Yep, now you have to rewatch them (assuming you’re in need of some cathartic release). Tough as it may be, these films are worth a revisit purely for their heartache drenched soundtracks. And if somehow it’s your first time, you’re welcome. Or we’re sorry. Both are applicable really. Here are five hauntingly beautiful film scores to have graced the big screen.

Cliff Martinez – Drive (2011)

Let’s kick things off with one from the master of the viscerally challenging; Nicolas Winding Refn. Though lauded by critics for its stunning atmosphere, sleek visuals and cast performance, it was equally vilified for its unflinching portrayal of graphic violence. And to be fair, it’s pretty unyielding in its attempts to execute the latter.

But if you can overlook that and accept it as part of the brutal realism that Ryan Gosling’s eponymous character finds himself in, then it’s a necessary facet to a film which squares up directly to the intense subject matter of the original novel. 

The perfect counterpart to this intensity is Cliff Martinez’s stunning score, which deployed ethereal synthwaves as a sonic companion to hazy neon lights and noir criminal underbelly of Refn’s depiction of Los Angeles. It’s haunting, meditative and at times, completely heartbreaking. 

Air – The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Sofia Coppola’s debut feature was another film drawing upon some fairly challenging source material. Jeffrey Eugenides’ novel doesn’t hold back in its harrowing tale of teenage depression and adolescent angst, and neither did Coppola. The result is a film which floats like a haunting reverie, both laden with nostalgia and an aching, under the skin sadness.

Rather than compile a list of tracks which would prescriptively summon a very ‘70s nostalgia from pure association alone, Coppola wanted instead something indirect which could conjure the same feelings of reminiscence, but in a more abstract way.

To do so, she enlisted the help of French electronic duo Air, who agreed to produce on the condition that they could treat the project like a conventional album. The end product was lauded for its mysteriously proggy disposition, unfurling like a surrealist daydream, a perfect companion to the visual style which Coppola nailed. An all-timer, for sure.

Arcade Fire & Owen Pallett – Her (2013)

Time to hand the baton over to Coppola’s ex-husband, who also knows a thing or two about filmmaking. Spike Jonze had built a solid reputation around the turn of the millennium for directing two Charlie Kaufman written films; Being John Malkovich and Adaptation (which by the way, are absolutely awesome).

Interpreted by many as an alternative allegorical perspective on Jonze’s divorce from Coppola (who’d already given us hers with Lost In Translation), Her is a devastatingly sad science-fiction in which technological developments have advanced far enough that life has become, practically speaking, easy. But this has made way for a profound loneliness which permeates throughout society. And then Joaquin Phoenix falls in love with an AI operating system voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Gulp.

Soundtracked by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler alongside touring member Owen Pallett, the melancholia laden score thrives so much as it feels so inescapably human and grounded. It’s a masterclass of sonic minimalism which reminds us throughout the heart-wrenching loneliness of this future society that real love and emotion still exist, somewhere.

Oliver Coates – Aftersun (2022)

This one really should come with a warning. Charlotte Well’s directorial debut was widely lauded by critics as an absolute powerhouse in radiant melancholia, and it’s hard to say otherwise. Led by standout performances from Paul Mescal and newcomer Frankie Corio, Aftersun follows a father and daughter on one of those trashy, nostalgia drenched euro-summer holidays.

As the film unfolds and Mescal’s Calum begins to show just how cavernous his emotional fragility is, Oliver Coates stunning score adds a sombre depth whilst keeping the visuals grounded in a nostalgic memory drift of wistful recollection for those slow days in the sun.

If you can bring yourself to go back to this one, it highlights perfectly just how integral music is to cinema as an art form. Whilst the visuals and dialogue alone are enough to tug on the heart-strings, Coates’ soundtrack builds the wistful sadness up, making the ending just that bit more devastating. Perhaps it should be no surprise that he was a contributor on A Moon Shaped Pool.

Danny Elfman – Edward Scissorhands (1990)

Imagine Frankenstein if it were set in suburban Californian and instead of pitchfork fielding townsfolk, it was WASPy housewives on prozac; that’s what you’ve got with Tim Burton’s sweet natured gothic fantasy, Edward Scissorhands.

Burton enlisted the help of longtime collaborator Danny Elfman to help soundtrack this tragic fable of an outsider desperate for a sense of belonging and acceptance. What Elfman produced had all the components of a classic fairytale score; soaring choral passages, twinkling orchestration and a lot of string sections.

Like the other films on this list, the score received critical acclaim, with Elfman going on to cite it as his favourite piece of work. If you’re going to soundtrack the elaborate worlds of Tim Burton, then you better have a rich image of what this universe sounds like. Fortunately, Elfman and Burton have a deep artistic connection that made this one an easy home-run.