Pass the tissues: the top 25 saddest romantic films

Adapted from the hit 1957 musical based, in part, on Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", "West Side Story" stars Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as Maria and Tony, a pair of star-crossed lovers among the asphalt jungle of Lincoln Square in Manhattan. Tony is a co-founder of white gang The Jets, who falls in love with Maria, sister of the leader of the rival Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks. As the two grow closer, tensions between the groups lead to a breaking point that brings a tragic conclusion with one lover left to comfort the dead.

David Lean's epic adaptation of Boris Pasternak's controversial novel about the rise of the Soviet Union was lambasted by critics for focusing too much on the love story while giving the historical setting a backseat. Despite the critics, "Doctor Zhivago" is possibly one of the greatest heartbreaking love stories ever put to screen. The undeniable chemistry between Omar Sharif as Zhivago and Julie Christie as Lara, his already-married love, moves the film with subtle intensity, and when they part the pain feels real enough. If you can sit through the three-plus-hour run time, you'll be glad you did...with misty eyes.

"Where do I begin, to tell the story of how great a love can be?" Those are the immortal lyrics that serve as the backbone to one of the original weepers, "Love Story." Starring Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw as economically disparate lovers who bear the slings and arrows of disapproving parents and terminal disease, yet stay together until the heart-wrenching end. Credited as the template for the modern "chick flick," "Love Story" certainly has its detractors, but try keeping your eyes dry when O'Neal utters the film's most-remembered quote: "Love... love means never having to say you're sorry."

It's hard to believe that a film obsessed with death and laced with black humor would qualify as one of the saddest romances, but "Harold and Maude" pulls it off with this story of a young man (Bud Cort) who trades his fascination with death and dying for the friendship and later love of a septuagenarian (Ruth Gordon), a carefree woman who influences Harold to love life as much as she does. When originally released, audiences were less than enthused with the film's dark ending, but as legitimately sad as it was, the last scene of the film provided an earned feeling of hope.

Here's the thing about "The Way We Were": This isn't a love story beset by death or political (well...) strife. Katie (Barbra Streisand) is a headstrong politically motivated feminist and Hubbell (Robert Redford) isn't. Despite that, they find a way to fall in love, and then much like reality life gets in the way. "The Way We Were" finds sadness and heartbreak in the many mundane reasons we so often drift apart from the ones we thought we'd love forever, simply because the heart and head rarely live in the same place. Misty water-colored memories, indeed.

Yes, this is a horror film, and yes, it's on our list as one of the saddest romantic films, because it is. Expertly made with all the bells and whistles of gore by genre master David Cronenberg, "The Fly" is ultimately the story of a man (Jeff Goldblum) who desperately wants the acceptance and love of a woman (Geena Davis) while also giving into the perils of delusions of grandeur. Fast-forward through all the horror and gore and the final scene of the film, with Goldblum's Seth Brundle completely transformed into a fly, and the two share a heartbreaking moment where love still lives, before she shoots him point-blank with a shotgun.

"Miracle Mile" is a story about the apocalypse; however, the heart of the film is a simple tale of boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl all over again, just before the world (or at least L.A.) comes to an end. Anthony Edwards and Mare Winningham play the star-crossed pair of lovers who fall in love as soon as they meet and fight for that love for as long as the nuclear weapons will allow. Viewers may be entertained by the weirdness of "Miracle Mile," but when the crushing reality of impending doom becomes real, the love shared by the two leads brings it all home with sadness to spare.

Tim Burton's dark fable of an artificial boy (Johnny Depp) who develops real feelings for a girl (Winona Ryder) is quirky and hilarious for the first two-thirds of the film, but it's the climax and everything after that absolutely shatters even the sternest of viewers. Burton reportedly had this story in mind since childhood, and it shows all the signs of awkwardness and isolation, which for the film, delivers impactfully, particularly when paired with Danny Elfman's beautifully haunting score. To call it a masterpiece of suburban sadness wrapped in romantic tissue would be an understatement.

