The 25 best time travel movies of all time
The 25 best time travel movies of all time
EW Staff, Ruth Johnson and Kevin JacobsenMon, April 20, 2026 at 6:00 PM UTC
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Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in 'Back to the Future'; Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe in 'Looper'; Cristin Milioti as Sarah Wilder in 'Palm Springs'Credit: Ralph Nelson/Universal; Alan Markfield/TriStar/Sony; Christopher Willard/Hulu
Humanity has a loaded relationship with time. There are moments we desperately wish to go back to the past and relive those glory days, just like some of us wish we could see a glimpse of the future to see how things will turn out for us. Time travel movies allow us to live vicariously through characters lucky enough to be granted this ability, giving them an unending appeal.
Whether it involves re-living the same day, rewinding to decades past, or jumping forward to a later date, time travel movies aren't just limited to one thing, with sci-fi adventures like Back to the Future (1985), rom-coms like Groundhog Day (1993), and cerebral trips like Interstellar (2014) making up some of the most favored examples of the subgenre. Indie comedy Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025) is among the latest films to play with time travel, so, in its honor, we're looking back on the 25 best time travel movies of all time.
13 Going on 30 (2004)
Jennifer Garner as Jenna Rink and Judy Greer as Lucy Wyman in '13 Going on 30'Credit: Tracy Bennett/Columbia Pictures
When a 13-year-old girl is crushed after being tricked at her own birthday party, she makes a wish to be "30, flirty, and thriving," quickly waking up the next day to find herself just that, in the body of her grown-up self (played by Jennifer Garner). Instead of traveling back to the past, à la the protagonist of 1986's Peggy Sue Got Married, Jenna (Garner, Christa B. Allen when 13) ends up in a potential future, where she is all the things she wished for, but definitely not as happy as she thought she would be.
The 2004 rom-com is a magical time travel tale — there's literally "magic wishing dust" — but that doesn't take away from the hilarity that comes with a 13-year-old trying to navigate an adult woman's life. Of course, in the end, Jenna learns her lesson — it's okay to just be young, for a little bit longer — but the journey she goes on as she discovers not just herself but also her true love (Mark Ruffalo) is worth all the silliness in the end. —Ruth Johnson
Where to watch 13 Going on 30: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
Back to the Future trilogy (1985, 1989, 1990)
Christopher Lloyd as Emmett Brown and Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly in 'Back to the Future'Credit: Ralph Nelson/Universal
While it's true that the first Back to the Future movie is probably one of the greatest time-travel movies of all time, with its two sequels living in its shadows, all three are essential to understanding the character of Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox).
The Back to the Future trilogy is an '80s version of a bildungsroman about a teenager who has to learn that there's much more to life than being, well, a teenager. The first film, confidently directed by Robert Zemeckis, is imbued with so much humor and heart that it's all too easy to get sucked into a plot that should be convoluted, but that works so awfully well.
Back to the Future Part II evokes a bit less feeling than the original, and it's significantly grittier, but it's still a blast, flinging Marty and Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) into a slightly prescient future version of 2015. Back to the Future Part III, meanwhile, restores the heart, but its story is slighter as it wraps up Marty's saga, sending Doc off on a brand new adventure all his own, back to the Old West.
While the first Back to the Future movie is required viewing for any time travel enthusiast, stick around for the rest of the trilogy, too: Even if this franchise's view of time travel is riddled with potential paradoxes, they are entertaining paradoxes nonetheless. —R.J.
Where to watch the Back to the Future trilogy: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Alex Winter as Bill S. Preston, Esq. and Keanu Reeves as Ted 'Theodore' Logan in Bill & Ted's Excellent AdventureCredit: Orion Pictures
"Be excellent to each other" is the reigning philosophy of Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure, the adventurous, fun-loving, stoner time-travel comedy that spawned a franchise, including a third installment released in 2020. Alex Winter and Keanu Reeves absolutely triumph in the roles of lackadaisical teenagers Bill and Ted, respectively, as they journey through time to bring back legends in order to pass their history class.
If the film seems silly, that's because it is meant to be. Whereas the Back to the Future franchise intended to craft a legend, Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure kicks off the journey with George Carlin as the duo's time travel guide and mentor, Rufus, who intends to enlighten the pair on their mission and destiny. In any other film, the two budding legends, with their free-wheeling ideals and misadventures, would bring down the fabric of time and space itself. However, Excellent Adventure is not a time travel film that forces you to think too hard about its premise; instead, it invites you to just kick back and have a good time. —R.J.
