Movies To Watch If You Love A Walk To Remember

If there's one person you can rely on for a guaranteed weep, it's author Nicholas Sparks. Not content with leaving us sobbing into our books, many of Sparks' stories have also made the leap from page to screen to destroy a fresh batch of victims ... sorry, viewers. This includes 2002's "A Walk to Remember," based on the 1999 novel of the same name.

The movie focuses on the love story between preacher's daughter Jamie (Mandy Moore) and the rebellious Landon (Shane West). After a hazing prank goes wrong and lands a fellow student in hospital, Landon faces punishment by way of janitorial work, tutoring disadvantaged students, and performing in the school play. As he makes amends, he frequently crosses paths with the quiet and unassuming Jamie, a girl who only owns one sweater and hides a tragic secret — she has leukemia, and the treatment is failing.

Despite its devastating subject matter, "A Walk to Remember" is a warm and heartfelt movie that explores faith, grief, and the power of love to surpass even the most tragic of circumstances. If you loved this movie, and you have the stamina to cry just a little bit more, here are some emotional movies you'll want to check out if you enjoyed "A Walk to Remember."

For a time, author John Green was the king of the young adult book space, and the familiar "Okay? Okay" quote from "The Fault in Our Stars" adorned the Pinterest boards and Tumblr pages of emotional teens everywhere. With wisdom beyond their teenage years, the characters of Hazel and Gus really spoke to readers, and the movie adaptation in 2014 perfectly translated this from page to screen.

Hazel (Shailene Woodley) is refreshingly honest about her life with cancer and obsessed with an obscure Dutch novel that she believes speaks to her experience better than anything else. At a support group for cancer kids, she meets Augustus Waters (Ansel Elgort), a bone cancer survivor who "smokes" unlit cigarettes as a metaphor for his brush with death and the authority he now tries to exercise over it. Together, they form an unbreakable bond and a love that seems to be written in the stars.

Aside from the cancer plot, there are a number of similarities between "The Fault in Our Stars" and "A Walk to Remember." Like Jamie and Landon, Hazel and Gus' relationship seems to have been predetermined by some higher power. But the mention of stars in the title also implies they are star-crossed, and that tragedy will eventually strike, driving them apart. And boy does it.

Misdemeanors followed by community service frequently spiralled into the performing arts in 2000s movies — that is, if "A Walk to Remember" and "Step Up" are anything to go by. Both movies also feature an unlikely pairing at the center: The rebellious boy who needs to clean up his act and the demure girl poised to put them on the right path.

In "Step Up," we meet Nora (Jenna Dewan), a talented dancer who is suddenly left without a partner for her senior showcase. Opposite her is Tyler (Channing Tatum), a boy from the wrong side of the tracks who also has plenty of raw street-dancing talent. While an unlikely candidate on paper, Tyler steps up to partner with Nora for her showcase, and it isn't long before they fall head over heels for each other.

The "opposites attract" trope is a long-established one — seen in the classic screwball comedies of the '30s and '40s and favored once again in the '90s and 2000s — and it's hard not to fall for it every time. The will-they-won't-they lure of a romance, as well as the promise that each person can bring out the best in the other, is what keeps us coming back to movies like this again and again.

Perhaps the most beloved of all of the Nicholas Sparks movie adaptations, "The Notebook" is still shattering hearts and making us wish for a love like Noah and Allie's 20 years later. In fact, it may be a good litmus test of someone's ability to express emotion: If they don't cry at "The Notebook," are they, in fact, an emotionless robot? We jest, but there is no denying the raw emotional power of this movie, and it remains one of the best romantic movies of all time.

"The Notebook" switches between the present day — as an elderly man reads a romantic story to his female companion — and the 1940s when Noah (Ryan Gosling) first meets Allie (Rachel McAdams). He's a laborer and she a wealthy heiress, but their chemistry is undeniable and, despite the intervention of Allie's parents, their love triumphs.

Like "A Walk to Remember," you may see the "twist" coming a mile away, but that really doesn't matter. The collision of the past and present timelines is so beautifully orchestrated that the ending manages to devastate even if you guess it ahead of time. Both films are timeless love stories — "The Notebook" even more so — and proof that when it comes to emotional heartbreakers, nobody does it better than Nicholas Sparks.

