The Best Movies About Grief
List Rules
Vote up the best, most heartwrenching movies in which characters are grieving a death.
This list contains information on the best films about grief, ranked from best to worst by user votes. The best films about grief come in many forms. Some movies about grieving death are about losing a spouse while other good movies about grief are about the death of a child. Many of the best grief movies feature award-winning actors.
What films will you find on this top movies about grief list? Ghost has to be near the top. Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze star as a couple whose afterlife romance inspired movie-goers in 1990. Whoopi Goldberg even won an Academy Award for her performance as the match-making medium in the film. Ordinary People is another good movie about grief.
In the Bedroom examines how grief can quickly turn into revenge. Other good films about grieving death include The Door in the Floor, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and The Lovely Bones.
Do you have a favorite movie about grief? Give the best films a thumbs up and please add any good features we may have missed.
list ordered by
- Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze) is a banker, Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) is an artist, and the two are madly in love. However, when Sam is murdered by friend and corrupt business partner Carl Bruner (Tony ...more
- After Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) dies in a car accident, he is guided through the afterlife by his spirit guide, Albert (Cuba Gooding Jr.). His new world is beautiful and can be whatever Chris ...more
- Manchester by the Sea is a 2016 American drama film directed and written by Kenneth Lonergan. After the death of his older brother Joe (Kyle Chandler), Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is shocked to ...more
- Tormented by guilt following the death of his older brother, Buck, in a sailing accident, alienated teenager Conrad Jarrett (Timothy Hutton) attempts suicide. Returning home following an extended ...more
- Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) takes power and strips rank from Maximus (Russell Crowe), one of the favored generals of his predecessor and father, Emperor Marcus Aurelius, the great stoical philosopher. ...more
- Legendary assassin John Wick (Keanu Reeves) retired from his violent career after marrying the love of his life. Her sudden death leaves John in deep mourning. When sadistic mobster Iosef Tarasov ...more
- When Gerry (Gerard Butler), the husband of Holly Kennedy (Hilary Swank), dies from an illness, she loses the love of her life. Knowing how hard Holly will take his death, Gerry plans ahead. Beginning ...more
- Summertime on the coast of Maine, "In the Bedroom" centers on the inner dynamics of a family in transition. Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) is a doctor practicing in his native Maine and is married to ...more
- After being brutally murdered, 14-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) watches from heaven over her grief-stricken family (Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz) -- and her killer (Stanley Tucci). As she ...more
- Along with his girlfriend (Michelle Monaghan), a private detective (Casey Affleck) takes on the difficult task of searching for a kidnapped girl in Boston. During his investigation, he must deal with ...more
- Without the guidance and protection of their professors, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) begin a mission to destroy the Horcruxes, the sources of Voldemort's ...more
- George (Colin Firth) is a college professor who recently lost his lover, Jim, in a car accident. Terribly grief-stricken, George plans to commit suicide. As he goes about his daily routine and puts ...more
- Callum Ferguson must ensure that a German scientist helps the British to develop the jet engine.
- Native islander Matt King (George Clooney) lives with his family in Hawaii. Their world shatters when a tragic accident leaves his wife in a coma. Not only must Matt struggle with the stipulation in ...more
- Jackie is a 2016 biographical drama film directed by Pablo LarraÃn and written by Noah Oppenheim. The film stars Natalie Portman as the titular character, following her life after the assassination ...more
- A troubled widow (Essie Davis) discovers that her son is telling the truth about a monster that entered their home through the pages of a children's book.
- Following his wife's untimely death, Los Angeles journalist Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) decides to make a fresh start by quitting his job and moving his children (Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth Jones) to ...more
- A Ghost Story is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by David Lowery. The movie follows a man as he dies, becomes a ghost, and witnesses many things before fading away.
- Broken Diamonds is a 2021 American drama film directed by Peter Sattler. In the wake of his father's death, a twenty-something writer sees his dream of moving to Paris put in jeopardy when he's ...more
- Buckley's Chance is a 2021 Australian-Canadian family drama film directed by Tim Brown. Lost and alone in the harsh Australian Outback, 12-year-old Ridley finds an unlikely ally in a wild dog. ...more
- The Wolf and the Lion is a 2022 French-Canadian family adventure film directed by Gilles de Maistre. A wolf pup and a lost lion cub are rescued by a girl in the heart of the Canadian wilderness. ...more
- Hank, an embittered racist prison guard working on death row, begins an unlikely, emotionally charged sexual relationship with Leticia, a Black woman and wife of a man sentenced to death. The affair ...more
- Master chef Kate Armstrong (Catherine Zeta-Jones) runs her life and her kitchen with intimidating intensity. However, a recipe for disaster may be in the works when she becomes the guardian of her ...more
- Lt. Col. Michael Strobl, a volunteer military escort accompanies the body of Lance Cpl. Chance Phelps to his hometown in Wyoming.
- When Joe Nast's (Jake Gyllenhaal) plans for marriage change due to an unexpected loss, he wants to be the man he believes everyone wants him to be - dutifully bereaved husband-to-be, and perfect ...more
