Top 10 Unexpectedly Dark Moments in Heartwarming Movies
Our hearts were warmed until they turned to pure darkness. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most heartbreaking and tragic left hooks in otherwise inspiring or lighthearted movies.
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00:00 - Here's my little secret.
00:02 I killed Mufasa.
00:04 - Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:08 And today we're counting down our picks
00:10 for the most heartbreaking and tragic left hooks
00:14 in otherwise inspiring or lighthearted movies.
00:17 We're unveiling some pretty key moments in these movies.
00:21 So a spoiler alert is in order.
00:23 ♪ There's no earthly way of knowing ♪
00:26 - He's singing.
00:27 ♪ Which direction we are going ♪
00:31 - Number 10, Trevor is stabbed, Pay It Forward.
00:36 Wide-eyed Haley Joel Osment stars as Trevor,
00:39 a seventh grader on a mission
00:41 to start a chain reaction of kindness.
00:43 Pay It Forward plays out pretty much
00:45 like you would expect it to.
00:47 - I love you.
00:48 - Love you too, Mom.
00:49 - However, the movie isn't content to wring tears out of you
00:53 with random acts of compassion and generosity.
00:56 The climax kills off its young star via knife wound
00:59 during a fight with some middle school bullies.
01:02 Imagine sitting down to watch this,
01:09 expecting a lighthearted story about kindness
01:12 and seeing the kid from the sixth sense get stabbed.
01:16 Traumatizing doesn't even begin to cover it.
01:19 - I already blew out my candles.
01:22 - Number nine, The Incinerator, Toy Story 3.
01:26 - I don't think that's daylight.
01:27 - Pixar's ragtag group of toys
01:35 became like members of the family for a lot of '90s kids.
01:38 The third movie sent them on their wildest adventure yet.
01:42 After they've made their great escape
01:44 from the Sunnyside daycare,
01:46 they're betrayed by the deranged Lotso
01:48 and trapped in a landfill incinerator.
01:51 - Where's your kid now, Sheriff?
01:55 (screaming)
01:57 - At one point, realizing that hope is lost,
02:03 the toys stop fighting and join hands
02:06 as they slide towards the blazing fire.
02:09 They're rescued, but the shock of watching a group
02:11 of beloved animated characters accept death
02:14 was not exactly on our Toy Story 3 bingo cards.
02:18 - You saved our lives.
02:20 - And we are eternally grateful.
02:22 - Number eight, Neil's Decision, Dead Poets Society.
02:26 Under the tutelage of the brilliant
02:28 but unorthodox John Keating,
02:30 young Neil Perry is inspired to defy his father's wishes
02:34 and audition for a local play.
02:36 However, his oppressive father sees any attempt
02:39 to be an individual as a threat
02:41 and once again berates him for his choices.
02:45 - Whatever the reason,
02:46 we're not gonna let you ruin your life.
02:49 - Neil, spiritually and emotionally broken down
02:52 by his mistreatment, takes his own life.
02:55 It's a shocking and sobering scene,
02:58 especially when you consider how much of the movie
03:00 is the boys living out Keating's philosophies
03:03 about admiring beauty and art.
03:05 (screaming)
03:08 After all the poetry and lectures,
03:12 there are no wise words to be found.
03:15 Neil's friends are left reeling from his premature death
03:18 and it sets in motion the end of Keating's tenure
03:21 at the prestigious school.
03:23 (screaming)
03:24 Number seven, Rosie's Miscarriage.
03:27 What to expect when you're expecting.
03:30 Based on the sought after handbook by Heidi Merkhoff,
03:33 this movie follows a fictional group of women
03:35 all expecting their first child.
03:38 - Okay.
03:39 Okay, trouble.
03:41 - Most of the interconnected storylines
03:43 are lighthearted in nature,
03:45 presenting couples with the standard struggles
03:47 that come with pregnancy and child rearing.
03:50 That changes when Rosie, an expectant mother
03:53 played by Anna Kendrick, experiences a devastating
03:56 miscarriage in the middle of the night.
03:58 - Marco, wake up.
04:00 - Huh?
04:03 - I'm bleeding.
04:04 (somber music)
04:08 - Played mostly without dialogue,
04:18 the scene marks a noted tone shift
04:20 from the awkward humor in the rest of the movie
04:22 and is probably its most lasting and hard hitting moment.
04:26 ♪ Forgetting ♪
04:31 ♪ Forgetting ♪
04:38 Number six, You're a Great Dog, Marley, Marley and Me.
04:42 Most of this movie felt more in line
04:44 with Beethoven than Old Yeller.
04:46 It starts out innocently enough
04:48 with a couple adopting a young puppy.
04:50 - Well, that's your guy.
04:53 - Oh, I was gonna pick you anyway.
04:56 - Don't tell anybody.
04:56 - Don't tell the others.
04:58 - The title dog's misbehavior is charming,
05:00 but by the end, it becomes clear
05:02 we're going to get the entire story,
05:04 whether we want it or not.
05:06 - He's just not getting better.
05:08 - Cue the sad music.
05:10 We follow Marley from puppyhood
05:12 all the way to the end of his life.
05:14 As he and his human, John, share their last moments together
05:17 in the vet's office.
05:18 Unfortunately, most pet owners can relate
05:21 to the enormity of that situation.
05:23 - I want you to remember you're a great dog, Marley.
05:27 You're a great dog.
05:29 - Number five, Thomas J's Death, My Girl.
05:33 Veda's father works as an undertaker,
05:35 leading the young girl to develop a fascination with death.