There are usually two flavors of Nicholas Sparks adaptations. There are the ones that don't show their hand until the end, delivering a devastating twist that hits you like a truck. And then there are the ones that offer a glimpse of how things pan out at the end before flashing back in time to show us how we got there. "Dear John" fits into the latter category, as we see the titular John (Channing Tatum) shot on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Uncertain of his fate at this point, we head back to find out who he thought of as he passed out.

In the flashback, we see the beginning of John's relationship with Savannah (Amanda Seyfried). The pair fall for each other quickly, but John's army deployment in the wake of the September 11 attacks forces them to continue their relationship at a distance. In comparison to some other Sparks adaptations, "Dear John" is a little unusual in that our central couple spend most of their time apart, their relationship instead told through the letters they write to each other. We still get our trademark Sparks twist in the tale, however, as we eventually learn that Savannah wasn't the "you" that John thought of after he was shot. Like "A Walk to Remember," "Dear John" also has a cancer subplot, but perhaps not in the way you might imagine. It's quintessential Nicholas Sparks, featuring all the tropes and plot beats that we're so familiar with, and while this one fails to reach the heights of something like "The Notebook," it's an enjoyable romance drama nonetheless.

Usually the tragic, life-altering events happen as the film is barrelling towards its climax, but that isn't the case with "P.S. I Love You." Based on the novel by Cecelia Ahern, this 2007 romantic movie introduces us to Holly (Hilary Swank) and Gerry (Gerald Butler), a transatlantic married couple in the heat of a passionate argument. They quickly kiss and make up, but then we're catapulted forward to Holly grieving over her husband who has died from a brain tumor. However, Gerry had a bigger plan, and as he approached death he arranged a series of letters and recordings to help Holly on her path to healing.

While only glimpsed briefly in "A Walk to Remember," there is the sense that Landon's journey is just beginning at the end of the movie and that Jamie — while no longer physically present — will continue to be a guiding light for him as he grieves. "P.S. I Love You" almost shows us what happens next. The process of grieving is never a linear one: It's messy, complicated, and full of ups and downs. This is something that we see Holly go through as she faces a life without her soulmate. In different ways, both films explore how a person copes after the death of a loved one, and if you enjoyed the tragic love story of "A Walk to Remember," then you'll also love "P.S. I Love You."

This Nicholas Sparks adaptation from 2016 ticks the boxes for all of the cliches we know and love from his novels: Dead parents, a fascination with the cosmos, and of course, a tragic life-altering event that threatens to halt the course of true love. In "The Choice," we meet Travis (Benjamin Walker) and Gabby (Teresa Palmer) — he's a good ol' southern boy and she the daughter of wealthy parents — and their paths cross when they become neighbors in an idyllic waterfront location.

After a tumultuous start, the sparks soon start to fly and it seems like nothing can come between this pair. That is, until a car accident puts Gabby in a coma and Travis is faced with the horrifying choice of if — and when — to switch her life support off. Much like "A Walk to Remember," "The Choice" demonstrates a classic enemies-to-lovers arc and the chemistry between the central couple is off the charts — despite Travis' slightly worrying insistence on not taking no for an answer when it comes to his marriage proposal.

Both this movie and "A Walk to Remember" serve as a reminder of the fragility of life. While tragedy may strike the couples in different ways, both films explore how even a love that seems destined to be can be snatched away by the cruel hand of fate.

The title of this movie — adapted from the novel by David Nicholls — may be "One Day," but really this romance spans 20 years. Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Dexter (Jim Sturgess) meet in 1988 after their graduation, and over the course of the film, we check in with them on the same day — St. Swithun's Day to be precise — and watch their will-they-won't-they relationship unfold. While their friendship starts out platonic, and their lives go in wildly different directions over the years, it's hard to shake the idea that they are meant to be together.

A relationship that seems to be fated from the beginning is also a key theme explored in "A Walk to Remember." There's the sense that these characters are meant to be together, and the same certainly applies to Emma and Dexter, even as they embark on other relationships. A word of caution: This movie does not have a happy ending. But hopefully your brain has been trained well enough by now to cope with the heartbreak. It may be the work of a different author, but if you've devoured enough Nicholas Sparks novels and subsequent adaptations, you should have an idea how these things usually pan out. Just have some tissues ready, trust us. And if you're not completely shattered by this point, the "One Day" series on Netflix is also well worth checking out.

