Summary
- Movies like Triangle and Palm Springs prove time travel isn’t just for sci-fi; it’s used creatively in horror and romcoms too.
- Time travel in Harry Potter and Run Lola Run is used as a tool to show different ways that the action could unfold.
- About Time and Groundhog Day use time travel to explore deeper themes, proving that the trope can be emotional and thought-provoking when handled with care.
Time travel is usually associated with the sci-fi genre, but there are plenty of movies which have elements of time travel without necessarily being classified as sci-fi. Time travel is one of the oldest sci-fi tropes, since it taps into the human desire to rewrite the past and to predict the future. The best time travel movies use the concept to explore universal themes of mortality, determinism and power.
Most time travel movies are sci-fi, since they require time machines like in Back to the Future or vortexes and wormholes like in Interstellar. However, some movies try not to provide too much explanation for their time travel. They use the concept just like any other storytelling tool, weaving complex nonlinear narratives or pushing characters into unexpected situations. Horror movies, romcoms and thrillers have all used time travel in creative ways, proving that it isn’t just for sci-fi.
Related 8 Sci-Fi Movies That Break Their Own Time Travel Rules
Even the most beloved of sci-fi movies break their own time travel rules, prioritizing plot and impactful scenes over maintaining consistent lore.
10 Triangle (2009)
Triangle Never Explains The Logic Behind The Horror
Close
Triangle Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Christopher Smith Release Date October 16, 2009 Cast Melissa George , Michael Dorman , Rachael Carpani , Henry Nixon , Emma Lung , Liam Hemsworth , Joshua McIvor , Bryan Probets
Triangle is a horror movie, and its strange approach to sci-fi makes it much scarier. Without any understanding of the time anomaly she is trapped inside, Jess tries to fight her way through. Ultimately, she gives herself over to the chaos, hoping that the time loop will give her one more chance to make things right with her son. She becomes the monster that she initially fears.
Triangle
uses its time travel premise to provide constant twists and turns.
Triangle‘s mind-boggling time travel is very neatly constructed, with seemingly inconsequential details coming back later in the story. For example, Jess finds her keys when she first arrives on the ship, and she later understands that she is the one who drops them there in a later iteration of the loop. Triangle uses its time travel premise to provide constant twists and turns.
9 13 Going On 30 (2004)
Jennifer Garner’s Romcom Has A Time Traveling Twist
Close
13 Going on 30 Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Gary Winick Release Date April 23, 2004 Cast Jennifer Garner , Mark Ruffalo , Judy Greer , Andy Serkis , Kathy Baker , Phil Reeves
13 Going on 30 has a lot in common with body swap comedies, but instead of having two characters switching places, one character wakes up one day in a different body. Jenna finds herself living in the future as an adult. 13 Going on 30 explains this time travel away with a bag of “magic wishing dust”. The reason for the transformation isn’t too important, since 13 Going on 30 is more concerned with providing some body-swapping fun and games like Freaky Friday or Big.
The reason for the transformation isn’t too important, since
13 Going on 30
is more concerned with providing some body-swapping fun and games like
Freaky Friday
or
Big.
Jennifer Garner is charming and funny in 13 Going on 30, playing the part of a child in an adult’s body perfectly. Her character gradually figures out what has happened to her, but she spends more time reveling in her newfound freedom and trying to piece together where things went wrong with her childhood friend. 13 Going on 30 uses time travel to offer Jenna a glimpse at how her life might turn out if she doesn’t learn some harsh lessons.
8 Palm Springs (2020)
Andy Samberg And Cristin Milioti Get Stuck In A Loop
Close
Palm Springs Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Max Barbakow Release Date July 10, 2020 Cast Dale Dickey , Jena Friedman , Camila Mendes , Cristin Milioti , Meredith Hagner , Conner O’Malley , Tyler Hoechlin , Chris Pang , June Squibb , Andy Samberg , Tongayi Chirisa , Brian Duffy , J. K. Simmons , Peter Gallagher , Jacqueline Obradors Expand
Palm Springs stars with Andy Samberg’s character, Nyles, already stuck in a time loop. Before too long, his reckless actions drag Cristin Milioti’s Sarah into the loop with him, and the duo have nothing but time to kill. As a time loop romcom, Palm Springs was partly inspired by Groundhog Day, but it does a lot to distinguish itself from the Bill Murray movie. Having two people in the time loop together dramatically alters the dynamic.
