down Main Street in Disneyland on our honeymoon, because I couldn’t quite believe I was there. Mostly though, I cried at an unusual number of movies in 2016. Perhaps I’m getting sentimental in my old age!

Whilst we’re still early enough in 2017 for it to be acceptable to still make 2016 lists, I thought I’d share with you the 10 movies that made me cry the most last year. There are spoilers ahead of course, but I’ll make the text lighter in those parts so you can easily skip spoilers for movies you haven’t seen yet.

Get your tissues ready…

#10 Florence Foster Jenkins

This whole movie took me by surprise to be honest. I was going to skip it, but I read so many positive reviews I gave it a chance, besides, when does Meryl Streep put in a bad performance? Okay, I just realised the irony in that statement. Anyway, Meryl’s final performance on stage made me feel so sorry for her character, that I shed many tears without even noticing.

#9 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Anyone who’s seen A New Hope should know how Rogue One was going to end, but in all honesty I didn’t expect the entire cast to be killed off. My only real gripe with this movie is that we didn’t get to spend enough time with each of the main characters to really bond with them, but I cried like a baby when K-2S0 sacrificed himself, and at that bittersweet beach scene.

#8 The Fundamentals of Caring

This movie about a disabled teenager and his care giver could have been so much darker than it was, but I was grateful for the humour scattered throughout. Still, that didn’t mean that I didn’t panic every time Trevor faked an attack. My happyness was right on the verge of sadness throughout the second half, and I cried when it seemed that Trevor was dead at the end, just to find he was faking again!

#7 Captain Fantastic

Whereas the previous movie surprised me with how funny it was, Captain Fantastic surprised me with just how sad it got. I have a terrible tendency to cry when other people do, so seeing the entire family crying when they learn their Mother has just committed suicide nearly ended me. I considered turning the movie off, but I’m glad I stuck with it, because it was a beautiful story.

#6 Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Okay, okay, onto some happy tears now. No, wait, I cried sad tears when Rick’s new foster Mother Bella died. The dog too. But! After that, I laughed to the point of tears several times, including the story Ricky tells which leads to the (terribly wrong) assumption that Hec has kidnapped Ricky and is abusing him sexually. It was cringe-worthy in the very best way!

#5 The Jungle Book

I’m one of those people who will cry for hours when an animal in a movie dies, but remain fairly stoney faced if a human does. So I guess it’s no surprise that I cried several times during The Jungle Book. What hit me the hardest though was when Baloo was mean to Mowgli to get him to leave for his own safety. I’m sniffing just thinking about it.

#4 Room

There’s really no explanation to this one. If you watched Room and your eyes stayed dry throughout, you’re a cold hearted monster. Just kidding, but not really…

#3 Me Before You

I didn’t read the book before seeing this at the cinema, which didn’t really matter because the BBFC rating screen before the movie TOTALLY ruined the ending for me before the movie had begun. Seriously guys, could you not have worded it a little better, to not give it away? Anyway, I cried angry-sad tears at this one, the kind of tears you normally only get when you’re shouting at someone.

#2 Tallulah

Another movie that took me by surprise in 2016! This one’s a Netflix original starring Ellen Page, a homeless girl who accidentally kidnaps a woman’s baby. It sounds awful I know, but this baby was being neglected, and Ellen’s character never meant to actually take her away. It was the feeling of helplessness that got me with this one.

#1 Moana

When I was in Primary School I wanted to be an actress. I’ve always had a flair for being over-dramatic, but I decided what was holding me back was my inability to cry on demand. Well, I’ve solved that problem now. I only have to think about Moana and I start crying. I can’t even explain to you why to be fully honest, Disney have a knack for tugging on the ol’ heartstrings, but I haven’t been affected like this since “Take her to the moon for me. Okay?” (Bonus points if you know that movie).

So – confession time. What 2016 movie made you cry the most?