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Staff Picks For a Good Cry

Some nights call for a film that opens the emotional floodgates. You may want a story that understands grief, family, regret, or the strange ache of remembering someone who is still alive. A good cry can be cathartic, especially when the film earns it through small, recognisable moments rather than manufactured melodrama.

At Rain City Video, staff recommendations begin with the person browsing, not an algorithm predicting what millions of viewers might watch next. These three selections offer very different routes to tears: a holiday remembered through a child’s eyes, a family protecting one another with a difficult secret, and an old man making a long journey to repair a broken relationship. They are ideal choices for anyone searching for staff picks: three films to watch when you need a good cry.

Why A Thoughtful Sad Film Helps

The best tearjerkers give sadness room to develop. They let a pause linger, allow a character to change the subject, or place a painful realisation inside an ordinary afternoon. That restraint can make the emotion feel personal. You are not simply watching a character suffer; you are recognising the shape of something you have felt yourself.

Physical media suits this kind of viewing. A DVD or Blu-ray gives you a deliberate evening rather than another restless scroll through changing menus. In Australia, where streaming rights can move between Netflix, Stan, Binge, Prime Video and SBS On Demand, a favourite film may vanish without warning. A rental copy offers a more dependable invitation: choose the film, make a cuppa, put your phone down, and stay with it.

The mood also depends on context. A rainy Melbourne evening, a quiet Sunday after the footy, or an unexpectedly cool night in Brisbane can all make a reflective drama land differently. There is no correct setting for a cry, though a box of tissues and a forgiving housemate are sensible preparations.

Aftersun And The Memories We Keep

Charlotte Wells’ Aftersun follows eleven-year-old Sophie on a holiday in Turkey with her young father, Calum. The plot appears simple: swimming, karaoke, excursions, awkward conversations and the small negotiations that fill a family trip. Yet the film is shaped by adult Sophie’s memories, which means every sunny image carries the weight of what she could not understand at the time.

Paul Mescal gives Calum a tender, guarded sadness. He wants to be a good dad, and he clearly loves his daughter, but he is also struggling with something beyond Sophie’s ability to name. The film trusts viewers to notice the cracks: a distracted look, a sudden mood shift, a moment when joy feels almost too hard to sustain. That subtlety makes the eventual emotional impact enormous.

Aftersun is a strong choice when your tears are tied to parents, childhood or the fear of losing time. It may remind you of a family holiday along the Gold Coast, a road trip through regional New South Wales, or an afternoon when you sensed an adult was unhappy but lacked the words to ask why. The film’s ache arrives quietly, then stays with you long after the credits.

The Farewell And Complicated Love

Lulu Wang’s The Farewell begins with a family gathering under a deception. Billi, played by Awkwafina, learns that her beloved grandmother has terminal cancer, but the family has decided not to tell the grandmother herself. They arrange a wedding as a reason for everyone to return to China, creating an atmosphere of celebration around an unbearable truth.

The premise might sound purely tragic, yet the film is frequently funny. Relatives argue over etiquette, food, marriage and responsibility. Billi’s American expectations collide with the family’s belief that illness belongs to the whole community, not just the individual. The humour makes the sorrow more believable, because real families rarely respond to grief with solemn speeches every minute of the day.

This is an especially affecting pick for viewers who have moved between cultures, countries or generations. It understands the emotional confusion of being told to keep smiling when everything has changed. The film may hit home for Australian viewers with families spread between Sydney, Perth, Singapore, Hong Kong, London or elsewhere, where news often travels through group chats and long-distance calls. When the final goodbye arrives, it feels both restrained and devastating.

For further film discovery beyond the most obvious streaming recommendations, the Vice Versa Library offers a useful reminder that cinema culture grows through curation, discussion and preservation. That spirit is central to choosing a film for its emotional texture rather than its popularity score.

The Straight Story And Quiet Reconciliation

David Lynch’s The Straight Story is based on the true journey of Alvin Straight, an elderly man who travels hundreds of kilometres on a ride-on lawn mower to visit his estranged brother. The unlikely vehicle gives the story its gentle humour, but the journey itself is sincere. Alvin is old, physically limited and stubborn, yet he knows that waiting longer may mean losing his final chance to make peace.

Richard Farnsworth plays Alvin with extraordinary warmth. He speaks plainly, listens carefully and meets strangers without pretending to be wiser than he is. Along the road, he encounters people carrying their own burdens: young parents, runaways, workers and fellow travellers. Each conversation adds another layer to a film that understands reconciliation as a series of small acts rather than one grand apology.

This is the choice for a slow, healing cry. It does not push you towards despair; it lets emotion gather through landscape, silence and ordinary kindness. Australian viewers may connect with its long roads and open country, whether they are imagining a trip through the Riverina, the wheatbelt or the vast stretches between country towns. Sometimes the film you need is not a dramatic breakdown, but a story that says there is still time to take the next kilometre.

Making The Most Of An Emotional Movie Night

A powerful drama deserves a little care. You do not need to turn watching into a formal event, but removing a few distractions can make the difference between half-watching a film and allowing it to reach you. Put the washing aside, dim the lights and let the story set its own pace.

Rain City Video’s collection also makes space for viewers whose feelings are less predictable. Perhaps you begin looking for a sad family drama and leave with a documentary, a classic or an unsettling cult film instead. The store’s overlooked horror guide is a good example of how fear and grief can overlap: some horror films are really about loneliness, loss, guilt or the inability to let go.

A few simple choices can make a tearful screening more rewarding:

When you are ready to choose a physical copy, you can browse rentals and take your time finding something that matches the evening. The point is not to chase sadness for its own sake. It is to spend a couple of hours with a story that recognises complicated feelings and leaves you a little less alone with them.

Rain City Video’s film links are another place to continue exploring after these three picks. A good recommendation can lead anywhere: from a quiet family drama to a forgotten foreign film, from a tearful classic to a strange little movie that catches you off guard. That unpredictability is part of the pleasure of browsing, and sometimes the film you did not expect is the one that finally lets the tears come.