So much of our list is devoted to films that marry song to the narrative to drive emotion, and "Ghost" is no different — particularly the scene where Sam (Patrick Swayze) and Molly (Demi Moore) sensuously make pottery while the Righteous Brothers' "Unchained Melody" plays in the background, setting the tone of lovers who will not be separated by even death. "Ghost" may not be a perfect film, but it is one that works based on the earnestness of Swayze's performance mixed with that of Whoopi Goldberg as the medium who can hear him. The final scene of the film is guaranteed to evoke an ugly cry in just about anyone.

Not all romance has to be about lovers. "My Girl," a coming-of-age tale about a young, headstrong girl (Anna Chlumsky) and her best friend (Macaulay Culkin), has every bit of the emotional draw of a love story but on a much more innocent level. It's that innocence, and the subsequent loss that follows, that makes this love between friends a story every bit as heartbreaking as you might find in any romantic film. The loss of her best friend not only defines part of young Vada's life but also gives her the strength to carry on into her adolescence.

For most, a straight-up biography of deaf composer Ludwig van Beethoven would've certainly sufficed, but for writer/director Bernard Rose, the choice to present Beethoven's life story as a romantic mystery told from the perspective of his former lovers was beyond inspired. "Immortal Beloved" is both subtle and powerful in both sound and performance, with Gary Oldman turning in some of his best work, culminating in a reveal that is guaranteed to let loose more than a few tears by the end of the film.

As with so many tropes, the Drunk and the Prostitute with the Heart of Gold are on full display here in Mike Figgis' funereal love story "Leaving Las Vegas." But the differences here and what makes this film ultimately so successful in its heartbreak are the performances of Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue, who bring a unique and gentle humanity to the familiar tropes. Ben (Cage) wants to drink himself to death because he has nothing left. Sera (Shue) thinks she can save him, and the result is guaranteed not to leave a dry eye in the house.

"These violent delights have violent ends..." Now that's a quote that sailed a million tears if there ever was one. Shakespeare's tragic play of star-crossed lovers doomed by the very thing that keeps them whole has been done and redone, but Baz Luhrmann's lush visuals and the unlikely chemistry between Leonardo DiCaprio and Clare Danes give this age-old fatalistic fable of love an even greater impact within its freshness. Never mind the MTV label. This film is the definitive telling for a generation, and even though you see it coming, the sadness still hits with a wallop.

Maybe it's the film you never really asked for, and maybe just maybe you were upset that it beat "Saving Private Ryan" out for the Best Picture Oscar In 1998. But this surprisingly sweet, romantic movie about William Shakespeare’s greatest love manages to push the right emotional buttons, washing away all cynicism and causing just about any viewer to buy into the chemistry between Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes just enough to get totally heartbroken when they’re forced to go their separate ways by the end of the film.

Boy (Leonardo DiCaprio) meets girl (Kate Winslet). Girl gets naked. Boy draws girl. Boy is the king of the world. Billy Zane has hair. And then the boat hits the iceberg, and from that moment, we're catapulted from James Cameron's technical wonder of excess to one of the most heartbreaking series of scenes in a big-budget film ever. Let's be honest: While our heart will go on, there is no way on earth our eyes will stay dry once Jack and Rose say their final goodbyes. 

Brandon Teena only wanted to live and love as a man. For that, he was brutally raped and murdered by those he considered to be a friend. "Boys Don't Cry" is notable for Hillary Swank's Oscar-winning performance as Brandon, but it's the chemistry she has with Chloë Sevigny that draws the audience in and later sets the megaton bomb of sadness when the worst comes to pass. There are few films about the plight of the LGBTQ community that treats the realities of what it means to live a life not accepted by everyone as well and as heartbreaking as it's done here.

