There are plenty of fantastic feel-good movies out there and there are also plenty of films that will make viewers sad. But what about films that do both? The test of a good movie is whether it can make audiences feel something and well-made bittersweet films accomplish this every time. Combine the two feelings, and what have filmmakers got? A movie that will stick in the forefront of the audiences' minds for weeks to come.
The brilliance of films that make one both happy and sad is that within watching the movie the viewers begin to get so engrossed in the storyline and characters that they feel exactly what the characters do. These films will give audiences a deeper understanding of both emotions and how well they pair with each other.
1 'Aftersun' (2022)
11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) enjoys her rare time with her adoring and idealistic father, Calum (Paul Mescal), on their vacation. What she doesn't see is Calum struggling with the responsibilities of life outside of being a dad. Twenty years later, as Sophie tries to come to terms with the father she knew and the man she didn't, her emotional memories of their last vacation become a compelling and heartbreaking depiction of their connection.
With a breathtaking portrayal of a loving father-daughter connection, the recently Oscar-nominated film Aftersun creates a moving story with the aid of the gorgeous use of music to convey emotion. Throughout the movie, audiences are taken through the highs and happiness of the two's fun vacation and the crashing lows of Calum's own troubles. It is almost as if the viewers are given multiple clues to connect the dots on their own before the film's end.
2 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' (2012)
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The Perks of Being a Wallflower, which is based on the Stephen Chbosky novel, follows 15-year-old Charlie (Logan Lerman), a timid but kind outsider, as he copes with his first love, the loss of his closest friend, and his own mental health while looking for a group of people to connect to. Seniors Sam (Emma Watson) and Patrick (Ezra Miller) take the timid newcomer under their wing and assist him in adjusting to life outside of school.
This coming-of-age story is centered around this group of outcasts who look to each other for family. It's exactly what Charlie needs. With multiple moments where they blunder and falter in the eyes of love, their mistakes are endearing and cast many smiles across the room. But Charlie is struggling with past traumas of his own that culminate into a scene that people everywhere have not so easily forgotten.
3 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind' (2004)
When their love falters, a couple has a medical procedure done to permanently remove each other from their memory. However, after they cross paths again on a train, Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) start dating. However, because their memories were surgically removed, they are unable to recall their turbulent history.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a cult classic sci-fi romance movie that tells an emotional tale about the potential outcomes and drawbacks of making the decision to erase undesired memories. One of the side effects could be, for example, making the same mistakes all over again. It splits the audience into two minds: happy that they're back together but sad they're repeating their mistakes.
4 'Hachi: A Dog's Tale' (2009)
As a young Robbie stands up in front of his class, he tells the story of his grandfather's amazing Akita dog, Hachi. An amazing tale of dedication and devotion begins to take shape as Ronnie begins to tell the story of his grandfather, Parker Wilson (Richard Gere), a college music professor, and his chance encounter with the abandoned dog that wound up in the professor's Rhode Island hometown.
Hachi tells the story of fierce love and loyalty between a man and his dog. This movie is definitely one to get the tears going, and while it may be hard to see the happiness in this story one must only look to the joy the dog brought the man and vice versa.
5 'Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio' (2022)
The tale of Pinocchio is brought to life like never before in Guillermo del Toro's dark retelling of the traditional fairytale story. Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) will discover what it means to be a real boy and experience the many paradoxes of life with the aid of his conscience Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) and his father Geppetto (David Bradley), all against the backdrop of Mussolini's fascist Italy.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is a simultaneously beautiful but dark story about the effects of grief and the yearning for life. Many scenes will make audiences smile, laugh and feel happy but the scenes that do the opposite are some of the most accurate portrayals of profound sadness in an animated film. Not to mention that the songs throughout are delightful and are ones that will make audiences happy to have stuck in their heads.
6 'The Farewell' (2019)
After learning that her cherished grandmother has terminal cancer, a stubborn Chinese-American woman leaves America and goes back to China. While they all organize an impromptu wedding to visit grandma one final time, Billi (Awkwafina) fights with her family's choice to keep grandmother in the dark about her own illness.
The Farewell allows Awkwafina fans to see the comedian tackle a more serious role, and she does so beautifully. The whole film can be summarized as bittersweet as it shows the happiness of the family coming back together and the somberness of the looming death.
7 'The Edge of Seventeen' (2016)
Everyone knows that growing up is hard. Nadine (Hailee Steinfeld), who is already at peak awkwardness, falls apart when her all-star older brother Darian (Blake Jenner) starts dating her best friend Krista (Haley Lu Richardson). All at once, Nadine feels more alone than ever, until she begins to discover unexpected connections that give her a glimmer of hope that things just might not be so terrible after all.
The Edge of Seventeen is a coming-of-age story that, at first glance, just seems like a funny movie about a teenager feeling awkward throughout high school. The film is hilarious and will leave audiences laughing with tears in their eyes. But the tears can come for another reason too. When it is shown just how alone Nadine feels and the way her family treats her, not only will viewers be able to relate, but it also strikes a sympathetic nerve in many hearts.
8 'Room' (2015)
Held captive for years in an enclosed shed called 'room', a woman (Brie Larson) tries to make the best of their horrific situation for her young son (Jacob Tremblay). When they finally gain their freedom through intense methods, the boy gets to experience and explore the world that he's only heard stories about for the first time. While the mother must adjust to being back in the real world after so long.
Room is a strong and compelling movie about a mother's love for her son. Larson brings a painful reality to a woman trying to hold it together for her son while she is falling apart at the seams. Tremblay, on the other hand, provides the audience with a look through a young child's eye as a whole new world unfolds in front of him. Two compelling stories about breaking out of the confines of captivity.
9 'Begin Again' (2013)
When Gretta (Keira Knightley) and her partner Dave (Adam Levine) move to New York, Dave gets a record deal and begins to give in to the temptations that come with success, leaving Gretta alone. That all changes when Dan (Mark Ruffalo), a disgraced record executive, discovers Gretta performing in a club, and they start working together on Gretta's first album.
It is safe to say that Begin Again is a feel-good movie about the ups and downs of the music world, and Knightley and Ruffalo's on-screen chemistry enriches the music played throughout the film. Knightley also has a beautiful singing voice that has previously gone unnoticed. What makes the love within the film seem more nuanced is that the music takes center stage.
10 'Blue Jay' (2016)
Jim and Amanda (Mark Duplass and Sarah Paulson), who were once high school sweethearts, haven't spoken in more than 20 years, but they unexpectedly bump into one other in the grocery store in Crestline, California, their mountain homeland. When they get coffee they get to talking and quickly find themselves in Jim's mother's house, where everything plunges them into the past.
The most surprising thing about this deeply moving, adult drama is that there is no screenplay and all the excellent dialogue is improvised. Duplass and Paulson have such incredible chemistry together that everything their characters say to one another feels so authentic and heartbreaking.