If these movies don't make you cry, you were never a teen. For this list, we’ll be looking at f the most heartbreaking, poignant, and tear-jerking moments from movies revolving around teen and pre-teen hood.
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00:00 "Isn't it amazing how life is one thing and then in an instant it becomes something else?"
00:06 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 20 Saddest Scenes
00:11 in Teen Movies.
00:12 "Charlie, you gonna let me help you here?
00:17 Okay."
00:18 For this list, we'll be looking at the most heartbreaking, poignant, and tear-jerking
00:25 moments from movies revolving around teen and pre-teenhood, and/or geared towards those
00:30 in those age groups.
00:31 Plot points will be discussed, so be aware of spoilers ahead.
00:35 Which teen movie makes you the saddest?
00:37 Sound off in the comments.
00:39 20.
00:40 Romeo and Juliet's Deaths - Romeo and Juliet
00:44 You know this story, and that it's not called a tragedy for nothing.
00:48 "For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo."
00:54 Romeo and Juliet meet at a party and fall madly in love, but it seems like the whole
00:59 world - namely their feuding families - is against them.
01:02 Though a plan is hatched that would enable them to run away together, things go horribly
01:07 wrong.
01:08 It all culminates in this heartbreaking scene where both pass away.
01:12 "Don't call and left no friendly drop to help me after."
01:17 Sure, we all knew this moment was coming, but that doesn't make it any easier to digest.
01:22 The worst part is that it's not really the feuding families, or all the odds stacked
01:26 against them, that leads to their deaths.
01:28 It's a handful of rash choices, and some miscommunication.
01:32 "I defy you stars!"
01:35 19.
01:36 Sebastian Passes Away - Cruel Intentions
01:39 We might not care about what happens to Sebastian at the start of this flick.
01:42 After all, he's a vile character who bets his stepsister Catherine that he can get the
01:46 new girl, Annette, to be intimate with him.
01:48 "She'll be my greatest victory."
01:50 "You don't stand a chance.
01:54 Even this is out of your league."
01:58 "Care to make a wager on that?"
02:00 However, Sebastian falls for Annette, and as he changes, we start rooting for him.
02:04 So when he gets hit by a car and is killed while trying to save her, we're gutted.
02:09 "I love you, Annette."
02:12 "I love you too."
02:15 He's gone through so much personal growth by this point, and we get the sense that he
02:18 wants to build a better future with Annette.
02:21 Yet, in one swift instance, that chance is taken from him.
02:24 The whole thing happens so fast, and leaves us reeling.
02:28 "Such a tragedy, isn't it?"
02:32 "Yes, it is."
02:35 18.
02:36 Bethany Gets Vulnerable - Soul Surfer
02:37 "How are you?"
02:38 "I'm good.
02:39 Yeah.
02:40 Everyone's been doing really good."
02:41 Soul Surfer is about Bethany, one of the most prominent young surfers on the come-up, who
02:48 gets her arm bitten off by a shark.
02:50 Of course, the event changes her life.
02:53 Ultimately, though, she thrives in the face of adversity.
02:55 In this scene, however, we see what she's been keeping to herself.
02:59 Behind the triumphant face she wears on the outside, there's a scared and angry girl.
03:03 "I've been trying to get some perspective.
03:06 I've been really trying."
03:12 She's navigating a major shift, and there are bound to be peaks and valleys as she learns
03:16 to accept what's happened.
03:18 Bethany finally lets it all out to her church's youth ministry leader in a cathartic and tear-jerking
03:22 moment that never fails to grip us.
03:25 "Sara, how can this be God's plan for me?
03:30 I don't understand."
03:34 17.
03:35 Sutter Rejects Amy - The Spectacular Now
03:39 It's not just that he rejects her, it's the way he rejects her.
03:43 All Amy ever did was love Sutter.
03:45 "Don't love me."
03:46 "Yes, I do."
03:47 "You're wrong, you don't love me.
