time travel movie timelines

Time-travel movies

Timelines, film analysis, physics and philosophy

If you like time-travel movies, you have come to the right place!

On this site, you can find reviews containing an analysis of more than 100 movies involving time travel and other temporal phenomena.

Movie summaries

These movie reviews are not about how the popularity of the film or how good the acting or story was – they are about which model of time travel was used for each film and why.

Models of time travel

Learn about how different types of replacement or parallel timelines can be combined with four past-future rules to form the 21 different models of time travel and which ones are most popular with filmmakers and which ones have never been used!

Time-travel blog

Read my time-travel blog , which has interesting articles on time travel and related movies.

Or you can find out about me , and why I chose to conduct this research into the topic of time travel movies.

Best time travel movies of all time

Journey through cinema and science fiction history as we run down the best time travel movies of all time, from simple trips to other eras to time loops.

Mankind has been fascinated by the possibility of travelling to a different age for over a century. This hypothetical activity, now widely recognized in philosophy and fiction, was popularized by H.G. Wells’ 1895 novel The Time Machine. But it was cinema that made it a recurring science fiction premise in mainstream works. Such movies have kept evolving and taking time travel in wildly different directions, so we have ventured across time and space to bring you our ranked list of the best time travel movies of all time.

A good time travel movie doesn’t need to try too hard to take the subject seriously, as the core concept itself and the mechanics surrounding it remain a mystery and purely hypothetical. Of course, there are stories that leave massive plot holes throughout, but even time travel movies which go for more “realistic” approaches have to make up their own sets of rules. As a result, our list covers both movies that are steeped in the science of the genre and those which simply use time travel as a vehicle for shenanigans. One-way trips through black holes ? Parallel timelines ? Mind-bending paradoxes? It’s got a bit of everything.

For other great sci-fi genres, check out our guides to the best alien invasion movies , the best zombie movies , the best disaster movies , and the best giant monster movies of all time. If you’re in the mood for hands-on time travel fun, our list of the best time travel video games you can play right now is a must-read too. 

15. The Time Traveler’s Wife 

• Release date: August 14, 2009
• Cast: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston

The original marketing of The Time Traveler’s Wife, based on the novel of the same name, was billed as a sappy romance movie akin to anything from Nicholas Sparks. While it does have its romantic moments, the movie’s commitment to a deep, compelling story of a man who cannot control his own movements through time is a well thought out original take on the concept. Think of it more as a romantic sci-fi drama.

As Henry DeTamble (Bana) travels through time, he cannot control when or where he appears. Luckily, at least, he often is among the same people, specifically, his future/present wife, Clare Abshire (McAdams). Their relationship develops and is bruised by his time shifts, which creates strain as well as successes for both of them throughout the movie. 

The Time Traveler’s Wife takes its premise seriously. It allows for the concepts of paradoxes by only ensuring that he directly affects what would, in theory, already occur. Henry is more enacting a prescribed timeline, rather than trying to fight it. It works, and it’s great.

• Release date: October 8, 2004
• Cast: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden

Primer is the quintessential movie for any fan of time travel. With a low budget of only $7,000, it grossed over $800,000 at the box office, making it one of the most successful independent movies of all time. It deserves its success as well, as it brings hard science to audiences in a way that, at first, seems impenetrable, but worms its way into our minds and keeps us analyzing the movie long after it’s over. 

When two engineers accidentally create a time travel apparatus during their own experiments, they begin using it for personal gain. As their ideologies on the preservation of time begin to diverge, however, their relationship is pushed to its limits alongside the fraying timeline they alter. 

Primer demands multiple viewings, each one illuminating hidden moments throughout the movie that hint at its own finale. Audiences looking for a dense, no-frills look at what time travel would mean if given to an average (albeit genius) Joe, will find it in Primer.

• Rent or buy Primer on Amazon.

13. Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

• Release date: February 17, 1989
• Cast: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin

The Bill and Ted franchise are considered family hits for a reason. With the charm of two goofy leads that bumble their way through major historical moments, the movies rely on the time travel conceit to build out and support their silly sense of humor. While the historical moments are considered overly cliché by some, and it’s true that they often misrepresent the moments they are based on, the point of the movie is not to relish in accuracy, but to parody those that try to stick to history all too closely. 

In order to ensure a future utopian society created by the titular characters, Rufus travels back in time to the 1980s to help Bill and Ted pass a history class. In order to understand the perspective of the historic figures they are supposed to be researching, the trio travel through time to meet each of them. 

Without going into spoilers, decisions made by the pair of heroes as well as Rufus would, if not for the movie completely ignoring them, destroy history as it is known. While this is frustrating for anyone looking for a movie that takes paradoxes seriously, that doesn’t keep Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure from being a fun, engaging flick that should be watched with brains mostly turned off.

12. Deadpool 2

• Release date: May 18, 2018
• Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Josh Brolin, Morena Baccarin

While many movies are poorly received due to their failure to properly respect their own laws of time, Deadpool 2 was given generally positive reviews from critics for intentionally doing the same. In true fashion of the character, Deadpool 2 pokes fun at time travel clichés and tropes, finding ways to both incorporate as well as deride them. 

After Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool joins the X-Men they take a young mutant, Russell, under their care. However, his actions in the future lead the mutant cyborg Cable to travel back in time in order to kill Russell and prevent his own tragedy from occurring. 

Multiple fourth-wall breaking jokes are made about the villains striking similarities to a certain futuristic machine that is mentioned later in this list. And also similarly, the movie strikes a balance in approaching the anti-hero trope that is often associated with these androids from the future. We’re looking at you Dragon Ball Z.

11. Source Code

• Release date: April 1, 2011
• Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Michelle Monaghan, Vera Farmiga

Source Code is an exciting sci-fi thriller which shows a lot of restraint despite the sheer audacity of its premise: Army Captain Colter Stevens finds himself in someone else’s body and quickly discovers he’s part of an experimental US government program that wants him to find the person behind the bombing of the train where he wakes up. The catch is that he can only be there for the last 8 minutes before the bomb goes off, being stuck in that loop until he can catch the bomber.

Director Duncan Jones had already wowed sci-fi aficionados with the remarkable Moon (2009), so expectations surrounding Source Code were quite high. While the final result might not be a masterpiece, it ranks easily among the most interesting time travel flicks in recent times. It’s also relatively easy to follow despite its kooky premise thanks to its limited scale.

10. 12 Monkeys

• Release date: January 5, 1996
• Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt

Let’s be honest, if someone were to run up to you on the street and say they were from the future and had come back to stop a society-destroying virus, would you believe them? Well, at this point, we probably would too. But, that certainly wasn’t the case when 12 Monkeys came out in the 90s. 

When James Cole (Willis) is sent back in time from 2030 to stop a devastating virus from ever being spread, he is immediately captured and committed to an insane asylum, because that’s what would realistically probably happen. There he meets Brad Pitt’s Jeffery Goines, who is a staunch anti-corporate activist and an environmentalist. You can see where this is probably going.

With plenty of back and forth time travel for Cole, and a sincerely harrowing story about the dangers of trying to intervene in the development of a horrific future, 12 Monkeys creates a narrative that looks at the actual implications of time travel. It’s a must see for any action-thriller science-fiction fan.

9. Groundhog Day

• Release date: February 12, 1993
• Cast: Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliott

There’s always been discussion surrounding Groundhog Day and whether it’s really a time travel movie, but you know what? It doesn’t really matter. A simple time loop can be more interesting than a straight-up time-travelling odyssey. In fact, this movie is more of a fantasy comedy that poses the question of what would a regular person do if trapped inside a time loop they cannot explain nor fix.

It's an endearing movie that, despite many creative differences behind the scenes, ended up resonating with audiences thanks to its smaller scale and impeccable comedic timing, all built around a script which is undoubtedly clever, but lacks pretension. Many movies in this list are downbeat or serve as cautionary tales, so we thought it’d be great to inject a healthy dose of optimism.

8. Predestination

• Release date: August 28, 2014
• Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor

Predestination might be one of the most overlooked sci-fi movies in recent years, mainly because it didn’t get a very wide international release following its global premiere at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. Fanatics of time travel movies and loopy sci-fi thrillers made sure as many people as possible heard about it though.

The movie is based on the 1959 short story “All You Zombies” by Robert A. Heinlen, and follows a temporal agent as he pursues one criminal that has eluded him throughout time. The chase quickly turns into a mind-bending exploration of love, fate, and identity that questions the very foundations of time travel as explained in-universe. This one’s a big head-scratcher that requires your full attention, but it’s also far from a slog due to its (mostly successful) action thriller ambitions.

7. Tenet 

• Release date: August 26, 2020
• Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki

We’re still trying to wrap our heads around some of the wilder mechanics featured in Christopher Nolan’s sci-fi thriller, so that alone gives Tenet some weight among the genre’s best. It’s true that some of the character arcs aren’t as fleshed out as they could’ve been, plus its spy-movie villain – played by Kenneth Branagh – can often be unintentionally funny, but it’s hard to find a bolder big-budget action thriller in recent times.

The story follows a former CIA agent who must learn to master “time inversion” and prevent a renegade Russian oligarch from starting World War III. The problem is the attack will come from the future. As the plot unfolds, weirder concepts come into play, and everything isn’t what it seems at first glance. This is a time travel movie unlike anything we had seen before, mainly because it takes a while to adjust to the mind-bending mechanics of its universe and how they play out in parallel to regular action.

6. Edge of Tomorrow 

• Release date: June 6, 2014
• Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton

Edge of Tomorrow was one of the biggest surprises of 2014 thanks to a tight, action-packed script which masterfully mixed the alien invasion subgenre with time-travel shenanigans, so you’re killing two birds with one stone if you choose to watch this banger for the first time.

Based on Hiroshi Sakurazaka’s novel All You Need Is Kill, Edge of Tomorrow presents a near future in which most of Europe has been taken over by a hostile and unstoppable alien species. Major William Cage, a PR officer, is forced to join an operation against the aliens, only to end up experiencing a time loop that could be the key to defeating the invaders if he can convince the right people. Edge of Tomorrow is both funny and dark, but above all, a true rollercoaster ride.

5. Interstellar

• Release date: November 7, 2014
• Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, the man behind other “I lost my wife” movies such as Inception, The Prestige, and the more recent Tenet, Interstellar is a time travel movie that uses theoretical laws of physics to alter the perception of time for its protagonists. While Tenet may be a more direct time travel movie, Interstellar surpasses it in its writing, emotional character beats, and the spectacle of its space travel. 

After food sources on Earth have been depleted, Cooper (McConaughey) and a team of astronauts go out in search of a habitable planet beyond the solar system. During their journey, time shifts with them depending on the planets they are on, or how close they are to the black hole at the center of their travels. 

While none of the characters go back in time, they do experience time travel by how fast or slow their own perception of time is compared to the characters back home. And a particularly interesting point using the black hole does allow information and communication to be sent backwards, which we think totally counts.

• Release date: September 28, 2012
• Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt

Bruce Willis’ most recent foray into time travel, Looper is a mind-bending movie that attempts to tackle the grandfather paradox. Although it falls a bit short of this lofty goal, it still maintains a good narrative that builds to an intense climax that uses the universe’s rules against the main villain in unique ways. 

Time travel is ubiquitous in the world of Looper. Unfortunately, a crime syndicate has figured out a way to use this to “lose bodies” by sending their victims back in time to be killed by employees working in the past (or present, if you’re the employee). When Joe, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, is hired to kill his older self, played by Bruce Willis, he fails to do so, setting off an intense chase for JGL to correct his mistake.

Ultimately, the movie sets out its own rules for time travel. When young Joe gets a cut, a scar appears on old Joe. This concept progresses through the movie to an ending that may not be temporally possible, but that works to bring closure to the loop.

• Rent or buy Looper on Amazon.

3. Avengers: Endgame

• Release date: April 26, 2019
• Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo

As the culmination of a storyline spanning over 20 movies, Avengers: Endgame had a serious amount of great moments to look back on in its finale of the Avengers’ stories. After having gone through far-flung cosmic adventures, as well as into subatomic realms, there was only one novel place the Avengers could go: Back in time. 

After Thanos wipes out half of all life in the universe with the Snap (or the Blip) in Infinity War, he destroys the Infinity Stones before being killed by a vengeful Thor. With the stones destroyed, the remaining Avengers travel back in time to collect them from various points in the timeline, so that they may restore the universe to what it once was. 

During their travels, the Avengers are met with spectacular fight scenes, heart-wrenching deaths, and great callback moments that reward long-time fans of the series. While it can be viewed just alongside Infinity War as a sequel, it needs to be seen after having watched all of the MCU in order to appreciate just how far the Avengers have come.

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day

• Release date: July 3, 1991
• Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Edward Furlong

When it comes to famous time travel action movies,  Terminator 2: Judgment Day is the best of them all. With cutting-edge effects for the time that still hold up today, James Cameron’s sequel took what made the original great and expanded on it in ways that only few other sequels have ever managed to do. 

When a new Terminator, the T-1000, is sent back in time to kill John Connor, the one person responsible for protecting humanity’s future, the futuristic resistance also sends back Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator to protect him. Now there’s a great premise.

Schwarzenegger was able to bring humanity and empathy to the cruel, menacing robot that he had characterized in the first movie. Plus, Robert Patrick’s T-1000 became a villain that, to this day, is synonymous with the idea of unrelenting pursuit. The movie is pure blockbuster thrills bookended by a time travel story that could change the future of all humankind.

• Watch Terminator 2: Judgment Day free on Pluto TV.

1. Back to the Future

• Release date: July 3, 1985
• Cast: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson

We gotta go back! Back to when time travel as a concept was still fresh in popular cinema. Back when it hadn’t yet become a TV and movie trope that is often used as a plot device when all other options have been exhausted. Back to when the concept was held with reverence as well as with glee. 

Robert Zemeckis’ 1985 classic follows Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) as he travels back in time to the 1950s in order to rescue his mentor, Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). After Marty is accidentally rescued by his own mother in her teenage years, he has to work to ensure that not only can he make it back to the present, but that his parents get together so he’ll even exist. 

Back to the Future is full of time travel twists that wind their way into a viewer’s brain and beg to be dissected. This is a movie that’ll appeal to everyone – it has a nostalgic pull for older adults and it’s a great, fun way for a younger generation to connect to the sci-fi genre.

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Screen Rant

Back to the future: all 8 timelines in the movies explained.

Back to the Future's classic time travel trilogy has been delighting viewers for decades. Here's a breakdown of all eight timelines in the movies.

• Back to the Future movies showcase the chaos of altering timelines through time travel, creating multiple timelines and a big mess.
• The series is loved for its intersecting and altering timelines without being overly bogged down by scientific details.
• Marty and Doc change history, creating 8 separate timelines throughout the trilogy.

Thanks to the meddling of Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Doc (Christopher Lloyd) in their Delorean, there are multiple timelines in the Back to the Future movies. Each chapter showcases the pitfalls of escaping to other points in history and the future, and between Marty and Doc Brown's altering of the past (and future), they make a pretty big mess. Of course, the Back to the Future films were never meant to be a blueprint for time travel. Arguably the most engaging thing about the series is that its timelines intersect and alter without being bogged down by every single real-life detail of quantum physics.

The result is three films — and a 10-minute short from 2015 in which Doc Brown saves the world from a nuclear apocalypse — that continue to captivate viewers. What begins as an accidental journey into the past rapidly evolves into something far more chaotic and fun. The events of the first Back to the Future movie are somewhat straightforward. It isn’t until Back to the Future Part II , which splits its action between the past and future, that things get hectic. By the time the third movie in the trilogy concludes, there are 8 separate timelines seen in Back to the Future, most of which were created by Doc or Marty changing history.

Back To The Future: 10 Things That Still Hold Up Today

1 the prime back to the future timeline – 1985, this is where marty mcfly's story starts.

Audiences get their first introduction to Marty McFly in the then-present day of 1985. It’s immediately clear the concept of time is a major factor in the film, as Marty, busy playing guitar at the errant Doc Brown’s home, realizes the numerous surrounding clocks are 25 minutes slow. He’s late for school, and a mad rush ensues to get to class. Later that day after school, Marty is asked for a donation to save the local clock tower, which was struck by a bolt of lightning during a terrible storm in 1955 at precisely 10:04 pm and never fixed.

That night, he meets the Doc at the Twin Pines Mall and is introduced to the time machine — a converted Delorean powered by plutonium. But when Doc is murdered by a group of Libyan terrorists out for revenge after being given a fake bomb in exchange for plutonium, Marty flees in the Delorean and accidentally sends himself back to 1955. This can be considered the Prime Back to the Future timeline and was ended thanks to Marty's actions in the past.

2 The Alternate Past Marty McFly Influenced – 1955

Marty goes back in time & screws up his parent's meeting.

Marty’s arrival in the past comes as a shock, and as he struggles to make sense of what’s just occurred, he locates Doc Brown. Doc originally chose November 5, 1955, while showing off the time machine to Marty in 1985. Its significance lies in it being the date that Doc came up with the concept of the flux capacitor – the device that enables time travel. After managing to convince Doc Brown he is from the future, the two create a plan to send Marty back to 1985. However, plutonium is not available in 1955.

The power surge needed to send the Delorean back to 1985 will have to come from the bolt of lightning expected to hit the clock tower. Marty spends a week in 1955 as Doc prepares for the storm , and keeps busy by attempting to undo the damage he has caused by preventing the first meeting between his father and mother. Finally, Marty succeeds in getting his father to stand up to local bully Biff Tannen, as well as ensuring his parents dance together and fall in love. Marty is successfully sent back to the future, but a new Back to the Future timeline has been created.

Back To The Future’s 10 Biggest Mysteries That Still Need Answering Almost 40 Years Later

3 the new present timeline marty created – 1985, the new timeline when marty mcfly betters his parents' lives.

