Tear Jerker / Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning

• When the Entity sets off a bomb in the airport, one of the questions it asks Benji to deactivate it is "Do you fear death"? Even if it's a very human and natural reaction, Benji doesn't want to admit, even after all the experience he's gained in the field, he still doesn't want to actually die. The Entity also questions what matters to him the most in the world, and Benji has no choice but to admit to it that his friends are what matters the most to him - giving the Entity one more thing it can later use to threaten Benji and the rest of Ethan's team with.
• Ilsa's death. Ethan Hunt, a man who has always been defined by the women in his life and has repeatedly seen young women get killed in front of him, has now lost the one who means the most to him: his dear friend and (heavily implied to be) girlfriend Ilsa Faust.
  • Just to twist the knife, after the Entity drops the act, it tells Ethan exactly where Gabriel and Grace are, knowing that Ethan won't reach them in time, no matter how fast he runs.
  • History Repeats for him as Gabriel once again kills a woman he loves, but with Marie he at least got to see her die and say a proper goodbye to her. Ilsa is dead by the time Ethan gets to her body.
  • Due to the Race Against the Clock time constraints of the mission, Ethan never gets the chance to properly mourn Ilsa, and given that those constraints carry on to the next movie, he probably won't be able to for a while.
  • During the scene in the hideout, when the camera cuts to Benji, we briefly see him crying before wiping away his tears and returning to the work at hand. Even if Benji had his reservations toward Ilsa in the previous two films, it's still clear that he considers her a good friend from what they've all been through together and he's also devastated by her loss.
• After asking Ethan if he's okay, Ethan turns the question around on Grace. She briefly breaks down before shaking her head "no".
• Paris' apparent death. Unlike all her appearances so far, she's terrified, trembling and silently crying the entire time. It's also the only time Paris speaks in the film, and she wonders why Ethan even saved her in the first place. Ethan and Grace, who have already seen so much death, are absolutely devastated and comfort her as she passes out.

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