Sad, gloomy movies aren't supposed to depress the heck out of their audience. Their purpose is to stir up emotions within the viewer. For me, solemn, melancholy films are my favorite because they evoke different thoughts and emotions as opposed to other genres. The films listed below are 10 pieces which have had a profound impact on me. By "profound impact," I mean they have either made me cry, feel empty, or contemplate life for a lengthy period of time. Many of these movies are adaptations of novels. Literature can be a gateway to another world, and I believe that these movies are just as successful in transporting their audiences to the worlds of their characters. I highly recommend these films, for they are very emotional and moving.

1. "Dead Poets Society" (1989)

"Dead Poets Society" is perhaps one of the most touching, inspiring films ever made. It's definitely one of my all-time favorites. Robin Williams portrays an enthusiastic English teacher who urges his students to pursue literature. Robert Sean Leonard and Ethan Hawke also star in the film, playing susceptible students who are engulfed in the mysterious poetry club, the Dead Poets Society. Though Williams's character leads the film into heartwarming triumph, the ending is tragic. "Dead Poets Society" is an accurate and eye-opening portrayal of the pressures and struggles students experience.

2. "Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father" (2008)

This documentary is heartbreaking from beginning to end. The film creates sort of a scrapbook of memories for Zachary, a young child whose father who had been murdered. Over the course of the film, worse turns to worst, leaving the audience stunned as well as grief-stricken. If you're in the mood to cry, watch "Dear Zachary."

3. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" (2004)

Jim Carrey plays an unusual, non-comedic role in this romantic drama. "Eternal Sunshine" features a pair of lovers, Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet, erasing each other from their lives. The thought of erasing someone from your life alone is quite depressing, much less the flashbacks and turmoil the characters experience in the process. In addition to the mournful mood already in place, the soundtrack is haunting as well as the visually melancholy scenes between the lovers.

4. "Harold and Maude" (1971)

This delightfully odd film is about delusion, eccentricity, and friendship. Harold, a suicide-obsessed 20-year-old, befriends Maude, an 80-year-old free spirit. Despite its strange plot, "Harold and Maude" delivers a powerful message and pulls on your heart strings.

5. "The Hours" (2002)

"The Hours" depicts the lives of three women who are unhappy with their lives. It paints an accurate portrait of how depression can manifest itself in anyone, no matter who they are or where they are in life. Brilliantly cast, "The Hours" is very dramatic as well as compelling. After initially viewing "The Hours," I could not stop thinking about the three women and how similar their struggles were. Be prepared to mull this one over after watching.

6. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (2012)

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" deals with a series of delicate subjects such as teenage depression, drug abuse, bulimia, sexuality, and suicide. This novel-based movie is heavily nostalgic. It is impossible not to connect and sympathize with the main character, Charlie, as he experiences his freshman year of high school. This movie, as well as the book, have been important to me since I first was introduced to them my Sophomore year of high school. The characters are very relatable, especially for those who walk to the beat of their own drum.

7. "The Reader" (2008)

This Kate Winslet film is more depressing to me than "Titanic," if you can believe it. The story of a young boy falling in love with an older woman seems at first timeless and romantic, but the fantasy turns tragic when Kate Winslet's character is shown being on trial for Nazi war crimes several years later. Her past lover now attends the trial as a law student, gaining perspective on his past romance. "The Reader" is heartbreaking to say the least.

8. "Riding in Cars with Boys" (2001)

Drew Barrymore's character, Beverly, is an author who, throughout the movie, reflects on her teenage years as a young mother who is impregnated by her deadbeat high school boyfriend. This story is very real and down-to-earth. Though comedic, "Riding in Cars with Boys" shows the honestly tragic story of a mother trying her best to rise above her past failures by following her dream of becoming a published author. The ending scene where Beverly and her father are driving on a winding road through the snow, singing The Everly Brothers's song "All I Have to Do Is Dream," still remains one of my all-time favorite movie scenes.

9. "The Virgin Suicides" (1999)

This dreamy '70s drama documents the lives of the sheltered Lisbon sisters. The title gives away the plot, but the story is only half of what makes this film so haunting. The scenes, as well as the sisters themselves, are visually stunning. Watching the five Lisbon sisters individually resort to committing a permanent solution to their problems is dismal and will probably leave you with a strange, eerie feeling.

10. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011)

This is one of the most disturbing films I've ever watched. Ezra Miller stars as Kevin, an incredibly troubled son who constantly causes trouble for his distressed mother, played by Tilda Swinton. Kevin embodies everything we don't want our children to be. He's hateful, apathetic, and most definitely psychotic. His torturous acts performed throughout his childhood are unsettling and lead up to his final monstrous act of horror. "We Need to Talk About Kevin" is fairly disturbing, considering it's not a horror film.