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Vol. 1 · Heartbreaking
Chapter One
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The Heartbreaking Files

Movies that will absolutely make you cry.


These 40 films have been quietly catalogued into a collection the editors call, simply, “Heartbreaking.” They are not ranked by box office. They are not sorted by release. They are arranged by something harder to measure — a shared emotional frequency, a kinship of mood. What follows is the reading list. Begin where you like. Read until you find the one that looks back.

  1. 01.
    I Swear

    I Swear

    2025·Dir. Kirk Jones·121 min·8.4

    Diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome at 15, John Davidson navigates his way against the odds through troubled teenage years and into adulthood, finding inspiration in the kindness of others to discover his true purpose in life.

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  2. 02.
    Your Name.

    Your Name.

    2016·Dir. Makoto Shinkai·106 min·8.4

    High schoolers Mitsuha and Taki are complete strangers living separate lives. But one night, they suddenly switch places. Mitsuha wakes up in Taki’s body, and he in hers. This bizarre occurrence continues to happen randomly, and the two must adjust their lives around each other.

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  3. 03.
    Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl

    Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl

    2019·Dir. Soichi Masui·90 min·8.3

    In Fujisawa, Sakuta Azusagawa is in his second year of high school. Blissful days with his girlfriend and upperclassman, Mai Sakurajima, are interrupted by the appearance of his first crush, Shoko Makinohara.

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  4. 04.
    Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

    Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc

    2025·Dir. Tatsuya Yoshihara·99 min·8.3

    In a brutal war between devils, hunters, and secret enemies, a mysterious girl named Reze has stepped into Denji's world, and he faces his deadliest battle yet, fueled by love in a world where survival knows no rules.

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  5. 05.
    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

    Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

    2017·Dir. Martin McDonagh·115 min·8.1

    After seven months have passed without a culprit in her daughter's murder case, Mildred Hayes makes a bold move, painting three signs leading into her town with a controversial message directed at Bill Willoughby, the town's revered chief of police. When his second-in-command Officer Jason Dixon, an immature mother's boy with a penchant for violence, gets involved, the battle between Mildred and Ebbing's law enforcement is only exacerbated.

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  6. 06.
    I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

    I Want to Eat Your Pancreas

    2018·Dir. Shinichiro Ushijima·108 min·8.1

    After his classmate and crush is diagnosed with a pancreatic disease, an average high schooler sets out to make the most of her final days.

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  7. 07.
    I'm Still Here

    I'm Still Here

    2024·Dir. Walter Salles·138 min·8.1

    A woman married to a former politician during the 1971 military dictatorship in Brazil is forced to reinvent herself and chart a new course for her family after a violent and arbitrary act.

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  8. 08.
    The Holdovers

    The Holdovers

    2023·Dir. Alexander Payne·133 min·7.9

    A curmudgeonly instructor at a New England prep school is forced to remain on campus during Christmas break to babysit the handful of students with nowhere to go. Eventually, he forms an unlikely bond with one of them — a damaged, brainy troublemaker — and with the school’s head cook, who has just lost a son in Vietnam.

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  9. 09.
    All That's Left of You

    All That's Left of You

    2025·Dir. Cherien Dabis·146 min·7.9

    In the Occupied West Bank in Palestine of the 1980s, a Palestinian teenager is swept into a protest that changes the course of his family's life. Reeling from its aftermath, his mother, Hanan, shares the story that led them to that fateful moment. Spanning seven decades, this epic drama traces the hopes and heartaches of one uprooted family, revealing not only the scars of ethnic cleansing, but the unbreakable spirit of survival.

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  10. 10.
    How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

    How to Make Millions Before Grandma Dies

    2024·Dir. Pat Boonnitipat·126 min·7.9

    M, a university dropout low on money and luck, volunteers to take care of his terminally ill grandmother, in the hope of pocketing an inheritance.

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  11. 11.
    Arrival

    Arrival

    2016·Dir. Denis Villeneuve·116 min·7.9

    Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.

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  12. 12.
    Manchester by the Sea

    Manchester by the Sea

    2016·Dir. Kenneth Lonergan·138 min·7.8

    After his older brother passes away, Lee Chandler is forced to return home to care for his 16-year-old nephew. There he is compelled to deal with a tragic past that separated him from his family and the community where he was born and raised.

