weepie

Etymology

weep + -ie

noun

1. (colloquial) A sad or sentimental film, often portraying troubled romance, designed to elicit a tearfully emotional response from its audience.
   John is white, Della is Black, and any interracial relationship isn’t just a legal dead end, but a threat to their very lives from the disapproving world that surrounds them. It all sounds like a Hallmark weepie, but in Robinson’s hands, it becomes transcendent. September 28, 2020, Alex McLevy, “Marilynne Robinson finds transcendence in the stunning, soul-searching Jack”, in The A.V. Club