Powerful Emotional Dramas Available Now

This JustWatch streaming guide helps you find the emotional drama movies you’re looking for, ranging from the best in the genre to those you might have missed.

No matter which streaming service you have access to—Netflix, Max, Paramount+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Disney+, or any other—JustWatch has you covered. Use the JustWatch filters to help navigate your search and discover exactly what you’re looking for. Filter by age rating to make sure your search is friendly for the whole family, or use the release year filter to find the movies from a specific era. You can also filter by IMDb rating, runtime, and price.

The best emotional drama movies

Emotional dramas, melodrama movies, or films with heart help us process our own emotions while also transporting us into the lives of others. Some of the best and most powerful movies in this category include historical movies that dramatize real-life events, such as Schindler’s List, Titanic, Letters from Iwo Jima, 12 Years a Slave, The Pursuit of Happyness, and The Elephant Man. Other emotional dramas that are firmly in the realm of fiction include Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Past Lives, The Shawshank Redemption, Atonement, and Brokeback Mountain.

Emotional dramas you might have missed

If you’ve been busy tearing up over the likes of The Green Mile and Moonlight, you might have missed these heartfelt emotional dramas that tackle a range of unique subjects. Aftersun looks at the challenges of father-child relationships, while Amour by auteur Michael Haneke is a drama about the enduring love between elderly people. Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station is a heartbreaking drama, while Grave of the Fireflies is an often overlooked Studio Ghibli masterpiece.