03:48 Okay, you're just drunk and you're grateful that somebody came along and showed interest
03:51 in you."
03:52 Sutter's nastiness comes from his realization that he might not be good for her, and his
03:56 attempts to push her away only get worse.
03:58 While driving under the influence, he nearly gets them into an accident while arguing with
04:02 Amy.
04:03 "Are you hurt?"
04:04 "Amy, what is the matter with you?
04:05 I almost just killed you, and you want to know if I'm okay?"
04:08 He's so upset about endangering her that he kicks her out of the car in the middle of
04:11 the road.
04:12 Yes, that's when she actually does get hurt, though not too seriously, thankfully.
04:17 This scene is so brutal and shocking, and watching it never gets less painful.
04:22 "Do you not see that I am bad for you?
04:24 You need to get away from me."
04:26 16.
04:27 Nadine's Apology - The Edge of Seventeen
04:29 "Like I'm floating outside of my body, looking down at myself.
04:35 And I hate what I see, how I'm acting, the way I sound."
04:43 The Edge of Seventeen places Nadine's experiences front and center, so it's really easy to empathize
04:49 with her and see things from her perspective.
04:51 However, that doesn't mean that she isn't flawed, and we delve deeper into her sometimes
04:55 selfish and self-centered behaviors.
04:58 But the thing is, none of it comes from a place of malice.
05:01 She's just dealing with a lot, so it feels like the world is out to get her.
05:05 "I think some deranged part of me likes thinking I'm the only one with real problems.
05:10 Like that makes me special."
05:12 In this scene, she confesses her deepest insecurities and fears to her brother, expressing how badly
05:17 she's been hurting, while also recognizing that she's not the only one who hurts.
05:21 It's such a profound, raw, and vulnerable moment that shows us Nadine at her most relatable.
05:27 "And I don't know how to change it.
05:31 And I'm so scared that that feeling is never gonna go away."
05:39 Flashback to the party - Speak
05:41 Based on the equally devastating book, Speak is about a young girl, Melinda, who finds
05:46 herself struggling to vocalize the trauma she's experienced.
05:49 When school starts, she's mistreated for having called the cops on the gathering.
05:53 But no one knows what really happened.
05:55 "We were…
05:57 We were…
05:59 Trying to make it out.
06:03 Trying to make it out."
06:07 We can tell something bad has happened, and flashbacks to the party slowly reveal the
06:11 truth of what transpired that night.
06:13 "Maybe I should tell my friends."
06:15 "Tell your friends you're with me."
06:17 Indeed, Melinda didn't contact the authorities to break up the festivities.
06:21 She did so to report that she had been sexually assaulted.
06:24 But when the moment came, she just couldn't say it.
06:27 The facts are devastating enough, but to see Melinda actually go through it all is absolutely
06:32 heartbreaking.
06:33 "It happened.
06:34 There's no avoiding it.
06:35 No forgetting."
06:36 The accident - If I Stay
06:41 Whatever small mercy it may be, this scene is at least not quite as graphic on screen
06:46 as it is in the book.
06:47 "Here I am, Mia.
06:50 The girl who thinks about the cello and Adam and whether a letter is waiting for me at
06:56 home.
06:57 I'm just like that."
06:59 Mia and her family get into a terrible car accident, and she watches the aftermath unfold
07:03 in an out-of-body experience.
07:05 She doesn't even realise at first that she was injured too.
07:08 When you see the extent of the wreckage, you just know it's bad.
07:13 "Mom.
07:15 Daddy.
07:17 Dad."
07:19 The uncertainty and frenzied panic on her face is just too much to bear, and it only
07:23 gets worse once she discovers her own body on the ground.
07:26 This sets up much of the emotional tension of the film, as she heads to the hospital
07:30 and lets us know we're in for a difficult journey.
07:33 "If she wants to live, she better start fighting."
07:36 "Start fighting?
07:37 How am I supposed to start fighting?
07:38 Someone just talk to me, please!
