My husband, Patrick, and I have always had a love of movies.
We have spent a lot of date nights at the movie theater or just cuddled up on the sofa watching the latest release. Obviously, over this last year we have been a little preoccupied with our rainbow and we have only manged to make it to two movies (Madeline in tow). So, we have been catching up on what we’ve missed by making good use of Redbox.
In doing so, we have noticed something.
There are a lot of movies that deal with losing a child.
There of course are the obvious ones, The Lovely Bones, Bridge to Terabithia, What Dreams May Come, Return to Zero, etc. Those are easy to avoid if you are feeling vulnerable. Ask me about the time I watched What Dreams May Come just a couple months after losing Joshua. Not a good idea.
The problem is those movies where it sneaks up on you.
Ever watch Up? I watch it and all I can do is sob thinking of poor Ellie and Carl. In fairness, Up is probably one of the saddest Disney movies I’ve ever seen anyway, but that scene in the hospital. My heart breaks for that poor animated couple.
Patrick does a good job of trying to “protect” me from watching movies where losing a child is part of the story line. He makes use of the parent’s guides to help make sure that there is nothing that will leave me crying and unable to watch the movie. However, we have noticed that this is getting trickier. It seems that the death of a child is not often mentioned in these parent guides. The last two movies we have watched were Interstellar and The Best of Me. Guess what? Both movies have parents dealing with the loss of a child.
So, this left me searching for a list a movies that deal with/mention loss to help from being completely sideswiped again. I found a list at: http://survivingmiscarriages.blogspot.com, but it hasn’t been updated in a while and I knew of several that I thought should be added. So I emailed her, and with her permission, I have included her original list and added many that I have found.
If you know of any others that should be added, please let me know.
Many of these are amazing movies, but they are a little less amazing when you aren’t expecting to hear about someone losing a baby and it hits you like a train.
I’m hoping that this list can help those who are grieving protect their hearts a little bit more.
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Movies & Television Shows that portray infertility, miscarriage, or infant/child loss:
1408
101 Dalmations
13 Reasons Why (teenage suicide)
21 Grams
ABCs of Death, The
Accidental Tourist, The
Agnes of God
AI: Artificial Intelligence
Alien 3
Alien 4
Almost Romeo
American Sniper
Amish Grace (children killed by gun man in a one room school house)
Arrival
Astro Boy
Astronaut’s Wife, The
Away We Go
Babel
Baby Mama
Bella
Beloved
Best of Me, The (child death mentioned, not shown)
Big Love
Birthday Girl (stillbirth)
Bitter Moon
Blood Diamond
Book of Henry, The
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
Bridge to Terabithia (death of a child)
Broken
Butterfly Effect, The (some disturbing scenes – unrated director’s cut has VERY disturbing footage with a baby)
Cake
Call the Midwife
Candy
Caught
Charlie St. Cloud
Children of Men (miscarriage)
Cider House Rules (the entire movie is about a doctor who performs abortions)
City Hall
City of Angels
City of God
Coat of Many Colors, The
Collateral Beauty
Concussion
Constant Gardener, The
Country Strong (baby loss is a theme in movie)
Couple’s Retreat
Courageous
Crash
Criminal Law (self abortion)
Crossroads
Cry in the Dark, A
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The (shows a baby die at the end)
Dangerous Liaisons
Dark, The
Day the Earth Stood Still, The (stillbirth)
Dear Zachery (documentary – very upsetting)
Debt, The (infertility)
Deep End of the Ocean
Desperate Housewives
Devil’s Advocate, The
Dirty Dancing (abortion)
Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, The
Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors
Door in the Floor, The
Double, The
Downton Abbey
Dr Quinn Medicine Woman – TV Show (towards the end of the series she has a unmentioned miscarriage)
Eastern Promises
Elizabeth
Elysium
Erin Brockovich
Falling Down
Farewell to Arms, A
Finding Nemo
First Born, The (Lifetime movie)
First Heartbeat (a documentary on TLC-UK that followed a couple that had 5 miscarriages and was expecting again)
Flatliners
For Colored Girls (MANY difficult situations in this movie)
Forgotten, The (miscarriage)
Fosters, The (Season 2, Episode 6)
Frida
From Here to Eternity
From the Land of the Moon
Fullmetal Alchemist (anime series – infant loss as major theme from middle to end of series)
Fury
Gift, The
Girl on the Train, The
Giver, The
Glee (Season 5, episode 3 – after the real life death of one of the actors, his character is mourned and there is a gut-wrenching scene with his on-screen mom that for every cheesy moment on this show aside the writers nailed 110%)
Godsend
Gone Baby Gone
Gone with the Wind
Grace (stillbirth DO NOT watch child comes back to “life” horror movie)
Grace Card, The (child killed in accident)
Gravity
Grey’s Anatomy (obvious reasons – and there are several episodes that deal with pregnancy, infant, and child loss)
Guardians of the Galaxy (Drax’s wife and daughter are killed (off screen) and it is mentioned)
Hand That Rocks the Cradle, The
Heaven is for Real
Help, The (book AND movie – miscarriage)
High Fidelity
Home Room (child dies after birth – not sure of reason)
Hours, The
Housemaid, The
House of Sand and Fog
How I Met Your Mother (infertility)
Hunger Games, The (obviously there is a lot of children’s deaths that are portrayed)
I Am Legend
I. Robot
If These Walls Could Talk (pretty much a glorification of abortion)
Immediate Family
Immortal Beloved
In America
In the Bedroom
Interstellar (stillbirth)
Ironweed
Jackie
Joy Luck Club, The
Jude
Julie & Julia (not mentioned but the emotion is there)
Junebug
Juno (she goes to an abortion clinic but does not follow through-gives baby up for adoption but the baby is the theme of the movie!)
