Tearjerkers on Netflix
Last updated December 11, 2023
Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story
2009 | NR | 4.4 out of 5 StarsOscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who overcomes enormous obstacles to study medicine and save lives at Johns Hopkins Hospital in this made-for-cable drama based on Carson's memoirs.
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Johnny
2010 | NR | 4.3 out of 5 StarsStill reeling from his 10-year-old son's tragic accidental death, Dr. Drew Carter attempts to assuage his family's grief by adopting Johnny Bell, a terminally ill foster child suffering from leukemia.
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The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
2008 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen his family moves to Poland, young Bruno befriends Shmuel, a boy who lives on the other side of the fence, where everyone seems to be wearing striped pajamas. Unaware of Shmuel's fate as a Jewish prisoner, Bruno embarks on a dangerous journey.
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Life Is Beautiful
1997 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsA Jewish Italian waiter named Guido is sent to a Nazi concentration camp, along with his wife and their young son. Refusing to give up hope, Guido tries to protect his son's innocence by pretending that their imprisonment is an elaborate game.
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Good Will Hunting
1997 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen professors at MIT discover that an aimless janitor working at the university is also a math genius, a therapist helps the young man confront the demons that are holding him back in this uplifting drama about friendship and risk.
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Safe Haven
2013 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsThis adaptation of the novel by Nicholas Sparks centers on a mysterious woman who arrives in a small North Carolina town and begins a new life but remains haunted by the terrifying secret that prompted her to travel across the country.
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Hachi: A Dog's Tale
2009 | NR | 4.2 out of 5 StarsWhen his master dies, a loyal pooch named Hachiko keeps a regular vigil -- for more than a decade -- at the train station where he once greeted his owner every day in this touching drama based on a true story.
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Little Red Wagon
2012 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsArmed with his beat-up red wagon and a blazing spirit of philanthropy, 8-year-old Zach sets out to help homeless children in the wake of Hurricane Charley by walking from his house in Florida to the White House.
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A Werewolf Boy
2012 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsAfter moving to the country to cope with illness, city girl Suni befriends a mute boy who appears to have literally been raised by wolves. But violent conflict brews when another man seeks Suni's attention.
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Imitation of Life
1959 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsLora, a white widow with a daughter, and Annie, a black single mother, move in together and face a huge challenge as they try to raise their children. Annie's daughter favors her light-skinned father and comes to resent her mother's black identity.
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Rain Man
1988 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsFast-talking yuppie Charlie Babbitt is forced to slow down when he embarks on a life-changing cross-country odyssey with the brother he never knew he had, an autistic savant named Raymond who's spent most of his life in an institution.
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Snowmen
2011 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsIn this family-friendly drama, a surprising discovery in the snow catapults three small-town boys into the spotlight. Soon the pals hatch a plan to be remembered forever by setting a world record for building snowmen.
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The Cure
1995 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsRejected by his peers, an 11-year-old Minnesota boy who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion develops a kinship with his new neighbor. When the duo reads about a New Orleans' doctor's cure for AIDS, they head down the Mississippi River on a raft.
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The Ryan White Story
1989 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsAfter contracting HIV from a tainted blood treatment, young hemophiliac Ryan White is ostracized by his Kokomo, Ind., community, forcing the ailing teen and his determined mother to hire a lawyer to fight for Ryan's right to attend public school.
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Silenced
2011 | NR | 4.0 out of 5 StarsThough it is hard to believe, this is the true account of what took place inside a school for the deaf. For about 5 years since 2000, the principal and some teachers committed inhumane sexual molestation and abuse against some deaf children. Though we do not want to accept it, it is true. It is time to face this horrible truth.
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No Higher Love
1999 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsEllen Young (Katey Segal), a loving wife and mother and a successful realtor, leads a seemingly perfect life until she discovers that she's terminally ill with cancer. With just months to live, Ellen finds nurse Claire Hutton (Annabeth Gish), who becomes an integral part of the family's life -- and to whom she entrusts her husband's and child's well-being after she's gone.
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The Mighty
1998 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsWhen Kevin, who has a rare physical disorder, meets learning-disabled but very large and strong Max, they bond over a fantasy world of knights and sorcery, and the two outcasts combine their strengths at home and school to overcome their weaknesses.
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The Best of Youth
2003 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsThis sprawling drama sweeps from the 1960s to the 21st century, tracking two brothers who strain family bonds by taking totally different paths and ending up on opposite sides of the political spectrum.
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More than Blue
2009 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsIn a tragic romance colored with sadness, two orphaned friends eventually fall in love but suppress their true feelings in a misguided attempt to make each other happy. In the end, will either get what they really want?
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Brian's Song
2001 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsIn this remake of the Emmy-winning 1971 tearjerker, the friendship of Chicago Bears running backs Brian Piccolo and Gale Sayers gets them through difficult times -- especially when Piccolo is stricken with terminal cancer.
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Dark Horse
1992 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsFollowing a scrape with the law, teenager Allison is sentenced to perform community service on a horse farm. Once there, she finds herself bonding gradually with Jet, a horse that's been deemed a problem case -- just like her.
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Triumph of the Heart
1991 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsA poignant story in the mode of "Brian's Song" and "Something for Joey". This is the tale of Ricky Bell, an all-pro running back with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who died of a rare muscle disease in the prime of his career.
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Two Against Time
2002 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsWhile trying to contend with her worthless ex-husband and a budding new romance with a lobster fisherman, divorced mother of two Julie Portman learns that her headstrong teenage daughter has cancer -- and so does Julie.
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And Your Name Is Jonah
1979 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsDeaf youngster Jonah Corelli (Jeffrey Bravin) was tragically misdiagnosed as mentally retarded when he was a boy, leading to years of frustration for both Jonah and his parents (James Woods and Sally Struthers). When the boy's abilities are recognized, Jonah's world opens as he learns sign language. Jonah's struggles to make himself understood provide an affecting, heart-rending family drama with an important message.
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My Left Foot
1989 | NR | 3.9 out of 5 StarsDaniel Day-Lewis won an Oscar for his emotionally and physically complex portrayal of Irish writer Christy Brown, who was born with cerebral palsy and eventually learned to write using the only body part he could control: his left foot.
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