Movies and TV series about losing a loved one
The 60 best titles about losing a loved one, ranked by the iRank Score — our composite of IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDb. Every page includes cast, where to watch and similar recommendations.
The Godfather
1972 · Francis Ford Coppola
MovieCrimeDramaSpanning the years 1945 to 1955, a chronicle of the fictional Italian-American Corleone crime family. When organized crime family patriarch, Vito Corleone barely survives an attempt on his life, his y
Cool Hand Luke
1967 · Stuart Rosenberg
MovieCrimeDramaWhen petty criminal Luke Jackson is sentenced to two years in a Florida prison farm, he doesn't play by the rules of either the sadistic warden or the yard's resident heavy, Dragline, who ends up admi
The Lion King
1994 · Roger Allers
MovieAnimationDramaFamilyYoung lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for
Once Upon a Time in the West
1968 · Sergio Leone
MovieDramaWesternAs the railroad builders advance unstoppably through the Arizona desert on their way to the sea, Jill arrives in the small town of Flagstone with the intention of starting a new life.
Gone with the Wind
1939 · Victor Fleming
MovieDramaRomanceWarThe spoiled daughter of a Georgia plantation owner conducts a tumultuous romance with a cynical profiteer during the American Civil War and Reconstruction Era.
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1982 · Steven Spielberg
MovieAdventureFamilyScience FictionAn alien is left behind on Earth and saved by the 10-year-old Elliott who decides to keep him hidden in his home. While a task force hunts for the extra-terrestrial, Elliott, his brother, and his litt
Night of the Living Dead
1968 · George A. Romero
MovieHorrorScience FictionThrillerA ragtag group barricade themselves in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse to remain safe from a horde of flesh-eating ghouls ravaging the Northeast.
Drive My Car
2021 · Ryusuke Hamaguchi
MovieDramaYusuke Kafuku, a stage actor and director, still unable, after two years, to cope with the loss of his beloved wife, accepts to direct Uncle Vanya at a theater festival in Hiroshima. There he meets Mi
Godzilla Minus One
2023 · Takashi Yamazaki
MovieActionHorrorScience FictionIn postwar Japan, Godzilla brings new devastation to an already scorched landscape. With no military intervention or government help in sight, the survivors must join together in the face of despair a
The Boy and the Heron
2023 · Hayao Miyazaki
MovieAnimationDramaFantasyWhile the Second World War rages, the teenage Mahito, haunted by his mother's tragic death, is relocated from Tokyo to the serene rural home of his new stepmother Natsuko, a woman who bears a striking
Mystic River
2003 · Clint Eastwood
MovieCrimeDramaMysteryThe lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.
This Is Us
2016 · Kay Oyegun
SeriesDramaFollows the lives and families of three adults living and growing up in the United States of America in present and past times. As their paths cross and their life stories intertwine in curious ways,
Spider-Man: No Way Home
2021 · Jon Watts
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionPeter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, for
WandaVision
2021 · Victoria Alonso
SeriesDramaMysterySci-Fi & FantasyWanda Maximoff and Vision—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
How to Train Your Dragon 2
2014 · Dean DeBlois
MovieActionAdventureAnimationFive years after uniting the dragons and Vikings of Berk, Hiccup and Toothless soar beyond their homeland, charting the vast unknown. During one of their adventures, the pair discover a secret cave th
Cinderella
1950 · Clyde Geronimi
MovieAnimationFamilyFantasyCinderella has faith her dreams of a better life will come true. With help from her loyal mice friends and a wave of her Fairy Godmother's wand, Cinderella's rags are magically turned into a glorious
Hereditary
2018 · Ari Aster
MovieHorrorMysteryThrillerFollowing the death of the Leigh family matriarch, Annie and her children uncover disturbing secrets about their heritage. Their daily lives are not only impacted, but they also become entangled in a
Life of Pi
2012 · Ang Lee
MovieAdventureDramaThe story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.
Batman Begins
2005 · Christopher Nolan
MovieActionCrimeDramaDriven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new
The Sixth Sense
1999 · M. Night Shyamalan
MovieDramaMysteryThrillerFollowing an unexpected tragedy, child psychologist Malcolm Crowe meets a nine year old boy named Cole Sear, who is hiding a dark secret.
The Outlaw Josey Wales
1976 · Clint Eastwood
MovieWesternAfter avenging his family's brutal murder, Wales is pursued by a pack of soldiers. He prefers to travel alone, but ragtag outcasts are drawn to him - and Wales can't bring himself to leave them unprot
Life Is Beautiful
1997 · Roberto Benigni
MovieComedyDramaA touching story of an Italian book seller of Jewish ancestry who lives in his own little fairy tale. His creative and happy life would come to an abrupt halt when his entire family is deported to a c
Léon: The Professional
1994 · Luc Besson
MovieActionCrimeDramaLéon, the top hit man in New York, has earned a rep as an effective "cleaner". But when his next-door neighbors are wiped out by a loose-cannon DEA agent, he becomes the unwilling custodian of 12-year
Spider-Man
2002 · Sam Raimi
MovieActionScience FictionAfter being bitten by a genetically altered spider at Oscorp, nerdy but endearing high school student Peter Parker is endowed with amazing powers to become the superhero known as Spider-Man.