When an elderly man (James Garner) reads from a old and worn notebook to a lady (Gena Rowlands) in a nursing home, we have no idea that the story he tells of a young couple (Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) is their story. But once we see how their young love was nearly destroyed and mended again, and that he's only telling her the story to help her through dementia, it's hard not to break down right on command. Maybe "The Notebook" is only on this list because of the emotions it evokes, but as the pair share the same bed, after a long life together, one must wonder if that's really sad after all.

Based on a short story by Annie Proulx, "Brokeback Mountain," like "Boys Don't Cry," gives viewers a sense of doom from almost the first scene, and director Ang Lee paints a portrait of love and loss that resonates with all audiences immediately. Ennis del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) aren't LGBTQ icons, and they were never meant to be. They're just people who love one another and who have to suffer the pain of hiding that love until it's too late. The power of this film absolutely lies in looking at their love — their passion as something everyone's felt at least once in their lives. And when it's lost...the tears always follow, and that's an emotion we just can't turn off.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet star in this adaptation of Richard Yates' explosive 1961 novel about Frank and April Wheeler, a couple who fell in love at first sight, but for whom tragedy came in the form of lives unfulfilled. The sorrow in this film isn't one of extraordinary circumstances or loss; in fact the film excels in telling the natural story about how love just doesn't live forever for everyone. Much like the novel, the third act of the film packs an explosive emotional punch that will rarely ever leave a dry eye in the room.

"Blue Valentine" absolutely relies on the strength of the performances by Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling as a couple who love hard, to the point where they can barely stand each other. Told in a non-linear fashion, their relationship seems built to last, but as time goes on everything starts to wither and fray. The true heartbreak comes from seeing the inevitable breakup and the couple's child being caught up in the emotion of a final scene that just destroys.

It's a movie about young lovers with cancer, so of course this is made to make you cry by design. What sets "The Fault in Our Stars" apart from similar films is the way the story could've been about anything, but still is, at its heart, a story about the strength of first loves. This movie is all the strength of a first love and how it stays with you forever. However, it’s also set against the backdrop of young adults dealing with the tragedies of cancer, so you’ll face an equal amount of sadness and tenderness before the end credits roll. Good luck getting through the whole thing without shedding a tear.

Featuring real-life couple Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander as a lighthouse keeper and his bride, "The Light Between Oceans" is geared to make audiences cry and cry profusely. This film is just as much about romantic love as it is about parental love, and your heart will sink with every ill-fated decision made by characters who certainly mean well. But even the most noblest of plans can often cause the biggest heartaches. 

Barry Jenkins' Oscar-winning film features a romantic tragedy rarely ever mentioned: that of gay black men. The film follows Chiron (Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders, Trevante Rhodes) through three eras of his life as he struggles to maintain his sense of self as a young black man while also dealing with with his homosexuality. Never being able to know love as he needs to, Chiron finds himself in a life-long free fall, that is, until he's finally able to find peace in his feelings by opening up to the love of his life, even if it won't end the way he wants.

Bradley Cooper directs and stars in the third iteration of "A Star is Born," alongside pop star Lady Gaga, as a burned-out musician who washes down his fame with copious amounts of whiskey until he meets Ally (Gaga) in a drag club. This results in a whirlwind romance that turns the tables on this unlikely couple, as Ally's talents make her into a star in her own right. Despite being the third version of a familiar tale, Gaga's authenticity and Cooper's ability to portray a raw nerve at the end of its rope engages audiences more than enough to stick with it until the films' tragic ending, even if you can see it coming from a mile away.

Theoretically, yes, Panos Cosmatos' "Mandy" is, on its surface, a revenge horror film, admirably showcasing the overacting skills of Nicolas Cage. But the film is more than just about the blood. The first half is unabashedly a love story, and one that careens from the idyllic to the horrifying, as Red Miller (Cage) and Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough) share a simple, yet powerful love that is sadly torn apart by a cult led by a failed singer with delusions of grandeur (Linus Roache).