Do you ever wish to go back and change the past? Maybe you’d return to tell a deceased loved one how much they meant to you. Or perhaps you’d reveal your true feelings for your crush and prevent them from marrying someone else. What if you visited the past to prevent yourself from doing that one thing that set off a chain of irreversible events? What would you do? Whatever the reason, many of us wish time travel was possible.
In cinematic films, time travel can be a difficult concept to grasp. That could be because every movie seems to have its own theories (based on real and not-so-real science), and time-traveling rules are inconsistent. So, viewers never know what to expect when watching these types of movies. Regardless, there have been many great time-traveling movies over the years, from Hollywood masterpieces like 12 Monkeys to indie experiments like Primer. Today we’re highlighting a few of the best, so buckle up and get ready to jump back in time to relive the magic of these movies.
Updated June 2023: If you're a fan of movies with time travel, you're in luck. This article has been updated with additional content and entries by Danilo Raúl.
15 Avengers: Endgame (2019)
The Russo Brothers direct the final chapter in the Infinity Saga. Avengers: Endgame heavily features elements of time travel to undo the damage caused by Thanos in the aftermath of the blip. The all-star ensemble cast includes the six original Avengers, Ant-Man, Nebula, and Rocket, using the Quantum realm to travel back in time to different periods in the main MCU timeline to collect the six gems and wish everyone back to life. Unfortunately, Thanos gets a hold of their plans after Nebula fails her mission. The time-displaced Nebula helps Thanos replicate the technology to return to the present, and the Mad Titan vows to erase every living entity on the planet after watching their efforts to undo his work.
14 The Final Countdown (1980)
The Final Countdown is an underrated classic from the '80s, directed by Don Taylor and starring Kirk Douglas and Martin Sheen. The story begins with the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz departing the Naval Station of Pearl Harbor for naval exercises in the mid-Pacific Ocean. Suddenly the ship is time displaced by an electrical storm that opens a vortex. The whole ship was transported to the same place on December 6, 1941, just a few hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Incidentally, the crew intervenes in the timeline by saving a prominent politician who would become Franklin D. Roosevelt's running mate and eventual successor after his death. The crew also takes two Japanese prisoners, but they manage to outthink their captors and end up dead. The ship's staff decides to intervene and save the Pearl Harbor base, but it may be too late to do so, as the time paradox won't allow for any changes in history.
13 Tenet (2020)
You have to hand it to Christopher Nolan: the man knows how to keep your attention with most of his films. This magnificent film was poorly released, making it a box office failure. However, it tells a compelling story that requires multiple views to catch all nuances in the story — starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, and Elizabeth Debicki.
We follow the Protagonist, who joins an organization named Tenet to prevent World War III. Backward technology is used to build plot elements to move the story forward. Neil and Kat are with the Protagonist every step of the way, and the story, while linear, goes back and forth to specific moments where the main characters have to fight themselves to move ahead.
12 Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko is a mind-bending cult classic directed by Richard Kelly. Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the plot follows Donnie, a troubled young man who suddenly starts experiencing visions of a man in a rabbit costume named Frank. Donny illustrates his state of mind with numerous experiences that we cannot realize if they are happening in his mind.
Donnie seems able to manipulate time and is guided by Frank. He's on a journey to uncover the secrets of his existence and prevent a catastrophic event related to a mysterious plane crash and the life of a girl he likes. It's a solid film exploring themes of free will and the boundaries between reality and imagination. The story is designed to challenge the audience and question the nature of time as a man-made concept.
11 Predestination (2014)
The Spierig Brothers set out to blow the minds of audiences with Predestination, and they did so efficiently. Starring Ethan Hawke as a time-displaced agent for SpaceCorp tasked with solving time-traveling crimes, the agent is sent on a final mission after sustaining heavy damage in his previous outing. His undercover work puts him in a position where he becomes his own father and mother. It's a highly complex story with many nuances and may require multiple viewings to understand. Still, it's well worth the watch, as the film explores numerous themes of self-love, transgenderism, and predestination paradoxes, a concept heavily studied in Christian culture.
10 The Butterfly Effect (2004)
The Butterfly Effect is a wonderful film touching on time travel based on the philosophical concept of studying the sensitive dependence of specific convictions that can be affected due to small changes in a state of nonlinear systems that result in unending changes at later events. The movie is written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber and somehow fooled everyone into thinking Aston Kutcher had any more range than being able to play Kelso from That '70s Show.
In the story, Evan Treborn grows up to experience blackouts. As an adult, he finds out he can travel back in time to his own body and alter events to prevent specific events from happening. Each time Evan tries to fix something, he further damages the circumstances of his loved ones in the future. Ultimately, he goes for the safest option and cuts ties with the loved ones who seem to be affected by his actions.
9 The Tomorrow War (2021)
The Tomorrow War presents a solid premise. Directed by Chris McKay and starring Chris Pratt, the future comes calling to the past, as humanity is fighting a losing war against an Alien invasion of unknown origin. The world needs soldiers, so they start a draft to fight the White Spikes in the future. We follow former Green Beret Dan Forester, who volunteers to fight.