Walk the Line
2005 · James Mangold
MovieDramaMusicRomanceA chronicle of country music legend Johnny Cash's life, from his early days on an Arkansas cotton farm to his rise to fame with Sun Records in Memphis, where he recorded alongside Elvis Presley, Jerry
Doctor Zhivago
1965 · David Lean
MovieDramaRomanceWarThe life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution.
Braveheart
1995 · Mel Gibson
MovieActionDramaHistoryEnraged at the slaughter of Murron, his new bride and childhood love, Scottish warrior William Wallace slays a platoon of the local English lord's soldiers. This leads the village to revolt and, event
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
2007 · David Yates
MovieAdventureFantasyWhen a new professor's methods leave Hogwarts unprepared to fight the rising tide of evil, Harry teaches students how to defend against the dark arts.
An American Werewolf in London
1981 · John Landis
MovieComedyHorrorAmerican tourists David and Jack are savagely attacked by an unidentified animal while hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. After retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse to recuperate, David soon begins e
Lethal Weapon 2
1989 · Richard Donner
MovieActionCrimeThrillerRiggs and Murtaugh are on the trail of South African diplomats using their immunity to engage in criminal activities.
Avatar: The Way of Water
2022 · James Cameron
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionSet more than a decade after the events of the first film, learn the story of the Sully family (Jake, Neytiri, and their kids), the trouble that follows them, the lengths they go to keep each other sa
A Tale of Two Sisters
2003 · Kim Jee-woon
MovieDramaHorrorMysteryTwo sisters return home after a stay in a mental institution, only to face disturbing events and a strained relationship with their stepmother. As eerie occurrences unfold, dark family secrets begin t
The Count of Monte Cristo
2002 · Kevin Reynolds
MovieActionAdventureDramaEdmond Dantés's life and plans to marry the beautiful Mercedes are shattered when his best friend, Fernand, deceives him. After spending 13 miserable years in prison, Dantés escapes with the help of a
Apocalypto
2006 · Mel Gibson
MovieActionDramaHistorySet in the Mayan civilization, when a man's idyllic presence is brutally disrupted by a violent invading force, he is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression where a harrow
Blood Diamond
2006 · Edward Zwick
MovieActionDramaThrillerAn ex-mercenary turned smuggler. A Mende fisherman. Amid the explosive civil war overtaking 1999 Sierra Leone, these men join for two desperate missions: recovering a rare pink diamond of immense valu
Planet Terror
2007 · Robert Rodriguez
MovieActionHorrorThrillerTwo doctors find their graveyard shift inundated with townspeople ravaged by sores. Among the wounded is Cherry Darling, a dancer whose leg was ripped from her body. As the invalids quickly become enr
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2022 · Ryan Coogler
MovieActionAdventureScience FictionQueen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
2001 · Steven Spielberg
MovieAdventureDramaScience FictionDavid, a robotic boy—the first of his kind programmed to love—is adopted as a test case by a Cybertronics employee and his wife. Though he gradually becomes their child, a series of unexpected circums
28 Weeks Later
2007 · Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
MovieHorrorScience FictionThrillerTwenty-eight weeks after the spread of a deadly rage virus, the inhabitants of the British Isles have lost their battle against the onslaught, as the virus has killed everyone there. Six months later,
Cold Mountain
2003 · Anthony Minghella
MovieAdventureHistoryRomanceIn this classic story of love and devotion set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, a wounded Confederate soldier named W.P. Inman deserts his unit and travels across the South, aiming to r
Sleepless in Seattle
1993 · Nora Ephron
MovieComedyDramaRomanceAfter the death of his mother, a young boy calls a radio station in an attempt to set his father up on a date. Across the country, an engaged woman becomes convinced that they belong together, despite
The Last Samurai
2003 · Edward Zwick
MovieActionDramaWarNathan Algren is an American hired to instruct the Japanese army in the ways of modern warfare, which finds him learning to respect the samurai and the honorable principles that rule them. Pressed to
The Land Before Time
1988 · Don Bluth
MovieAdventureAnimationFamilyAn orphaned brontosaurus named Littlefoot sets off in search of the legendary Great Valley. A land of lush vegetation where the dinosaurs can thrive and live in peace. Along the way he meets four othe
Sex and Lucía
2001 · Julio Medem
MovieDramaRomanceVarious lives converge on an isolated island, all connected by an author whose novel has become inextricably entwined with his own life.
Ranked by the iRankMovies editorial teamUpdated August 2026MethodologyData sources