film The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked  

Ranker Film
326 votes 59 voters 1.2k views 46 items

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.

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Ghost is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Ghost Demi Moore, Whoopi Goldberg, Patrick Swayze Ghost is a 1990 American romantic fantasy/crime thriller film starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore, Tony Goldwyn, and Whoopi Goldberg. It was written by Bruce Joel Rubin and directed by Jerry ...more

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What Dreams May Come is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
What Dreams May Come Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Max von Sydow What Dreams May Come is a 1998 American fantasy drama film, starring Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Annabella Sciorra and Max von Sydow. The film is based on the 1978 novel of the same name ...more

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Ordinary People is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Ordinary People Mary Tyler Moore, Donald Sutherland, Adam Baldwin Ordinary People is a 1980 American drama film that marked the directorial debut of actor Robert Redford. It stars Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton. The story ...more

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P.S. I Love You is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
P.S. I Love You Gerard Butler, Hilary Swank, Judy Garland P.S. I Love You is a 2007 American drama film directed by Richard LaGravenese. The screenplay by LaGravenese and Steven Rogers is based on the 2004 novel of the same name by Cecelia Ahern. It ...more

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The Descendants is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Descendants George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Judy Greer The Descendants is a 2011 American drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash is based on the novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film ...more

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In the Bedroom is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
In the Bedroom Marisa Tomei, Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson In the Bedroom is a 2001 American crime drama film directed by Todd Field, and dedicated to Andre Dubus, whose short story Killings is the source material on which the screenplay, by Field and ...more

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Rabbit Hole is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Rabbit Hole Nicole Kidman, Sandra Oh, Aaron Eckhart Rabbit Hole is a 2010 American drama film starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart, and Dianne Wiest, and directed by John Cameron Mitchell; the screenplay is an adaptation by David Lindsay-Abaire ...more

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Extremely Loud and Incredibly ... is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Sandra Bullock, Tom Hanks, John Goodman Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2011 American drama film adaptation of the novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Eric Roth. It stars ...more

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Moonlight Mile is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Moonlight Mile Jake Gyllenhaal, Susan Sarandon, Dustin Hoffman Moonlight Mile is a 2002 American romantic drama film written and directed by Brad Silberling. This film was loosely inspired by writer/director Brad Silberling's own experience. He was dating ...more

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A Single Man is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
A Single Man Julianne Moore, Jon Hamm, Ginnifer Goodwin A Single Man is a 2009 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. It is directed by Tom Ford in his directorial debut and stars Colin Firth, who was ...more

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Monster's Ball is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Monster's Ball Halle Berry, Sean Combs, Heath Ledger Monster's Ball is a 2001 American romantic drama film directed by German-Swiss director Marc Forster starring Halle Berry, Billy Bob Thornton and Heath Ledger. The film tells the story of a poor ...more

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Reign Over Me is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Reign Over Me Adam Sandler, Liv Tyler, Jada Pinkett Smith In Reign Over Me, two former college roommates Charlie Fineman (Adam Sandler) and Alan Johnson (Don Cheadle) run into each other years later and rekindle their friendship. Charlie, who recently ...more

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The Sweet Hereafter is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Sweet Hereafter Ian Holm, Sarah Polley, Bruce Greenwood The Sweet Hereafter is a 1997 Canadian drama film written and directed by Atom Egoyan, adapted from the novel of the same name by Russell Banks. The film was highly acclaimed upon its release ...more

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Jackie is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Jackie Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig Jackie is a 2016 biographical drama film directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Noah Oppenheim. The film stars Natalie Portman as the titular character, following her life after the ...more

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Things We Lost in the Fire is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Things We Lost in the Fire Halle Berry, David Duchovny, Benicio del Toro Things We Lost in the Fire is a 2007 drama film directed by Susanne Bier and written by Allan Loeb and starring Halle Berry and Benicio del Toro. The film was released in the United States and ...more

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A Ghost Story is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
A Ghost Story Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Will Oldham 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.