Where to watch Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure: Tubi
Donnie Darko (2001)
Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie Darko, Jena Malone as Gretchen Ross, and James Duval as Frank the Rabbit in 'Donnie Darko'Credit: Dale Robinette/Newmarket
Set over the course of a chilly October, Donnie Darko follows the titular moody teen (Jake Gyllenhaal) who is informed by a mysterious figure in a rabbit costume that the world will end in 28 days.
Donnie becomes increasingly disturbed by the entity, which begins influencing him to take drastic actions in his community, and it soon becomes clear that he must fix a glitch in time to prevent catastrophe. EW's critic calls Donnie Darko an "excitingly original indie vision," with special praise for Richard Kelly's direction: "He swings big — with flair." —Kevin Jacobsen
Where to watch Donnie Darko: Hulu
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Tom Cruise as Maj. William Cage and Emily Blunt as Sgt. Rita Vrataski in 'Edge of Tomorrow'Credit: David James/Warner Bros.
Time loop movies need some incredible editing to really succeed, and Doug Liman's enthralling Edge of Tomorrow certainly does so on that point.
While Tom Cruise is the lead as a cowardly lion–turned–near-super soldier, all eyes are on Emily Blunt as Rita Vrataski, who rules this movie as one of the few heroes this dystopian, post-alien invasion world actually has left. The quest Cruise and Blunt go on is a bit convoluted, but the storytelling is sharply cut, keeping up the pace even as we see similar things over and over and over again.
A tip of the hat must, of course, go to the action, which is as compelling as you would expect from a mega-star who seems determined these days to do all of his own stunts. —R.J.
Where to watch Edge of Tomorrow: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
Interstellar (2014)
Matthew McConaughey as Joseph 'Coop' Cooper in 'Interstellar'Credit: Melinda Sue Gordon/Paramount
While this film might technically be considered more of a space opera than a time-travel movie, there's no reason it can't be both.
Christopher Nolan's Interstellar is a dazzling portrait not just of space travel, but of the love between a father and daughter that stretches over the thin fabric of both time and space. Matthew McConaughey as the astronaut father has never been so serious, but the acclaim needs to go to Jessica Chastain and Anne Hathaway as Nolan's strongest female characters to date.
As a cinematic experience, Interstellar is all-encompassing, using every one of its outstanding special effects to draw viewers in before the script hits them with emotional truth. While Nolan can certainly be considered "cold and clinical," as EW notes, his space-journeying meditation on the intersection between love and time is anything but. —R.J.
Where to watch Interstellar: Paramount+
Kate & Leopold (2001)
Hugh Jackman as Leopold, 3rd Duke of Albany in 'Kate & Leopold'Credit: Miramax
Doesn't everyone want a young Hugh Jackman from the 19th century to fall out of the sky and into their lives?
Leopold (Jackman) is a foppish and geeky, if imperfect, gentleman who quickly has Kate (Meg Ryan) falling for him despite her modern understanding of the world. That so many time-travel movies somehow end up in romantic territory is an interesting phenomenon, but one that does make sense. There is something appealing about falling for someone whose time is not your own.
Kate & Leopold is fluffy and light, creating a paradox without even really acknowledging it. Someone looked at the Meg Ryan comedies of the '80s and '90s and asked, "But what if we made them science fiction?"
It works in spite of itself, particularly due to Jackman's physical comedy as he plays "a doll of a boyfriend," per EW’s review. —R.J.
Where to watch Kate & Leopold: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
La Jetée (1962)
Davos Hanich as the Man in 'La Jetée'Credit: Everett Collection
La Jetée is arguably the most experimental of the films on this list. A French Left Bank short film set in a post-nuclear apocalypse future told through narration and photographs, this is not the first time-travel film by any means, but its impact on the time-travel movies that came after, like 1995's 12 Monkeys, cannot be understated.
A young prisoner (Davos Hanich) is forced to undergo torturous experiments to induce time travel via impactful memories. Unlike those who came before him, he succeeds — and ends up discovering a time loop in the process.
This is an incredibly stylish telling of what is now a familiar type of story, but in 1962, it was absolutely revolutionary. Honestly, because of its unique technical and visual elements, it still is. —R.J.