When Marty returns to 1985, he is ecstatic to be home. He again sees Doc gunned down by the Libyans, but this time Doc wore a bulletproof vest thanks to a letter of warning that Marty left him in 1955. Other things have changed as well in this Back to the Future timeline, but fortunately, they are good changes, brought about by making his father stand up to Biff in 1955. His family has become successful , with his father now a published author. Both his parents appear healthy, happy, and in love.

This is unlike the disengaged relationship in the 1985 timeline in which Marty’s mother appeared to have a drinking problem. Marty is delighted to learn that he now owns the 4x4 truck he had previously longed for, and Biff has been reduced to meekly doing chores for the McFly family. Unfortunately, not long after Marty is reunited with his girlfriend Jennifer, Doc returns from the future to tell the couple that they must accompany him back to the future to save their children.

Back To The Future Secretly Told You Its Ending In The First 5 Seconds Of The Movie

4 the future of marty mcfly's new timeline – 2015, marty goes to a back to the future date in the future to save his son.

The journey to the future comes in Back to the Future Part II and requires Marty to prevent his son, Marty Jr. from joining Biff’s grandson Griff in a robbery. The robbery would see Marty Jr. sent to prison, with Marty’s daughter Marlene also incarcerated after attempting to break her brother out. Jennifer begins asking too many questions during the journey to 2015 and is rendered unconscious by Doc, so Marty undertakes the mission alone.

He succeeds but decides to buy a sports almanac that has the scores of every sporting contest from 1950-2000. When Doc learns what Marty has done, he throws the almanac out, as he did not invent the time machine for profit. But lurking in the shadows is Grandpa Biff, who gathers the almanac and later steals the Delorean. Marty, Doc, and Jennifer return to 1985 unaware of Biff’s meddling, which will create a new Back to the Future timeline.

Yes, A Back To The Future Reboot Can Work (& Here's How)

5 the new timeline created by future biff tannen – 1985, biff tannen changes the timeline to become successful.

At first, everything seems normal when Marty returns to Hill Valley. But when Marty attempts to return home in Back to the Future Part II , he discovers an entirely different family living there, the brand-new Back to the Future timeline. Marty quickly learns that this version of Hill Valley 1985 is nothing like the one he’d left behind. In the new present, his father is dead, his mother has married the richest man in town (Biff) , and Doc has been committed to a psychiatric institution.

When Marty goes to confront Biff over what has happened, Biff confesses he was given a sports almanac in 1955 by an old man. The scores inside have made him incredibly wealthy over the next 30 years. Biff Tannen also reveals that he intends to kill Marty , just as he killed Marty’s father. After a chase through Biff’s hotel, Marty makes his way to the roof, where Doc rescues him using the Delorean.

15 Best Back To The Future Quotes From The Whole Trilogy

6 the alternate past marty mcfly influenced again – 1955, marty tries to stop biff tannen from changing the future.

Marty returns to the past again in Back to the Future Part II — this time to save the future. He and Doc arrive with the plan to steal back the almanac from Biff and destroy it. Once the almanac is destroyed, Biff will no longer be able to get rich and create the dystopian 1985 that they’ve just come from. The date is November 5, 1955 once again, with Marty and Doc arriving just before the Enchantment Under the Sea dance. But as is always the case when tampering with Back to the Future timelines, nothing is ever simple.

Marty must battle Biff’s goons, as well as Biff himself, in the struggle to regain the almanac and prevent the original 1985 timeline from being altered. After much effort, Marty succeeds in reclaiming the almanac — but just as Doc attempts to pick him up in the Delorean, it’s struck by lightning and disappears. The moment this occurs, a Western Union delivery man arrives with a letter for Marty. The letter is from Doc, who is safe and living in 1885 . When Marty discovers that, in 1885, Doc will be shot in the back by Buford “Mad Dog” Tannen, Marty decides to go back and rescue him.

11 Things Back To The Future 2 Got Right About 2015

7 the alternate past doc brown influenced – 1885, marty heads to 1885 to save doc.

After Marty arrives in 1885 in Back to the Future Part III , the Delorean develops a fuel line leak that renders it useless . Eventually, Marty and Doc create a plan that involves using a steam engine to push the Delorean up to the 88 mph required for a return to 1985. Despite Marty saving Doc Brown from being killed, Doc decides to stay in 1885 with the love of his life , Clara. Marty returns to 1985 alone. In comparison to the wild jumps backward and forwards in Back to the Future Part II , the third movie in the trilogy takes place mostly in the Wild West setting.

Back To The Future's Time Travel Explained: How It Works & Is It Accurate?

8 the final timeline created by marty mcfly – 1985, marty's final back to the future date.

Marty successfully arrives in 1985, but the Delorean is struck by a train and demolished . He returns home and goes for a ride in his new truck with Jennifer. While stopped at a red light, Marty is challenged to a race by local bully Needles, a character who worked with Marty in 2015 and who caused Marty to lose his job. Marty resists the pressure to race and Marty and Jennifer watch as a car narrowly avoids hitting Needles’ car. Had Marty raced, the car would have hit his truck.

As this realization sinks in, Jennifer finds a fax in her pocket from 2015 which had previously announced Marty’s firing. The text disappears before her eyes. The 2015 Back to the Future timeline when Marty isn’t able to pursue his dream of becoming a musician due to a persistent injury from a car accident, is erased, creating a better future for Marty and Jennifer. Moments later, Doc returns to 1985 in a new steam-powered time machine. He married Clara and is the father of two children.

Back To The Future 4: Confirmation Chances, Possible Plots & Everything We Know

9 the griff tannen nuclear apocalypse timeline - 2015, based on a short film on the dvd set.

On the 30th anniversary of the first movie, a new box set of the trilogy added a ninth Back to the Future timeline with the short film, Doc Brown Saves The World . The short sees Doc send a message to Marty confirming a Nuclear Holocaust is coming thanks to Griff Tannen accidentally uploading a virus. Doc saves the day and sends Griff back to prison, but subsequently realizes he still has the "Quantum Mind Jar" he intended to leave behind in 2075. To add to the suggestion of changing more Back to the Future dates, another Doc Brown appears from the future.

Back to the Future

Netflix’s Bodies Timelines and Time Travel, Fully Explained

Netflix’s ‘ Bodies ’ creates a complex mystery when one dead body shows up in four different years at the same time in the same place, with which the show establishes itself as a sci-fi time travel series, bracing the audience for a journey full of many twists and turns. As in any time travel story, things get rather complicated, with the four timelines getting mixed up with each other as the actions of one impact the events in another. Over eight episodes, the show does disentangle a lot of it, explaining how it’s all happening, but it can still get a bit convoluted to place the events when they happen so out of order. Here, we break down the nature of time travel and timelines created by it in ‘Bodies.’ SPOILERS AHEAD

The Throat and the Deutsch Particle Create Time Travel

In 2053, scientist Gabriel Defoe dedicates his life to studying the Deutsch Particle (which is most likely a reference to physicist David Deutsch and his theories regarding the grandfather paradox in time travel). During a lecture, he tells his students about a theory where the Deutsch particle could split into two, with each particle moving in the opposite direction in time. One particle spins towards the past, while the other towards the future, with both situations being equally likely. This means that you could end up in the past or the future, and most likely, in both at the same time!

During his research, Defeo comes across “an abnormal neutrino trace,” which leads to the temporal displacement of any object or person whenever they get too close to it. The closer you get, the more its field impacts you, and the farther you can see in time. This is the basis of the time machine, known as the Throat, using which a Deutsch particle can be split, opening the door for a person to enter it and travel in time. This is what Elias Mannix uses to go to 1889.

When Defeo tries to go through it, he is shot by Iris Maplewood, and the shot reverberates through the machine, further splitting the timelines and throwing Defeo into four different years: 1890, 1941, 2023, and 2053. Let’s take a look at the impact that Elias and Defeo’s entry into these timelines makes on the lives of several people.

1889: Elias Becomes Julian Harker

Traveling from 2053, Elias Mannix ends up in 1889 in a back alley of Longharvest Lane. He takes a bullet in his leg before entering the machine, but the bullet is gone, and he ends up with the wound, which gives him a limp for the rest of his life. He is taken to the hospital, where he discovers that the Harker family has dedicated a wing to the name of Julian Harker, who died in the war. He claims to be Julian, and as expected, Julian’s mother, Agatha, doesn’t exactly dispute him.

When Agatha finally questions Elias about taking over the identity of her dead son, he reveals everything to her. He confesses that he is not her son, and neither did he ever cross paths with him. But he is from the future, and becoming Julian Harker is an important step in his journey to create the world that he eventually ends up creating. In return for taking over the identity of her son, Julian promises to love Agatha like his own mother while also using his knowledge from the future to make her a lot of money.

1890: Alfred Hillinghead Finds the Dead Body

In 2053, after Elias jumped into the time machine, Defeo knew he had to play his part too. He knew about the predestined path laid out for him, even if it meant his death, and he chose to walk it. As expected, he is shot in the eye and ends up in four different timelines. In 1890, Elias, aka Julian, waits for Defeo to show up and confirm that everything is going as planned. This one-year difference is created due to the mere minutes of difference between their jumps. Soon after Defeo’s arrival, Henry Ashe finds the body, and Alfred Hillinghead finds his case.

While Hillinghead tries to solve the case, he is told by his superiors to shut it down, especially when Julian Harker appears in one of the photos. Alfred leaves a mark on the wall in Longharvest Lane, which is found by Iris Maplewood when she arrives in 1890, several days after Defeo. By then, Alfred had already signed his confession and sealed his fate. The case of the mysterious dead body that appeared out of nowhere is closed. Defeo’s death is labeled a suicide. Julian Harker marries Alfred’s daughter, Polly, and lives the life he had been looking forward to all this time.

1941: Charles Whiteman Finds the Dead Body

In 1941, a corrupt Charles Whiteman is told to pick up a dead body from Longharvest Lane and have it delivered at the docks. By now, Julian Harker has created a cult of people who are highly dedicated to his cause. While Julian is in his 90s and can barely get out of bed, his wife, Polly, has taken over operations and handles Charles. For the most part, the cop does what is asked of him, but when he is told to kill an 11-year-old girl who witnessed him throwing the corpse in his car trunk, he makes a different choice.

He remains unaware of the dead body’s importance and is solely driven by the safety of the girl and then revenge for her death. He ends up killing Polly and Julian and eventually gets hanged for the crime. His only contribution is the fact that he handled the case until the timeline is tinkered with, and Julian gives him a tape talking about his regrets and tells his future self not to make the same choices. Charles leaves the tape for Shahara Hasan, who eventually returns for it in 2023.

2008: Elias Mannix is Born (Happens Off-screen)

A young Sarah Mannix meets a charming man named Daniel Barber. They have a fling, and two months later, Sarah discovers she is pregnant. When she tells Daniel about this, she discovers that he actually belongs to a superrich family, which claims that she was trying to get money off of him. Sarah gives birth to a boy named Elias, but she is unable to keep him for long. She has drug problems, due to which social services take away the child. After living in a home for young boys, he is adopted by Andrew and Elaine Morley at the age of 12.

Unbeknownst to Sarah, this was all a part of Julian Harker’s cult’s plan. Daniel was actually a Harker and had knowingly seduced her to conceive Elias. The whole thing about the baby being taken away by social services, being placed in foster and then being adopted was a part of their plan. They needed to give Elias a difficult upbringing as it would change him into the man he eventually became. The Morleys were also a part of the cult and educated Elias on the whole thing, including his role in the world’s future.

2023: Shahara Hasan Finds the Dead Body

Version 1: The show begins with Shahara Hasan in 2023 when she is led into an alley by a 17-year-old boy named Syed Taher, where she discovers the mysterious dead body. This leads her on the search for answers, making her cross paths with a 15-year-old Elias. After a lot of back and forth, she discovers that Elias is meant to detonate a bomb that would destroy the entire London, leading to chaos and destruction. Despite trying to stop Elias, Shahara ends up doing things exactly as they were predicted. The boy, despite not wanting to be that person, detonates the bomb and paves the path for himself to become Julian Harker.

Version 2: In an alternate timeline, Hasan from 2053 arrives in 2023 on the day the bomb is supposed to go off. She had received Charles’ message from 1941, which led her to the hidden tape from Julian. She uses it to get to Elias and convince him that the path he’s about to choose will lead to nothing but pain and heartbreak for him. Her efforts succeed, and Elias chooses not to detonate the bomb this time around. With this, he nullifies the entire point of his existence and is erased from the timeline, restoring things to a peaceful version.

Version 3: With Elias removed from existence, his family and cult are torn away as well. The world returns to the way it used to be, and Shahara Hasan finds herself on the day she found the dead body, but without a dead body. She goes about her day, never crossing paths with Syed and never ending up in Longharvest Lane. Her family and the entire London are safe and sound, without any threat of a nuclear blast looming over them. But there’s still Iris Maplewood here, which means something’s still amiss.

2053: Iris Maplewood Finds the Dead Body

In the original timeline, after Elias has destroyed the world and then rebuilt it, Iris Maplewood is a detective who ends up in Longharvest Lane and finds the dead body of a man who is identified as Gabriel Defoe. She is shocked to discover that Defeo is still alive, and he, too, has no idea what’s happening. Iris is dedicated to the new world under Elias’ leadership and helps him uncover the Chapel Perilous network, created by Shahara Hasan from the first version of her timeline. By now, she is well-versed in Elias, aka Julian’s story, and wants to stop him from going back to 1890 and starting everything all over again.

Shahara tries to get Iris to work for their cause, but the detective leads Elias and his men to them. Most of the people in Chapel Perilous are killed, and Elias uses the time machine to travel to 1890, as he was expected to. Gabriel Defeo follows him soon after, triggering the murder investigations in four timelines. Iris is shaken by the whole chain of events, but then, she realizes that the Deutsch Particle is meant to go as far in the future as it is in the past, like a mirror image. When she shot Defeo, he traveled four days into the past, which is when she found his dead body. This means he should reappear in the same place four days later.

Four Days Later

As expected, Gabriel Defeo shows up in 2053, four days after he walked into the Throat with a bullet wound caused by Iris Maplewood. This time, she comes prepared and saves him. This fuels her to do something about Elias, even though Defeo and Shahara seem to have given up. She jumps into the Throat and lands in 1890, where she meets Alfred Hillinghead and convinces him to talk to Julian Harker, sowing doubt in his mind.

Iris’ entry into the past leads things to change over the years, and Shahara realizes that her memories have changed, especially when she notices the message left by Charles Whiteman. She realizes that he hid a tape for her at the Silk, which was destroyed in 2023 in the bomb blast. She uses the machine to go back to 2023, where she finds the tape and stops Elias from detonating the bomb, changing the timeline. It’s unclear what 2053 looks like in this rectified chain of events, but the fact that Iris Maplewood is in 2023 means that Defeo created his time machine, which she (and most probably others, too) used to go back and forth in time.

Read More:  Is Gabriel Defoe Dead or Alive at the End of Bodies?

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10 Best Time Travel Movies of All Timelines

Some day, people from the distant future will travel back to our era and inform us that science has conclusively identified the best movies about time travel. Until then, though, we're forced to make our own judgements. Luckily, there are a few time-travel movies that have rocked our space/time continuums more than any others.

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In honor of the upcoming time-travel films Men in Black III and Looper , here are our picks for the 10 greatest time travel films ever made.

Top image: Nathan Stapley.

10. Timecop

Jean-Claude Van Damme keeps the timeline in line... with his fists and his feet. This is one of those great underrated action movies, in which there's actually a reasonably solid plot and a fun approach to changing history. It's just what it says on the tin — Van Damme is a time cop — except that Ron Silver is a sleazy Senator who wants to use time travel to take power, and and Van Damme's jurisdiction is about to be... revoked. Plus there are time sleds! We still want to see Timecop Vs. Robocop .

9. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

Star Trek has featured a lot of time travel over the decades , but this might be our favorite instance. Even apart from being good Trek , this is a great example of the "people from an advanced future wander around our barbaric era and get confused" story. Including Spock trying to learn to cuss and Kirk trying to work his old-school charm on a woman who's used to even older-school charm. Oh, and Scotty trying to talk to an Apple Mac Plus .

8. Time After Time

Star Trek II director Nicholas Meyer adapted a novel about H.G. Wells chasing Jack the Ripper to 1979, where the Ripper attempts to recommence his life of crime in a more violent era. A classic of steampunk design — as well as a great spin on the "fish out of water" trope that comes with a lot of time travel, from the past or future to our own era. Malcolm McDowell is perfectly earnest as Wells, and every great time travel movie should feature David Warner as a ruthless villain. (See below.)

7. Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure

It's probably not surprising there are a fair number of comedies on this list — given the inherent silliness in time paradoxes, and bringing historical figures forward in time, or future people backwards in time. This film is one of the most joyfully silly science fiction comedies of all time, anchored by the truly excellent performance of George Carlin as the visitor from the future, Rufus. The titular Bill and Ted are a pair of slackers who discover they inspire a whole future society with their band's music and their philosophies... and given access to a time machine, they wreak the best havoc. Including Jane Wiedelin as Joan of Arc.

6. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

There are a number of time-travel romances on film, including the disappointing adaptation of The Time Traveler's Wife from a couple years ago. But this anime film might well be the best — a young girl accidentally gains the ability to travel through time and uses it to try and fix things in her life, only to fall for a boy who has a secret of his own. It's a really beautiful coming-of-age story, full of wistfulness and the kind of yearning and forboding for the future that a lot of the best time-travel stories have.

5. Twelve Monkeys

Terry Gilliam manages to approach the dystopian brilliance of his Brazil , with this movie in which Bruce Willis gets sent back from a plague-blighted future to investigate the plague's origins. He winds up getting entangled with a lunatic Brad Pitt, only to discover both the secrets of the virus and the meaning of his fragmented childhood memories. It's the rare time-travel story that strictly maintains a single timeline, so Willis' character is never able to alter the past in any way. (Similar to Nacho Vigalondo's Timecrimes .) And it will leave you with weird, unsettling dreams.

