Everyone knows the feeling of a bad day. Sometimes, you need a good cry. Movies can be a therapeutic release for heavy emotions, and they can transport you to other worlds. They create safe places to feel and process thoughts. Grab some tissue and a cozy blanket. Here are seven movies with Black female leads that are perfect for a good cry.
Waiting to Exhale
Waiting to Exhale is a classic film that will remind you to keep your inner circle close. The storyline follows four friends as they navigate the ups and downs of romance and metaphorically “hold their breath” in the search for love. However, they realize that they will only exhale when they learn to love themselves.
Precious
Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire, Precious follows 16-year-old and teenage mom Claireece Precious Jones, as she navigates poverty and abuse in inner city Harlem. You’ll get a good cry as Precious finds the inner strength to turn her life around and forge a better life for her children.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Grab the tissues for this film depiction of racism in America and the families it affects. Based on James Baldwin’s novel of the same name, tells the story of a Black man who is wrongfully accused and charged with raping a white woman and his pregnant girlfriend who seeks to clear his name.
Dreamgirls
This musical drama stars a host of Hollywood A-listers including Jennfier Hudson, Jamie Foxx, Beyoncé and Eddie Murphy. The music score alone is enough to move you to tears. The film tells the story of Detroit girl group, The Dreams, their rise to stardom, and their manipulative, greedy record executive, Curtis Taylor Jr., who causes their ultimate downfall.
Fences
This film adaption of a play by the same title is a thought-provoking and emotional film about Troy Maxson, played by Denzel Washington. Maxson is a Black sanitation worker in 1950s Pittsburgh. Bitter about his failed dreams of playing professional baseball, Maxson is hellbent on keeping his son, Cory, from pursuing his dream of playing football, and he builds a fence around the family home that keeps his son trapped.
The Color Purple
Whether you watch the 1985 version or the latest musical installment starring Fantasia, Taraji P. Henson, and Danielle Brooks, there is never a dull moment in The Color Purple. Viewers are pulled into a story of sisterhood, love and adversity that will leave them in awe, excitement and tears.
The Secret Life of Bees
An all-star cast led by Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Jennifer Hudson, and Alicia Keys, The Secret Life of Bees follows 14-year-old Lily Owens who runs away from home with her caregiver, Rosaleen. They meet the Boatwright sisters who teach them about beekeeping, love and the enduring nature of family.