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FWant to have a good cry and get emotionally detoxified? Want to release oxytocin? Feeling more relaxed? Is it clearer? Need to breathe again? Go and have a look Hamneta new film based on Maggie O’Farrell’s 2020 novel, starring Paul Mescal as william shakespeare and Jesse Buckley She plays his wife Agnes, winning a Golden Globe and preparing for a collective cry fest with popcorn.
Zhao Ting’s award-winning film HamnetBased on the novel of the same name, which tells the story of the death of Shakespeare’s only son, the play is infamous not only for its stellar performances but also for the tsunami of sobs it caused in theaters around the world.
“Grab a tissue and get ready to have your heart ripped out,” was a typical comment among thousands of comments since the film’s weekend release. “It’s worth a whole box of Kleenex,” one friend wrote. Another said: “This devastated me. I had to sit quietly until the last person left the cinema to recover.”
So what’s going on? and Hamnet Poised to sweep the Oscars, is this a true launch? It does feel like people are queuing up to see this movie not just for Buckley’s stunning performance, but because they’re also actively anticipating a huge emotional outpouring.
Reduced to weeping, tearful promises, it has become part of the box office thrill. Hamnet It is increasingly being used as a tool through which people can connect with feelings that might otherwise take years to access in talk therapy. In a world filled with anxiety about things we have no control over and sadness about what we are losing, are we now using this film as a cathartic exercise in collective connection? have Hamnet Become an epic public therapy session?
Repressed emotions have long been linked to illness and mental health problems – so what better place to let it all out than your local Vue?
Hamnet It’s something very heavy. The death of a child is the ultimate nightmare for any parent and can trigger a range of deep-seated fears and emotions. The deep pain expressed in Hamnet’s death is like a cruel, merciless blow to the soul. Yet witnessing such a devastating loss also allows us to cry, and it feels like many moviegoers are anticipating the epic collapse to come.
“Crying can have an emotional cleansing effect, releasing endorphins and oxytocin, causing the brain to undergo a sort of emotional reset,” says psychotherapist Annette Byford. Hamnetfound it “emotionally manipulative.” However, she was acutely aware that everyone around her in the cinema was in tears.
“It was clear to me that people went into this movie wanting to cry — and the movie just provided a vessel into which to project the emotions that were already there,” Byford said.
“These feelings may have a lot to do with current world events,” she added. “The world has become an ugly and irrational place over which we have no control – just like the characters in the movie. Hamnet The plague cannot be controlled. “
She thinks the film taps into that emotion effectively. “That’s why we seek these experiences in film and music. Hamnet’s In this way, the audience will actively come to follow you. “
Movies in the tearjerker genre often involve powerful stories about love, loss, survival, or deep relationships. Epic romance stories such as TitanicLeonardo DiCaprio’s Jack sinks into the icy water, leaving Rose (Kate Winslet) to survive, in a devastating ending that will break the heart of even the most stoic of viewers. love storyThis 1970s tragedy, starring Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal as Jenny and Oliver, a happily married couple who later discover they have terminal leukemia, remains a must-see for crying out loud.
Other classic blub marathons include it’s a wonderful life, Schindler’s List, Hachiko: A Dog’s Story, green mile and Brokeback Mountainalthough After sun exposure — a devastating depiction of depression and a father-daughter relationship — proves to be the tear-jerking blockbuster for men in 2022.
I cried when I watched “1982” recently ET extraterrestrialwhen the aliens come home and leave the boy behind. I know I’m not saying goodbye to an actual alien, but to my father, who passes away in 2024. Another friend returns beach I defy anyone to sit down whenever she needs a proper cry intimacy termsstarring Shirley MacLaine and Deborah Winger, failed to be moved by its raw portrayal of illness, motherhood, and grief.
Of course, crying makes us human. It allows us to unfreeze emotionally and get closer to others through a sense of vulnerability. However, when it is taken out of context, it can be embarrassing. Last year Rachel Reeves sparked a debate over whether it was appropriate to cry at work when she cried during Prime Minister’s Questions. Perhaps the Chancellor should go and have a good cry to release the pressure from her system, rather than fighting back tears from a front-row seat on live television.
“There can be something – call it communal catharsis – shared sharing of pain and loss in a group setting, like Hamnet,” says psychotherapist Sarah Aldridge.
People go into movies expecting to cry…and those feelings may have a lot to do with current world events
Annette Byford, psychotherapist
“It can help process some unimaginable feelings (in this case, the loss of a child) that might otherwise be difficult to express, as well as create an inclusive and healing space to get in touch with emotions. As our lives become increasingly individualistic, this shared emotional experience can be highly restorative and healing,” she says.
“Crying is a huge release and most of us feel better after crying,” she added. “It’s hard to be vulnerable, but crying over a movie helps us connect with something.”
However, Dr. Ad Vingerhoets, professor of emotion and well-being at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and author of the 2013 study, said: Why Only Humans Cry: Uncovering the Mystery of Tears Many studies on crying disagree.
His 2008 study, “When to Cry Catharsis: An International Study,” found that of more than 5,000 respondents in 37 countries, only 50% felt better after crying, while 40% felt no difference and 10% felt worse.
“We identified three important factors that determine the crying response, and mood seemed to improve particularly significantly when the subjects were in good spirits,” he explains. “In other words, people who are depressed or burned out benefit little from crying, but they tend to cry more.”
His research also found that the benefits of crying were related to bystander reactions.
“A person will feel better after crying if they are comforted and supported, but if bystanders start laughing at them, they will feel ashamed and they are unlikely to feel any positive effects of crying.”
A 2019 study led by Leah Sharman from the University of Queensland’s School of Psychology suggested that crying may help people “self-soothe” while also “regulating heart rate”, but in Vingerhoets’ view, crying in movies makes us feel better because we return to our usual baseline after feeling sad. This was “misinterpreted as an improvement in mood,” he said.
But the idea that crying is helpful remains. New website Cry Weekly, launched in October, contains 25 touching clips from movies designed to make you cry. Its sole purpose is to help people relieve stress by releasing their emotions and normalize crying, especially men.
I fully expect Hamnet will be included in their future clip portfolio. The fact is, Hamnet Maybe a great movie – but the crying part is even better. Like Princess Diana’s funeral, the grief experienced has become a collective mourning that validates our own pain. It allows us all to let loose. Going to a movie theater and crying is like giving yourself a big hug, and when you think about how 2026 is starting, you realize you need that hug now more than ever.