4. Back to the Future

And then there's the grand-daddy of all time-travel comedies, in which Marty McFly accidentally gets zapped back in time 30 years, where he prevents his parents getting together and risks wiping himself from existence. Among "time travel changes the past" stories, this is one of the best, and the "hip 1980s kid looks at the square 1950s" humor is irresistible, especially given the 1980s' obsession with the Eisenhower era. Plus Christopher Lloyd is note-perfect as "Doc" Brown, the archetypal crazy inventor. And a DeLorean is probably the best time machine ever.

3. The Terminator

James Cameron brought together a few great staples: a visitor from a post-apocalyptic future, a murderous robot disguised as a human, and an artificial intelligence that wants to wipe out humanity. The result is one of the richest pieces of time-travel mythos ever created. Arnold Schwarzenegger's struggles to make his way through the world of 1984 are fascinating and endearing, and then you get to watch the unstoppable future killing machine destroy everything in sight. Terminator toys with huge questions of predestination and the weight of the future, but then burns the mother down with a crazy robot rampage.

A lot of time-travel stories go for the "puzzle box" approach — but few pull it off with a tenth the panache of Shane Carruth's acclaimed debut, in which two friends invent a method of time travel that's actually quite logical and consistent. They can only travel back the same amount of time they spend inside their tube, and they can't travel back to a time before the machine was invented. The cris-crossing time trips and temporal shenanigans get more and more bewildering, to the point where you need to watch the film a few times to pick up everything that happens — or you can consult one of the ridiculously detailed charts that people have uploaded to the internet.

1. Time Bandits

This is one of the greatest movies of all time, period — let alone the best time-travel movie. A young boy escapes from his grindingly awful parents with a group of tiny renegades, who use a map of holes in time to plunder history. But Kevin's loss of innocence isn't just limited to witnessing the consequences of the Bandits' carefree crime spree — he comes face to face with the embodiment of Evil (David Warner again), who shows Kevin a distorted reflection of Kevin's own life. In the end, the light-hearted romp through all of time and space turns out to have a very dark heart, and Kevin's innocence is destroyed in ways you never expect. The secret of time travel is that when you can visit any era, the people you meet are all minor and limited, from the time traveler's lofty vantage-point — and in the end, Kevin discovers what it's like to be one of the people who's stepped on by history. If Primer is a film you have to see three times to understand the complex plotting, then Time Bandits is a film you have to watch multiple times just to see how cleverly it's all set up — and to feel the full shivering emotional impact.

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9 Most Interesting Mechanics Of Time-Travel In Movies

What is  mechanics of time-travel ? Simple, it’s the in-film concept based on which the character(s) experience time-travel. Do people appear and disappear with minimal explanation, or is there an innovative device or a fantastic element powering the time-travel? In short, it is ‘ how ‘ the time-travel takes place. The more thought out this fictional portion is, the better you tend to remember the film. The movie gets even more interesting if the mechanics play a core role in the plot. And how do I define a time-travel movie? Well, as long as there is at least one character experiencing time non-linearly, the movie qualifies for the category. This is Barry, welcome to my site, and here are the most impressive mechanics of time-travel in movies in no particular order.

The Mechanics Score is one part of Barry’s Time Travel Review Score (BaTTR Score), and you can read all about it here – The BaTTR Score . For the complete list, do check the 50+ Best Time Travel Movies of all times. 

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Where To Watch?

To find where to stream any movie or series based on your country, use This Is Barry’s Where To Watch .

Oh, and if this article doesn’t answer all of your questions, drop me a comment or an FB chat message, and I’ll get you the answer .  You can find other film explanations using the search option on top of the site.

Interstellar (2014)

Nolan loves non-linear storytelling. In Interstellar, we actually witness events linearly from the perspective of the protagonist. However, that’s not the case for the other characters in the movie. There are two well thought out mechanics of time-travel:

Gravity  – The theory is that gravity warps time. Getting closer to a black hole (a star with gravity so strong that light cannot escape it), results in the person experiencing time much slower. When a portion of the team touches down on a planet in the close proximity of a black hole, and stay about an hour, the other team member (and Earth) experience 23 years. In short, the protagonists experience time travel to the future by 23 years in this manner inadvertently.

5-Dimensional Tesseract – The film presents outstanding visuals on how a 5-dimensional construct can be represented within 3 dimensions. Once again, gravitational forces are theorized to be able to slip back in time to affect objects from the past. 

The notion of time dilation, which unexpectedly causes traveling forward in time, and the brilliant concept of the 5-D Tesseract, which allowed access to the past, makes this film’s mechanics of time-travel unforgettable.

To know everything about the film and the little plot-holes in it, do give this a read – Interstellar Movie Explained .

Back To The Future (1985)

If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you’re gonna see some serious sh*t. This sucker’s electrical, but I need a nuclear reaction to generate the 1.21 gigawatts of electricity I need. 

Back To The Future’s mechanics of time-travel had creativity, complexity, and style. The time machine was built out of a DeLorean, which now is a symbol for time-travel. The invention that powers the time-travel is the Flux Capacitor. While it is perfectly compact to be fitted into a car, it needs 1.21 gigawatts of power to get it going. It’s a three-step process to travel through time in the three films.

• Turn on the Time Circuits and enter the date and time when you want to travel to.
• Ensure that the on-board Flux Capacitor is … fluxing.
• Floor that pedal to hit 88 miles per hour.

If the 1.21 GW of power is available (by means of stolen plutonium or a bolt of lightning), you will be on your way, leaving behind a bright trail of flames.

Back To The Future inspired many films in this space, and the DeLorean went from being a stylish car to the most desired memorabilia thanks to this film.

Avengers: Endgame (2019)

To the question “what are your favourite time-travel movies?” the answer might not include Avengers: Endgame. Fair enough, that was not the only theme of the movie, and time-travel is used to enable the Avengers to undo a terrible event. However, the thought and effort put into the mechanics of traveling through time in this film can’t be ignored. Endgame had the option to get lazy and rely on the Time Stone to access the past. But instead, the makers decided that all the stones will be destroyed, and the quantum realm would be used to travel back and forth through time.

There are four components used to travel through time. 

• The quantum suit that can efficiently shrink and enlarge. 
• The Pym Particles that facilitate entering the quantum realm.
• The machine at the Avenger Base which acts as a satellite for space-time navigation.
• The Space-Time GPS that allows the time-traveler to navigate to the appropriate time/timeline.

Not relying on a mystical stone and its powers, but coming up with well thought out fictional science to empower the time travel makes Endgame undoubtedly commendable.

To understand the film in detail, you can check this out – Avengers: Endgame Time Travel Explained .

Primer (2004)

Primer is one of the most complex time-travel movies made. Wanna take a guess what the total cost the film was made within? $7,000! Yes, that’s right, an entire feature film with an ingenious mechanics of time-travel was wrapped up in that tiny amount. The concept is pretty simple, a person needs to enter the machine and stay inside for the period he wants to go back in time. 

For example, if you want to go back in time by 5 hours, you need to have already planned for it. At say 1 PM, the machine needs to be turned on and left for 5 hours. At 6 PM, you have to enter the device with the stopwatch and stay 5 hrs. For the world, the time progresses forward, but for you, it flows backward. Once the stopwatch completes 5 hrs, you can exit the machine, and voila, you will find yourself at 1 PM. Now wouldn’t you run into yourself turning the device on at 1 PM? Yes, you will. And for safety reasons, you don’t want that. A timer is used before starting the machine. You set the timer at 12:45 PM for 15 min and get the hell outta there. This way, when you exit at 1 PM, you are alone.

This simplistic view of time moving backward at the same pace as it does forward is brilliant, and that’s why it makes it to this list in style.

To know the details of the film timeline by timeline, check this article – Primer Movie Explained .

Arrival (2016)

The concept that immersing oneself in a language can alter the way you think and see things was pretty unique. The film, based on the short story called  Story of Your Life,  expanded on the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis. It’s the theory that the language one speaks determines how they think; it affects how one sees everything. And that if you immerse yourself into a foreign language, you can rewire your brain. Alien visitors use the language shown in the movie. The structure of their writing is such that it simultaneously presents an entire sentence using all the ideograms (symbols that represent an idea). Learning the language enables a human to perceive time all at once instead of linearly. 

There is no physical time-travel here, but it’s an imaginative way to make a character experience non-linear thoughts and memories through an alien language. And that makes Arrival very memorable.

To read the detailed explanation of the film, go here – Arrival Movie Explained .

Blink (2007)

Okay, I know the title reads time-travel  movies , and Blink is one episode of Doctor Who. However, this episode is standalone and perhaps one of the most amazing in the series. You can watch this episode without much knowledge about the series Doctor Who. All you need to know is that the Doctor is a time traveler, and his device is called the Tardis (the phone booth). Blink is not on this list for the Tardis, but for the creatures of the abstract, the weeping angels. These statues are explained to be creatures as old as the universe who are quantum locked, meaning, when they are seen, they don’t exist, they turn to stone. 

The exciting bit is that they are described as the only psychopaths in the universe to kill you nicely. No mess, no fuss, they just zap you into the past and let you live to death.  You die in the past, and in the present, they consume the energy of all the days you might have had and all your stolen moments . They live off potential energy. This has to be the most amazing and twisted definition of potential energy there is. 

This brilliant fabrication of a fantastic being that causes you to forcibly travel through time is why Blink deserves mention even though it is an episode of a long-running series.

Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

Edge Of Tomorrow is based on a Japanese book called All You Need Is Kill (translated). Honestly, the movie doesn’t go into why Tom Cruise’s character ends up resetting at the airbase. The book explains that the aliens can fire a tachyon pulse before its death. Tachyon is a theoretical particle that travels faster than the speed of light. Therefore the pulse goes back in time to the previous day and appears as a memory in the alien’s mind. Using this memory, the alien then changes the course of the attack. On killing an alien, Cage inherits this capability through the blood of the creature. It’s creative reasoning for receiving visions from one day in the future in loops. The tachyon pulse is fired just before death, hence the tag line – Live . Die . Repeat.

A person’s body doesn’t travel through time, but a memory from the future does, and that is why the mechanics of this book and film are remarkable.

To know more about the film and the book, read this – Edge of Tomorrow vs. All You Need Is Kill .

Donnie Darko (2001)

A troubled kid, Donnie, experiences slipping into a tangent universe and finds himself at the center of events that could devastate the primary universe. This causes Donnie and the other characters to experience time non-linearly in this temporal universe. He encounters a mysterious person in a creepy bunny suit who appears to be from the future to guide him. You can alternately consider Donnie Darko not to be a time-travel movie but a psychological thriller presented from the viewpoint of a troubled teenager. But that does not take away the efforts made to define the in-movie logic around the dual realities.

Time-travel is powered by a random cosmic event that creates a wormhole making Donnie the living receiver of an artifact from a parallel universe. The intricacies of this tangent universe, the living receiver, the manipulated dead, and the closure are why the film makes it to this list.

If you’d like to understand this film better, check this out – Donnie Darko Simplified And Explained .

Source Code (2011)

There are many time-loop films like Groundhog Day and Happy Death Day (Part 1) , where there is no explanation for why the person repeatedly relives the day or moment. On the other hand, the Source Code came up with an elaborate setup where a person’s mind is inserted into a machine that seemingly recreates a simulation of a past event. However, the device ends up spawning alternate realities on each run while injecting the inserted mind into an actual person in an alternate timeline. Time travel in the film is a fantastic accident in the movie.

A device that accidentally creates parallel universes and implanting one person’s consciousness into the mind of another makes this film’s time-travel mechanics very unique.

To know about the film’s loopwise details, do check this out – Source Code Movie Explained .

What are your thoughts about these time-travel movies? Do you think there are movies with exceptional mechanics of time-travel that didn’t feature in this list? Do drop in your comment mentioning the films.

Barry is a technologist who helps start-ups build successful products. His love for movies and production has led him to write his well-received film explanation and analysis articles to help everyone appreciate the films better. He’s regularly available for a chat conversation on his website and consults on storyboarding from time to time. Click to browse all his film articles

“The nature of time itself is something malleable.”

Tom Hiddleston reveals how 'Loki' fixes time travel in the MCU

How do you create an airtight world of branching timelines and alternate universes? 'Loki' writer Michael Waldon and star Tom Hiddleston reveal the answer.

Time travel shows play by their own rules. However, establishing those rules can be a tricky needle for TV writers to thread. Make them too strict, like the Time-Turner in Harry Potter , and there’s no room to address the plot holes that will inevitably pop up. Too loose, like the “some moments are fixed, some are in flux” approach of Doctor Who , and it all seems arbitrary.

When it comes to Loki , that pressure is even greater. The time travel rules implemented in this Disney+ series won’t just affect its next six episodes but the entirety of pop culture’s biggest franchise. And the man tasked with writing this rulebook? Loki head writer Michael Waldron.

Luckily, it’s hard to imagine anyone better-prepared.

“What are the institutional rules of time travel?”

An experienced hand at visualizing time travel on screen, with Rick and Morty and the best time travel movie never made in his back pocket, Waldron creates a world in Loki that’s centered around order and chaos.

Of course, Loki (played again by Tom Hiddleston) prefers chaos, but the Time Variance Authority he comes into contact with across the series is everything he’s not. This sprawling bureaucracy has dedicated all of its resources to keeping “variants” like Loki at bay. In realistically depicting what would happen once the TVA met its match in the rogue Asgardian, Waldron tells Inverse one question was at the forefront of his mind: “What are the institutional rules of time travel?”

Loki’ s initial explanation of the quantum physics that allow characters to leap-frog between timelines isn’t unlike the demonstration we saw in Avengers: Endgame . There’s one timeline — the Sacred Timeline — and anything that branches from it is a dangerous divergence. But for Waldron, applying those rules to a six-hour Disney+ series was a much more difficult task.

“After really defining for ourselves generally what the emotional arc of the series was going to be, we then had to step way back,” he says. “It's not a time travel movie. It's a time travel TV series, which means fans are going to have a week between each episode to scrutinize our logic. So it's got to be as airtight as possible.”

“They have defined themselves as benevolent guardians of a tidy timeline.”

In Loki , we learn the TVA’s job is to intervene within “variants” before they bring the Sacred Timeline too far off the beaten path, potentially creating a multiverse along the way.

For Hiddleston, exploring the TVA and its work was one of the biggest attractions of Loki — aside from starring in his own story after turning up in supporting rules for six previous Marvel movies, of course.

“I find it so exciting and so intriguing,” Hiddleston tells Inverse , “that there might potentially be a bureaucratic organization and institution that has to govern the order of time, and that they are attending to events unfolding according to these predetermined outcomes.”

He adds: “They have defined themselves as benevolent guardians of a tidy timeline. And if ever there’s a branch that they think isn’t quite right, they could prune it.”

Loki ’s time travel rulebook

“Squiggly lines” turned into the branching timelines as seen in Loki ’s trailer.

Before the audience, or even Hiddleston, could understand Loki’ s conception of the TVA or its treatment of time travel, the series’ writers had to understand both ideas. Easier said than done in a room full of creatives.

“It necessitated a lot of standing at whiteboards, writing, drawing lines with other squiggly lines and yelling at each other,” says Waldron. “At the end of that, we had a good foundational knowledge.”

From that back-and-forth came the “sacred timeline,” as well as the idea of Time Keepers.

“We had to be much more scientific frankly, about it and really, really rack our brains to make sure that this made sense,” Waldron says, discussing Loki’ s rules at large. “I'm very proud of the sci-fi concepts in this show.”

But “airtight” logic is difficult to come by with a subject as complex as quantum physics. Whether in theaters or airing on Disney+, titles within the MCU are by design accessible to all, including children. How do you make a topic scientists devote their lives to studying easy to parse for the youngest MCU fans?

Miss Minutes explains the multiverse in Loki .

Enter Miss Minutes, an adorable bronze clock brought to life by animation voice actor powerhouse Tara Strong. Waldron acknowledged the iconic “Mr. DNA” segment from Jurassic Park as a source of inspiration for the primer on the TVA that Miss Minutes delivers early in the season. The team behind Loki had another crucial tool at their disposal in an audience surrogate.

Characters who are able to ask questions the audience wants to ask, audience surrogates are often essential to demystifying the plot details of a series early on. In this case, Loki fit the bill perfectly.

Like audiences, the God of Mischief hadn’t previously encountered the TVA and has no idea what he’s in for as the series begins, allowing plot information to be teased out gradually for all involved. “We realized less is more, to give just enough,” Waldron says.

“Explain it to me again.”

Loki allows the audience to be put in his own clueless Asgardian shoes.

There’s was another key in communicating the rules of Loki’ s world to viewers: the actor himself. Hiddleston has inhabited the role of Loki for a decade now, but Loki ’s version of the God of Mischief hails from the MCU’s infancy. In other words, this Loki has major ego issues and a hefty dose of entitlement.

“It was really interesting because I had to sort of unstitch the evolution of things that I remember doing, which is really peculiar,” Hiddleston says. “It was quite a fascinating place to go back to, and also a thrill because it gave us a new anchor for a new journey of discovery and adventure.”

The rules of the TVA and Loki as a whole are only as believable as Hiddleston’s performance makes them feel, and he gives it his all in this series, whether bickering with bureaucrats pushing paperwork or shooting rapid-fire questions to Owen Wilson’s Agent Mobius.

Of course, Hiddleston first had to get his head around those rules himself.

“All I remember is there were lots of different colored pens on a whiteboard, me being confused and saying, ‘Explain it to me again,’” recalls Hiddleston. “But it was fun to dive into,” the actor adds.

Once Hiddleston grasped the series’ overall concept of time travel, allowing him to work that knowledge into his characteristically sly and entertaining performance, what began as a bunch of writers yelling in a room reached its final form: as clear, concise, and impressively effective exposition that not only sets up the series but will lead audiences to contemplate time itself.

“I think the nature of time itself is something malleable,” Hiddleston says. “Even for us as people, time can go fast. Time can slow down a day, can drag out, or it can go by in a flash.”

