Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →There is no definitive ranking of time-travel films: the best choice depends on whether you want a comic loop, an intricate paradox, a thriller, or a more experimental film. This selection balances those approaches and orders the movies by the kind of experience they offer, from accessible adventures to demanding puzzles.
How these films approach time travel
Time-travel movies use very different rules. Some trap a character in a repeating day; others send people between eras, make the past and future collide, or tell their stories in deliberately disorienting ways. The films below are selected for that range, as well as for how clearly or provocatively they explore cause and consequence. This is an editorial selection, not a settled critical consensus.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
![DreamWorks 10-Movie Adventure Collection [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51fTUaDeW2L._SL160_.jpg)
|
DreamWorks 10-Movie Adventure Collection [DVD] | $29.96 | Buy on Amazon |
| 2 |
![Illumination Presents: 10-Movie Collection [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51t0uvyk+nL._SL160_.jpg)
|
Illumination Presents: 10-Movie Collection [DVD] | $39.96 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
|
Tom Cruise 10-Movie Collection | $15.32 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
|
Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection | $29.50 | Buy on Amazon |
12 of the best time-travel movies
1. Back to the Future (1985)
Back to the Future, directed by Robert Zemeckis, is an inviting starting point: Marty McFly travels into the past and must deal with the consequences of interfering with events that shape his family. Its comic adventure keeps the stakes legible even as the timeline becomes precarious. The BFI calls it a touchstone for time-travel and mixed-chronology stories. Read the BFI’s time-travel film selection. Universal Pictures At Home lists the film in DVD and 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital formats; availability and compatibility can vary by edition and region. Check Universal’s current home-media information.
2. Groundhog Day (1993)
Harold Ramis’s comedy makes repetition its engine: a cynical TV weatherman wakes up to the same day over and over. Rather than treat the loop as a technical puzzle, the film uses it to examine what a person might do with endless chances to change. The BFI describes it as a signature time-loop story with enduring appeal. See the BFI’s discussion of time-loop films.
Recommended Free Tools
#1 Best Overall
3. La Jetée (1962)
Chris Marker’s short, formally experimental film is a striking counterpoint to conventional time-machine adventures. Its spare image-based storytelling follows a man sent through time in a post-apocalyptic world, making memory and the act of looking central to the experience. The BFI places it in the art-house strand of time-travel cinema; it also inspired Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys. Explore the BFI’s selection.
4. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Terry Gilliam turns time travel into a dystopian thriller. A convict is sent back to gather information about a virus that devastated civilization, but his mission entangles him in questions about memory, sanity, and whether events can be changed. Its connection to La Jetée makes it an especially rewarding pairing with Marker’s film. Read the BFI on La Jetée and Twelve Monkeys.
5. Primer (2004)
Shane Carruth’s low-key film is for viewers who like rules that do not arrive with a simple explanation. Its engineers stumble into time travel, and their attempts to control the consequences generate an increasingly intricate paradox puzzle. Primer rewards close attention and may leave you wanting to reconstruct its chronology afterward. Sight and Sound identifies it as a film about time-travel paradoxes. Read Sight and Sound’s time-travel film list.
6. Looper (2012)
Rian Johnson’s thriller uses time travel to put a hitman face to face with his older self. The premise creates a knot of cause and effect, but the film’s center of gravity is character and moral choice rather than a full technical explanation of every temporal rule. WIRED contrasts this character-focused approach with the denser puzzle of Primer. Read WIRED’s comparison of Primer and Looper.
7. Predestination (2014)
Directed by Michael and Peter Spierig, Predestination is built around a closed-loop story and the unsettling possibility that attempts to shape history may be part of the history already in place. It suits viewers drawn to identity, paradox, and the question of whether the past can actually be rewritten. Sight and Sound discusses the film in those terms. See Sight and Sound’s time-travel selections.
8. Donnie Darko (2001)
Richard Kelly’s psychological cult film mixes adolescence, visions, and a looming sense that time is coming apart. It is less straightforward than a machine-driven adventure, and its deliberately unsettled atmosphere is part of the appeal. The BFI includes it in its broader discussion of time-travel cinema. Browse the BFI’s genre selection.
Rank #3
- Tom Cruise 10 Movie Collection
- Product Type: Physical Movie
- Brand: Paramount
9. Midnight in Paris (2011)
Woody Allen’s romantic fantasy makes time travel an invitation into an idealized past. A screenwriter visiting Paris finds himself transported to another era, where nostalgia becomes both a pleasure and a subject for gentle scrutiny. It offers a lighter, more romantic variation on the genre than the paradox thrillers elsewhere on this list. The BFI includes it among its time-travel films. See the BFI’s selection.
10. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Stephen Herek’s comedy sends two would-be musicians on a history-hopping trip to complete a school assignment. Its playful premise makes the past a source of comic encounters rather than a puzzle to solve. For a breezy, irreverent take on crossing eras, it is an ideal change of pace. The BFI includes it in its time-travel survey. Read the BFI’s list.
11. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Colin Trevorrow’s smaller-scale comedy follows a magazine intern investigating a classified ad from someone seeking a companion for time travel. The film balances an offbeat premise with romantic and human concerns, leaving room for uncertainty rather than making its mechanism the whole point. The BFI identifies it among lesser-known time-travel films. Explore the BFI’s recommendations.
Rank #4
12. Interstellar (2014)
Christopher Nolan’s cosmic drama treats time through the consequences of space travel and relativity, not as ordinary back-and-forth travel in a time machine. That distinction makes it a different kind of entry: time is bound up with distance, human connection, and the film’s larger speculative framework. TIME and a Wake Forest magazine article include it in time-related movie discussions; Wake Forest reports philosophy professor Adrian Bardon’s view that it belongs among plausible narrative examples of time travel. Read TIME’s time-travel movie selection and Wake Forest Magazine’s discussion of time travel.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Which film should you watch first?
Choose by the sort of time-travel story you want, rather than by treating the order above as a universal ranking:
Quick Recap
- For an accessible adventure: start with Back to the Future.
- For a comic loop: watch Groundhog Day.
- For a dense rules-and-paradoxes puzzle: try Primer, then compare it with the more character-centered Looper.
- For an experimental film: pair La Jetée with Twelve Monkeys.
- For a romantic or comic change of tone: choose Midnight in Paris or Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
- For a cosmic treatment of time: choose Interstellar, keeping in mind that its approach differs from a conventional time-machine story.
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
