10 Saddest Moments In Romance Films, Ranked

Romantic dramas are a fan favorite across the world, and some of the most iconic movies in the history of cinema have a timeless romance at their center. Whichever corner of the world you may be in, a good romance will always tug at your heart.

Yet, as Shakespeare had established centuries ago, some of the best romances tend to be tragic, or at least have some tragic elements in them. What can be more heart wrenching than a pair of beautiful people, desperately in love, torn apart by some cruel twist of fate? Here are some of the saddest, most heartbreaking moments in romantic cinema.

10 Roman Holiday

An iconic love story from the 1950s, Roman Holiday starred Gregory Peck and then-debutante Audrey Hepburn. The movie remains one of the most beloved romantic comedies of all time with an elegant, sophisticated couple at its heart.

However, unlike what one might expect from a feel-good film such as this, Roman Holiday ends with heartache. In the last scene, Joe Bradley (Peck) takes a long, agonizing walk down the hall in the palace after the realization finally dawns on him that his brief time with Princess Ann (Hepburn) was over. Somehow, the fact that the film stays realistic in the end and does not unite the lovers makes the ending even more memorable.

9 An Affair to Remember

A classic romance starring the debonair Cary Grant and the ravishing Deborah Kerr–An Affair To Remember won hearts and brought out the hankies with its intense story of love and heartbreak.

The couple meets on a cruise ship and falls in love, but both are already engaged to other people. They make a promise to see each other again six months on in the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Tragedy strikes when Terry (Kerr) is hit by a car as she rushes on to meet Nickie (Grant) on the appointed day. However, the moment that leaves viewers holding their breath arrives in the last scene when Nickie finally comes to see Terry, presumably to tell her how she had broken his heart, but instead finds out that she had been crippled by the accident.

8 Gone With The Wind

The Margaret Mitchell masterpiece “Gone With The Wind” was adapted for the silver screen in 1939, and the film starred Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh in leading roles, both of whom were at the peak of their careers at the time.

Fans of the classic know that the film follows the feisty Scarlett O’Hara (Leigh) as she grapples with her quest for love and the unbelievable tragedies of the American Civil War. When Scarlett finally returns home to Tara, she is ecstatic at the thought of running into her mother’s loving, comforting arms. But then, in a powerfully moving moment, she makes a heartbreaking discovery–her mother had died from typhoid while she had been away and her father had almost lost his mind in grief.

7 Sleepless in Seattle

One of the best-adored romances from the 1990s, a young Tom Hanks plays a grieving widower who moves to Seattle with his 8-year-old son after his wife’s tragic passing.

The movie ends on a happy note as Sam (Hanks) and Annie (Ryan) find their way to each other on the top of the Empire State Building, a tribute to An Affair To Remember, which is mentioned several times in the film. However, there are a few moments in the film which stays with the audience long after the end credits roll. For instance, when Sam Baldwin talks to his dead wife alone in the night, while his little son sleeps–the dialogue, “I miss you so much, it hurts” is one for the ages.

6 P.S I Love You

To be honest, the entire film hinges on a depressing premise–the untimely death of a young man who leaves behind a grieving widow. Gerard Butler is impossibly charming and Hilary Swank brings the audience to tears as the woman who has dug herself a hole and crept into it, never to come out.

Holly (Swank) then starts receiving letters from the deceased Gerry in which the latter has tried to help her move on, knowing well that she would ruin what was left of her life otherwise. When Holly’s mother finally tells her that Gerry had made her promise to post the letters from him after he was gone, that is when it becomes really hard to hold the tears back.

5 Titanic

A film that shattered hearts, rocked the box office, and bagged almost every award it was ever nominated for, the love story of Jack and Rose is era-defining and catapulted the lead stars to instant fame.

An entire generation wept with Rose as she let her lover go in the dark, freezing waters of the North Atlantic Ocean. The broken door on which Rose floated has become a running gag over the years with many teasing that it had been sturdy enough to have carried Jack as well. However, director James Cameron wanted to give the lovers a tragic end, and so he did.

4 One Day

Emma and Dexter keep running into each other in this Harry Met Sally rehash with a tragic ending. Although they clearly like each other, they never get together until they finally do, but then fate plays a cruel game.

Those who brace themselves at the sight of a hero or a heroine cruising along happily on a bicycle can hardly be blamed, for Emma’s shocking accident and subsequent death in One Day was mortifying. She is hit by a truck right after leaving Dexter a voice message and promising to see him soon. For a film that seems light-hearted for the most part, the way the couple is torn apart seems harsh.

3 The Notebook

Nicholas Sparks’ romance gets the waterworks running even on the umpteenth watch. Noah and Allie’s love story goes through various ups and downs and even seems doomed for a while until the couple finally unites.

Their romance continues into their old ages and in one heart-aching moment, the audience realizes that the older Allie has lost her memory and does not even remember the one true love of her life, Noah. The latter is hell-bent, however, that miracles do happen. He stays with her in the same facility and reads their own story to her every day. The moment when Noah and Allie are discovered dead, lying by each other’s sides, looking peaceful together, moves even the strongest to tears.

2 Atonement

Joe Wright’s Atonement is a moving tale of remorse, star-crossed love, and death. A fanciful and presumptuous 13-year-old ruins the lives of her older sister, her lover, and herself in a few moments of jealous fit.

For quite some time the viewer is led to think that all might be well after all, but then the director drops a bomb. The lovers, whom Briony’s lie had torn apart, never did get the happy ending they so longed for. The war happened — Robbie died on the very last night before his garrison was to be evacuated and Cecelia died a few months after in a bombing incident. The scene where Robbie lies dead, staring into nothingness, in front of him the photograph of the tiny cottage he had planned to live in with Cecelia, is bound to leave one with an intense heartache.

1 The Fault in Our Stars

Gus and Hazel’s young, doomed love is a tear-jerker that could drive even the most callous viewer hysterical. Hazel is a cancer patient who meets fellow-cancer patient Gus in a support group and finds herself instantly drawn to his fun-loving, chirpy temperament.

But the audience knows that this could hardly end well, and sure enough, Gus relapses and eventually succumbs to his sickness. Towards the end of the movie, Gus, Hazel, and their mutual friend Isaac meet in the church to read out letters they had written to each other as eulogies. The pure, unadulterated love that Hazel and Gus feel for each other is enduring even though their lives are not.

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