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  13. 13.
    Hamnet

    Hamnet

    2025·Dir. Chloé Zhao·126 min·7.8

    The powerful story of love and loss that inspired the creation of Shakespeare's timeless masterpiece, Hamlet.

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  14. 14.
    Drawing Closer

    Drawing Closer

    2024·Dir. Takahiro Miki·119 min·7.7

    With only a year left to live, 17-year-old Akito finds new meaning in life by bringing joy to a terminally ill girl who has just six months remaining.

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  15. 15.
    The Worst Person in the World

    The Worst Person in the World

    2021·Dir. Joachim Trier·128 min·7.7

    The chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.

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  16. 16.
    The Whale

    The Whale

    2022·Dir. Darren Aronofsky·117 min·7.6

    A reclusive English teacher suffering from severe obesity attempts to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter for one last chance at redemption.

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  17. 17.
    Rental Family

    Rental Family

    2025·Dir. Hikari·110 min·7.6

    An American actor in Tokyo struggles to find purpose until he lands an unusual gig: working for a Japanese 'rental family' agency, playing stand-in roles for strangers. As he immerses himself in his clients' worlds, he begins to form genuine bonds that blur the lines between performance and reality.

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  18. 18.
    The President's Cake

    The President's Cake

    2025·Dir. Hasan Hadi·106 min·7.6

    While people across 1990s Iraq struggle to survive the war and food shortages, Saddam Hussein requires each school in the country to prepare a cake to celebrate his birthday. Despite her efforts to avoid getting picked, 9-year-old Lamia is chosen among her classmates. The young girl must now use her wits and imagination to gather ingredients for the mandatory cake or face the consequences.

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  19. 19.
    Dark Waters

    Dark Waters

    2019·Dir. Todd Haynes·127 min·7.6

    A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family, and his own life — to expose the truth.

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  20. 20.
    Only the Brave

    Only the Brave

    2017·Dir. Joseph Kosinski·133 min·7.6

    Members of the Granite Mountain Hotshots battle deadly wildfires to save an Arizona town.

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  21. 21.
    Avatar: The Way of Water

    Avatar: The Way of Water

    2022·Dir. James Cameron·192 min·7.5

    Set more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other safe, the battles they fight to stay alive, and the tragedies they endure.

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  22. 22.
    The Iron Claw

    The Iron Claw

    2023·Dir. Sean Durkin·132 min·7.5

    The true story of the inseparable Von Erich brothers, who made history in the intensely competitive world of professional wrestling in the early 1980s. Through tragedy and triumph, under the shadow of their domineering father and coach, the brothers seek larger-than-life immortality on the biggest stage in sports.

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  23. 23.
    A Man Called Otto

    A Man Called Otto

    2022·Dir. Marc Forster·126 min·7.5

    When a lively young family moves in next door, grumpy widower Otto Anderson meets his match in a quick-witted, pregnant woman named Marisol, leading to an unlikely friendship that turns his world upside down.

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  24. 24.
    Even If This Love Disappears Tonight

    Even If This Love Disappears Tonight

    2025·Dir. Kim Hye-young·106 min·7.5

    A high school girl wakes up each day with no memory of yesterday. When she agrees to date a shy classmate, can their love grow with every new beginning?

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  25. 25.
    Drive My Car

    Drive My Car

    2021·Dir. Ryusuke Hamaguchi·179 min·7.5

    Yusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Misaki, an introverted young woman, appointed to drive his car. In between rides, secrets from the past and heartfelt confessions will be unveiled.

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  26. 26.
    Waves

    Waves

    2019·Dir. Trey Edward Shults·136 min·7.5

    A controlling father’s attempts to ensure that his two children succeed in high school backfire after his son experiences a career-ending sports injury. Their familial bonds are eventually placed under severe strain by an unexpected tragedy.

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  27. 27.
    Lady Bird

    Lady Bird

    2017·Dir. Greta Gerwig·94 min·7.4

    Lady Bird McPherson, a strong willed, deeply opinionated, artistic 17 year old comes of age in Sacramento. Her relationship with her mother and her upbringing are questioned and tested as she plans to head off to college.