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The Lovely Bones is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Lovely Bones Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon The Lovely Bones is a 2009 supernatural drama film directed by Peter Jackson and stars Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, and Saoirse Ronan. A film ...more

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Manchester by the Sea is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Manchester by the Sea Casey Affleck, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler 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

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The Babadook is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Babadook Essie Davis, Daniel Henshall, Adam Morgan The Babadook is a 2014 Australian psychological horror film, written and directed by Jennifer Kent, in which a woman and her son are tormented by a "boogie-man" type monster. The film ...more

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Proof is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Proof Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, Anthony Hopkins Proof is a 2005 American drama film directed by John Madden and starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hope Davis. It was written by Rebecca Miller, based on David ...more

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The Door in the Floor is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Door in the Floor Kim Basinger, Jeff Bridges, Elle Fanning The Door in the Floor is a 2004 American drama film written and directed by Tod Williams. The screenplay is based on the first third of the 1998 novel A Widow for One Year by John Irving.

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Harry Potter and the Deathly H... is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part I Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Helena Bonham Carter Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 is a 2010 fantasy film directed by David Yates and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first of two cinematic parts based on the novel ...more

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John Wick is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
John Wick Keanu Reeves, Willem Dafoe, Adrianne Palicki John Wick is a 2014 American action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch. Starring Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean ...more

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The Grey is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Grey Liam Neeson, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo The Grey is a 2011 American survival thriller co-written, produced and directed by Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson, Frank Grillo and Dermot Mulroney. It is based on the short story ...more

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This Is Where I Leave You is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
This Is Where I Leave You Tina Fey, Jane Fonda, Rose Byrne This Is Where I Leave You is a 2014 American comedy-drama film directed by Shawn Levy. It is based on the book of the same name by Jonathan Tropper, who also wrote the film's screenplay. The ...more

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Taking Chance is listed (or ranked) 26 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Taking Chance Kevin Bacon, Matthew Morrison, Enver Gjokaj Taking Chance is a 2009 historical drama film based upon the experiences of Marine Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl, who escorted the body of a fallen Marine, PFC Chance Phelps, back to his hometown ...more

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Truly, Madly, Deeply is listed (or ranked) 27 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Truly, Madly, Deeply Alan Rickman, Juliet Stevenson, Bill Paterson Truly, Madly, Deeply is a 1990 British fantasy music drama film made for the BBC's Screen Two series. The film, written and directed by Anthony Minghella, stars Juliet Stevenson and Alan

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Love Happens is listed (or ranked) 28 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Love Happens Jennifer Aniston, Martin Sheen, Sasha Alexander Love Happens is a 2009 romance drama film written by Mike Thompson and Brandon Camp, and directed by Brandon Camp. Starring Aaron Eckhart and Jennifer Aniston. It was released on September 18,

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Grace Is Gone is listed (or ranked) 29 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Grace Is Gone Marisa Tomei, John Cusack, Mary Kay Place Grace Is Gone is a 2007 drama film starring John Cusack as a father who cannot bring himself to tell his two daughters that their mother, a soldier in the American army, has just been killed on ...more

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We Bought a Zoo is listed (or ranked) 30 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
We Bought a Zoo Scarlett Johansson, Matt Damon, Elle Fanning We Bought a Zoo is a 2011 American family comedy-drama film loosely based on the 2008 memoir of the same name by Benjamin Mee. The film is directed by Cameron Crowe, and stars Matt Damon as ...more

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The Other Man is listed (or ranked) 31 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Other Man Liam Neeson, Antonio Banderas, Laura Linney The Other Man is a 2008 British-American drama film directed by Richard Eyre. It stars Liam Neeson and Antonio Banderas as competitors for a woman's love, The film was a flop, failing to reach ...more

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Collateral Beauty is listed (or ranked) 32 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Collateral Beauty Will Smith, Edward Norton, Keira Knightley Collateral Beauty is a 2016 American drama film directed by David Frankel and written by Allan Loeb. When a successful New York advertising executive (Will Smith) suffers from a great tragedy, ...more

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Morning is listed (or ranked) 33 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Morning Laura Linney, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Elliott Gould Morning is a 2010 drama film directed by Leland Orser.

