Movies are perfectly named. Bearing a double meaning, a movie is also a motion picture. Pictures move across the screen to capture attention. The spectacle has its spectator, and vice versa. The words, often between the lines, delivered in a scene also put this synergy into motion. The moment carries emotions shared by the audience and characters.
One hour or so later, a bond has taken shape. A connection so inseparable, the tears shed for the traumatic loss of a character are more than memento mori. A character’s death shows that life is a terminal expression, passing on what it means to be alive.
Avengers: Endgame (2019) - Tony Stark
Avengers: Endgamewas the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and its heroes. Marvel Studios planned the comic book apocalypse for years, but fans didn’t expect a gut punch to their emotions. Seeing your favoriteheroes dying on screenafter all this time is traumatic.
The death of Tony Stark hit the hardest, though. Iron Man sacrificing himself with the Infinity Gauntlet to defeat Thanos was satisfying. Even sadder was seeing his electromagnetic heart burn out.
The Green Mile (1999) - John Coffey
The Green Mileis based on the Stephen King novel of the same name taking place during the Great Depression. Prisoner John Coffey is placed on death row for the rape and murder of two white girls, crimes he did not commit. The legal system in rural and racist Louisiana does not favor John’s innocence, as they welcome the sight of public executions.
John also has healing and life-giving powers, but the pain his abilities bring him was too much. At his execution, John requests not to be hooded because he isafraid of the dark, making his death a bittersweet mercy killing instead.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2011) - Dobby
InHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters are on the hunt for Horcruxes. The magical artifacts grant the evil wizard his immortality. Harry Potter and friends from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley.
When they are captured by Voldemort’s henchmen, Harry is able to conjure a distress call.Everyone’s favorite house-elf, Dobby, arrives and saves them, but he dies from a throwing knife during their escape. Dobby died a noble death, knowing he always spoke the truth and protected his friends.
Life Is Beautiful (1997) - Guido Orefice
Life Is Beautifulis a comedy drama about a Jewish Italian family being separated at the height of the Holocaust. The father, Guido Orefice, is with his son, Giosuè, inside a concentration camp. He shields his son from the horrors of the war and mass killings by turning their internment into a game.
On their first day in the bunkers, he volunteers to translate German orders into values his son will carry with him for the rest of his life. Guido jokes and smiles inthe face of death, in a world that can get too serious and glum.
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My Girl (1991) - Thomas J. Sennett
My Girlis a coming-of-age story in 1970s Pennsylvania, revolving around 11-year-old Vada Sultenfuss. She has unrealistic fears about death since her family lives in their town’s funeral home. Vada befriends Thomas J. Sennett, who has allergies. They form an unlikely bond as Thomas comforts Vada and her growing pains.
One unfortunate walk in the woods and a mad beehive later leads to a fatal allergic reaction for Thomas. Vada’s first kiss and first true friend died young, but she buried him proper with his glasses, so he could see.
Related:25 Brutal Death Scenes From Non-Horror Movies
Philadelphia (1993) - Andrew Beckett
Philadelphiais a legal drama involving a case of sexual discrimination against attorney Andrew Beckett. His law firm fired him on the grounds that he did provide his paperwork. In reality, they terminated Andrew for his homosexuality and misunderstood AIDS diagnosis.
His personal injury lawyer, Joe Miller, defends Andrew and wins his case at the same time he is hospitalized. Family and friends visit Andrew before he dies and gather again at his passing to celebrate his life.
Saving Private Ryan (1998) - Irwin Wade
Saving Private Ryanshows how the unforgiving hell of war corrupts and encourages humanity. American soldiers are storming Omaha Beach in Normandy, France, during World War II. A group is on a rescue mission to find and send infantryman James Francis Ryan home. Combat medic Irwin Wade Men attends to his wounded men on the battlefield.
When he is shot and forced to address his fleeting mortality, Wade requests more morphine to numb the pain. In the end, Wade calls out to his mother, whom he regrets never speaking to as a child whenever she came home.
Terms of Endearment (1983) - Emma Greenway
Terms of Endearmentfollows the strained mother-daughter relationship of Aurora and Emma Greenway. Emma marries a man against her controlling mother Aurora’s wishes. Emma suspects infidelity from her husband while she pursues her own affair.
Among financial struggles and feelings of abandonment, Emma gets diagnosed with cancer. Before she passed, Emma passed on her love to her mother and children.
Titanic (1997) - Jack Dawson
Titanicdid Jack Dawson cold.Freezing to deathin the North Atlantic Ocean after the sinking of the RMSTitanicwasn’t on his bucket list. Before the world’s famous disaster at sea takes his life and the lives of thousands, the poor lover boy strikes up a romance with high-class Rose DeWitt Bukater. Jack sacrifices himself to the icy water so that Rose can float on the ship’s debris and live.
A Walk to Remember (2002) - Jamie Sullivan
A Walk to Rememberis based on the Nicolas Sparks novel of the same name. North Carolina teen troublemaker Landon Carter must participate in his school’s play or face expulsion. Jamie Sullivan, the daughter of a minister, helps him learn his lines.
They begin a relationshipbuilt on faith when Jamie reveals to Landon that she has leukemia. Treatments are ineffective, but Landon helps her fulfill some of her life goals while she has the chance. Jamie taught others that faith without work is dead, and the work left behind will live forever.