05:38 - I'll just have to get a second opinion.
05:41 - Despite this, My Girl manages to keep things light
05:44 if not a little quirky for the first hour or so.
05:47 Then the unthinkable happens.
05:50 Her best friend, Thomas J,
05:52 is killed after an allergic reaction to bee stings.
05:55 - Wait.
05:57 - No.
05:58 - Few movies are willing to go there,
06:00 but such a tragedy is especially unusual
06:03 in a family-friendly coming of age movie.
06:05 The moment when Veda breaks down
06:07 beside her friend's open casket
06:09 is one of those scenes that any child of the '90s
06:12 won't forget.
06:13 - Put his glasses on.
06:15 Put on his glasses.
06:16 - Number four, The Boat Ride,
06:19 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
06:21 Author Ruald Dahl is famous for his macabre approach
06:25 to children's storytelling,
06:27 but we can't imagine this is what he had in mind
06:29 when he wrote the book.
06:30 During the now infamous boat ride scene,
06:33 the musical comedy gives way
06:35 to an incredibly sinister sequence.
06:37 - What is this, a freak out?
06:39 - Hey, this isn't funny, Wonka.
06:40 - Gene Wilder's maniacal Wonka delights
06:42 in scaring his guests as surreal and violent imagery
06:46 plays on the tunnel walls.
06:48 Up to now, Wonka has seemed whimsical
06:51 and maybe a tad unfeeling.
06:53 This makes him look like a sadist.
06:55 - And they're certainly not showing
06:58 any signs that they are slowing.
07:01 (Wonka screams)
07:06 - Everything turns out okay in the end,
07:08 but instead of chocolate,
07:09 these kids are probably going to need
07:11 a lifetime supply of therapy just to cope.
07:14 - Stop the boat!
07:16 - We're there.
07:18 - Number three, Bing Bong sacrifices himself.
07:22 Inside Out.
07:23 The good folks at Pixar Animation Studios
07:25 have been finding ways to emotionally destroy young people
07:28 for decades now.
07:30 - She'd love that.
07:31 - (laughs) This is the greatest day of my life!
07:34 - Even a premise as silly as,
07:36 what if a little girl's emotions were characters,
07:39 is infused with enough drama and grief
07:41 to put a soap opera to shame.
07:43 In 2015's Inside Out,
07:45 Joy and a lovable imaginary friend, Bing Bong,
07:48 must save themselves from the dreaded memory dump,
07:51 where thoughts and ideas go to be forgotten.
07:54 Bing Bong realizes that only one of them can make it out.
07:57 He literally sacrifices himself so the little girl,
08:01 Riley, can feel joy again.
08:03 - Take her to the moon for me, okay?
08:06 - It's a brilliant and crushing metaphor
08:09 for a young person's emotional development
08:11 and what gets left behind as we grow up.
08:14 - I'll try.
08:16 - Bing Bong.
08:17 - Number two, Leslie's death.
08:20 Bridge to Terabithia.
08:21 Jess and Leslie are two children
08:24 who build a fantasy world together
08:25 to escape from their troubled and lonely lives.
08:29 - What do we call this place?
08:30 - Terabithia.
08:35 - The pair spend their days in their fantasy world,
08:38 broadening each other's horizons
08:40 and becoming increasingly close.
08:42 Late in the movie, Jess learns that Leslie died
08:45 in an accident at their meeting spot.
08:47 - Your friend Leslie's dead.
08:49 She drowned in a creek this morning.
08:53 - With his best friend ripped away from him,
08:55 Jess's fantasy world comes crashing down
08:58 and he has to learn to deal with his grief.
09:00 It's a powerful and depressing plot twist,
09:03 especially given that Jess doesn't have many friends.
09:07 Although it's based on a bestselling book,
09:09 it's still a pretty heavy thing to lay on a bunch of kids.
09:13 - It's not your fault, Jess.
09:14 - Before we unveil our top pick,
09:20 here are a few honorable mentions.
09:23 The Swamp of Sadness, the never-ending story.
09:26 Atreyu loses Artax to the swamp.
09:29 - Come on, Artax!
09:30 - The Gold Necklace, Love Actually.
09:34 Karen realizes the necklace her husband bought
09:37 is for another woman.
09:38 - Well, that's a surprise.
09:46 - Ellie's Miscarriage, Up.
09:49 That opening montage still gets us.
09:52 Emma's Death, One Day.
10:03 A romantic drama ends with a sudden dark twist.
10:07 - Wanted to say you're a fine thing next to Mayhew.
10:10 I love you very much.
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10:25 Number one, Mufasa's Death, The Lion King.
10:31 Kids all over the world remember the first time
10:34 they saw King Mufasa thrown from a cliff
10:36 by his brother, Scar.
10:38 - Long live the king.
10:40 (roaring)
10:42 - The Lion King begins with the lion prince, Simba,
10:52 itching to grow up and rule his kingdom.
10:54 That is, until he watches his father die in a stampede.
10:58 The death of a parent is something no young child
11:01 should have to endure, but the movie confronts
11:03 that possibility head on.
11:05 Left alone, young Simba finds his father lying in the dust
11:08 and is unable to wake him.
11:10 He's alone, helpless, and terrified.
11:14 - Help!
11:15 Somebody!
11:19 Anybody.
11:22 - He'll eventually find his place as king,
11:24 but it won't be an easy road.
11:27 - Run away and never return.
11:30 - Which of these dark turns took you by surprise?
11:33 Let us know in the comments.
11:34 - Boy, that escalated quickly.
11:37 - Do you agree with our picks?
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