07:39 Just help me!"
07:40 The Pond - 5 Feet Apart
07:44 To be honest, this whole thing is quite tear-inducing.
07:47 These kinds of 2010s romantic teen movies were practically in a competition to see which
07:52 one could make us cry the hardest.
07:54 But this scene in particular really wrecks us every single time.
07:58 "Stella!"
07:59 "Mom!"
08:00 Polar opposites Will and Stella fall in love while living in the hospital with cystic fibrosis.
08:13 Although they aren't supposed to be closer than six feet apart, they go on an adventure
08:17 together.
08:18 "Stella, they have new lungs for you.
08:21 Hey, they have new lungs for you.
08:23 Let's go to the hospital, come on."
08:24 "I haven't seen the lights yet."
08:26 While laying on a frozen pond, Stella falls through the ice.
08:29 Watching as Will tries to save her is absolutely heart-stopping.
08:48 Number 12.
08:49 Johnny's Death - The Outsiders
08:51 This one is tough.
08:52 "It's useless."
08:53 "Huh?"
08:54 "Fighting ain't no good."
08:59 He and his friends ran into a burning building to save a bunch of children, and this is what
09:03 he gets for it.
09:05 Thanks to Ralph Macchio's performance, it's like you can feel Johnny's pain as he lays
09:09 in the hospital dying from his injuries.
09:11 Speaking of great performances, see Thomas Howell and Matt Dillon also deliver the goods
09:16 in this movie.
09:17 You can see just how guilty Ponyboy and Dallas feel as they survive the harrowing incident.
09:22 "Punk.
09:23 Come on, Johnny, don't die.
09:27 Come on, Johnny, don't die on me now.
09:35 Please."
09:37 Johnny was a good guy, arguably one of the best out of the whole Greaser gang.
09:41 He definitely deserved better.
09:43 "Man, I don't want to die now.
09:45 It ain't long enough.
09:46 16 years ain't gonna be long enough."
09:49 Number 11.
09:50 Leslie's Passing - Bridge to Terabithia
09:52 When Jess and Leslie become friends, they use their creativity and imagination to create
09:57 a beautiful world all their own.
09:59 "What if there is a magical kingdom that only we knew about?"
10:03 "I don't know.
10:05 What if?"
10:06 "OK, well, what if the only way we could enter it is by swinging on this enchanted rope?"
10:13 They have adventures and fight their enemies, and it's obvious that their bond runs deep.
10:17 But the one time she goes to Terabithia alone while he's on a trip with his teacher, tragedy
10:22 strikes.
10:23 "Apparently she tried to swing across on a rope and it broke.
10:27 They think she hit her head."
10:29 Thankfully we don't have to watch what happens to Leslie, but it may be worse hearing the
10:33 news along with Jess.
10:34 He comes home to hear that she drowned while he was away, and you can just see as the guilt
10:39 and grief washes over him.
10:41 "I wasn't there to go with her.
10:44 It's my fault."
10:45 "No, no, no, no."
10:47 Number 10.
10:48 She Just Didn't Love Us Back - Pretty in Pink
10:50 "I've already been through this, Andy."
10:52 "Sure, you go through it every day.
10:53 You're still going through it.
10:54 Why can't you just realise that she's gone and she's not gonna come back?"
10:59 This classic John Hughes comedy follows Andy as she struggles with her frustrations about
11:04 her working-class upbringing.
11:06 Much of this tension manifests in her relationship with her father, which comes to a head in
11:09 this explosive scene.
11:11 "Because I love her, that's why."
11:15 "Well, I loved her too, you know."
11:19 "She just didn't love us back."
11:23 Molly Ringwald exemplifies why she was the queen of teen films in the 80s, as Andy's
11:28 anger is released full force.
11:31 This scene turns from anger to sadness, however, as she forces her father to reconcile with
11:35 the fact that her mother is simply gone.
11:37 There is a compassionate honesty to the scene that makes it both compelling and poignant.