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  28. 28.
    Our Girls

    Our Girls

    2025·Dir. Mike van Diem·103 min·7.4

    A near-fatal accident involving their teen daughters upends the lives of two families as they consider how far they're willing to go to save their child.

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  29. 29.
    Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms

    Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms

    2018·Dir. Mari Okada·115 min·7.4

    Fleeing the war, the immortal Machia, graced with eternal youth, finds a baby abandoned in the forest and decides to raise it as her own child, sparking a moving story between a mortal and a being who does not age.

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  30. 30.
    20th Century Girl

    20th Century Girl

    2022·Dir. Bang Woo-ri·119 min·7.4

    In 1999, a teen girl keeps close tabs on a boy in school on behalf of her deeply smitten best friend – then she gets swept up in a love story of her own.

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  31. 31.
    First Man

    First Man

    2018·Dir. Damien Chazelle·141 min·7.3

    A look at the life of the astronaut, Neil Armstrong, and the legendary space mission that led him to become the first man to walk on the Moon on July 20, 1969.

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  32. 32.
    Twinless

    Twinless

    2025·Dir. James Sweeney·100 min·7.3

    Two men who lost their respective twin brothers develop a growing friendship after meeting in a support group. However, both harbor long-hidden secrets that threaten to tear them apart.

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  33. 33.
    The Life of Chuck

    The Life of Chuck

    2025·Dir. Mike Flanagan·111 min·7.3

    In this extraordinary story of an ordinary man, Charles 'Chuck' Krantz experiences the wonder of love, the heartbreak of loss, and the multitudes contained in all of us.

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  34. 34.
    The Boy and the Heron

    The Boy and the Heron

    2023·Dir. Hayao Miyazaki·124 min·7.3

    While the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the boy's mother. As he tries to adjust, this strange new world grows even stranger following the appearance of a persistent gray heron, who perplexes and bedevils Mahito, dubbing him the "long-awaited one."

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  35. 35.
    Hereditary

    Hereditary

    2018·Dir. Ari Aster·128 min·7.3

    Following the death of the Leigh family matriarch, Annie and her children uncover disturbing secrets about their heritage. Their daily lives are not only impacted, but they also become entangled in a chilling fate from which they cannot escape, driving them to the brink of madness.

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  36. 36.
    The Pianist

    The Pianist

    2002·Dir. Roman Polanski·150 min·8.5

    The true story of pianist Władysław Szpilman's experiences in Warsaw during the Nazi occupation. When the Jews of the city find themselves forced into a ghetto, Szpilman finds work playing in a café; and when his family is deported in 1942, he stays behind, works for a while as a laborer, and eventually goes into hiding in the ruins of the war-torn city.

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  37. 37.
    The Prestige

    The Prestige

    2006·Dir. Christopher Nolan·130 min·8.5

    A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.

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  38. 38.
    Hostiles

    Hostiles

    2017·Dir. Scott Cooper·134 min·7.2

    A legendary Native American-hating Army captain nearing retirement in 1892 is given one last assignment: to escort a Cheyenne chief and his family through dangerous territory back to his Montana reservation.

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  39. 39.
    Five Feet Apart

    Five Feet Apart

    2019·Dir. Justin Baldoni·116 min·7.2

    Seventeen-year-old Stella spends most of her time in the hospital as a cystic fibrosis patient. Her life is full of routines, boundaries and self-control — all of which get put to the test when she meets Will, an impossibly charming teen who has the same illness. There's an instant flirtation, though restrictions dictate that they must maintain a safe distance between them. As their connection intensifies, so does the temptation to throw the rules out the window and embrace that attraction.

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  40. 40.
    The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes

    The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes

    2022·Dir. Tomohisa Taguchi·83 min·7.2

    Urashima Tunnel – Once you enter that tunnel, you can get whatever you want, but at a price. Kaoru Tohno, who seems to have an elusive personality and traumatic past, and Anzu Hanashiro, who is struggling to reconcile her ideal image and true-to-heart attitude, team up to investigate the Urashima Tunnel and get what they want. This is an unforgettable summer story of nostalgia and sprinting in a remote countryside.

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— End of Chapter —