Where to watch La Jetée: The Criterion Channel
Looper (2012)
Paul Dano as Seth and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Joe in 'Looper'Credit: Alan Markfield/TriStar/Sony
Before Rian Johnson introduced us to Benoit Blanc or journeyed to a galaxy far, far, away, he made a tangled time-travel film fittingly called Looper.
Starring Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a younger Bruce Willis, Looper tells the tale of a contract killer sent after his next target: himself. This is a complicated film, and imperfect in a lot of ways, but its brutal appraisal of a possible dystopian future, and the efforts one man takes to prevent that future, are worth the amount of head-scratching you might find yourself doing throughout.
That Johnson crafts his narratives to be impenetrable Gordian knots that only his designated protagonist can solve can perhaps be frustrating to the audience. But, like most of his films, Looper also has a social conscience lurking within it. As EW's critic writes, "It's time to wipe the drops from our eyes or else get stuck in a loop, an endless cycle, a rut" about Looper's core tenet. It's a worthy takeaway from a film consumed by the self-fulfilling prophecies we all eventually find ourselves within. —R.J.
Where to watch Looper: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Aunt Petunia (voice: Ethan Sandler), Uncle Fritz (voice: Ethan Sandler), Cousin Tallulah (voice: Stephen Anderson), Uncle Joe, Uncle Gaston (voice: Don Hall), Aunt Billie (voice: Kelly Hoover), Lewis (voice: Jordan Fry/Daniel Hansen), Uncle Art (voice: Adam West), Franny (voice: Nicole Sullivan), Wilbur (voice: Wesley Singerman), Cousin Laszlo (voice: Ethan Sandler), Grandma Lucille (voice: Laurie Metcalf), Grandpa Bud (voice: Stephen Anderson), and Carl (voice: Harland Williams) in 'Meet the Robinsons'Credit: Disney
Meet the Robinsons received mixed reviews when it first debuted, but of the 3-D animated movies that came out of Disney Animation in the 2000s, it's probably the most imaginative and outstanding of the bunch.
Following a young orphan as he goes on a fantastic voyage into the future with another young boy who is a time traveler (kind of), Robinsons is stylish to a point and is filled with heart. It's one of the more kid-friendly entries on this list, but its good-natured humor and complicated emotional palette should appeal to adults, too.
It also fits neatly into a more classic genre of time travel, with time machines, eccentric inventors, and kids looking to make an impact — not just on their time, but on the time they find themselves in, be it the near future or the distant past. —R.J.
Where to watch Meet the Robinsons: Disney+
Mirai (2018)
Mirai Ota (voice: Haru Kuroki) in 'Mirai'Credit: GKIDS
This lovely little gem, directed by Japanese animation visionary Mamoru Hosoda, tells the story of a little boy who unhappily gets a baby sister and ends up learning a lot of lessons about the past and the future.
Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi) gets a chance to meet not only the grown, future version of his sister, Mirai (Haru Kuroki), but also members of his family at different points in their lives. Mirai is a delightfully imaginative film with some gorgeous animation that contains "mind-boggling visuals," as EW's critic writes.
It's also a heartwarming tearjerker; while all ends well for little Kun, the meditations this film offers on the nature of family bonds over the course of multiple generations might just leave you in a state of reflection on your own ties that bind.
Many time travel movies tell their stories from the perspective of youth, but few unveil them through the eyes of a rambunctious preschooler. Gaining that perspective, in this case, allows for a truly precious journey. —R.J.
Where to watch Mirai: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie (2025)
Matt Johnson as Matt and Jay McCarrol as Jay in 'Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie'Credit: Neon
It's a wonder that a movie like Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie even exists.
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Best friends Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol first devised a web series called Nirvanna the Band the Show in the late-2000s, on which they star as aspiring musicians trying (and failing) to play a show at a hip Canadian club. Seventeen years later, this gonzo mockumentary sees the pair still unsuccessful in their endeavors, before they accidentally time travel back to 2008 and confront their younger selves.
Making extensive use of archival footage and even copyrighted material, it's a modern-day miracle of human creativity. —K.J.
Where to watch Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
Palm Springs (2020)
Andy Samberg as Nyles and Cristin Milioti as Sarah Wilder in 'Palm Springs'Credit: Hulu
Releasing a time loop movie during a global pandemic where life felt increasingly repetitive and bizarre was certainly a strategy for Hulu and Neon with Palm Springs, but it paid off.
