Confession: lots of the movies that came out in the last twelve months made me cry. I wept with joy; I howled (quietly, with respect for my fellow moviegoers) with sadness. This doesn’t make 2013 a particularly special year—no recent movie can even hold a crying candle to Whale Rider, the only movie ever to make me hyperventilate in a multiplex parking lot—but as we begin a brand new year full of reasons to bring a hankie to the movies (because wiping your eyes with a popcorn-greasy paper napkin is a rookie mistake), here’s an extremely subjective list of 13 of last year’s most tear-duct-exploiting movies.
(MORE: Richard Corliss’ Top 10 Movies of 2013)
This is not a list of the saddest or most moving movies of the year, and it’s not scientific. For example, 12 Years a Slave is not on the list, due to containing more of the mouth-hanging-open-in-shock kind of pain and sadness than the weeping-in-a-movie-theater kind—but if you cried at it, we understand.
In 2013, we whipped out the Kleenex for:
Movie: World War Z
Why cry: Post-apocalyptic family reunion
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EC7P5WdUko]
Movie: The Spectacular Now
Why cry: Pre-apocalyptic family falling apart
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDTBLSkUmYk]
Movie: The Sapphires
Why cry: The conquering of adversity, over the course of many rehearsal sessions
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2Ty4r6mvgg]
Movie: 42
Why cry: The conquering of adversity, over the course of many innings
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9RHqdZDCF0]
Movie: The Butler
Why cry: The conquering of adversity, over the course of many Presidential administrations
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuojHqfe4Vk]
Movie: Short Term 12
Why cry: Sad kids
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8QxAYxNRgs]
Movie: Winnie Mandela
Why cry: Sad Jennifer Hudson
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGnc4FP6eII]
Movie: About Time
Why cry: The part where the father and son walk on the beach; the part where they get married; the ephemeral nature of human life; ugh, so many tears
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7A810duHvw]
Movie: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Why cry: Realization that Rue will never get a chance to grow up
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoKj7TdJk98]
Movie: Frozen
Why cry: Realization that you are a grown-up
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbQm5doF_Uc]
Movie: Dallas Buyers Club
Why cry: Real-life struggles; Jennifer Garner, causing wet eyes ever since Alias
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvMPU0WaPcc]
Movie: Saving Mr. Banks
Why cry: Real-life struggles; Emma Thompson, causing wet eyes ever since Love Actually
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujxpk2IdDmM]
Movie: The Best Man Holiday
Why cry: Pretty sure that’s the point of the movie
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZZXBQrDh8Y]