11:42 "I've just been a blind fool."
11:45 "And you're a blind fool that needs a shave too."
11:50 Arnie tries to wake his mum.
11:52 What's eating Gilbert Grape?
11:55 "Hey!
11:57 Mama!"
11:59 Leonardo DiCaprio received his first Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Arnie Grape,
12:04 and scenes like this show the pathos he injected into the performance.
12:08 "You're hiding, huh?
12:11 I know that."
12:13 When he tries to awaken his sickly mother, she remains unconscious, and it becomes clear
12:18 to the audience that she's dead.
12:20 However, Arnie, who lives with a disability, takes a bit longer to figure it out.
12:24 "Mama!
12:25 Stop it now!
12:27 Stop, Mama!"
12:29 There are no special filmmaking tricks here.
12:32 All of the emotion arises from the compassionate performance of a child coming to terms with
12:37 the parents' mortality.
12:38 It's understated, and simple storytelling like this that makes the film one we remember
12:43 decades later.
12:44 Number 8.
12:45 Kayla signs off - 8th grade
12:47 "Hey guys, it's Kayla back with another video.
12:51 Um, so...I'm making this video to just kinda say that I'm not gonna be making videos anymore."
13:00 Few films embrace the realism of how hard it is to be a young teenager, like Bo Burnham's
13:05 debut feature.
13:06 Kayla is a graduating 8th grader who has a habit of posting admittedly awkward advice
13:11 videos on the internet.
13:12 "Hey guys, Kayla back here with another video.
13:15 Uh, okay, so the topic of today's video is putting yourself out there.
13:21 Um, okay, so like, what does that mean?
13:24 Where is there?
13:26 Well, there can be anywhere that you wouldn't usually go."
13:31 However, after an unfortunate encounter with an older boy, she falls into a deep depression.
13:36 She records a new video, but instead of the bright, enthusiastic Kayla, we get a despondent
13:41 girl who opens up about her experience with anxiety.
13:43 "I started making videos, you know, to like, give tips and stuff and, you know, help you
13:49 guys out, but...I don't know.
13:54 If I'm being really honest, I'm probably not, like, the best person to give advice."
14:01 The natural dialogue and Elsie Fisher's subtle performance will break your heart, and put
14:06 you right inside the character's head.
14:08 Fortunately, things do get better, and ultimately turn out pretty well.
14:12 "So, I think if you guys are going through, like, tough times and stuff, um, you deserve
14:19 someone who can go through tough times and make themselves feel better with their advice,
14:27 and actually do the stuff they talk about."
14:29 Number 7.
14:30 The airport.
14:31 Lady Bird.
14:32 "Thank you for driving."
14:33 "You're welcome.
14:34 You're not coming."
14:36 "You can't walk up to the gates anymore anyway."
14:39 The complicated dynamic between Lady Bird and her mother, Marion, comes to a head when
14:43 Marion discovers that her daughter is going to New York for college.
14:47 A resentful Marion decides not to walk her to her gate at the airport, but instantly
14:52 regrets it.
14:53 Her pain is palpable, thanks to Laurie Metcalfe's superb performance, and you can't help but
14:58 feel for both mother and daughter.
15:01 "It's okay."
15:03 "She'll be back.
15:07 She'll come back."
15:09 It exemplifies the walls that these two characters have put up, but also the tenderness for each
15:13 other that hides behind those walls.
15:15 Thankfully, though, it also sets up one of the most beautiful film endings in recent
15:20 memory.
15:21 "Mom, did you feel emotional the first time that you drove in Sacramento?"
15:29 "I did, and I wanted to tell you, but we weren't really talking when it happened.
15:39 All those bends I've known my whole life, and stores, and the whole thing."
15:47 Number 6.
15:48 Khalil gets pulled over.
15:50 The Hate U Give
15:51 "You don't really look too pissed off.
15:52 I can't tell if you're pissed off."
15:54 "I'm really mad at you."
