Time travel is one of the most interesting and complex subjects a sci-fi movie can explore, with many fantastic films turning our concept of existence totally on its head. In movies where the past, present, and future are incredibly malleable, anything is possible as protagonists rewrite history and create paradoxes that challenge the very nature of reality itself.
Many of the best sci-fi movies of all time explore time travel, and while there are often logical inconsistencies in time travel films, others adhere to the real-world science behind these ideas. As one of the most thought-provoking and mind-bending concepts in cinema, time travel forces us to question what it really means to be alive here and now.
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I’ll Never Forget You (1951)
I’ll Never Forget You was a classic 1950s sci-fi that was also released under the titles The House in the Square and Man of Two Worlds. Starring Tyrone Power, this unique story saw an atomic scientist sent back in time and winds up in the body of one of his ancestors in 18th-century London.
However, rather than erase the past, I’ll Never Forget You explains that the past never really disappears and that we just don’t know how to access it. The film uses the idea of stars whose light we can still see despite them no longer burning as proof of this concept.
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Primer (2004)
Few time travel movies actually try to embrace the scientific complexity of messing with the space-time continuum. However, Primer is a rare example of a movie that gets into the trenches of intricate quantum physics, all made on a shoestring budget of just $7,000.
Coming from writer, director, and star Shane Carruth, this directorial debut focused on two friends named Aaron and Abe who invent a time machine in their garage. Through the use of real-world science, it’s amazing how well Primer showed viewers just how little we know about the realities of going back in time.
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Your Name (2016)
This anime pushed the boundaries of viewers’ imaginations as it explored time travel in a wholly original way. Following the story of two high school students, Taki Tachibana and Mitsuha Miyamizu, who start to switch bodies despite having never met, the classic body swap trope was turned on its head when it was revealed they were living in different timelines.
With the backdrop of an impending disaster, Your Name explores the impact those in our past leave on our current world and provides an interesting interconnectivity between all existence. Through a blend of drama and romance, Your Name managed to add something new to the litany of time travel movies out there and was an intensely thought-provoking watch.
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The Man From Earth (2007)
With a simple premise and without the use of special effects, The Man from Earth managed to explore time travel in a way that traverses the entire history of modern civilization. This was through the story of John Oldman, a university professor who shocks his friends and colleagues with the claim that he’s 14,000 years old and is immune to the effects of aging.
While the appropriately named Oldman’s claims aren’t fully verified, this leads to a debate among all those present around the truth of his proposition and the moral implications of it. As a dialogue-heavy film that delved into existentialism and philosophy, The Man from Earth will have you pondering its meaning for days after the credits roll.
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Arrival (2016)
Arrival felt like a spiritual successor to the extraterrestrial communication seen in Steven Spielberg’s sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind. By focusing on a linguist’s (Amy Adams) attempts to communicate with otherworldly visitors, Arrival tapped into the idea that communication, not conflict, is what’s needed to forge connections with those we don’t understand.
However, it’s the revelation that aliens in Arrival experience time in a non-linear fashion that forces us to rethink our understanding of time travel and see it less as moving forward, and make sense of the idea of seeing it all at once. This profound idea recontextualizes what living really means and the very concept of free will and fate.
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12 Monkeys (1995)
The Monty Python member Terry Gilliam turned his eccentric cinematic attentions toward dystopia and time travel in the cult classic 12 Monkeys in 1995. This story about a convict sent back in time to gather information on a humanity-eroding man-made virus blurred the lines between fact and fiction, where it was difficult to ascertain truth from delusion.
Bruce Willis as the imprisoned James Cole, 12 Monkeys saw Cole used by authoritarian scientists who force him on a journey through different time periods, where his fragmented existence brings up many questions around memory, lucidity, and sanity. As a jumbled narrative that uses its confusing nature to its advantage, 12 Monkeys was a fascinating time-travel story.
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Looper (2012)
While many time-travel movies explore the dangers of messing with the past, Looper disregards this entirely, as time travelers are used as deadly assassins. Set in a world where criminals use time travel to eliminate their enemies, this Rian Johnson film starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis as the young and old versions of the assassin Joe.
However, when this contract killer is hired to literally murder his older self, the order of this world begins to fall apart as questions of free will versus determinism bubble to the surface. As a complex exploration of fate, identity, and self-destruction, Looper was one of the most interesting time travel movies of the 2010s.
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Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)
The idea of being stuck in an endless time loop where a protagonist is forced to continually relive the same day has been a popular trope in sci-fi since Groundhog Day. This idea was taken even further in Edge of Tomorrow, a futuristic action movie that highlighted how constant do-overs encourage growth and adaptation.
With Tom Cruise as Major William Cage, this frontline soldier is killed again and again, only to reawaken with a chance to learn from his mistakes and ensure humanity’s survival. Over time, this experience allows him to grow from an inexperienced soldier to a skilled warrior with the knowledge needed to ensure victory.