That malleability is reflected by Loki , where every moment spent in the world of the TVA feels absorbingly real enough that the episode is over before you’ve even thought about checking your watch.

Loki premieres June 9th on Disney+.

This article was originally published on June 8, 2021

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Primer – The Smartest Time Travel Film Ever Made

Written by Kevin Muldoon

| 7th May 2013

| Films, TV, Games & Music

I love films that make you think after you have watched them. Films that have you thinking about them for days after (I’m not talking about M. Night Shyamalan films which have an obvious twist at the end).

One of my favourite films over the last ten years is an independent film called Primer . The film focuses around two friends who are working on a device that will reduce the weight of items, however they accidentally create a machine that allows them to travel back in time. It is a fascinating film that demands a second watch…and a third. Anyone who says they understand the film after one viewing is a liar.

The film was written, directed, and produced, by Shane Carruth , one of the two main stars in the film. At the age of 30 he quit his job as an engineer to make Primer. I have nothing but respect for him for quitting his job and following his dreams. Amazingly, he completed the film on a budget of only $7,000 (nearly all of that money being spent on film stock). It is astounding to think that such a good film could be made on such a low budget (particularly with so many bad films out there costing over $100 million).

Shane Carruth’s second film is called Upstream Color is officially out today. When I read that his second film was being released, I decided to revisit Primer again (for what I believe is my fourth time).

Primer – What Happens If It Actually Works?

Primer is a film that makes sense once you have seen it at least twice and with every viewing you notice a few things that you had not noticed before. It is a relatively short film at only 77 minutes long, but it does not feel short when watching it. The film is not shown in the sequence that events occurred, which is one of the reasons why it is necessary to see the film another time.

After watching it once you will probably be confused about what actually happened. Watching it a second time is a completely different experience. It feels like watching a completely different film.

Where Primer excels over other time travel films is its realism (yes, realism in a fictional film about time travel). With 99% of time travel films, you are left contemplating the grandfather paradox . That is, someone from the future comes back to change the past, however if they come back to past to change something, their own future changes, making it impossible for them to come back to the past in the first place (and I’ve gone cross-eyed !). Even last years big time travel film Looper failed in this regard many times (i.e. the dismemberment of Seth raised many questions though I guess these issues can be countered by saying it creates a multiverse ). As did Terminator in 1984 (the technology from the Terminator from the future was the basis for creating the Terminator that was created in the future).

In Primer, no rules are broken and you after watching the film you start to think that the whole thing is actually plausible (all I need is an old PC to make a whirring sound!).

If you have never seen Primer before, I encourage you to seek it out. You can buy the film on Shane Carruther’s official website ERBP Film . You can also rent it for around $2.99 or buy it for around $9.99 on:

• Sundance Now

Whilst I won’t be explaining Primer in full in this post, I will be talking a little about the plot, therefore if you want to see the movie, please stop reading now. I mean that. This is a film you do not want to spoil!

Primer Explained

SPOILERS – DO NOT READ THIS SECTION IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE FILM

My original idea was to give my view on what happened on Primer. There is little point of me doing that. Firstly, because there are long detailed explanations that already exist online. Secondly, because my own understanding of the plot was helped by the explanations and comments of other fans of the film.

Therefore, rather than do a long explanation of how I understand the series of events in the film, I thought it would be better to simply link to resources that will help you understand it (articles, images and videos).

Primer Explained – Timeline Image Diagrams

Let’s start off with a visual explanation with how time travel works in Primer. It is vital that you understand the basic rules of time travel within the film as your whole understanding of the film itself depends on it. The image that is available on Wikipedia explains it perfectly. It will also help you understand why later in the story there is more than one version of Abe and Aaron going into the future.

There are many timeline diagrams online that aim to explain Primer. A few are posted below (click on the image for the full size image). Unfortunately, most of these images are on dozens of websites online, therefore it was difficult for me to know where they originated. If you know where these images came from, please let me know in the comment area and I will link to the original creator :)

Diagram 3 :

These images will not help you understand Primer….but they do highlight how the Primer timelines compares to other films :)

Primer Timeline:

Movie Timelines Diagram:

Primer Explained – Audio Commentary

The audio commentary below from qutm.org was only released a few months ago. It is one of the best ways of understanding the Primer timeline. All you do is start the audio commentary at the same time the film starts. The commentary will then walk you through each part of the film.

Primer Explained – Videos

There are not too many video explanations online. The main one available is a three part video series which breaks down everything with diagrams. Each video is around 9 to 10 minutes long.

Part 2 and Part 3 can also be found on YouTube.

Primer Explained – Articles

I found the explanation diagrams to be a little difficult to digest. The walkthrough articles that many fans of the film have published online are much easier to follow in my opinion. Below is a collection of some of the best explanations of the timeline in Primer. They should answer most of the questions you have about the film.

• Primer explained @ qntm.org
• Primer explained @ friendsinyourhead.com
• Primer explained @ Reddit
• The Primer Universe
• Primer: The Perils and Paradoxes of Restricted Time Travel Narration
• Primer Movie – Scene by Scene Explanation
• Primer and the Handwriting of Time Travelers
• A discussion about Primer on jaced.com
• IMDB Discussion Boards for Primer

Shane Carruth Interviews

If you have read this far, you are obviously a huge fan of Primer. Therefore, I am sure you would love to hear more from the man himself, Shane Carruth. The interview below with Shane Carruth was published by The B-Movies Podcast last month. In the interview he talks about his new movie Upstream Color though he also talks a little about Primer.

More interviews with Shane Carruth:

• Shane Carruth—Primer—10/11/04
• Shane Carruth Answers All Our Questions About ‘Primer,’ ‘Upstream Color’ and ‘The Modern Ocean’
• An Interview With Shane Carruth
• A Primer Primer
• Making the Film – Interviews – Shane Carruth – 07/Mar/04
• Interview with Primer director Shane Carruth
• Buckle Your Brainpan: The Primer Director Is Back With a New Film
• IMDB Discussion Boards for Shane Carruth

The Future for Shane Carruth

It is great to see the return of Shane Carruth after a long absence. Upstream Color is just out and he is shooting another film called “The Modern Ocean” in a few months time. Sadly, the script he worked on for years has not came to fruition. The project, called “A Topiary”, took up a huge amount of his time but he was unable to secure the funds for it.

Apparently, he was learning how to design the 3D creatures himself for the film by visiting special effects companies.

I really hope that A Topiary gets made in the future, be it from investors or from funding through a website such as Kickstarter . It sounds epic. Here’s what he said about the film to Wired Magazine :

For a while, Carruth tried writing a romantic coming-of-age story set on the high seas. But soon he began mapping out something much bigger, an epic sci-fi story called A Topiary. It’s a tale told in two parts: The opening section follows a city worker who becomes obsessed with a recurring starburst pattern he sees hidden everywhere around him, even in traffic grids. He eventually joins with other believers, forming a kaffeeklatsch-cult that’s soon undone by greed and hubris. The second half follows a group of 10 preteen boys who discover a strange machine that produces small funnels, which in turn can be used to build increasingly agile robotlike creatures. As their creations grow in power and size, the kids’ friendships begin to splinter and they’re forced to confront another group of creature-builders. The movie ends with a massive last-minute reveal, set deep in the cosmos, suggesting that everything we’ve just seen was directed by forces outside the characters’ control. A Topiary consumed Carruth. He wrote much of it in the Dallas suburbs, living off the money from Primer. “There’s no way I could have done that if I had a wife or a family or health care,” he says now. “There’s a way to live that is incredibly thrifty.” While working on the script, Carruth used a 3-D computer program to design all the creatures himself. And since the movie would require hundreds of effects shots, he began visiting f/x houses to learn about their workflow and to see how he might create his own effects. He even built his own small-scale CGI system, renting cloud computers and writing code. “That’s where I lose my time,” he says. “I get obsessed with these little things. I think there’s some novel way to find a solution, and I go down the pathway too far.” After Carruth finished a first draft of the script, he gave it to director Steven Soderbergh, a fan who had reached out to Carruth after he saw Primer. Soderbergh asked his friend David Fincher to serve as co-executive producer. With their names and their blessing, Carruth made a mock-up trailer for investors, one that incorporated some of his own effects work plus images from many of the Spielberg movies he watched growing up. With a budget in the low $20 millions, Carruth began meeting with possible backers, a process that ended up consuming yet another year. “Nobody ever said no,” Carruth says. “It was always enthusiasm and amazement and ‘We can’t wait for this!’ Meanwhile, no money’s sitting in the account.” He kept lowering the budget, getting it down to about $14 million, but even that couldn’t secure an investor. “If this were the ’70s, people would be throwing money at him,” Soderbergh says. “It’s just a different time now.” Finally, Carruth realized that A Topiary was a problem he simply couldn’t solve. Worried he’d be forever stuck in a loop of endless meetings and fruitless go-aheads, he walked away. “I decided that if nobody was gonna say no, I was gonna have to say no,” he says. “It sort of just broke my heart.”

Shane Carruth’s experience suggests that even a successful film will guarantee you full control over your next project. Investors want involved in the project. I can understand this side of it. Can you imagine funding a film for $20 million and having the writer and director advise you that you have no say on what happens? You would fund another project. On the other side, I admire Carruth for not allowing other people tampering with his creation. Why should he give up final cut of his film or be told who he can or cannot cast. Even if he does not secure funds for A Topiary, I hope he continues to make films.

As much as I would love to see it, I do not believe there will ever be a sequel to Primer. There are no loose ends that need tied up. I cannot think of any plausible storyline that would happen after the events of the first film (can you?).

If you have read this far without watching Primer; shame on you! For everyone else, I hope you have found this article useful. Primer is one of the most intelligent films ever made. Most films that have a twist at the end of the film are easy to understand once you know what that twist is.

Primer is different. It really does take a few viewings to understand everything that happened. Once again, I will reiterate: Anyone who says that they understood everything about Primer after one viewing is a liar.

I’d love to hear from those of you who have seen Primer, so I encourage you to leave a comment and share with me your opinion of the film. Please leave a comment if there is any aspect of the film you do not understand and I will try and explain how I see those events.

Thanks for reading. Kevin

About Kevin Muldoon

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Time travel could be possible, but only with parallel timelines

Assistant Professor, Physics, Brock University

Disclosure statement

Barak Shoshany does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Brock University provides funding as a member of The Conversation CA-FR.

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Have you ever made a mistake that you wish you could undo? Correcting past mistakes is one of the reasons we find the concept of time travel so fascinating. As often portrayed in science fiction, with a time machine, nothing is permanent anymore — you can always go back and change it. But is time travel really possible in our universe , or is it just science fiction?

Read more: Curious Kids: is time travel possible for humans?

Our modern understanding of time and causality comes from general relativity . Theoretical physicist Albert Einstein’s theory combines space and time into a single entity — “spacetime” — and provides a remarkably intricate explanation of how they both work, at a level unmatched by any other established theory. This theory has existed for more than 100 years, and has been experimentally verified to extremely high precision, so physicists are fairly certain it provides an accurate description of the causal structure of our universe.

For decades, physicists have been trying to use general relativity to figure out if time travel is possible . It turns out that you can write down equations that describe time travel and are fully compatible and consistent with relativity. But physics is not mathematics, and equations are meaningless if they do not correspond to anything in reality.

Arguments against time travel

There are two main issues which make us think these equations may be unrealistic. The first issue is a practical one: building a time machine seems to require exotic matter , which is matter with negative energy. All the matter we see in our daily lives has positive energy — matter with negative energy is not something you can just find lying around. From quantum mechanics, we know that such matter can theoretically be created, but in too small quantities and for too short times .

However, there is no proof that it is impossible to create exotic matter in sufficient quantities. Furthermore, other equations may be discovered that allow time travel without requiring exotic matter. Therefore, this issue may just be a limitation of our current technology or understanding of quantum mechanics.

The other main issue is less practical, but more significant: it is the observation that time travel seems to contradict logic, in the form of time travel paradoxes . There are several types of such paradoxes, but the most problematic are consistency paradoxes .

A popular trope in science fiction, consistency paradoxes happen whenever there is a certain event that leads to changing the past, but the change itself prevents this event from happening in the first place.

For example, consider a scenario where I enter my time machine, use it to go back in time five minutes, and destroy the machine as soon as I get to the past. Now that I destroyed the time machine, it would be impossible for me to use it five minutes later.

But if I cannot use the time machine, then I cannot go back in time and destroy it. Therefore, it is not destroyed, so I can go back in time and destroy it. In other words, the time machine is destroyed if and only if it is not destroyed. Since it cannot be both destroyed and not destroyed simultaneously, this scenario is inconsistent and paradoxical.

Eliminating the paradoxes

There’s a common misconception in science fiction that paradoxes can be “created.” Time travellers are usually warned not to make significant changes to the past and to avoid meeting their past selves for this exact reason. Examples of this may be found in many time travel movies, such as the Back to the Future trilogy.

But in physics, a paradox is not an event that can actually happen — it is a purely theoretical concept that points towards an inconsistency in the theory itself. In other words, consistency paradoxes don’t merely imply time travel is a dangerous endeavour, they imply it simply cannot be possible.

This was one of the motivations for theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking to formulate his chronology protection conjecture , which states that time travel should be impossible. However, this conjecture so far remains unproven. Furthermore, the universe would be a much more interesting place if instead of eliminating time travel due to paradoxes, we could just eliminate the paradoxes themselves.

One attempt at resolving time travel paradoxes is theoretical physicist Igor Dmitriyevich Novikov’s self-consistency conjecture , which essentially states that you can travel to the past, but you cannot change it.

According to Novikov, if I tried to destroy my time machine five minutes in the past, I would find that it is impossible to do so. The laws of physics would somehow conspire to preserve consistency.

Introducing multiple histories

But what’s the point of going back in time if you cannot change the past? My recent work, together with my students Jacob Hauser and Jared Wogan, shows that there are time travel paradoxes that Novikov’s conjecture cannot resolve. This takes us back to square one, since if even just one paradox cannot be eliminated, time travel remains logically impossible.

So, is this the final nail in the coffin of time travel? Not quite. We showed that allowing for multiple histories (or in more familiar terms, parallel timelines) can resolve the paradoxes that Novikov’s conjecture cannot. In fact, it can resolve any paradox you throw at it.

The idea is very simple. When I exit the time machine, I exit into a different timeline. In that timeline, I can do whatever I want, including destroying the time machine, without changing anything in the original timeline I came from. Since I cannot destroy the time machine in the original timeline, which is the one I actually used to travel back in time, there is no paradox.

After working on time travel paradoxes for the last three years , I have become increasingly convinced that time travel could be possible, but only if our universe can allow multiple histories to coexist. So, can it?

Quantum mechanics certainly seems to imply so, at least if you subscribe to Everett’s “many-worlds” interpretation , where one history can “split” into multiple histories, one for each possible measurement outcome – for example, whether Schrödinger’s cat is alive or dead, or whether or not I arrived in the past.

But these are just speculations. My students and I are currently working on finding a concrete theory of time travel with multiple histories that is fully compatible with general relativity. Of course, even if we manage to find such a theory, this would not be sufficient to prove that time travel is possible, but it would at least mean that time travel is not ruled out by consistency paradoxes.

Time travel and parallel timelines almost always go hand-in-hand in science fiction, but now we have proof that they must go hand-in-hand in real science as well. General relativity and quantum mechanics tell us that time travel might be possible, but if it is, then multiple histories must also be possible.

• Time travel
• Theoretical physics
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• Time travel paradox

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Every Single Planet Of The Apes Movie (In Chronological Order)

• The Planet of the Apes movies have a complex timeline that spans from the original 1968 film to the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes in 2024.
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) is the first film in the modern reboot trilogy, and the first movie chronologically.
• 1968's Planet of the Apes arrives in the middle of the franchise's timeline, despite being the first movie released.

From the original Charlton Heston films to the modern prequels, the Planet of the Apes movies have a complex timeline — one made even more intricate by an ill-fated 2001 Tim Burton project and the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes . Based on the novel by French author Pierre Boulle titled Le Planete des singes , the original 1968 Planet of the Apes ranks among the most iconic science fiction films of all time. Across several sequels and reboots, the Planet of the Apes movies have built a continual timeline, though the chronological order doesn't match the order of release.

There are nine Planet of the Apes movies in the timeline so far, with the tenth, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes , arriving in 2024 . The original Planet of the Apes movies told the story of a future Earth where apes are civilized and humans devolved into a feral state. However, the 2011 reboot Rise of the Planet of the Apes went back in time to show how apes became the dominant species. Th e Planet of the Apes movies in chronological order journey from apocalyptic virus survival action to conceptual sci-fi, covering several decades of filmmaking.

Planet Of The Apes: All Movie Timelines Explained

Rise of the planet of the apes (2011), caesar leads a rebellion, rise of the planet of the apes.

Release Date August 5, 2011

Director Rupert Wyatt

Cast Andy Serkis, Tom Felton, John Lithgow, James Franco

Runtime 1h 45m

The first film of the rebooted trilogy is the first of the Planet of the Apes movies in order based on the history of its timeline. Rise gave a unique spin on the Planet of the Apes movie series as it focuses on an ape named Caesar who, after having his intelligence augmented through science experiments, leads an ape rebellion while releasing a virus that brings humanity to its knees.

Critics gave the film positive reviews, praising the performances and screenplay, while the movie got an Oscar nomination for its visual effects.

One of the greatest aspects of this trilogy that started in Rise of the Planet of the Apes was the motion capture technology for Andy Serkis to play the protagonist, Caesar , creating a digital character who felt easy to connect with emotionally and lead the story without relying on the human characters. Critics gave the film positive reviews, praising the performances and screenplay, while the movie got an Oscar nomination for its visual effects.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is available to stream on Hulu.

6 Biggest Differences Between Planet Of The Apes' Reboot Timeline & The Original Movies

Dawn of the planet of the apes (2014), the uneasy coexistence between apes and the remaining humans, dawn of the planet of the apes.