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Catch and Release is listed (or ranked) 34 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Catch and Release Jennifer Garner, Juliette Lewis, Timothy Olyphant Catch and Release is a 2007 romantic comedy film released by Columbia Pictures. It is the directorial debut of Susannah Grant, who wrote the film Erin Brockovich. It stars Jennifer Garner as a ...more

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21 Grams is listed (or ranked) 35 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
21 Grams Naomi Watts, Sean Penn, Benicio del Toro 21 Grams is a 2003 American drama film directed by Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu from a screenplay written by Guillermo Arriaga. It stars Sean Penn, Naomi ...more

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Dead Man's Shoes is listed (or ranked) 36 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Dead Man's Shoes Paddy Constantine, Toby Kebbell, Gary Stretch Dead Man's Shoes is a 2004 British psychological thriller film written and directed by Shane Meadows, and co-written by Paddy Considine, who also starred in the lead role. The film co-stars Toby ...more

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St. Vincent is listed (or ranked) 37 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
St. Vincent Naomi Watts, Bill Murray, Melissa McCarthy St. Vincent is a 2014 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Theodore Melfi, making his "theatrical feature film debut". The film stars Bill Murray as the title character ...more

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No Reservations is listed (or ranked) 38 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
No Reservations Catherine Zeta-Jones, Zoë Kravitz, Abigail Breslin No Reservations is a 2007 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Scott Hicks. Starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart and Abigail Breslin, the screenplay by Carol Fuchs is an ...more

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Gladiator is listed (or ranked) 39 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Gladiator Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Michael Sheen Gladiator is a 2000 American-British epic historical drama film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Ralf Möller, Oliver Reed, Djimon Hounsou, ...more

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Gone Baby Gone is listed (or ranked) 40 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Gone Baby Gone Morgan Freeman, Michelle Monaghan, Ed Harris Gone Baby Gone is a 2007 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Ben Affleck and starring his brother Casey Affleck. The screenplay by Ben Affleck and Aaron Stockard is based on the novel of ...more

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Southpaw is listed (or ranked) 41 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Southpaw Rachel McAdams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Naomie Harris Southpaw is a 2015 American sports drama film directed by Antoine Fuqua. A champion boxer (Jake Gyllenhaal) fights to get his daughter back as well as revive his professional career, after a ...more

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Freedomland is listed (or ranked) 42 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Freedomland Julianne Moore, Samuel L. Jackson, Edie Falco Freedomland is a 2006 American crime drama-mystery film directed by Joe Roth and starring Samuel L. Jackson and Julianne Moore. Richard Price adapted his novel of the same name, which touches on ...more

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Get Carter is listed (or ranked) 43 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Get Carter Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Michael Caine Get Carter is a 2000 American thriller film, a remake of the Michael Caine 1971 film of the same name, and directed by Stephen Kay. The film stars Sylvester Stallone, Miranda Richardson, Rachael ...more

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Woodshock is listed (or ranked) 44 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Woodshock Kirsten Dunst, Joe Cole, Pilou Asbæk Woodshock is a 2017 American drama film written and directed by Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Theresa (Kirsten Dunst), a woman in the wake of profound loss, is torn between her fractured emotional ...more

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The Girl on the Train is listed (or ranked) 45 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
The Girl on the Train The Girl on the Train is a 2016 American mystery thriller drama film directed by Tate Taylor and based on Paula Hawkins' 2015 debut novel of the same name. The film follows an alcoholic ...more

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Last Tango in Paris is listed (or ranked) 46 on the list The Best Movies About Grief, Ranked
Last Tango in Paris Marlon Brando, Jean Piere Leaud, Catherine Breillat Last Tango in Paris is a 1972 Franco-Italian romantic erotic drama film directed by Bernardo Bertolucci which portrays a recent American widower who begins an anonymous sexual relationship with ...more