Edgar Wright is known as a genre-defying director. Never settling directly in one category, he continues to seamlessly blend genres, blurring the lines and bringing highly-emotional aspects to even the silliest of his premises. Wright’s first major hit came to theaters in 2004, with Shaun of the Dead. Now known as one of the best horror comedies of all time, audiences often forget there were some incredibly emotional scenes peppered throughout the satirical zombie flick. Wright’s talent to flawlessly flow between sidesplitting humor and tear-jerker moments seems to fall by the wayside, with most of the reactionary focus of his films to be on his general stylistic choices. In this list, we’ll take a look at several of his films, in all different genres, and the emotional moments that help make his movies memorable. Keep in mind, there may be some spoilers ahead for Edgar Wright’s films listed below.

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6 Baby Gets 25 Years - Baby Driver (2017)

     Sony Pictures Releasing

Baby (Ansel Elgort) is the most likable character in Baby Driver, and even though he pushes through the tragic backstory of losing his parents in a car crash, and a lingering tinnitus disability, he stays calm, cool, and collected throughout the film. Sure, he’s a criminal, but when lined up to the other characters in the film, like Buddy (Jon Hamm), Bats (Jamie Foxx) or Doc (Kevin Spacey), Baby is about as tame as it gets. As Baby is typically ok with taking part in quick, pain-free heists, he decides to step away from it all after Bats starts recklessly killing guards, making him a liability to other members of the gang. When all is said and done, and the audience thinks Baby and his girlfriend Debora may make it out of the life without consequence, Baby decides to surrender, receiving 25 years as punishment; an amount of time that no relationship or normal life can survive. This was a heartbreaking sentence for the fan-favorite at first, but it doesn’t take long to get over, once Baby’s sentence is shortened to five years for good behavior.

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Here’s Every Edgar Wright Film, Ranked

5 Ramona Goes Back to Gideon - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

     Universal Pictures

Although Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a comedy through-and-through, there’s still a moment that makes viewers draw back a bit, and that’s when Ramona (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) returns to her abusive ex-boyfriend, Gideon (Jason Schwartzman), after Scott (Michael Cera) shames her for her sex history. Scott’s attitude and actions are one of the more cringe-worthy moments of the movie, and Ramona’s retreat back to the familiar arms of an abuser both makes the audience worry about her, as well as highlights the unfortunate reality of abuse victims often returning to their abusers. Of course, we’re all happy when Scott defeats Gideon, to be forgiven by Ramona, but the fact that she didn’t feel like she could alone, and had to return to Gideon was generally upsetting.

4 Sandie Lets it All Burn - Last Night in Soho (2021)

     Focus Features

In Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright’s most beautiful film to date, the protagonist, Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), has visions of what she thinks is a murder in the 1960s in her rented apartment. After Eloise thinks she’s getting close to solving the murders, the film reveals that her landlady, Ms. Collins, is actually Sandie, the woman Eloise thought had been murdered, and the visions were actually Sandie’s victims trying to communicate that with Eloise. While Sandie’s victims were men that abused her and forced her into sex work, the police are on their way to make an arrest. Rather than be arrested, Sandie allows her house to burn down around her, taking her own life.

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3 Phillip’s Last Words - Shaun of the Dead (2004)

     Rogue Pictures 

One of the long-running jokes in Shaun of the Dead is that Phillip, played by Bill Nighy, is not Shaun’s real dad. Shaun never warmed up to Phillip as a kid, doesn’t respect him, and thinks Phillip is ashamed of him. When Shaun and Ed venture to Shaun’s mother’s home to rescue her and Phillip from the hoarding zombies, they discover that Phillip’s been bitten. Before Phillip succumbs to the virus, the two have a final heart-to-heart, with Phillip telling Shaun that he was hard on him as a child because he didn’t want Shaun to give up after the death of his father, that he’s always had potential, that he always hoped that Shaun would look up to him, and that he loves him. Phillip then passes quietly next to a teary-eyed Shaun.

2 “It’s all I’ve got.” - The World’s End (2013)

Gary King (Simon Pegg) from The World’s End is already an all-around tragic character and heavy alcoholic. His relationships with his friends and family has already been through the wringer, as he caused a drunk driving accident as a younger man, injuring one of his best friends. In this film, Gary lies about the death of his mother to convince his old friends to come back together and complete the “Golden Mile”, a pub crawl through 12 different bars in their village. In a particularly sad scene between Gary and his former best friend Andy (Nick Frost), after Andy reveals he’s having marital trouble, Gary shows him the bandaged slashes on his wrist and his psychiatric hospital wristband, and tells Andy, “It’s all I’ve got”, when referring to finishing the Golden Mile. Gary then sips from his final pint of the challenge.

1 “I’m sorry, mum.” - Shaun of the Dead (2004)

The most heart-wrenching scene in any of Edgar Wright’s films is in Shaun of the Dead. After a semi-successful rescue of Shaun’s mother from her home, the group must travel to the Winchester Pub for shelter. On the journey to the bar, Shaun’s mother, Barbara, is bitten on the wrist by a zombie, but conceals it from the rest of the group. Once they arrive at the pub, Barbara’s bite is revealed as she collapses to the floor. After giving her necklace to Shaun’s girlfriend, Liz, Barbara dies in Shaun’s arms, holding the flowers he got her. It doesn’t take long for Barbara’s corpse to re-animate, and Shaun has to make the toughest decision anyone could make. He points a rifle at her head, has tears streaming down his cheeks, and in a trembling voice, he says, “I’m sorry, mum.”, before pulling the trigger.