Release Date July 11, 2014

Director Matt Reeves

Cast Andy Serkis, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Kirk Acevedo, Keri Russell, Jason Clarke

Runtime 2h 11m

2014's sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, titled Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, is the next movie chronologically in the Planet of the Apes timeline. The motion capture technology also continued to improve. While the apes may not have been exactly lifelike, their performances felt real, which was essential as the human characters became less of the focus in this world.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is set 10 years after the outbreak of Simian Flu. The human population has been decimated since only 1 in 500 are immune. This sequel showed the ape population continuing to grow more organized and self-aware , while the human population drew closer to extinction. Matt Reeves stepped into the director's chair for the sequel and delivered an action-packed movie with emotional nuance that pushed the franchise forward.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is available to stream on Hulu and Max.

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Humanity's last stand against the apes, war for the planet of the apes.

Release Date July 14, 2017

Cast Alessandro Juliani, Devyn Dalton, Mercedes de la Zerda, Max Lloyd-Jones, Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Judy Greer, Aleks Paunovic, Amiah Miller, Terry Notary, Ty Olsson, Steve Zahn, Gabriel Chavarria

Runtime 2h 20m

The final film in the rebooted Planet of the Apes trilogy was regarded by some as the best of the franchise. This film's absolute mastery helped cement Matt Reeves' Planet of the Apes movies as one of the greatest trilogies in both the sci-fi genre and in film history. Serkis continues to impress with his motion-capture portrayal of Caesar as a burdened leader and Moses figure, leading to a campaign to make him the first actor nominated for an Oscar in a motion-capture role.

It served as a poignant and exciting end to the story of Caesar while also seeing the end of humankind's time as the dominant species on the planet.

While Serkis's work didn't get the award recognition some were hoping for, it served as a poignant and exciting end to the story of Caesar while also seeing the end of humankind's time as the dominant species on the planet. There is also less of a time jump between War for the Planet of the Apes and the previous movie, with only two years passing since the events of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, as opposed to the decade that passed between the first and second films in the trilogy.

War for the Planet of the Apes is available to stream on Hulu and Max.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)

The ape population is divided after caesar, kingdom of the planet of the apes.

Release Date May 10, 2024

Director Wes Ball

Cast Sara Wiseman, Neil Sandilands, Eka Darville, Kevin Durand, Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Peter Macon

Distributor(s) 20th Century

In 2024, Matt Reeves' Planet of the Apes franchise gets a sequel in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes . The movie moves into the future, with The Maze Runner director Wes Ball replacing Reeves behind the camera. The lead character also changes to Noa (Owen Teague), an ape living generations after the events of War for the Planet of the Apes . Noa will be fleeing a new tyrannical leader who is perverting the teachings of Caesar .

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes also sees humans reverting to a more feral state while the apes have split up into different clans across the oasis, placing this right before the original franchise when watching the Planet of the Apes movies in timeline order. Of all the modern Planet of the Apes so far, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes is the first one where earth is starting to resemble the future Charlton Heston's George Taylor arrives at in the 1968 original.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes hits theaters on May 24, 2024

Planet of the Apes (2001)

The ill-fated remake of the 1968 original.

Release Date July 27, 2001

Director Tim Burton

Cast Michael Clarke Duncan, Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Paul Giamatti, Kris Kristofferson, Helena Bonham Carter

Runtime 120 Mins

The Tim Burton-directed reboot of the Planet of the Apes movies had a lot of hype going into it. However, this Mark Wahlberg-starring film was a critical disaster with many calling it the worst of the franchise. Although many technical aspects such as the makeup of the apes received praise, critics complained that the actual storytelling of this movie was left wanting.

Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes had a unique and clever ending twist that did a great job of living up to the original without copying it. Unfortunately, that wasn't enough to save this movie, and it ended any chance of further movies for a full decade. To date, it remains the only Planet of the Apes movie set outside of the official timeline and can be skipped when watching in chronological order.

Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes is available to stream on Hulu.

Why Tim Burton's Planet Of The Apes Never Got A Sequel

Planet of the apes (1968), the strange planet ruled by humans is discovered by an outsider, planet of the apes (1968).

Release Date April 3, 1968

Director Franklin J. Schaffner

Cast Robert Gunner, James Daly, James Whitmore, Charlton Heston, Linda Harrison, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter, Roddy McDowall

Runtime 112 Minutes

In the original Planet of the Apes movie, released in 1968, Charlton Heston stars as astronaut George Taylor, who lands on a strange planet. Taylor is horrified to find out that this planet is actually ruled by an extremely intelligent race of apes. Humans, on the other hand, have a seriously diminished mental capacity and simply serve as animals and pets of their ape overlords. While this was the first movie made in the franchise, it took place later in the Planet of the Apes' timeline.

The iconic Planet of the Apes twist ending revealing that Taylor was not on an alien planet, but rather a post-apocalyptic Earth, set up the franchise

The iconic Planet of the Apes twist ending revealing that Taylor was not on an alien planet, but rather a post-apocalyptic Earth, set up the franchise to later explore how the world became ruled by apes. This film won several impressive awards, including winning an honorary Oscar for outstanding makeup achievement. The Library of Congress added it to the National Film Registry in 2001.

Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

An astronaut explores the planet to find his missing colleagues, beneath the planet of the apes.

Release Date April 23, 1970

Director Ted Post

Cast Victor Buono, Paul Richards, James Franciscus, Linda Harrison, Maurice Evans, Kim Hunter

Writers Mort Abrahams, Paul Dehn, Pierre Boulle

The follow-up to the original 1968 classic was 1970's Beneath the Planet of the Apes . Compared to the original, Beneath the Planet of the Apes did not come close to achieving the same level of success or cultural impact. Starring James Franciscus with Charlton Heston returning in a supporting role, it failed to capture what the first film was all about. The movie is a direct sequel to the original with it focusing on another spacecraft arriving and going in search of Taylor (Heston).

Although it was a success at the box office, Beneath the Planet of the Apes was lambasted by critics. Many of the sequel's detractors described it as childish and lacking the interesting storytelling of the original. However, its success was key to the franchise continuing on and building on the timeline.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)

Apes time-travel to explore the history of their planet.

The third movie of the franchise released in as many years, Escape from the Planet of the Apes was the most critically acclaimed of the original Planet of the Apes movies outside the initial 1968 film. While the original movie showed Taylor traveling from the present to the eponymous Planet of the Apes, in this movie the characters Cornelius and Zira used his spaceship to travel back in time to 1973.

Escape from the Planet of the Apes did the job better than any of the other original sequels of replicating what made the original so well received

Escape from the Planet of the Apes did the job better than any of the other original sequels of replicating what made the original so well received, despite the fact it arguably switched up the formula the most. Reversing the situation by sending the apes to the past was a clever twist that kept the franchise interesting . This time travel also meant that part of the movie was actually earlier in the Planet of the Apes timeline than the two previous movies.

Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)

The first version of caesar's rebellion, conquest of the planet of the apes.

Release Date June 30, 1972

Cast Ricardo Montalban, Severn Darden, Roddy McDowall

Writers Paul Dehn, Pierre Boulle

The third sequel to the original movie, 1972's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes , shows the rise of Caesar, who is a sort of mythological figure and savior who is said to bring about the actual Planet of the Apes. In this new world of 1991, a space-borne illness wiped out cats and dogs, leading to apes becoming humans' new pets of choice. Hoping to begin a movement and lead a revolution to free the apes, Caesar frees numerous apes and begins a plan to free more.

It's an intriguing entry in the Planet of the Apes franchise, serving as a prequel to the 1968 original while also introducing multiple new concepts of its own. While Conquest of the Planet of the Apes was quite original in its story, it was very average in its execution. It had minimal critical or box office success. The retelling of Caesar's rebellion in the later movies helped to make him a more iconic character.

Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes' New Ruler Is Caesar's Worst Nightmare

Battle for the planet of the apes (1973), caesar seeks a peace with humans, battle for the planet of the apes.

Release Date June 15, 1973

Cast Severn Darden, John Huston, Roddy McDowall

Writers Paul Dehn, Pierre Boulle, John William Corrington

The final film when watching the Planet of the Apes movies in chronological order, 1973's Battle for the Planet of the Apes, showed Caesar and his forces finally winning their freedom. Humanity has been all-but-destroyed by nuclear war, and the impact this has had on the planet creates a situation of scarcity. However, ape's reign supreme and have enslaved the remaining humans. Toward the end of the movie, Caesar decides to end the vicious cycle and spare the humans. Instead, the two races live together as equals.

The poor reception of the movie would end the franchise for several decades until it was attempted to be revitalized with the 2001 remake.

Battle for the Planet of the Apes was the lowest-grossing film in the entire series . Acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert described the film as " the last gasp of a dying series ." Indeed, the poor reception of the movie would end the franchise for several decades until it was attempted to be revitalized with the 2001 remake.

Planet of the Apes

Created by: Pierre Boulle

First Film: Planet of the Apes

First TV Show: Planet of the Apes

Cast: Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, Maurice Evans, James Whitmore, Linda Harrison, Mark Wahlberg, Helena Bonham Carter, Tim Roth, Michael Clarke Duncan, Paul Giamatti, James Franco, Andy Serkis, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jason Clarke, Toby Kebbell, Judy Greer, Woody Harrelson, Amiah Miller, Kevin Durand, Dichen Lachman, William H. Macy, Owen Teague, Freya Allan

TV Show(s): Planet of the Apes, Return to the Planet of the Apes

Movie(s): Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971), Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, Battle for the Planet of the Apes, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, War for the Planet of the Apes, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

Video Game(s): Planet of the Apes, Revenge of the Apes, Planet of the Apes: Last Frontier, Crisis on the Planet of the Apes

20 Most Confusing Time Travel Movies Ever Made

From inter-timeline disasters to sillier comedies with absurd sci-fi concepts, these movies may be unclear with time travel but are definitely fun!

Hollywood has brought us some of the most amazing stories over the years, but few are quite as mind-bending and exhilarating as those involving time travel. Filmmakers have tried their hand in literally everything the concept has to offer – from moving forward and backward in time to crossing over into alternate realities. And while some movies just make sense, many others drop the ball by never addressing the basic rules and paradoxes associated with messing with the space-time continuum. Resulting in utter confusion and bewilderment.

Related: These are the Best Movies that Got Time Travel Right

While time travel movies aim to entertain audiences, they sometimes end up being hard to follow. And that’s mainly because time travel itself is very hard to properly put into practice in a cinematic environment. From harmless choices to greater disasters, many movies leave massive plot holes unaddressed, while many others take a casual approach to the science behind the premise .

Regardless of the method, the result is some of the greatest films about time travel that offer baffling experiences. After all, the thrill of watching characters traverse through eons and eras is unrivaled. Even if we are left scratching our heads and grasping out straws to make sense of all the plot twists and gaps in logic. So, without further ado, here is a list of some of the most confusing yet highly watchable movies involving time travel.

20 Mirage (2018)

One of the most unique murder mysteries ever made, Mirage is a Spanish-language film that combines the elements of a crime thriller with time travel, and it does so impeccably. The movie follows Vera, a mother who ends up saving the life of a child in a storm that occurred 25 years ago. But her tempering causes a glitch in the space-time continuum, which takes her daughter from her, and now she must solve the case and reverse the event. The movie uses props like a TV acting as a portal between the past and the present, facts and clues from two decades ago that act as clues to uncover a larger, more sinister detail. Director Oriol Paulo has a seasoned hand in creating movies with altered realities and shifting timelines, and his 2018 project only cements his talent in the genre. Plus, we have Álvaro Morte, whom fans know from the renowned Netflix series Money Heist.

19 The Infinite Man (2014)

This complicated time loop movie centers around a man’s desire to recreate special moments with his girlfriend. Being a scientist, Dean has all the means to make this anniversary weekend similar to the last and equally memorable. But what he does not expect is that his little fiddling would lead Lana into an infinite time loop, and the two would come face to face with multiple versions of themselves from the past. Wicked and charming, this Australian low-budget science fiction movie is not only high in its concept but also delivers crazy humor with its disorienting premise. The Infinite Man achieves a lot with just three actors – Josh McConville, Hannah Marshall, and Alex Dimitriades – and almost no special effects or over-the-top performances, making it one of the more underrated comedies in the genre.

18 Primer (2004)

Primer is an extraordinarily cerebral independent time-travel film written and directed by Shane Carruth. Produced with a shoestring budget of $7k, it follows a group of engineers, Aaron, Abe, Phillip, and Robert, working on creating an error-checking machine but accidentally inventing a device that allows them to travel back in time. Obsessed with this new origination, they use it to get advanced knowledge on the stock market and make inadvertent changes to alter the present and the future. What follows is a spiral of paradoxes and alternate timelines. The movie relies heavily on technical jargon to explain the plot, which may leave the audience dazed. But due to its many artistic merits, Primer succeeds in creating a truly original take on the time travel genre.

17 Summer Time Machine Blues (2005)

A rather unknown entry on the list, Summer Time Machine Blues is a Japanese indie time travel comedy that follows four college students who use a time travel machine to retrieve a remote control after the air conditioner in the present breaks down and the summer heat gets unbearable. The movie is filled with amusing shock gags which appeal not only to fans of science fiction but also to people who simply enjoy nonsensical humor. As the students confront technology and travel back and forth, things get way too complicated. However, the movie focuses more on the comedic scenarios than crafting a coherent of logical time travel storyline, which seems to work well because the audience is left feeling exhilarant and nostalgic as they long for a carefree summer break.

16 X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

The X-Men franchise is widespread, and the movies range from dull to spectacular. X-Men: Days of Future Past falls on the better side of this spectrum as the superhero time travel adventure follows Wolverine's consciousness sent back to the 1970s by the X-Men. The mission? To stop Mystique from killing Bolivar Trask, as it would lead to the destruction of mutants. While the time travel itself feels pretty straightforward, it’s Wolverine’es functioning as a surrogate for the audience that truly elevates the experience. There are also notions of free will and fate involved, as Logan’s actions sharply alter the events of history. It seems like the story plays it safe rather than diving into the conceptual details, which also results in some loose threads. But overall, the movie is an enjoyable flick that relies on visual thrills and character drama.

Related: X-Men: Was Days of Future Past the Best Movie in the Franchise?

15 12 Monkeys (1995)

Director Terry Gilliam draws inspiration from the 1962 short film by Chris Marker to create this imaginative time travel tale. In 12 Monkeys , Bruce Willis stars as a time traveler sent back from a dystopian future to gather information about a virus that wipes out most of mankind. The twisted narrative revolves around an animal rights group called the Army of the Twelve Monkeys and Willis’ increasingly confused journey as he struggles to differentiate between what is real and what isn’t. While the movie is overly imbued with separate incidents about predestination and fate that later turn into a surprisingly poetic vision of time as the pieces fall into place. With strong performances and Gilliam’s visually striking direction, the movie slowly narrows down the confusion.

14 Timecrimes (2007)

Nacho Vigalondo’s excellently clever Spanish thriller follows a single timeline, with events that occur during one day . Timecrimes follows the protagonist, Héctor snooping on a woman on his property, shortly after which he discovers that she has been assaulted. The same bandage-faced man then targets Héctor, who hides in a time machine, which sends him a few hours in the past to observe himself throughout the day. The simple yet effective premise allows the filmmakers to explore the mind-bending concept of time as well as the idea of a person interacting with their past self. The confusion comes from Héctor’s character, who never intended to travel back. Told in a gripping pace of twisted reveals, Timescrimes leaves the audience in a constant state of awe but still keeps them invested throughout.

13 The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Ashton Kutcher stars in The Butterfly Effect as Evan, who is perturbed by constant headaches and often blacks out. But when he’s unconscious, he develops the ability to travel back into his own memories and alter the events of the past. The movie examines how even the tiniest chances in the past can affect the present in unexpected, monumental ways. The premise of the story actually explores the chaos theory, which suggests that order often moves to disorder and vice versa. As for the story, it quickly devolves into an increasingly illogical series of events as Kutcher’s protagonist, Evan, tries to mend his personal and professional relationships. While the movie did receive a lot of appreciation, many believe that the mind-bender had more potential for success had it delivered better psychological thrills.

12 Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure is a wacky comedy that follows two rock-and-roll slackers who travel through time to assemble historical figures like Socrates, Billy the Kid, and Joan of Arc for their school project. At the same time, they also save the world. The movie is very, very light-hearted in its approach toward time travel, focusing more on the silly hijinks and vintage gags rather than explaining how a phone booth sent for the future acts as a device that sends them cruising around centuries. Rufus, the guy who acts as an anchor for Bill and Ted, has a confusing arc because he reveres their music in the future, but they only end up making the music after he steps into the past. As such, the movie serves more as a fun diversion than food for thought.

11 Planet of the Apes (2001)

The 1968 classic sci-fi directed by Franklin J. Schaffner gave the audience a first glimpse of time travel and its effect, but we’re talking about 2001’s Planet of the Apes reboot by Tim Burton, which took the original movie’s basic storyline and went crazy with it. Starring Mark Wahlberg as Leo, an astronaut who lands on a planet where apes rule the humans, the movie switches directions from the original as soon as he provokes the humans to take a stand against the intelligent apes. When matters get out of hand, he returns to the present and discovers that his Earth is now occupied by apes too. Which just complicates things further. Because the story relies heavily on spectacle over science, it fails to craft a genuine portrait of evolution, intelligence, and the dangers posed by the same.

Related: 20 Most Iconic Scenes From the Planet of the Apes Movies

10 Looper (2012)

Looper charts the story of an assassin who works for organized crime, and his job as a ‘looper’ is to kill targets set back in time from the future. Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt both play the protagonist, Joe, in this neo-noir thriller. The unforeseen complication in Joe’s profession arises when his younger and aged version comes face to face to close the loop, which means killing themselves. The film showcases a vivid vision of a dystopian future while also exploring how the same future can create greater dents in society. Director Rian Johnson uses artistic visuals to help distract the audience from narrative confusion, making the movie ultimately enjoyable – if not entirely sensible.

