grief-porn

A soppy chunk of Hallmark grief-porn, it's a teary-eyed death-sploitation opus from which nobody in the talented cast emerges with any dignity intact.

www.philadelphiaweekly.com Philadelphia Weekly 2010

In a world where a 7.0 earthquake or a drone-strike reminds us, yet again, what we know, deep down, but want to deny (life is about inexplicable loss, with existence bookended by non-being), this kind of grief-porn may be comforting, especially for fading baby-boomers or people who haven't gone through bereavement.

Vue Weekly Brian Gibson / brian@vueweekly.com 2010

“Is it grief-porn or is it grief-art?” is a more vexed question. Grief-porn, in relation to cinema, would suggest that the film in question is emotionally manipulative, formulaic; grief-art would suggest the film unleashes feelings both universal and true.

The crying game: what Hamnet’s grief-porn debate says about women, cinema – and enormous hawks Zoe Williams 2026