Karate Kid, The (the new one 2010 – wife and 10 yr. old child die in a car accident)
Killing, The
Kingdom of Heaven
Knocked Up
Labor Day
Letters to God (child dies of cancer)
Light Between Oceans, The
Lincoln
Little House on the Prairie (Ma in the first season and Mary in another season)
London Has Fallen
Looper
Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (whole movie is about a woman grieving the loss of her baby to SIDS)
Love Happens (someone in a support group mentions child loss)
Lovely Bones (lots of child loss)
Mad Max: Fury Road
Malice
Manchester By the Sea
March of the Penguins
Marie Antoinette
Marley & Me (miscarriage)
Masters of Sex
Matador, The
Matchstick Men
Maybe Baby
Maze Runner, The
Memory Keeper’s Daughter (book and Lifetime Movie) – (mourning of a child that was told had died – very emotional!)
Message in a Bottle
Miracles from Heaven
Mist, The (death of a child)
Monster’s Ball
Moonlight Mile
Mother and Child
Music Within
Mr. Holmes
My Girl
My Sister’s Keeper (older child dies)
Mystic River
My Week with Marilyn
Omen, The
Ordinary People
Orphan (still birth)
Other Boleyn Girl, The (miscarriage)
Other Woman, The (the whole movie is about the loss of a baby)
Pan’s Labyrinth
Paradise
Patriots Day
Pay it Forward
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Plain Truth ( infant dies shortly after birth it’s unclear weather the infant was born still or murdered by the grandmother shortly after birth)
Private Practice (obvious reasons – and there are several episodes that deal with pregnancy, infant, and child loss)
A Quiet Place
Quigley Down Under
Rabbit Hole (this entire movie is about the loss of a child)
Ray
Reign Over Me
Reservation Road
Return to Zero
Revolutionary Road (self abortion – VERY distrubing)
Ring, The
Rite, The
Rosemary’s Baby
Rudderless
Sacrifice
Salt
Saving Private Ryan
Saw IV
Seabiscuit
Secret Window
Separation, A
Serena
Seven Pounds
Sex and Lucia
Sex and the City
Shack, The
She’s Having a Baby
Singles
Six Feet Under
Sixth Sense, The
Sleepy Hollow
Sliding Doors (miscarriage)
Slingblade
Smilla’s Sense of Snow
Someone Like You…
Son’s Room, The
Sophie’s Choice
Steel Magnolias
Still Walking
Stranger Things
Sweet Hereafter, The
Sweet Home Alabama
Syriana
Tangled (daughter is missing throughout movie)
Tarzan
Tess
Then She Found Me (miscarriage and infertility)
This is 40 (some “in poor taste jokes”)
This is Our Time
This is Us (The first episode deals with stillbirth)
Three Colors: Blue
Time Traveler’s Wife, The (miscarriage)
Titanic
Trainspotting
Two Lovers
Ultraviolet (forced abortion)
Unborn, The
Untouchables, The
UP (variety of loss in this cartoon)
Waitress
Walk in the Clouds, A
Walk the Line
Way, The
W.E.
Welcome to the Rileys
Whale Rider
What Dreams May Come (the mother is depressed over the death of her young children)
What She Knew (Lifetime movie – premature birth/death-mother harming child DISTURBING)
What to Expect When You’re Expecting
White Queen, The
Witch, The
Woman in Black, The
Words, The
World According to Garp, The
X-Men: Apocalypse
Young Adult
