Movies

This list of movies spanning the ages is categorised by subject and covers a variety of themes around the human experience of loss and grief.

We have some suggestions for the following categories:

• Early Childhood (ages 4-7)
• Middle Childhood (ages 8-12)
• Adolescence (ages 13-18)
• Anticipatory Grief
• Finding Professional Help
• From Surviving To Transcending Your Grief
• Guilt
• Loss of a Child
• Loss of a Friend
• Loss of a Parent
• Loss of a Sibling
• Loss of a Spouse, Partner or Significant Other
• Mystical Experiences & Spiritual Reaction to Loss
• Traumatic Loss
• Understanding Different Grieving Patterns In Your Family

Early Childhood (ages 4-7)

• Finding Nemo (2003) starring Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, Alexander GouldLand 
• Before Time (1988) starring Gabriel Damon and Candace Hutson
• November Christmas (2010) starring Sam Elliott, John Corbett
• The Lion King (1994) starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Matthew Broderick, James Earl Jones
• Up (2009) starring Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai

Middle Childhood (ages 8-12)

• Old Yeller (1957) starring Fess Parker, Dorothy McGuire
• Bridge To Terabithia (2007) starring Josh Hutcherson, Anna Sophia Robb, Zooey Deschanel
• Fly Away Home (1996) starring Jeff Daniels, Anna Paquin
• My Dog Skip (1999) starring Frankie Muniz, Diane Lane
• The Yearling (1946) starring Gregory Peck, Jane Wyman
• My Girl (1991) starring Dan Aykroyd, Jamie Lee Curtis

Adolescence (ages 13-17)

• The Boys Are Back (2009) starring Clive Owen, Laura Fraser
• Hugo (2011) starring Ben Kingsley, Sacha Baron Cohen
• Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close (2011) starring Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock
• The Descendants (2011) starring George Clooney, Judy Greer

Anticipatory Grief

• Brian's Song (1971) starring James Caan, Billy Dee Williams
• Love Story (1971) starring Ali MacGraw, Ryan O'Neal
• Tuesdays With Morrie (1999) starring Jack Lemmon, Hank Azaria

Finding Professional Help

• Ordinary People (1980) starring Donald Sutherland, Mary Tyler Moore

From Surviving to Transcending Your Grief

• A River Runs Through It (1992) starring Robert Redford, Brad Pitt
• About Schmidt (2002) starring Jack Nicholson, Hope Davis
• An Unfinished Life (2005) starring Robert Redford, Jennifer Lopez
• Angela's Ashes (2000) starring Andrew Bennett, Joe Breen
• Corrina, Corrina (1994) starring Whoopi Goldberg, Ray Liotta
• Finding Neverland (2004) starring Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet
• Four Weddings And A Funeral (1994) starring Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell
• Good Will Hunting (1999) starring Robin Williams, Matt Damon
• In America (2002) starring Paddy Considine, Samantha Morton
• If Only (2004) starring Jennifer Love-Hewitt, Paul Nichols
• Life (1999) starring Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence
• Life As A House (2001) starring Kevin Cline, Kristin Scott Thomas
• Message In A Bottle (1999) starring Kevin Costner, Robin Wright Penn
• Nicholas' Gift (1998) starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Alan Bates
• Shadowlands (1994) starring Anthony Hopkins, Debra Winger
• Simon Birch (1998) starring Ian Michael Smith, Oliver Platt
• The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012) starring Judi Dench, Tom Wilkinson, Patrick Pearson
• The Secret Life Of Bees (2008) starring Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson

Guilt

• A Rumor Of Angels (2000) starring Vanessa Redgrave, Ray Liotta
• Departures (2008) starring Masahiro Motoki, Ryoko Hirosue
• Moonlight Mile (2002) starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman
• Philadelphia (1993) starring Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington
• Sixth Sense (1999) starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment

Loss of a Child

• On A Clear Day (2005) starring Peter Mullin, Brenda Blethyn
• Rabbit Hole (2010) starring Nicole Kidman, Aaron Eckhart
• Remember Me (2010) Robert Pattinson, Emilie de Ravin

Loss of a Friend

• Miss You Already (2016) starring Drew Barrymore, Toni Collette
• Beaches (1988) starring Bette Midler, Barbara Hershey
• Brokeback Mountain (2005) starring Heath Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal
• Catch & Release (2007) starring Jennifer Garner, Timothy Oliphant
• Midnight Cowboy (1969) starring Dustin Hoffman, Jo Voight
• Mrs. Palfrey At The Claremont (2005) starring Joan Plowright, Rupert Friend
• The Bucket List (2007) starring Jack Nicholson, Morgan Freeman
• Wit (2001) starring Emma Thompson, Christopher Lloyd

Loss of a Parent

• Big Fish (2004) starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney
• Death At A Funeral (2007) starring Matthew Macfayden, Peter Dinklage
• Eye Of The Dolphin (2007) starring Carly Schroeder, Adrian Dunbar
• Garden State (2005) starring Zach Braf, Natalie Portman
• In Her Shoes (2005) starring Cameron Diaz, Shirley MacLaine
• Sunshine Clearing (2009) starring Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson
• The Savages (2007) starring Philip Seymour Hoffman & Laura Linney
• Two Weeks (2006) starring Sally Field, Ben Chaplin

Loss of a Sibling

• Little Women (1994) starring Winona Ryder, Gabriel Byrne
• Ray (2004) starring Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington
• Walk The Line (2006) starring Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon

Loss of a Spouse, Partner or Significant Other

• A Single Man (2009) starring Colin Firth, Julianne Moore
• Ghost (1990) starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze
• My Life (1993) starring Michael Keaton, Nicole Kidman
• Titanic (1997) starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet

Mystical Experiences & Spiritual Reaction to Loss

• Always (1989) starring Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter
• City Of Angels (1998) starring Nicolas Cage, Meg Ryan
• Dragonfly (2002) starring Kevin Costner, Lisa Banes
• Northfork (2003) starring James Woods, Nick Nolte
• The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2004) starring Jon Voight, Ellen Burstyn
• Truly, Madly, Deeply (1996) starring Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman
• Untamed Heart (1993) starring Christian Slater, Marisa Tomei
• Walking The Dead (2002) starring Billy Crudup, Jennifer Connelly
• Wide Awake (1998) starring Joseph Cross, Timothy Reifsnyder

Traumatic Loss

• In The Bedroom (2002) starring Tom Wilkinson, Sissy Spacek
• Missing In America (2006) starring Danny Glover, Ron Perlman
• Reign Over Me (2007) starring Adam Sandler, Jonathan Banks

Understanding Different Grieving Patterns In Your Family

• Angel In The Family (2004) starring Meredith Baxter, Ronny Cox
• Boynton Beach Club (2005) starring Joseph Bologna, Dyan Cannon
• Marvin's Room (1996) starring Meryl Streep, Diane Keaton
• Steel Magnolias (1989) starring Sally Field, Shirley MacLaine
• Straight From The Heart (2003) starring Teri Polo, Andrew McCarthy
• Terms Of Endearment (1983) starring Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger
• Whose Life Is It Anyway (1991) starring Richard Dreyfuss