The time loop forces Nyles and Sarah to share everything with each other, even the things they want to hide from everyone.
Palm Springs flirts with the idea of sci-fi at a few points, like when Sarah tries to figure out a way to escape the loop using concepts from quantum physics. The comedy also stops short before it heads too far into sci-fi territory, however. J. K. Simmons is always on hand to hunt Nyles down with a crossbow whenever the plot needs some picking up. Mostly, the story is about how the time loop forces Nyles and Sarah to share everything with each other, even the things they want to hide from everyone.
7 Last Night In Soho (2021)
Edgar Wright’s Psychological Horror Movie Keeps Changing Its Own Rules
Close
Last Night in Soho Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Edgar Wright Release Date October 29, 2021 Cast Anya Taylor-Joy , Lisa McGrillis , Michael Ajao , Matt Smith , Margaret Nolan , Synnove Karlsen , Diana Rigg , Oliver Phelps , Thomasin McKenzie , Jessie Mei Li , Terence Stamp , Rita Tushingham , James Phelps
Last Night in Soho follows a young fashion student living in London as she has dreams about living as a different woman during the 1960s. Gradually, the line between Ellie’s dreams and her reality starts to blur, as if a part of her really is traveling back to the swinging sixties. Ellie and the woman from her dreams, Sandie, share a strange bond, even though they are separated by several decades.
Last Night in Soho
‘s unusual time travel wouldn’t be as interesting if the movie explained every detail.
Last Night in Soho is a psychological horror movie, and not sci-fi. It uses some of its unanswered questions to heighten the sense of paranoia and confusion. For example, Ellie never understands why she is having strange dreams, and she repeatedly switches between being a participant in the fantasy and merely an observer. Last Night in Soho‘s unusual time travel wouldn’t be as interesting if the movie explained every detail.
6 Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (2004)
Harry Potter Uses Time Travel In A Fantasy Setting
Close
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Alfonso Cuarón Release Date May 31, 2004 Cast Gary Oldman , David Thewlis , Daniel Radcliffe , Emma Watson , Rupert Grint , Robbie Coltrane , Timothy Spall , Maggie Smith , Michael Gambon , Richard Griffiths , Fiona Shaw , Alan Rickman
The Harry Potter movies follow Harry as he learns more about the world of witchcraft and wizardry hidden from plain view. However, while he quickly learns how to communicate with snakes, fly on a broomstick, and cast spells, the magic still has some limits. For example, Harry can’t bring his parents back to life, nor can he travel back in time to visit them. The third Harry Potter movie introduces a kind of time travel with several caveats.
Adding time travel to the world of
Harry Potter
could have created plenty of plot holes, but Harry and Hermione only use the Time-Turner once.
Hermione is given a Time-Turner by Professor McGonagall so that she can attend multiple classes simultaneously. She later uses the magic of the Time-Turner to rewind time for herself and Harry, and they watch the events of the movie unfold from a different angle. Adding time travel to the world of Harry Potter could have created plenty of plot holes, but Harry and Hermione only use the Time-Turner once.
5 Run Lola Run (1998)
Run Lola Run Could Be A Time Travel Movie, Or Just An Experimental Branching Narrative
Close
Run Lola Run
Director Tom Tykwer Release Date March 3, 1998 Cast Franka Potente , Moritz Bleibtreu , Herbert Knaup , Nina Petri , Armin Rohde
Run Lola Run is an experimental German movie that features a branching narrative. Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend telling her that a crime boss is going to kill him if he doesn’t recover a large sum of money within the next 20 minutes. Then, the movie follows three different paths in real time, showing three different decisions Lola could make to try and get the money.
There are a few hints that characters retain memories from the other timelines as the loop restarts.
There are different ways to interpret Run Lola Run. It could be that there is no time travel at all, and that the movie just shows three things that could happen, or three ideas that run through Lola’s head while she decides what to do. However, there are a few hints that characters retain memories from the other timelines as the loop restarts. Either way, Run Lola Run is a fascinating exploration of free will and determinism.
