10 Harrowing Movies That Will Crush Your Soul

5. Grave Of The Fireflies

1988 Japanese animation Grave of the Fireflies from the late, great Isao Takahata was first screened in a double-bill with Hayao Miyazaki's My Neighbour Totoro, Studio Ghibli's other masterpiece from that year. There is a good reason for that. 

My Neighbour Totoro is one of the most wholesome, heart-warming movies out there, so this was no doubt designed as a palette cleanser for those who'd just watched Grave of the Fireflies. This war drama sees two young orphans - Seita and Setsuko - struggling to survive in the aftermath of WWII, facing starvation and a world that is unable to take care of them. Both eventually die of starvation, as is heavily implied in the opening, and seeing these two lovable kids struggling to survive all while knowing that they're not going to make it is a tough experience to sit through. 

Quite simply, this is probably the saddest animated movie ever made, and the death and cremation of young Setsuko is arguably the most tragic moment in animation history. It makes Mufasa's death in The Lion King look like almost nothing.