While the film was developed long before COVID-19, the scenario of two wedding guests trying to escape the situational loop they've found themselves in definitely resonated at the time — and it still does. Palm Springs may seem serious from the above description, but it is actually a fun sci-fi-tinged tale that is largely driven by the comedic skills of leads Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti.
EW notes that the movie avoids "true discomfort comedy," and honestly, it's all the better for it. If Palm Springs had been angrier, it wouldn't have hit home so hard, and it also wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining. Instead, it's an often sweet rom-com that doesn't take itself or its completely made-up time loop physics too seriously. —R.J.
Where to watch Palm Springs: Hulu
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986)
Kathleen Turner as Peggy Sue Kelcher-Bodell in 'Peggy Sue Got Married'Credit: TriStar/Getty
Peggy Sue Got Married might be one of Francis Ford Coppola's most small-scale movies, but it has just as much soul as his epics.
Peggy Sue (Kathleen Turner, in an Oscar-nominated performance) just wants to leave Charlie (Nicolas Cage) behind, but a time-traveling coma dream forces her to reconsider. (It also encourages Charlie to become a better person, too.)
The film combines the cynicism of a rightfully embittered '80s housewife with the unbridled idealism of a '60s teenager to make one heck of a sincere cinematic concoction. That the film starts at a high school reunion could mean it becomes awkward very quickly, but it's completely joyful.
Whether Peggy Sue Got Married started a tradition of "person has some sort of crisis and subsequently ends up in another time" movies is unclear, but it does have a rather clear descendant in 13 Going on 30 (though that jumps ahead in time, rather than back). —R.J.
Where to watch Peggy Sue Got Married: Tubi
Run Lola Run (1998)
Franka Potente as Lola in 'Run Lola Run'Credit: Impress Own/United Archives via Getty
This is, in many ways, the time loop movie. Debuting in 1998 to rave reviews, Run Lola Run, a German experimental thriller, is one you won't be able to shake.
The protagonist, Lola (Franka Potente, in a punishingly physical performance that alone is worth the watch), is forced to relive a scenario, again and again, involving saving her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) from certain death. —R.J.
Where to watch Run Lola Run: Tubi
Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
Aubrey Plaza as Darius Britt in 'Safety Not Guaranteed'Credit: FilmDistrict
"Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke... I have only done this once before. SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED": This is part of the joke classified ad from which this movie was inspired. You might expect a more risky movie from the tone of the ad, but what you get is a light comedy that served as the first leading film role for Aubrey Plaza.
This Colin Trevorrow-directed film isn't so much about time travel as it is about the cultural assumptions that surround the concept, and those who think it might be possible.
In that sense, it's a meta-commentary on nearly every time-travel story that came before it. Redemption and the acts of salvaging something, anything, for the benefit of the future is a regular trope in the genre, and Safety Not Guaranteed manages to explore these ideas with a dash of irony and a splash of heart. —R.J.
Where to watch Safety Not Guaranteed: Tubi
Somewhere in Time (1980)
Jane Seymour as Elise McKenna and Christopher Reeve as Richard Collier in 'Somewhere in Time'Credit: Universal Pictures
Somewhere in Time might employ one of the strangest methods of time travel of all the movies on this list: time travel by hypnosis.
Science-fiction great Richard Matheson adapted his own novel into a lackadaisical screenplay for this film, starring Christopher Reeve in a perfectly tragic role as the young man who gives his all for a woman (Jane Seymour) he can never really have.
In many ways, Somewhere in Time feels like a curio of the era from which it came, serving as a time capsule of how stories were told in the late-'70s and early-'80s. That's not a mark against it; it resonates as a tragic romance. And kudos must also go to Christopher Plummer as the young woman's cynical mentor, who seems to possess a certain foresight about the impossibility of Reeve's character.
If you want a time-travel movie that is indulgently romantic, from its swooning score to its grand cinematography, you shouldn't stray from Somewhere in Time. —R.J.
Where to watch Somewhere in Time: Tubi
Source Code (2011)
Jake Gyllenhaal as Capt. Colter Stevens in 'Source Code'Credit: Jonathan Wenk/Summit
Hitchcockian in a sense, Source Code follows the misadventures of a U.S. Army pilot (Jake Gyllenhaal) as he attempts to stop a terrorist attack on a Chicago commuter train — repeatedly.
Source Code has something to say about the commodification of bodies and minds in service of the so-called "greater good." While the actions of Gyllenhaal's Captain Stevens are no doubt helpful, the film is curious as to whether they're necessary. Is it really a good idea to force someone to relive an incredibly stressful idea, over and over again?