4 Midnight In Paris (2011)
Owen Wilson Delivers A Charming Performance As A Nomad In Time
Close
Midnight in Paris Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Woody Allen Release Date May 11, 2011 Cast Owen Wilson , Tom Hiddleston , Rachel McAdams , Marion Cotillard , Lea Seydoux
Midnight in Paris stars Owen Wilson as an American writer on vacation in Paris who finds a way to travel back to the 1920s each night. During his nights back in the past, Gil rubs shoulders with F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and more great minds of the era. His fiancée never believes his stories, widening the rift developing between the couple. Gil eventually has to learn that his illusions about the greatness of the past are little more than a story to escape his present.
Gil’s fiancée is played by Rachel McAdams, and this isn’t the only time that she has played the love interest in a time travel movie.
Gil’s fiancée is played by Rachel McAdams, and this isn’t the only time that she has played the love interest in a time travel movie. McAdams’ time travel movies are a strange career trend, since there aren’t many roles as women in relationships with time travelers to go around. She is in fine form in Midnight in Paris as a dismissive and self-interested American tourist.
3 It’s A Wonderful Life (1947)
Frank Capra’s Christmas Classic Adapts A Novel From 1843
Close
It’s a Wonderful Life Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Frank Capra Release Date January 7, 1947 Cast James Stewart , Thomas Mitchell , Lionel Barrymore , Donna Reed , Henry Travers
Frank Capra’s Christmas classic gets routinely trotted out in movie theaters all over the world every December, and its sweet message is just as powerful today as it was back in the 1940s. It’s a Wonderful Life is filled with inspiring quotes, all building up to a heartwarming finale. Although it was made just after the Second World War, It’s a Wonderful Life is an adaptation of a much older story.
Frank Capra’s Christmas classic gets routinely trotted out in movie theaters all over the world every December, and its sweet message is just as powerful today as it was back in the 1940s.
There have been plenty of adaptations of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol over the years, including It’s a Wonderful Life, Robert Zemeckis’ motion-capture animation version, and The Muppets Christmas Carol. Each of them features a protagonist being shown his past, present and future by some supernatural beings. This is a magical approach to time travel that doesn’t require any scientific explanation.
2 About Time (2013)
Richard Curtis Shakes Up His Romcom Formula With Some Time Travel
Close
About Time Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Richard Curtis Release Date September 4, 2013 Cast Domhnall Gleeson , Rachel McAdams , Bill Nighy , Tom Hollander , Margot Robbie , Lydia Wilson , Lindsay Duncan , Richard Cordery
Richard Curtis made a name for himself as a master of romcoms with movies like Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. About Time proves that he can add a dash of time travel to his movies without losing any of his heart or humor. Although time travel is involved, About Time is about as far removed from the likes of Back to the Future as possible. Tim doesn’t use a high-tech time machine to relive his past. Instead, he just has to shut himself in a closet and close his eyes. This isn’t cinematic at all, but that’s the point.
About Time
is a beautifully written and acted movie, able to make its audience cry as well as laugh.
With his newfound powers, Tim tries to woo the love of his life and erase any bumbling missteps he makes along the way. He soon learns that there are some important consequences to his powers, and that there is no substitute for experiencing something real and organic. About Time is a beautifully written and acted movie, able to make its audience cry as well as laugh.
1 Groundhog Day (1993)
The Best Time Loop Movie Ever Made Is Still Influencing The Subgenre
Close
Groundhog Day Where to Watch
- stream
- rent
- buy
Not available
Not available
Not available
*Availability in US
Director Harold Ramis Release Date February 11, 1993 Cast Bill Murray , Andie MacDowell , Chris Elliott , Stephen Tobolowsky , Brian Doyle-Murray , Marita Geraghty
Groundhog Day didn’t invent the time loop trope, but it perfected the subgenre, and plenty of similar movies have had to stand up to comparisons ever since. Bill Murray stars as an arrogant weatherman who is forced to repeat Groundhog Day in the small snowed-in town of Punxsutawney. With no end in sight to his strange ordeal, he travels through periods of intense depression and manic delirium.
Groundhog Day
isn’t about the specifics of whatever time anomaly is causing Phil trouble. It’s about how he responds to the situation.
Groundhog Day is one of Bill Murray’s best movies. His charming performance makes Phil a great character to spend time with. He never figures out what exactly is causing the time loop, but he never has any clues. All he can do is pass the time in his new existence, since he has no way of knowing how to break free. Groundhog Day isn’t about the specifics of whatever time anomaly is causing Phil trouble. It’s about how he responds to the situation.