9 Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)

Directed by Leonard Nimoy, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is as adventurous and entertaining as it is bizarre. Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise travel back to 1980s Earth to retrieve humpback whales whose sounds can save the planet from a dangerous probe in the future. The movie is quite laid-back for time travel, and it serves primarily as comedic fodder for the franchise. First of all, the crew sling-shots itself around the sun to reach Earth and back, even though their ship is fast. Second, they bring the whales with them instead of just making sure their species does not go extinct. So, while there is a lack of any substantive exploration, the movie seems rather frivolous and confusing from the time travel aspect. However, for undemanding fans who only want to see their beloved characters shine in a new setting, the movie delivers plenty of that good old Trek fun.

8 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)

Far better than Terminator: Genisys , this latest entry in the Terminator franchise sees a new and advanced Terminator sent from the future to kill a young woman who holds the key to humanity's survival. The original move was already complicated with the whole deal of Connor and Reese chasing their own tail. But this one takes the familiar action thrills and time travel tropes to up the ante, and without breaking much new ground narratively, create a maze around Schwarzenegger’s terminator and a new cyborg sent by Legion. With dazzling special effects that are entertaining but never enlightening, Terminator: Dark Fate makes you think out loud because of its straining credulity. While it may not have rivaled the game-changing impact by others, it delivers enough pulpy thrills to keep fans satisfied.

7 Predestination (2014)

Based on the short story All You Zombies, Predestination is a complex time travel that follows a Temporal Agent sent on a mission to stop a terrorist from destroying the entirety of New York City in 1975. On one hand, the movie is emotionally gripping and on the other, it features numerous twists that arrest the viewers and offers them an understanding of the characters’ pasts, presents, and futures. The intricately layered narrative gives rise to more logical and confusing leaps in time and we find ourselves struggling to follow the story’s progression. Still, Michael and Peter Spierig’s clever writing as sharp performances from Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, and Noah Taylor help sustain interest as every element of this abundantly convoluted film comes together into the most satisfying ending.

6 Déjà Vu (2006)

Denzel Washington stars as Doug, an ATF agent who travels back four days in time to solve a terrorist attack that led to a ferry explosion and save a woman's life. Simple and interesting, right? Well, the reason Doug is able to achieve this is by following the life of a victim and getting close to the person responsible. However, when the FBI warns Doug of the end result remaining the same regardless of whether or not he finds the bomber, he’s left with no choice but to alter history itself. The flashy action thriller relies heavily on spectacle and drama while glossing over the conceptual difficulties of its premise. However, it does assimilate all the timeless into one fine ending and wraps things up pretty neatly, ensuring Déjà Vu a place in the growing pantheon of unforgettable time travel movies.

Related: Time Travel Was Totally Unrealistic in These Movies

5 Source Code (2011)

From the very start of Source Code , the audience is sucked into a black hole of repetitive circumstances and narrative convolution. The compelling thriller follows Colter Stevens, an army pilot who is given charge of a top-secret mission where he has to repeatedly travel back in time for 8 minutes to uncover details about a train bombing. Played by Jake Gyllenhaal, Stevens is as confused by the mysterious trail as the audience. The puzzling, science-based approach tries to elevate the intrigue created by its Hitchcockian opening sequence, and it also manages to achieve part of it. But seeing Stevens pop in and out and train and comprehend gets straining. Still, with a taut mystery and great premise, the film launches important questions about fate.

4 Back To The Future: Part 2 (1989)

After the stunning success of the franchise’s 1985 debut, Robert Zemeckis returns with another incredible story with Back To The Future: Part 2 . The sequel sees Marty McFly and Doc Brown travel to 2015, where they must repair the damage caused by Biff's alterations to history. As light-hearted as the adventure may seem, it does treat its time travel in a silly manner because most of the events in the second movie take place on the same date as the first. There are also instances where Doc references the first movie. With little concern for logical consistency (except for that one blackboard explanation), the movie delivers plenty of laughs and nostalgic entertainment. It proves to be a classic 80s teen adventure gone futuristic with a narrative that is fun by ultimately zany.

3 Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Avengers: Endgame carried on after the jarring yet entertaining events of Avengers: Infinity War and graced the big screen with another phenomenal spectacle of a film where the remaining Avengers travel back in time to reverse Thanos’ actions and save half the universe. The time travel concept used here presents complications that challenge even the great minds of Tony Stark and Bruce Banner.

Even though their rules are coherent – that altering any event in the past will not affect the original timeline but instead form a different fracture of a timeline where the altered event remains thorough – the narrative still isn’t able to create a multiverse that does not collapse under its own paradoxical weight. However, the massive set pieces, emotional character dynamics, and mind-blowing action scenes help distract from any conceptual shortcomings, and of course, Endgame remains a rousing end to over a decade's worth of Marvel storytelling.

2 Donnie Darko (2001)

A movie that may have been a box office failure upon release, Donnie Darko has now earned the status of a cult classic because of its presentation of traumatized teens in a way that is neither patronizing nor stereotypical. Following Jake Gyllenhaal’s titular character, a troubled high-schooler who begins seeing visions of a man in a sinister bunny costume, the movie circles around how he ends up committing various destructive acts after telling him that the world will end in 28 days. The psychological thriller is brimming with inexplicable and growingly complex time travel elements that are hard to follow. Plus, there is this whole dreamlike quality in every frame of the nonlinear storyline that leaves many mysteries unsolved. Despite never fully providing an explanation, Donnie Darko succeeds as a haunting movie that explores mental illness and adolescence.

1 Interstellar (2014)

In Interstellar , Matthew McConaughey stars as an ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, who travels through a wormhole in search of a plate to sustain humanity after Earth becomes uninhabitable. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the movie takes a grounded approach and scientific rigor to help make the time travel feel genuine and emotionally resonant. His meticulous attention to detail and accurate application of scientific concepts, as well as the portrayal of time on a planet where one hour equals seven years on Earth, may bewilder fans. But to help, the movie tackles themes of love across time and space and uses character depth and visually striking storytelling that keeps the audience engaged.

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Top 100 Time Travel Movies

Best Films about time travel.

• Movies or TV
• IMDb Rating
• In Theaters
• Release Year

1. Back to the Future (1985)

PG | 116 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Marty McFly, a 17-year-old high school student, is accidentally sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling DeLorean invented by his close friend, the maverick scientist Doc Brown.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd , Lea Thompson , Crispin Glover

Votes: 1,306,618 | Gross: $210.61M

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

R | 137 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A cyborg, identical to the one who failed to kill Sarah Connor, must now protect her ten year old son John from an even more advanced and powerful cyborg.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Linda Hamilton , Edward Furlong , Robert Patrick

Votes: 1,173,883 | Gross: $204.84M

3. The Terminator (1984)

R | 107 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A human soldier is sent from 2029 to 1984 to stop an almost indestructible cyborg killing machine, sent from the same year, which has been programmed to execute a young woman whose unborn son is the key to humanity's future salvation.

Director: James Cameron | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Linda Hamilton , Michael Biehn , Paul Winfield

Votes: 924,065 | Gross: $38.40M

4. The Butterfly Effect (2004)

R | 113 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Evan Treborn suffers blackouts during significant events of his life. As he grows up, he finds a way to remember these lost memories and a supernatural way to alter his life by reading his journal.

Directors: Eric Bress , J. Mackye Gruber | Stars: Ashton Kutcher , Amy Smart , Melora Walters , Elden Henson

Votes: 521,103 | Gross: $57.94M

5. Back to the Future Part II (1989)

PG | 108 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

After visiting 2015, Marty McFly must repeat his visit to 1955 to prevent disastrous changes to 1985...without interfering with his first trip.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd , Lea Thompson , Tom Wilson

Votes: 572,520 | Gross: $118.50M

6. 12 Monkeys (1995)

R | 129 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

In a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.

Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Bruce Willis , Madeleine Stowe , Brad Pitt , Joseph Melito

Votes: 646,642 | Gross: $57.14M

7. Groundhog Day (1993)

PG | 101 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

A narcissistic, self-centered weatherman finds himself in a time loop on Groundhog Day.

Director: Harold Ramis | Stars: Bill Murray , Andie MacDowell , Chris Elliott , Stephen Tobolowsky

Votes: 685,002 | Gross: $70.91M

8. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

PG-13 | 181 min | Action, Adventure, Drama

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the universe is in ruins. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers assemble once more in order to reverse Thanos' actions and restore balance to the universe.

Directors: Anthony Russo , Joe Russo | Stars: Robert Downey Jr. , Chris Evans , Mark Ruffalo , Chris Hemsworth

Votes: 1,265,563 | Gross: $858.37M

9. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.

Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Patrick Stewart , Ian McKellen , Hugh Jackman , James McAvoy

Votes: 745,088 | Gross: $233.92M

10. Interstellar (2014)

PG-13 | 169 min | Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi

When Earth becomes uninhabitable in the future, a farmer and ex-NASA pilot, Joseph Cooper, is tasked to pilot a spacecraft, along with a team of researchers, to find a new planet for humans.

Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Matthew McConaughey , Anne Hathaway , Jessica Chastain , Mackenzie Foy

Votes: 2,099,454 | Gross: $188.02M

11. Predestination (I) (2014)

R | 97 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

As his last assignment, a temporal agent is tasked to travel back in time and prevent a bomb attack in New York in 1975. The hunt, however, turns out to be beyond the bounds of possibility.

Directors: Michael Spierig , Peter Spierig | Stars: Ethan Hawke , Sarah Snook , Noah Taylor , Madeleine West

Votes: 304,676 | Gross: $0.07M

12. Mirage (2018)

TV-MA | 128 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

Two storms separated by 25 years. A woman murdered. A daughter missed. Only 72 hours to discover the truth.

Director: Oriol Paulo | Stars: Adriana Ugarte , Chino Darín , Javier Gutiérrez , Álvaro Morte

Votes: 64,227

13. Palm Springs (2020)

R | 90 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery

Stuck in a time loop, two wedding guests develop a budding romance while living the same day over and over again.

Director: Max Barbakow | Stars: Andy Samberg , Cristin Milioti , J.K. Simmons , Peter Gallagher

Votes: 182,657

14. Midnight in Paris (2011)

PG-13 | 94 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

While on a trip to Paris with his fiancée's family, a nostalgic screenwriter finds himself mysteriously going back to the 1920s every day at midnight.

Director: Woody Allen | Stars: Owen Wilson , Rachel McAdams , Kathy Bates , Kurt Fuller

Votes: 449,838 | Gross: $56.82M

15. Timecrimes (2007)

R | 92 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi

A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.

Director: Nacho Vigalondo | Stars: Karra Elejalde , Candela Fernández , Bárbara Goenaga , Nacho Vigalondo

Votes: 68,772 | Gross: $0.04M

16. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.

Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise , Emily Blunt , Bill Paxton , Brendan Gleeson

Votes: 736,764 | Gross: $100.21M

17. About Time (I) (2013)

R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.

Director: Richard Curtis | Stars: Domhnall Gleeson , Rachel McAdams , Bill Nighy , Lydia Wilson

Votes: 385,802 | Gross: $15.32M

18. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)

PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

Henry DeTamble, a librarian, possesses a unique gene that lets him involuntarily travel through time. His wife, Claire Abshire, finds it difficult to cope with it.

Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: Eric Bana , Rachel McAdams , Ron Livingston , Michelle Nolden

Votes: 157,905 | Gross: $63.41M

19. Back to the Future Part III (1990)

PG | 118 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Stranded in 1955, Marty McFly learns about the death of Doc Brown in 1885 and must travel back in time to save him. With no fuel readily available for the DeLorean, the two must figure how to escape the Old West before Emmett is murdered.

Director: Robert Zemeckis | Stars: Michael J. Fox , Christopher Lloyd , Mary Steenburgen , Tom Wilson

Votes: 480,767 | Gross: $87.73M

20. Time Sweep (2016)

Not Rated | 103 min | Drama

Franco loses his investigative journalist girlfriend Julia in a traffic accident and he'll do anything to get her back...

Director: Victor Postiglione | Stars: Luis Luque , Guillermo Pfening , María Nela Sinisterra

21. Star Trek (2009)

PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

The brash James T. Kirk tries to live up to his father's legacy with Mr. Spock keeping him in check as a vengeful Romulan from the future creates black holes to destroy the Federation one planet at a time.

Director: J.J. Abrams | Stars: Chris Pine , Zachary Quinto , Simon Pegg , Leonard Nimoy

Votes: 620,233 | Gross: $257.73M

22. Flight of the Navigator (1986)

PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Family

In 1978, a boy travels eight years into the future and has an adventure with an intelligent, wisecracking alien ship.

Director: Randal Kleiser | Stars: Joey Cramer , Paul Reubens , Cliff De Young , Veronica Cartwright

Votes: 51,690 | Gross: $18.56M

23. Rewind (1999)

94 min | Comedy

A single guy has a video recorder that when re-winded it rewinds his life too. One night He invites to dinner some friends and records the party and keeps rewinding the camera every time something goes wrong with unpredictable results.

Director: Nicolás Muñoz Avia | Stars: Daniel Guzmán , María Adánez , Enrique Simón , Paz Gómez

24. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (2016)

PG-13 | 127 min | Adventure, Drama, Family

When Jacob (Asa Butterfield) discovers clues to a mystery that stretches across time, he finds Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the danger deepens after he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers.

Director: Tim Burton | Stars: Eva Green , Asa Butterfield , Samuel L. Jackson , Judi Dench

Votes: 188,487 | Gross: $87.24M

25. Men in Black³ (2012)

PG-13 | 106 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

Agent J travels in time to M.I.B.'s early days in 1969 to stop an alien from assassinating his friend Agent K and changing history.

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld | Stars: Will Smith , Tommy Lee Jones , Josh Brolin , Jemaine Clement

Votes: 386,981 | Gross: $179.02M

26. Source Code (2011)

PG-13 | 93 min | Action, Drama, Mystery

A soldier wakes up in someone else's body and discovers he's part of an experimental government program to find the bomber of a commuter train within 8 minutes.

Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Michelle Monaghan , Vera Farmiga , Jeffrey Wright

Votes: 549,726 | Gross: $54.71M

27. The Time Machine (1960)

G | 103 min | Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi

A man's vision for a utopian society is disillusioned when travelling forward into time reveals a dark and dangerous society.

Director: George Pal | Stars: Rod Taylor , Alan Young , Yvette Mimieux , Sebastian Cabot

Votes: 44,836

28. Idiocracy (2006)

R | 84 min | Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi

Corporal Joe Bauers, a decidedly average American, is selected for a top-secret hibernation program but is forgotten and left to awaken to a future so incredibly moronic that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

Director: Mike Judge | Stars: Luke Wilson , Maya Rudolph , Dax Shepard , Terry Crews

Votes: 182,274 | Gross: $0.44M

29. 12 Dates of Christmas (2011 TV Movie)

PG | 90 min | Comedy, Family, Fantasy

A story that follows Kate, a young woman who after a horrible blind date on Christmas Eve, wakes up to find she is re-living that same day and date all over again.

Director: James Hayman | Stars: Laura Miyata , Vijay Mehta , Amy Smart , Audrey Dwyer

Votes: 8,318

30. 12:01 (1993 TV Movie)

PG-13 | 92 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller

A man likes a woman at work. He sees her get murdered. He gets drunk and zapped at 12:01AM. Next morning she's back and everything is exactly like the day before. The time loops gives him chances to save her.

Director: Jack Sholder | Stars: Helen Slater , Jonathan Silverman , Nicolas Surovy , Robin Bartlett

Votes: 5,512

31. Time Lapse (2014)

Not Rated | 104 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures twenty-four hours into the future, and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.

Director: Bradley King | Stars: Danielle Panabaker , Matt O'Leary , George Finn , John Rhys-Davies

Votes: 49,134

32. Looper (2012)

R | 119 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

In 2074, when the mob wants to get rid of someone, the target is sent into the past, where a hired gun awaits - someone like Joe - who one day learns the mob wants to 'close the loop' by sending back Joe's future self for assassination.

Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Bruce Willis , Emily Blunt , Paul Dano

Votes: 602,932 | Gross: $66.49M

33. The Lake House (2006)

PG | 99 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

A lonely doctor who once occupied an unusual lakeside house begins to exchange love letters with its former resident, a frustrated architect. They must try to unravel the mystery behind their extraordinary romance before it's too late.

Director: Alejandro Agresti | Stars: Keanu Reeves , Sandra Bullock , Christopher Plummer , Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Votes: 157,651 | Gross: $52.33M

34. Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel (2009)

PG-13 | 83 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi

While drinking at their local pub, three social outcasts attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum.

Director: Gareth Carrivick | Stars: Chris O'Dowd , Marc Wootton , Dean Lennox Kelly , Anna Faris

Votes: 36,565

35. Frequency (2000)

PG-13 | 118 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery

An accidental cross-time radio link connects father and son across 30 years. The son tries to save his father's life, but then must fix the consequences.

Director: Gregory Hoblit | Stars: Dennis Quaid , Jim Caviezel , Shawn Doyle , Elizabeth Mitchell

Votes: 115,740 | Gross: $45.01M

36. Kate & Leopold (2001)

PG-13 | 118 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

An English Duke from 1876 is inadvertently dragged to modern day New York where he falls for a plucky advertising executive.

Director: James Mangold | Stars: Meg Ryan , Hugh Jackman , Liev Schreiber , Breckin Meyer

Votes: 89,071 | Gross: $47.12M

37. Project Almanac (2015)

PG-13 | 106 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

A group of teens discovers secret plans for a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control.

Director: Dean Israelite | Stars: Amy Landecker , Sofia Black-D'Elia , Virginia Gardner , Jonny Weston

Votes: 84,233 | Gross: $22.35M

38. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

R | 86 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama

Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified advertisement seeking a companion for time travel.

Director: Colin Trevorrow | Stars: Aubrey Plaza , Mark Duplass , Jake Johnson , Karan Soni

Votes: 130,846 | Gross: $4.01M

39. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)

R | 109 min | Action, Sci-Fi

A machine from a post-apocalyptic future travels back in time to protect a man and a woman from an advanced robotic assassin to ensure they both survive a nuclear attack.

