'Past Lives' & 4 Other Devastating Melodramas to Cry Your Eyes Out To, Ranked by IMDb
Buy an extra pack of tissues before watching these.
Sometimes, you just want to turn off the lights, wrap yourself in a blanket, and let your emotions flow. Not to dwell on the sadness, but to experience it fully, release it, and find relief.
In moments like these, there's nothing better than a tried-and-true melodrama – a movie unafraid to address pain, loss, unrequited love, and the strange beauty in human vulnerability.
5. 'Where the Heart Is', 2000
IMDb Score: 6.7/10
Seventeen-year-old Novalee is pregnant and on her way from Tennessee to California when her boyfriend abandons her outside a Walmart, leaving her penniless.
She secretly lives in the store until she gives birth. Her life full of adversity ultimately leads her to selfless people and true love.
Starring Natalie Portman, this melodrama is an adaptation of Billie Letts' bestseller. Despite its naivety and simplicity, the movie is a touching story about survival in the storm of life's trials.
4. 'Perfect Sense', 2011
IMDb Score: 7.0/10
A mysterious epidemic is sweeping the globe, causing people to gradually lose their senses – first their sense of smell, then taste, hearing, and finally their sense of sight. Scientists are trying to understand the disease and find a way to stop it.
At the epicenter of these events are epidemiologist Susan and chef Michael. Amid the global chaos, love blossoms between them – the one thing the disease cannot take away.
Perfect Sense heartbreakingly and poignantly depicts how humanity endures when the world is deprived of feeling.
3. 'Windstruck', 2004
IMDb Score: 7.1/10
Policewoman Yeo Kyung-jin wrongly arrests physics teacher Myung-woo and handcuffs him. They become embroiled together in mafia showdowns, and after an adrenaline-fueled adventure, they fall in love and can't bear to be apart.
However, their plans are suddenly interrupted by death.
Windstruck depicts the elemental nature of love. Alone, Yeo feels her deceased lover following her, appearing like the gentle touch of the wind.
2. 'Broken Flowers', 2005
IMDb Score: 7.1/10
Don Johnston, a retired womanizer, receives an anonymous letter from one of his former lovers. Written in red ink on pink paper, the letter states that he has a 19-year-old son.
With bouquets of flowers in hand, the shocked man sets out on a journey to meet the women whose hearts he broke years ago.
This melancholic melodrama is one of the most notable works in Jim Jarmusch's career. The director utilizes his favorite techniques, such as the road movie formula, in which the journey brings the character together with a diverse group of people and who help him understand himself.
1. 'Past Lives', 2023
IMDb Score: 7.8/10
Nora and Hae Sung were childhood friends. However, the girl's family moved from South Korea to Canada. Years later, the boy contacted his friend, and they began communicating on social media.
Much time passes before the old friends meet in New York and spend the day together. However, by that time, the woman will already be married.
Past Lives is one of the best debuts in recent years. The movie could have become a typical melodrama about a love triangle, but Celine Song avoids the genre's cliches and doesn't try to create suspense.