The movie has its funny moments, even in the thick of all the intense chase scenes through the train. As EW noted back in 2012, "The director finds moments of humor in unlikely corners of that train of fools." —R.J.
Where to watch Source Code: Tubi
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
Leonard Nimoy as Spock and William Shatner as Admiral James T. Kirk in 'Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'Credit: Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty
If you know anything about Star Trek, you know the fourth film is "the one with the whales," but if you don't know anything about the franchise, you probably also know that this one is "the one with the whales."
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home often gets acclaim as the funny Star Trek movie, but it brings a lot more than just comedy. The original crew of the Enterprise flings itself back in time to save humpback whales in the past to save the future from a strange probe that threatens Earth... and will stop, but only if it hears some natural whale song.
The crew finds themselves in 1986 San Francisco, and watching these characters from a literal utopia navigate a world not designed for them creates not only dynamic humor but great tension as well. As they almost always do, the Enterprise team breaks all the rules to save the future as well as the whales. As EW notes in a tribute to the film: "It has heart, and passion — Save the Whales! — and a tremendous sense of fun." —R.J.
Where to watch Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: Paramount+
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Alice Krige as the Borg Queen and Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard in 'Star Trek: First Contact'Credit: Elliot Marks/Paramount Pictures
Star Trek: First Contact doesn't feel as much like a Star Trek movie as Voyage Home does, and EW, in fact, says it harnesses "a sleek, confident style fully independent of its predecessors." As a Trekkie, this may not be the most complimentary way of looking at it, but as a film fan, it might be the highest honor someone could bestow upon a movie within this franchise.
Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) turns from a peace-loving diplomat to a Borg-slaying action star while the rest of his crew tries to get the inventor of the Warp Drive (the technology upon which the future relies) to stop drinking so much and actually invent the thing. James Cromwell, as the inventor Zefram Cochrane, serves as the comedic relief for a remarkably serious and often scary film.
The Borg, '90s Star Trek's biggest villain, are the main antagonists here, and they provide some chilling action. Stewart manages the transition from his mild-mannered diplomat to traumatized warrior well, turning in one of his most ferocious performances.
Star Trek: First Contact also gives us a look at a post-apocalyptic world in the midst of a recovery, and in that respect, it makes it both a thoughtful entry in the Trek canon and a time travel action-thriller with a brain. —R.J.
Where to watch Star Trek: First Contact: Paramount+
The Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator in 'Terminator 2: Judgment Day'Credit: CBS via Getty
What would a best time-travel films list be without including a Terminator movie? Though the franchise has faced diminishing returns after James Cameron's first two installments, the misadventures of an evil cyborg-turned-good (played to physical perfection by Arnold Schwarzenegger) are always thrilling.
Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, mother of the future savior (and much more), is also due an acknowledgment. Schwarzenegger's portrayal of the T-800 is iconic, but Hamilton is the heart of this franchise, as she refuses to die or let her son face the same fate.
The first two Terminator films are so much more than "scary robots take over the world, everybody dies" – they're action-packed, bloody thrillers with startling narratives, pioneering visual effects, and, of course, time travel as the catalyst. —R.J.
Where to watch The Terminator: HBO Max
Where to watch Terminator 2: Judgment Day: Paramount+
Time After Time (1979)
Malcolm McDowell as Herbert George Wells and Mary Steenburgen as Amy Robbins in 'Time After Time'Credit: Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty
Nicholas Meyer is behind not one, but two brilliant time-travel movies that made this list. In addition to writing the script for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, he wrote and directed Time After Time.
It follows two foes from the 19th century, H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell, unusually wide-eyed and adorable) and John Leslie Stevenson a.k.a. Jack the Ripper (David Warner, never more menacing yet charming), as they chase each other through 1979 San Francisco with the help of Wells' time machine. Time After Time doesn't spend too much time unpacking the science of time travel, and it's better for it.
This is, in essence, a romantic thriller, as Wells falls for quirky bank clerk Amy (Mary Steenburgen, delightfully independent) while in search of his old friend-turned-enemy. It has chase scenes, interrogation sequences, gory murder (courtesy of Jack), and a delightful sense of humor as Wells learns to navigate the future. He thought it would be a utopia; instead, he finds a world in sore need of his idealism, kindness, and dedication to justice. —R.J.
Where to watch Time After Time: Amazon Prime Video (to rent)
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