15:56 One of the decade's most underrated coming-of-age films, The Hate U Give, deals with more intense
16:01 subject matter than most.
16:02 At the end of the first act, the protagonist, Star, is driving with her lifelong friend
16:06 Khalil, and the two are pulled over.
16:17 The scene becomes tense as Star tries to convince him to take the cops seriously, and ends in
16:22 tragedy with Khalil's death.
16:24 "Yo, but come on, why you messing up my car?"
16:27 "Just listen to him, Khalil."
16:28 "Okay, alright, chill."
16:32 Star is forced to watch, horrified, as he dies slowly on the road.
16:37 The pacing, directing, and acting in this scene is exquisite, and it's not easy to watch,
16:43 but it proves that this is a film that has something to say.
16:59 Landon gets into medical school.
17:01 A walk to remember.
17:26 What would this list be without one Nicholas Sparks adaptation?
17:30 After a short, wistful relationship, Jamie and Landon get married for a brief period
17:35 before Jamie passes away from leukemia.
17:38 In the film's epilogue several years later, Landon meets with Jamie's father and reveals
17:43 that he's been accepted into medical school.
17:54 It's a touching moment as the two reflect on the love he shared with Jamie, and it illustrates
17:58 how far he's come from the delinquent he once was.
18:01 The scene may feel a little dated all these years later, but there's no doubt that it
18:05 can still bring a tear to your eye.
18:22 The fireplace.
18:24 Call me by your name.
18:33 After a passionate whirlwind romance, Elio is forced to say goodbye to Oliver, who has
18:38 to return to the US.
18:40 Several months later, Oliver calls the family with the news that he's getting married, which
18:44 naturally crushes Elio.
18:46 In a scene that's since become the movie's most iconic image, he stares into the fire
18:50 and sobs.
18:51 Timothee Chalamet brilliantly portrays the scene's quiet but powerful emotion, ending
18:56 the film on a beautifully understated note.
19:05 It's a scene that speaks to the central idea of the movie, of embracing feelings rather
19:10 than turning away from them, as Elio is able to find beauty in his sadness.
19:39 We all knew that a movie about two lovebirds with cancer wasn't really going to be particularly
19:44 happy.
19:45 Still, it packs a major emotional punch when Gus passes away.
19:48 As the movie reaches its emotional conclusion, Hazel reads the eulogy Gus never got to give
19:53 for her.
20:04 Ansel Elgort's heartfelt voiceover works in tandem with Shailene Woodley's performance
20:09 to make Hazel's grief and love searingly palpable.
20:27 Rather than allowing the film to have a downer ending, the scene comes off as a love letter
20:31 to the tragic coupling that's somehow uplifting even through the tears.
20:59 In a tumultuous freshman year of high school, Charlie must say goodbye to his best friends
21:03 Patrick and Sam as they leave for college.
21:06 His mental health reaches a low point as he's beset by bizarre memories of his late aunt.
21:11 It becomes clear that he suffered abuse at her hands, that he had since blocked out.
21:24 This moment finally gives some insight into Charlie's complicated mind, and there's no
21:28 way not to empathize with him.
21:31 Still, the film does end on a note of hope to help us recover from all the hurt.
21:35 Indeed, we feel confident Charlie is surrounded by people who love him, and has the necessary
21:40 support to heal.
22:04 Why Brian is in detention
22:13 John Hughes was among the first and most noteworthy filmmakers to take teenage problems seriously.
22:18 The Breakfast Club is a great example of this, and it reaches its emotional climax when Brian
22:23 reveals he's in detention because he had a weapon in his locker.
22:31 He planned on using it to take his own life because of academic pressure from his parents.
22:38 In this moment, each of the characters stop being the stereotypes they initially saw each
22:42 other as, and they become five friends who sincerely care about one another.
22:47 It brings the movie's themes front and center with impeccable dialogue and earnest performances,
22:52 making this a movie that sticks with us to this day.
22:59 Do you agree with our picks?
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