Director: Jonathan Mostow | Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger , Nick Stahl , Kristanna Loken , Claire Danes

Votes: 418,495 | Gross: $150.37M

40. Terminator Salvation (2009)

PG-13 | 115 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

In 2018, a mysterious new weapon in the war against the machines, half-human and half-machine, comes to John Connor on the eve of a resistance attack on Skynet. But whose side is he on, and can he be trusted?

Director: McG | Stars: Christian Bale , Sam Worthington , Anton Yelchin , Moon Bloodgood

Votes: 377,266 | Gross: $125.32M

41. Primer (2004)

PG-13 | 77 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.

Director: Shane Carruth | Stars: Shane Carruth , David Sullivan , Casey Gooden , Anand Upadhyaya

Votes: 114,149 | Gross: $0.42M

42. Synchronicity (IV) (2015)

R | 101 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance

A physicist who invents a time machine must travel back to the past to uncover the truth about his creation and the woman who is trying to steal it.

Director: Jacob Gentry | Stars: Chad McKnight , Brianne Davis , AJ Bowen , Scott Poythress

Votes: 11,328 | Gross: $0.00M

43. Donnie Darko (2001)

R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal , Jena Malone , Mary McDonnell , Holmes Osborne

Votes: 849,989 | Gross: $1.48M

44. Time Trap (2017)

Not Rated | 87 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery

A professor enters a cave and goes missing. Some of his students come looking for him and get trapped in the cave as well.

Directors: Mark Dennis , Ben Foster | Stars: Reiley McClendon , Cassidy Gifford , Brianne Howey , Olivia Draguicevich

Votes: 43,500

45. Time Lapse (2014)

46. before i fall (2017).

PG-13 | 98 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

February 12 is just another day in Sam's charmed life, until it turns out to be her last. Stuck reliving her last day over and over, Sam untangles the mystery around her death and discovers everything she's losing.

Director: Ry Russo-Young | Stars: Zoey Deutch , Halston Sage , Cynthy Wu , Medalion Rahimi

Votes: 56,808 | Gross: $12.24M

47. Time Trap (2017)

48. arq (2016).

TV-MA | 88 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Trapped in a lab and stuck in a time loop, a disoriented couple fends off masked raiders while harboring a new energy source that could save humanity.

Director: Tony Elliott | Stars: Robbie Amell , Rachael Taylor , Shaun Benson , Gray Powell

Votes: 41,862

49. Time Bandits (1981)

PG | 110 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

A young boy accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.

Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Sean Connery , Shelley Duvall , John Cleese , Katherine Helmond

Votes: 68,341 | Gross: $42.37M

50. Mr. Peabody & Sherman (2014)

PG | 92 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Sherman, a young boy, misuses a time machine made by his scientist father Mr. Peabody and causes the world history to go haywire. It is now up to Mr. Peabody to rescue his son and the world.

Director: Rob Minkoff | Stars: Ty Burrell , Max Charles , Stephen Colbert , Leslie Mann

Votes: 77,793 | Gross: $111.51M

51. Shrek Forever After (2010)

PG | 93 min | Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Rumpelstiltskin tricks a mid-life crisis burdened Shrek into allowing himself to be erased from existence and cast in a dark alternate timeline where Rumpelstiltskin rules supreme.

Director: Mike Mitchell | Stars: Mike Myers , Cameron Diaz , Eddie Murphy , Antonio Banderas

Votes: 224,510 | Gross: $238.37M

52. Happy Death Day (2017)

PG-13 | 96 min | Comedy, Horror, Mystery

A college student must relive the day of her murder over and over again, in a loop that will end only when she discovers her killer's identity.

Director: Christopher Landon | Stars: Jessica Rothe , Israel Broussard , Ruby Modine , Charles Aitken

Votes: 162,740 | Gross: $55.68M

53. Timecop (1994)

R | 99 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

Max Walker, an officer for a security agency that regulates time travel, must fend for his life against a shady politician who's intent on changing the past to control the future.

Director: Peter Hyams | Stars: Jean-Claude Van Damme , Mia Sara , Ron Silver , Bruce McGill

Votes: 64,173 | Gross: $44.85M

54. I'll Follow You Down (2013)

Not Rated | 89 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

After the disappearance of a young scientist on a business trip, his son and wife struggle to cope, only to make a bizarre discovery years later - one that may bring him home.

Director: Richie Mehta | Stars: John Paul Ruttan , Rufus Sewell , Gillian Anderson , Kiara Glasco

Votes: 8,090

55. Click (2006)

A workaholic architect finds a universal remote that allows him to fast-forward and rewind to different parts of his life. Complications arise when the remote starts to overrule his choices.

Director: Frank Coraci | Stars: Adam Sandler , Kate Beckinsale , Christopher Walken , David Hasselhoff

Votes: 356,694 | Gross: $137.36M

56. When We First Met (2018)

TV-14 | 97 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Noah meets Avery at a Halloween party and falls in love but gets friend-zoned. 3 years later, she's engaged to someone else. Noah returns in a time machine to fix things.

Director: Ari Sandel | Stars: Adam Devine , Alexandra Daddario , Shelley Hennig , Andrew Bachelor

Votes: 53,922

57. The Time Machine (2002)

PG-13 | 96 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds humankind divided into two warring races.

Director: Simon Wells | Stars: Guy Pearce , Yancey Arias , Mark Addy , Phyllida Law

Votes: 130,396 | Gross: $56.68M

58. The Jacket (2005)

R | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery

A Gulf war veteran is wrongly sent to a mental institution for insane criminals, where he becomes the object of a doctor's experiments, and his life is completely affected by them.

Director: John Maybury | Stars: Adrien Brody , Keira Knightley , Daniel Craig , Kris Kristofferson

Votes: 119,270 | Gross: $6.30M

59. Alice Through the Looking Glass (2016)

PG | 113 min | Adventure, Family, Fantasy

Alice is appointed to save her beloved Mad Hatter from deadly grief by travelling back to the past, but this means fatally harming Time himself, the noble clockwork man with the device needed to save the Hatter's family from the Red Queen.

Director: James Bobin | Stars: Mia Wasikowska , Johnny Depp , Helena Bonham Carter , Anne Hathaway

Votes: 122,219 | Gross: $77.04M

60. Triangle (2009)

R | 99 min | Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Five friends set sail and their yacht is overturned by a strange and sudden storm. A mysterious ship arrives to rescue them, and what happens next cannot be explained.

Director: Christopher Smith | Stars: Melissa George , Joshua McIvor , Jack Taylor , Michael Dorman

Votes: 129,770

61. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999)

PG-13 | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy

Dr. Evil is back and has invented a new time machine that allows him to go back to the 1960s and steal Austin Powers' mojo, inadvertently leaving him "shagless".

Director: Jay Roach | Stars: Mike Myers , Heather Graham , Michael York , Robert Wagner

Votes: 248,815 | Gross: $206.04M

62. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

R | 99 min | Comedy, Sci-Fi

A malfunctioning time machine at a ski resort takes a man back to 1986 with his two friends and nephew, where they must relive a fateful night and not change anything to make sure the nephew is born.

Director: Steve Pink | Stars: John Cusack , Rob Corddry , Craig Robinson , Clark Duke

Votes: 186,464 | Gross: $50.29M

63. Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)

PG-13 | 103 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy

Peggy Sue faints at a high school reunion. When she wakes up, she finds herself in her own past, just before she finished school.

Director: Francis Ford Coppola | Stars: Kathleen Turner , Nicolas Cage , Barry Miller , Catherine Hicks

Votes: 40,812 | Gross: $41.38M

64. Grand Tour: Disaster in Time (1991)

PG-13 | 99 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi

Before they can complete renovations on their new inn, Widower (Ben Wilson) and daughter (Hillary) are visited by a woman seeking immediate lodging for her strange group of travellers. Why ... See full summary  »

Director: David Twohy | Stars: Jeff Daniels , Ariana Richards , Emilia Crow , Jim Haynie

Votes: 3,101

65. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

PG | 90 min | Adventure, Comedy, Music

Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.

Director: Stephen Herek | Stars: Keanu Reeves , Alex Winter , George Carlin , Terry Camilleri

Votes: 141,645 | Gross: $40.49M

66. Time Freak (2018)

PG-13 | 104 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance

A genius teenage boy is in love with a girl who breaks up with him after a year. He invents a time machine and tries to fix the breakup repeatedly. He finally goes a year back with his friend to fix the bad days.

Director: Andrew Bowler | Stars: Asa Butterfield , Sophie Turner , Skyler Gisondo , Will Peltz

Votes: 9,818 | Gross: $0.01M

67. Naked (I) (2017)

TV-14 | 96 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Nervous about finally getting married, a guy is forced to relive the same nerve-wracking hours over and over again until he gets things right on his wedding day.

Director: Michael Tiddes | Stars: Marlon Wayans , Regina Hall , Dennis Haysbert , J.T. Jackson

Votes: 21,586

68. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)

PG | 93 min | Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy

A tyrant from the future creates evil android doubles of Bill and Ted and sends them back to eliminate the originals.

Director: Peter Hewitt | Stars: Keanu Reeves , Alex Winter , William Sadler , Joss Ackland

Votes: 81,048 | Gross: $38.04M

69. The Man from the Future (2011)

106 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Romance

Zero is a brilliant scientist. However, 20 years ago, he was publicly humiliated when he lost Helena, the love of his life. One day, an accidental experience with one of his inventions ... See full summary  »

Director: Cláudio Torres | Stars: Wagner Moura , Alinne Moraes , Maria Luísa Mendonça , Fernando Ceylão

Votes: 6,951

70. Somewhere in Time (1980)

PG | 103 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance

A Chicago playwright uses self-hypnosis to travel back in time and meet the actress whose vintage portrait hangs in a grand hotel.

Director: Jeannot Szwarc | Stars: Christopher Reeve , Jane Seymour , Christopher Plummer , Teresa Wright

Votes: 32,526 | Gross: $9.71M

71. Deja Vu (2006)

PG-13 | 126 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

After a ferry is bombed in New Orleans, an A.T.F. agent joins a unique investigation using experimental surveillance technology to find the bomber, but soon finds himself becoming obsessed with one of the victims.

Director: Tony Scott | Stars: Denzel Washington , Paula Patton , Jim Caviezel , Val Kilmer

Votes: 327,604 | Gross: $64.04M

72. Time Jumpers (2018)

Not Rated | 79 min | Sci-Fi

When a young man finds a time machine device, his life spins out of control.

Directors: Svend Ploug Johansen , Dominic Smith , April Wright | Stars: Samuel D. Evans , Taylor Gerard Hart , Kelli Vonshay Henderson , Mathilde Norholt

73. Time Changer (2002)

PG | 95 min | Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

A Bible professor from 1890 comes forward in time to the present via a time machine and cannot believe the things that he sees!

Director: Rich Christiano | Stars: D. David Morin , Gavin MacLeod , Hal Linden , Jennifer O'Neill

Votes: 2,924 | Gross: $1.28M

74. Altered Hours (2016)

TV-MA | 101 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller

A young insomniac's black-market sleep aid sends his mind time-travelling one day into the future, where he's the suspect in the disappearance of a girl he hasn't met -- yet.

Director: Bruce Wemple | Stars: Ryan Munzert , Briana Pozner , Rick Montgomery Jr. , Thea McCartan

75. Hot Tub Time Machine 2 (2015)

R | 93 min | Comedy, Mystery, Sci-Fi

When Lou's shot in the groin, Nick and Jacob drag him in the Hot Tub Time Machine to go back in time and save Lou. The three end up 10 years in the future, where they need to go to find the shooter.

Director: Steve Pink | Stars: Rob Corddry , Craig Robinson , Clark Duke , Adam Scott

Votes: 41,646 | Gross: $12.28M

76. The Butterfly Effect 3: Revelations (2009)

R | 90 min | Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Sam Reide uses his power to time travel to solve the mystery of his girlfriend's death.

Director: Seth Grossman | Stars: Chris Carmack , Rachel Miner , Melissa Jones , Kevin Yon

Votes: 20,698

77. Freejack (1992)

R | 110 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi

Bounty hunters from the future transport a doomed race car driver to New York City in 2009, where his mind will be replaced with that of a dead billionaire.

Director: Geoff Murphy | Stars: Emilio Estevez , Mick Jagger , Rene Russo , Anthony Hopkins

Votes: 17,463 | Gross: $17.13M

78. Another Time (2018)

TV-MA | 89 min | Adventure, Comedy, Romance

Just because a journey leads you somewhere you didn't expect, doesn't mean you ended up in the wrong place.

Director: Thomas Hennessy | Stars: Justin Hartley , Chrishell Stause , James Kyson , Alan Pietruszewski

Votes: 1,127

79. The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006)

R | 92 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Nick Larson discovers a supernatural way to alter his life and travel back in time to key moments in his life by looking at photographs.

Director: John R. Leonetti | Stars: Eric Lively , Erica Durance , Dustin Milligan , Gina Holden

Votes: 37,324

80. See You Yesterday (2019)

TV-MA | 84 min | Action, Adventure, Crime

Two Brooklyn teenage prodigies, C.J. Walker and Sebastian Thomas, build makeshift time machines to save C.J.'s brother, Calvin, from being wrongfully killed by a police officer.

Director: Stefon Bristol | Stars: Eden Duncan-Smith , Dante Crichlow , Astro , Marsha Stephanie Blake

Votes: 11,621

81. Curvature (2017)

90 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller

An engineer travels back in time to stop herself from committing a murder.

Director: Diego Hallivis | Stars: Lyndsy Fonseca , Glenn Morshower , Alex Lanipekun , Noah Bean

Votes: 3,078

82. Paradox (III) (2016)

TV-MA | 90 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi

A time machine's tested first time by a man in the team traveling 1 hour into the future. He returns to warn them against killings in the next hour. Is it possible to change things in the "past"? Twist after twist follow.

Director: Michael Hurst | Stars: Zoë Bell , Malik Yoba , Adam Huss , Bjørn Alexander

Votes: 3,333

83. A Wrinkle in Time (2018)

PG | 109 min | Adventure, Drama, Family

After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.

Director: Ava DuVernay | Stars: Storm Reid , Oprah Winfrey , Reese Witherspoon , Mindy Kaling

Votes: 47,793 | Gross: $100.48M

84. Counter Clockwise (I) (2016)

Unrated | 91 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller

A scientist invents a time machine that transports him six months into the future.

Director: George Moïse | Stars: Michael Kopelow , Frank Simms , Kerry Knuppe , Alice Rietveld

85. S. Darko (2009)

R | 103 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi

Donnie Darko's little sister Samantha and her best friend Corey are on a cross-country road trip, but soon find themselves entangled in a dangerous glitch in the time-space continuum.

Director: Chris Fisher | Stars: Daveigh Chase , Briana Evigan , James Lafferty , Ed Westwick

Votes: 14,478

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How Timeline's Time Travel Works

Um, readers, I need to ask you a very important question: how long have I been gone? After that last excursion with Donnie Darko , I kind of lost track of time; and not in the usual way. Sure, the end of 2020 had things chaotic, but as if that wasn’t bad enough, I think I fell through another wormhole when all was said and done. Nevertheless, I’m back in the CinemaBlend labs, and it’s finally 2021! Surely once I’ve caught up on the news, the world will be healing, and everything will be coming up Milhouse. But before I read my emails and refresh myself on current events, it’s time to get back to our studies in time travel! And this latest adventure is a literary favorite of mine, as we’ll be discussing the film adaptation of Michael Crichton’s Timeline , starring the late great Paul Walker , and a bunch of other familiar faces you’ll be surprised to see in 2003!

It’s time at last to celebrate our first journey in 2021, taking us from here to there in the then and now. As always, before we change into period appropriate garb, don our return markers, and set off for medieval times, I’d like to remind you all that there’s plenty more time travel dissections you can read from the CinemaBlend archives. Of course, that’s business you can attend to after we complete the business at hand. So let’s get to roamin’ through some quantum foam’n, as Timeline sends us to the distant past of 2003… and beyond!

The Time Travel In Timeline

When the ITC Corporation set out to perfect Star Trek style technology, they accidentally discovered a very specific wormhole in the space-time continuum that operates on some very Trek-y logic . As a result, president Robert Doniger (David Thewlis) and vice-president Steven Kramer (Matt Craven) found themselves with a rather unique opportunity to experiment with time travel, and in the process help an archeological team discover the history that they were sending people back to. Of course, human greed and inherent glitches ruined the fun real quick, because Timeline is, after all, a Michael Crichton adventure.

Who's Time Traveling

In the specific instance of Timeline’s plot critical events, we first see Professor Edward Johnston (Billy Connolly) traveling back in time. But then, in order to rescue the professor from a trip gone horribly wrong, a team is sent back to retrieve him. That team is made up of his son Chris (Paul Walker), his research assistants Kate (Frances O’Connor), André ( Gerard Butler ), and François (Rossif Sutherland), as well as some ITC muscle lead by Frank Gordon (Neal McDonough).

From When To When

Due to the specific nature of Timeline’s time travel exercise, all trips made from ITC’s “Present Day” laboratory in Silver City, New Mexico span between two fixed points in time. The contemporary milestone of 2003 is directly connected to 1357 Castlegard, a village outside of Dordogne, France – right in the thick of the Hundred Year War.

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The Purpose Of Their Trip

As Professor Johnston is suspicious of ITC’s ability to tip him off to continuously rich excavation sites, his trip to confront Robert Doniger turns into an excursion into the past. This then prompts Chris and his friends on his father’s team to go back in time to find his missing father, but unlocks an entire can of worms. Eventually the team has to ensure that the battle at Castlegard proceeds as history dictates, which includes the death of Lady Claire (Anna Friel), sister to Lord Arnaud (Lambert Wilson), who is currently engaged in a war with Lord Oliver ( Michael Sheen ).