Despise their efforts, humanity only stands a chance against the aliens once they figure out the Spikes arrived on earth at an earlier point in time, and global warming released them from their icy prison. Now it's up to Dan, his dad, and a group of volunteers to prevent the invasion by taking out the White Spikes in the present before they get rid of humanity in the future.
8 Time Bandits (1981)
Prepare for a wild adventure in this 1981 British fantasy film starring Sean Connery, John Cleese, Michael Palin, and Shelley Duvall. Eleven-year-old Kevin is ignored by his parents, who are obsessed with staying up to date with the newest trends and devices. One night, Kevin witnesses six little people coming out of his wardrobe and joins them on an epic quest through time. Time Bandits is popular among movie critics and has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 90% and an audience score of 77%. Shenanigans await, along with an infamously bleak ending, so proceed with caution!
7 The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
In The Time Traveler’s Wife, Henry De Tamble (Eric Bana) has a genetic condition that makes him shift uncontrollably back and forth through time. During one of his episodes, he meets the love of his life, Claire (Rachel McAdams), and marries her. Henry wishes to have a happy life and start a family with Claire, but his genetic condition makes that nearly impossible, considering he is always time-traveling at the most inconvenient moments. However, despite the odds, Henry tries to do everything in his power to give Claire a happy life. It seems love has no time limit in this sentimental romance.
6 Interstellar (2014)
In a dystopian future, it’s a race against time for Professor Brand (Michael Caine), who is trying to save mankind from crop blights and dust storms that are slowly destroying Earth. His idea is to transport Earth’s population to a new planet. To do this, he will need the aid of NASA pilot Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) to test his means of transportation (a wormhole) and to discover which planet is ideal for living on.
To complete his mission, Cooper will have to make sacrifices as he strives to save mankind. While Interstellar was nominated for several Academy Awards, it only won for Best Achievement in Visual Effects. The film is a head-trip through the concept of time travel, using the notion to explore a father-daughter relationship emotionally.
5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is the third installment of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. During their third year of Hogwarts, Hermione is given a Time-Turner to attend extra classes. After Harry’s godfather Sirius Black is captured and given to the Dementors who are about to suck out his soul, Harry and Hermione use the Time-Turner to go back in time to rescue him.
However, they must be careful not to accidentally be seen by their previous selves as that could disrupt time and cause permanent damage. This film has the most explicit use of time travel in the franchise, and the concept is used with whimsical delight suitable for kid-friendly films. While Professor Trelawney’s tea reading classes may be fictitious, the rules of the time-turner are not.
4 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children (2016)
Jake (Asa Butterfield) grew up listening to his grandfather tell stories of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, an orphanage for children with special powers. After his grandfather is mysteriously murdered, Jake finds clues that lead him to a new world, the wonderful world of Miss Peregrine and her children with peculiar abilities, known as Peculiars. There, he meets, Miss Alma Peregrine (Eva Green) who reveals herself to be a Peculiar called a Ymbryne. Her powers are transforming into a bird and manipulating time in this magical, mystical movie full of stunning special effects and time-travel superpowers which are rarely explored.
3 X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
X-Men: Days of Future Past is just one of many superhero movies within the Marvel Universe, but is the most explicit about time travel. The mutants who make up the X-Men, Wolverine, (Hugh Jackman), Raven (Jennifer Lawrence), Professor X (James McAvoy), and Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender), must travel back in time to try to stop the Sentinels, enormous robotic weapons bred to destroy mutants. This fantasy action-adventure film has an impressive Rotten Tomatoes rating of 90% and an audience score of 91%, and uses time-travel in some of the most action-packed, special effects-laden ways in film.
2 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Embark on a time-traveling journey to save Earth with the Starfleet crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. In Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, a mysterious probe drifts through space and starts to orbit around Earth, destroying every starship it passes. The orbit sends out an indecipherable signal which Spock believes matches the songs of extinct humpback whales, and that a whale could respond to the orbit. Therefore, Captain Kirk and his crew travel back in time to Earth to 1986 to a time before Humpback whales went extinct.
Often considered the most comical and delightful film in the entire Star Trek franchise, the movie embraces the comedy of placing these futuristic sci-fi heroes into the '80s and the ridiculousness of sending a whale through time. It's a silly but iconic take on time travel.
1 Back to the Future Trilogy (1985)
The Back to the Future trilogy is a masterpiece that combines all the great elements of a movie from the '80s: music, action, and great hair. Join Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Dr. Emmet Brown (Christopher Lloyd) as they jump between timelines, attempting to correct their mistakes while trying to avoid permanent damage to the space-time continuum.
From start to finish, all three movies are a magical ride showing viewers Marty’s hometown of Hill Valley in different periods: 1885, 1955, 1985, 2015, and one dystopian alternate universe in 1985 where antagonist Biff Tannen rules the town. These are funny films, and yet they take the issue of time travel (and all the ethical and scientific ramifications therein) seriously. This is heavy stuff, doc!