To paraphrase the well-known song by Avril Lavigne: "he was a punk and she played the cello." In this adaptation of the novel of the same name by Gayle Forman, we meet Mia (Chloë Grace Moretz) and Adam (Jamie Blackley), two talented musicians from very different disciplines who meet and fall in love. However, when Mia and her family are involved in a road accident, Mia endures an out-of-body experience as she has to make the decision whether to live or die.

The concept is a little unusual but the heart of this film is found in Mia and Adam's relationship — something we experience through flashbacks as Mia fights for her life in hospital. A word of caution: The present day hospital scenes of "If I Stay" are unrelentingly tragic, throwing gut punch after gut punch towards Mia and us as the audience. This serves a purpose, however, giving Mia seemingly fewer reasons to stay, and this keeps us invested in the outcome until the very end.

In a similar way to "A Walk to Remember," the central couple of "If I Stay" offers a tender portrait of young love, as well as exploring the heavy themes of life and death. Tissues at the ready with this one, or really for any of the films on this list. 

If you're searching for the British counterpart to Nicholas Sparks, look no further than author Jojo Moyes. Famed for her romance novels, Moyes also has that uncanny ability to drain every tear from your eyes, as we see on full display in "Me Before You." Adapted in 2016, this movie introduces the effervescent Lou (Emilia Clarke), a young woman with bright clothes and a sunny demeanor who lands the unlikely role of carer for the quadriplegic Will (Sam Claflin).

While Clarke delivers quirky British charm in abundance, there is a darker edge to this film as it grapples with the ethical and moral questions surrounding assisted suicide. Will mourns his formerly active life, and it is revealed that he agreed to a period of six months of trying to adapt following the life-altering accident that left him paralyzed. Lou struggles with this, and in a similar way to Jamie's bucket list in "A Walk to Remember," she plans to get Will to experience as many things as possible to prove that life is worth living.

Our brains have been trained by romantic movies to believe that things usually work out in the end. The couple gets together, and it all ends happily ever after — but that's not the case in either of these movies. Instead, they deal with the heartbreaking reality that perhaps love isn't enough to save someone.

Given that we first meet Violet (Elle Fanning) and Theodore (Justice Smith) as she is contemplating jumping off a bridge, this should give you an idea of the heavy subject matter explored in "All the Bright Places." Based on the book by Jennifer Niven, this film is a beautiful slow burn romance between our central pair as they form an unlikely bond from their backgrounds of shared — albeit very different — trauma.

In "A Walk to Remember," Jamie is ticking items off a bucket list, as she seeks to experience everything she can after learning of her terminal diagnosis. In a similar way, "All the Bright Places" sees Violet and Theodore embarking on a journey — under the guise of a school project — as they discover new places, learn things about themselves they didn't know, and heal parts of themselves along the way.

Much like the 2002 weepie, "All the Bright Places" has an ending that is signposted from a mile away, but still hits you right in the feels. Both films convey the tragedy of the inevitable in a beautiful and heartfelt way, and will leave you contemplating how those you meet — even if just for a fleeting time — can leave a huge mark.

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Even though "The Last Song" is familiar territory for fans of Nicholas Sparks' adaptations, it does have a few refreshing differences that help it to stand out. While it still goes with the "opposites attract" trope, it switches up the central couple's stereotypical traits: Ronnie (Miley Cyrus) is the rebellious one and Will (Liam Hemsworth) the charming and gentle one. The sun-drenched love story between the two leads — that also blossomed into an off-screen romance for Cyrus and Hemsworth — is still a crucial element to the film, but the relationship between Ronnie and her father (Greg Kinnear) is where the true heart of the movie lies.

Much like "A Walk to Remember," "The Last Song" ends in tragedy — which is something we've come to expect from a Sparks adaptation — but it doesn't come for our teen couple this time. That doesn't mean the emotional moments are lacking, however, and the tender moments between Ronnie and her father arguably hold more weight than the relationship between Ronnie and Will. "The Last Song" is a touching story of familial reconciliation with Cyrus — like Mandy Moore in "A Walk to Remember" — able to show off her singing skills as well as her acting chops.