How Time Travel Happens In Timeline

Who’s ready for some basic level, Crichton-style science? Timeline takes the huge concept of the 1999 source material and boils it down to big ticket blockbuster tier rationale. That’s not to say it isn’t still intriguing, but when you push the brilliant concepts of an outside of the box thinker into something that scratches the surface, it’s a little sad for fans of the late author’s work.

So how does this version of time travel work? Well, Timeline’s method takes the DNA data of a person, or group of people, breaks it down in one location, and transmits it to another location for reassembly. It’s explained as a “human fax machine,” which is in essence what teleportation as we know it has always been. Putting aside the metaphysical question of whether you’re still you if you’ve been broken down, transmitted, and reassembled somewhere else, that’s the nuts and bolts of what this story does. Oh, and it induces an intense, yet fleeting amount of pain during the transmission process.

As to why 1357 Castlegard is the only place that Timeline’s travelers can go to, or how strong that connection is, even those behind ITC’s usage of the technology simply don’t know the answers. All that we’re told is that this time travel tech is a fax machine-style chamber that uses a wormhole like a fiber-optic cable to transmit things from one end to the other. The exact strength of this wormhole is unknown, and there’s only one way to take the return trip home.

Each participant that travels Timeline’s quantum corridor wears what’s called “a marker.” Designed to look like a pendant you wear around your neck, it has a 6 hour battery life, and is absolutely crucial to returning home, as they’re the force that’s holding this exact wormhole in place. If your marker dies, or if the machine back home suffers a bit of a mishap with a live grenade that shouldn’t have made the trip in the first place, you’re boned. To go home, a traveler must merely squeeze the marker, and to check how much time is left on their battery, they just have to toggle a button embedded in said marker with their thumbnail.

So long as there’s enough power running through the machine at home, and the signal to bring people back home is at least 80% strong, a return trip can be made. But if you travel without a marker, like poor Robert Doniger did in the final moments of Timeline , then you’re done for. Especially if you materialize in the middle of a gigantic castle battle; something you’d think the man who bears a striking resemblance to Professor Remus Lupin would have been able to foresee.

Can History Be Changed As A Result Of Time Travel In Timeline?

Technically, Timeline could be considered a closed loop of causality, due to the intent to preserve the events of 1357 Castlegard as they historically occurred. But even in this loop, we are told that history basically changed the moment Andre Marek saved, and eventually fell in love with Lady Claire. In a truly Back to the Future style twist , we see Marek fulfill a prophecy of sorts, as he learns during the huge third act battle that the knight he discovered entombed with Lady Claire was himself.

However, according to the lore of Timeline’s battle at Castlegard, Lady Claire’s death was supposed to be the event that pushes her brother Lord Arnaud and the French forces to rally their forces, and eventually win. In the version of events we see take place during 1357, it’s Chris and Kate’s knowledge of the tunnel system underneath Lord Oliver’s monastery stronghold that saves the day. Allowing Lord Arnaud and his forces to infiltrate and attack their villain’s lair, the French lord wins the battle by killing his English foe.

Of course, this new series of events in Timeline could have balanced out the potential changes that arose from another player on the board. When Professor Johnston was sent back, he ran into a disgruntled ITC employee by the name of William Decker (Marton Csokas.) Since Mr. Decker was a frequent flyer on the quantum corridor that ITC built, he was subject to the “transcription errors” the man we encounter in the opening had suffered. Insinuating himself with Lord Oliver’s forces, he becomes his aide de campe, under the alias “Sir William De Kere.”

Decker swears that he can get Professor Johnston to deliver Lord Oliver the weapons of unquenchable Greek fire, which would give the English a severe advantage against the French. His purpose for such devious means is the fact that he wants to carry out revenge against ITC through living well in 1357, and screwing with Timeline’s history; all because he was never warned that too many trips would prevent him from returning home alive past the point of no return.

What Are The Consequences Of Time Travel In Timeline?

Timeline has a rather unique position when it comes to the consequences of time travel. Not only does the film somewhat acknowledge the fact that trips back in time can lead to historical consequences, but there are also some rather nasty physical side effects that are a part of ITC’s little science project. You thought Looper was harsh with how it hurt people, get a load of this.

The Physical Consequences Of Time Travel In Timeline

The greatest consequences of Timeline’s time travel are seen in physical manifestations. As the time travel process works on the principal of a “human fax machine,” there’s a tendency for transcription errors to crop up. We see this not only in the opening sequence where a random ITC employee is diagnosed with these errors, but also in the story of William Decker’s physical degeneration. Veins, organs, even bones start to misalign, as the more times a person travels through the quantum corridor, the more their DNA profile degrades.

The Historical Consequences Of Time Travel In Timeline

As far as historical consequences go, Timeline is a firm example of solving the equation with the wrong formula, but getting the right answer. While Lady Claire’s life is spared, Chris and Kate’s quick thinking lead to Lord Oliver’s defeat, and Lord Arnaud’s continued success. So while the battle is won, the good Lady gets to survive. Which leads to the greatest consequence of the time travel on display: love.

While Marek loses an ear, he gains a romance with Lady Claire, and stays behind in 1357. Fulfilling the prophecy of being buried with his lady love, the inscription on Andre and Claire’s tomb lays out their life as spouses and parents, allowing the archeologist to live in the time period he favored. Plus, what looked like a non-starter of a romance with Chris and Kate turned into a beautiful victory, thanks to their work in saving the day in Timeline . Truly a match made in history, and in the rich world of Michael Crichton’s imagination, which is a force we may see a lot more of in the near future .

Victory For Us

Congratulations! By reading this, you’ve become a Quantum Wormhole Specialist; or, at the very least, Hollywood’s impression of one. Also, you’ve learned that any movie that forces Gerard Butler to cut his hair and adopt an American accent is a hate crime, and Hollywood needs to let Gerry be Gerry. Clearly, we’re off to a good start with the fun and learning in 2021, and we’re going to keep the party going with our next title!

Next up, we're going to honor a 20th anniversary that we should have gotten around to in December. But then again, this is a time travel lab, so we're technically able to send ourselves back into the past to prevent the future. Though hopefully we have more luck than Bruce Willis did, as 12 Monkeys is about to be released from its historical cage and examined with our watchful eyes. Until then, keep a tab open to CinemaBlend, as there’s no telling what’ll make its way through that quantum foam and onto your screen.

Mike Reyes is the Senior Movie Contributor at CinemaBlend, though that title’s more of a guideline really. Passionate about entertainment since grade school, the movies have always held a special place in his life, which explains his current occupation. Mike graduated from Drew University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science, but swore off of running for public office a long time ago. Mike's expertise ranges from James Bond to everything Alita, making for a brilliantly eclectic resume. He fights for the user.

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The 10 Best Time-Travel K-Dramas, Ranked

Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

Time traveling is a popular plot device that has been used across various genres, from science fiction to romance, in movies and TV shows like Back to the Future , Looper , and Outlander . This intriguing concept has also become a popular theme in Korean dramas. As K-dramas continue to captivate audiences worldwide, viewers are diving into the rich archives of past productions — unearthing hidden time-traveling K-drama gems that showcase a refreshing take on a popular trope .

Many historical dramas explore this concept in depth, oftentimes bringing a modern character to a more conservative past. These are also, more often than not, romance stories with a bit of mystery involved. Many times, time-traveling K-dramas incorporate a lot of humor and comedy, as one character (or multiple) exists in a timeline that they don't belong in. They don't know the ins and the outs, and that sets up for comedic scenarios. From the romantic fantasy of Splash Splash Love to the mystifying plot of Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo , each K-drama brings a different perspective to time traveling as a concept.

10 'The Great Doctor' (2012)

Created by kim young-hyun and park sang-yeon.

The Great Doctor takes place during the Goryeo Dynasty. An attack is launched on King Gongmin ( Ryu Deok-hwan ) and Queen Noguk ( Park Se-young ) one night, and it’s up to Captain Choi Young ( Lee Min Ho ) and his guards to protect them both. However, Queen Noguk is gravely injured, and no doctor in the Goryeo Dynasty is capable of saving her. The King then commands his guards to go find the doctor from the Kingdom of Heaven. When a portal opens up, it turns out that the Kingdom of Heaven is actually the modern era of Korea. Choi Young then finds a plastic surgeon – Eun Soo ( Kim Hee-Sun ) – and brings her back to his era, where she is trapped serving King Gongmin with no way to return home.

A must-see medical K-drama , The Great Doctor has a slow start, but it builds up quickly as the show progresses . A romance, forbidden by time itself, ignites between Choi Young and Eun-Soo , and viewers will be rooting for them and praying for a happy ending. The show also includes fantastical elements, such as extraordinary powers and magic.

Watch on Kocowa

9 'Tomorrow With You' (2017)

Created by heo sung-hye.

Yoo So-Joon ( Lee Je-Hoon ) is a CEO who has time-traveling abilities. Any time he uses the subway, he can travel into the future. Meanwhile, Ma-Rin ( Shin Min-A ) is a photographer trying to make ends meet after an unsuccessful career in the entertainment industry. Unbeknownst to her, So-Joon discovers when Ma-Rin is about to get into an accident, so he tries to save her, though he comes off weird and awkward. However, intentions aside, their fates become intertwined.

The concept of Tomorrow With You is interesting, and it’s rarely explored in time-traveling K-dramas. Usually, characters time travel unintentionally by supernatural means. But in So-Joon’s case, he decides when he wants to time travel . The romance will definitely grow on the viewers as they grow invested in the connection between Ma-Rin and So-Joon.

Watch on Roku

8 'Queen and I' (2012)

Created by song jae-jung.

Queen and I joins the ranks of Love in the Moonlight as an excellent historical K-drama due to its enthralling story. It follows two protagonists, Kim Boong-Do ( Ji Hyun-Woo ) and Choi Hee-Jin ( Yoo In-Na ), in their respective timelines. Hee-Jin is an actress in modern-day Korea, while Boong-Do is a scholar from the Joseon Dynasty. After almost being assassinated, Boong-Do ends up in present-day Korea on Hee-Jin’s film set. He soon learns that he is able to teleport back and forth in time, and the more time he spends with Hee-Jin, the more he falls in love with her, as she does with him.

Many time-traveling K-dramas focus on a prince and a lowly maiden — however, in rare cases like Queen and I and The Great Doctor , the cast consists of lower-ranking characters , like a scholar. There are plenty of comedic moments in the K-drama that make it worth watching, and viewers who love romantic comedies, heartfelt stories, and time-traveling will love this drama.

Watch on Tubi

7 'Familiar Wife' (2018)

Created by yang hee-seung.

Cha Joo-Hyuk ( Ji-Sung ) is a married man with two kids of his own. The problem is, he loathes his wife, and he has a negative outlook on life. Life at home is not perfect, and neither is his work life. He lives a somewhat miserable life, from his perspective. Life for Joo-Hyuk changes, however, after he visits a toll booth and puts 1000 won in it. He loses control of his car as it drives on his own, and he wakes up in the past, back before he got married. He shortly learns after traveling back and forth in time that he can change it if he so desires. And that is what he does — he alters his path by making deliberate choices to end up where he wants to be and wakes up in the present time with a new wife, Hye-Won ( Kang Han-na ).

Familiar Wife is a K-drama that is heartfelt, focusing on the idea that if one could change their life willingly, would they ? Most time-traveling K-dramas start off with a funny introduction, where characters are confused or startled by the sudden change in atmosphere and era. However, Familiar Wife starts off rather dark, making the viewer feel uncomfortable or miserable due to the realism incorporated. But such is necessary in order to provide a meaningful K-drama, which is what Familiar Wife grows to be.

6 'Splash Splash Love' (2015)

Created by kim ji-hyun and song jae-jung.

Jang Dan-Bi ( Kim Seul-Gi ) is a high schooler preparing to take entrance exams, which will ultimately decide the fate of her future. The problem is, she is bad at math, and she doesn’t know what she wants for her future. When the day comes, Dan-Bi becomes too overwhelmed and runs off. She sits on a bench all by herself, praying for a different life, when suddenly she hears drums coming from a rain puddle. She examines it and falls in, finding herself in the Joseon period. There, she is hired by the King to train him in mathematics, among other things.

Splash Splash Love is a very fun show that has all the defining characteristics of K-drama , which means it's focused on the characters. Taking place in the Joseon period, the main characters of Splash Splash Love , Dan-Bi and Prince Lee Do (Yoon Doo-Joon), are a fun pair that play off each other very well! Viewers will appreciate the common tropes: a woman disguises herself as a man, the prince falls for the maiden, a jealous queen , and a quiet bodyguard. It’s short and sweet, and any fan of K-dramas will love this one.

5 'Rooftop Prince' (2012)

Created by lee hee-myung.

Crown Prince Lee Gak ( Park Yoochun ), from the Joseon era, wakes up in the middle of the night as he finds his wife, the Crown Princess ( Jeong Yu-Mi ), dead in the lake. Many assume that she tripped and fell into the pond, but Lee Gak knows – with the help of three special advisors – that she was murdered. While an investigation is underway, Rooftop Prince cuts to the present time, following Park-Ha ( Han Ji-Min ) as she travels back to Korea to meet with her blood father with whom she lost connection after her stepsister abandoned her and ignored her pleas for help. Then four Joseon men are then transported to the present time after being chased by masked assassins and jumping off a cliff. From there, Lee Gak and his crew learn to live in the modern world while trying to go back to the Joseon period.

Rooftop Prince is full of K-drama tropes that fans know and love. It deals with amnesia–attained by Park-Ha after an accident, and she finds herself unable to answer why she was separated from her family. Rooftop Prince also deals with evil, second-female leads, goofy scenarios, and gimmicky love triangles. It’s also a unique drama where characters jump to the present time as opposed to past eras , which is always refreshing to watch in a time-traveling K-drama. Anyone looking for mystery in their time-traveling K-dramas will enjoy this classic.

4 'The King: Eternal Monarch' (2020)

Created by kim eun-sook.

In modern-day Korea, there exist two parallel universes. One universe follows the everyday life of modern-day Seoul, where there are prime ministers and presidents. However, in the other universe, Korea is still run by a monarchy, though it exists under present-day advancements. One day, in an alternate reality of Korea, a young prince by the name of Lee Gon ( Lee Min-Ho ) watches his father be murdered by an Uncle, and he is next until a mysterious stranger saves him. Meanwhile, in present-day Korea, a detective by the name of Tae-Eul ( Kim Go-Eun ) investigates that same man – Lee Gon’s uncle – who shows up covered in blood. Years go by for Lee Gon, and he grows into a King who searches for the person who saved him. He travels to the parallel universe of present-day Korea through a portal, and he meets his savior, Tae-Eul.

Initially, the Netflix K-drama The King: Eternal Monarch might be a little confusing. It deals a lot with parallel universes, and the information can be overwhelming and confusing at first , considering this is one of the first times – if not the only time – that a K-drama explores a universe where modern-day Korea is still ruled under a monarchy. But the slow build-up is well worth the wait, as a romance is ignited between the two leads. It’s a K-drama with a unique twist that viewers will enjoy and appreciate.

Watch on Netflix

3 'Tunnel' (2017)

Created by lee eun-mi and choi jin-hee.

Unlike most time-traveling K-dramas that focus on historical eras, Tunnel i s a K-drama that takes place in a fairly recent time period. Detective Gwang-Ho ( Choi Jin Hyuk ) is investigating a string of murders in 1985 involving young women, and upon chasing the suspect through a tunnel, Gwang-Ho loses sight of the perpetrator. He is then knocked out by getting hit in the head. Gwang-Ho then wakes up and discovers soon after that he is no longer in 1985, but rather, thirty years in the future.

Tunnel is a thriller K-Drama that differs from a lot of time-traveling shows. The romance is a subplot to the main plot and doesn’t exist for the most part. Rather, Tunnel focuses on familial love . The murder plot is an exciting bonus that will keep viewers and fans on their feet as they try to determine who the serial killer is and how Gwang-Ho will return to the time he belongs in.

2 'Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo' (2016)

Created by tong hua.

Make-up artist Ha-Jin ( IU ) has just broken up with her boyfriend after catching him cheating on her with her best friend. Stuck in a slump, Ha-Jin sits out on a pier, drinking, when she sees a child drowning. She jumps in to save the child, and just as she swims to the surface after doing so, she is mysteriously pulled back down into the water. She then awakes in a hot water spring where several men are bathing. To her surprise, she finds out that she is in the Goryeo Dynasty, and the men she met were the Princes. She also eventually learns that she is no longer Ha-Jin but a woman named Hae-Soo who knows the princes well. With no way back home, Hae-Soo has to learn how to live in the Goryeo Dynasty and stay alive.

Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo is another fun K-drama that plays around with the concept of body-switching as opposed to teleporting into a different era . It includes several male leads that the viewer will fall in love with and several love triangles that viewers will love. Not to mention, the show has its dramatic moments that will have viewers on the verge of tears. Buy on Amazon

1 'Mr. Queen' (2020)

Created by park kye-ok.

Jang Bong-Hwan ( Choi Jin Hyuk ) is one of the youngest chefs at Blue House, with a dream to become the first chef who “feeds the strongest.” He has a perfectionist, self-centered nature, and because of his insanely high ego, he mishandles a meal prepared specially for the Chinese Ambassador. This results in Bong-Hwan being chased by Seoul police, and he falls head-first into a pool of water. Upon waking, he learns that he is no longer Bong-Hwan, but rather Princess Kim So-Yong of the Joseon period.

Not only is Mr. Queen a classic time travel K-drama that many viewers will fall in love with, but it also includes the infamous body-switching trope seen in many classics, such as Secret Garden . This K-drama is filled with mystery as viewers are left to uncover the secret behind the attempted murder of So-Yong and the controversies behind her character. Mr. Queen is a worthwhile watch filled with lots of humor, provided excellently by the narration of Choi Jin Hyuk.

NEXT: The Best Heartwarming K-Dramas On Netflix Right Now