As the saying goes, there are really only six kinds of stories. But within those few basic structures, you’ll find a vast array of tropes guaranteed to coax a tear out of even the most callous of viewers. Here they are.
1. Dog dies
2. A gay tragedy to remind the straights how precious life is
3. Old people in love
4. A wise, sick child
5. The town saves the superhero
6. Sufjan Stevens is playing
7. “Beauty of existence†montage
8. A guy gets really specific about all the stuff he misses about his late wife
9. I’ve learned so much from this brief relationship
10. A child/supernatural entity confronts death for the first time and is like “Please wake upâ€
11. Mom is trying her best
12. A dad has feelings
13. The team’s weakest, cutest member dies
14. The War
15. Someone who was in The War remembers The War
16. Girl Trauma (the pain of growing up)
17. Woman Trauma (CPTSD diagnoses-adjacent)
18. A deathbed reconciliation
19. “… He didn’t make itâ€
20. A deathbed reconciliation can’t occur because … he didn’t make it
21. That moment in Cool Runnings when the guy finds out he’s never going to live in Buckingham Palace and the thing that’s motivated him his whole life is completely unattainable and he was stupid to ever want it. More broadly, thwarted dreams?
22. Heroically blowing yourself up for the greater good, something Shea Whigam has done twice
23. A tough character is trying to fight their way out of being sad, and it’s like “punch punch punch, cry cry cryâ€
24. Memory fading, magical or regular
25. Claire Danes is crying and now I’m crying
26. The siblings who have been separated by the plot are reunited and now I’m crying
27. The music is really loud and pretty and now I’m crying I don’t quite know why shut up
28. The character who is struggling finally checks into rehab
29. An “Oh God, what have I done?†realization
30. History catches up with the story, like that Robert Pattinson movie that turns out to be taking place on 9/11
31. “I don’t care about me, just save my baby!â€
32. A ghost is talking to a living person but the living person can’t hear them
33. A sad mirror montage, like in The Royal Tenenbaums. Or Mulan, whichever
34. The guy who’s been keeping it together during a tragedy finally snaps
35. The power of friendship
36. Someone is dying and they’re like “I don’t want to dieâ€
37. Someone talking about their life’s passion
38. An “I believe in you†monologue
39. Healing generational trauma
40. Oh dang, their death has been foreshadowed this whole time
41. You think someone is talking to a character offscreen, but surprise! It’s a tombstone
42. The comic-relief character goes to therapy
43. The sky is pretty and also a metaphor
44. Eulogies, which are always sadder in fiction because they’re written and spoken by professionals, and that’s not really fair to IRL funerals is it?
45. You’re a time traveler/vampire/unfrozen caveman and everyone you’ve ever loved is old and/or dead
46. The protagonist finds out how much they mean to other people
47. Someone is being carried/cradled in Pieta-like fashion, like Ryan did to Marissa on three different occasions on The O.C.
48. Man is the real monster
50. Surrogate Daddy was there, but he’s dead now
51. Your loved one is still alive in these home movies!
52. Someone knew they were going to die, and left a video message that’s like “[whispered] You have to go onâ€
53. The majesty and metaphor, the epic highs and lows of high-school football
54. Someone knows they’re turning into a zombie and is being very brave about it
55. A poorly attended birthday
57. You thought E.T. was dying but he’s fine now
58. The Christmas Truce of 1914
59. Congrats! You got everything you ever wanted. But at what cost?
More From This Series
- The Bluey Method of Reducing Grown-ups to Tears
- Which Part of Beaches Makes the Author of Beaches Cry Hardest?