british travel movies

Awesome, you're subscribed!

Thanks for subscribing! Look out for your first newsletter in your inbox soon!

The best things in life are free.

Sign up for our email to enjoy your city without spending a thing (as well as some options when you’re feeling flush).

Déjà vu! We already have this email. Try another?

By entering your email address you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and consent to receive emails from Time Out about news, events, offers and partner promotions.

Love the mag?

Our newsletter hand-delivers the best bits to your inbox. Sign up to unlock our digital magazines and also receive the latest news, events, offers and partner promotions.

• Things to Do
• Food & Drink
• Arts & Culture
• Time Out Market
• Coca-Cola Foodmarks
• Los Angeles

Get us in your inbox

🙌 Awesome, you're subscribed!

The 40 best travel movies

Hit the trail with some of cinema’s most magical destination films

There’s loads to be said for the transportive power of cinema – that magical ability to whisk us off to places we’d never otherwise go – but we’re often glad of its power to bring us back again. It’s fun to pay a visit to Mos Eisley or Twin Peaks but you probably wouldn’t want to linger too long. Occasionally, though, a movie will leave you with itchy feet and an urge to hit the trail (or at least, low-cost airline website) for real. Here are 40 films that’ll have you reaching for your passport.

An email you’ll actually love

Sideways (2004)

Destination: Santa Ynez Valley, California, USA

They may be insufferable wine bores cursed in perpetuity by merlot producers the world over, but it’s hard not to kinda love pent-up Miles (Paul Giamatti) and laconic Jack (Thomas Haden Church) in Alexander Payne’s Oscar-winning comedy-drama. For one thing, the hapless roadtrippers are never dull; for another, they introduced the moviegoing world to California’s lush Santa Ynez Valley and its array of sun-kissed valleys, bountiful vineyards and roadside staging posts. If you’re ever following in their footsteps, be sure to stop in at Miles’s favourite restaurant, The Hitching Post II . PDS  

Into the Wild (2007)

• Action and adventure

Destination :  Denali National Park, Alaska, USA

Things go south when Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) heads north in Sean Penn’s moving biopic of the young hiker’s journey from comfortable middle-class life to the vast Alaskan wilderness. This true-life adventure may have a heartbreaking ending but the journey there is pretty special, backdropped by unforgettable American landscapes and life-changing encounters in the spirit of all great road-trip movies. The vast solitude of Alaska’s Denali National Park, five hours’ drive from Anchorage and overshadowed by North America’s highest peak, Mount Denali (aka Mount McKinley), leaves a haunting impression. PDS

Wild (2014)

Destination: The Pacific Crest Trail, USA

There was a reason thousands of solo hikers set off on the Pacific Crest Trail IRL after seeing this movie. Based on Cheryl Strayed’s bestselling memoir of the same name and starring Reese Witherspoon, ‘Wild’ paints a vivid picture of life off-grid and on-foot on the PCT, an equal parts gruelling and stunning hiking route which weaves through the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges on America’s west coast. The urge to pack up your water purifier and your emotional baggage and hit the trail as the credits roll is hard to ignore. EWA

The Sheltering Sky (1990)

Destination: Aït Benhaddou, Morocco

Paul Bowles’s bohemian account of post-war life in north Africa is hardly the greatest advertisement for tourism – the jaded American couple at its heart aren’t the most open-minded pair – but Bernardo Bertolucci’s visually rich adaptation makes it all seem well worth the trip anyway. It has Debra Winger and John Malkovich as the pair of slightly insufferable roamers (‘We’re travellers,’ they’re at pains to point out, ‘not tourists’) but the real stars of the show are the Saharan landscapes, Tangier souks and dusty villages. One of those villages, the ancient fort of Aït Benhaddou, is a film star in its own right, having appeared in ‘Gladiator’, ‘Babel’, ‘Kundun’ and ‘The Mummy’, among others. PDS  

Lost in Translation (2003)

Destination: Tokyo, Japan Sofia Coppola’s classic is one of the quintessential travel movies, not just for its Japanese locations, both postcard-famous and off-the-beaten-track, but in perfectly capturing that unmistakable sense of dislocation that can come with hitting the trail. Here, it’s magnified by deeper life crises for Scarlett Johansson and Bill Murray’s two lonely travellers, but their existential woes spark a powerful connection – and we’ve all been there. As far as the travelling goes, they’re doing it the luxe way, staying in the now-very-famous and expensive Park Hyatt Tokyo and taking day trips to Kyoto soundtracked by Air. Other hotels (and Spotify) are available. PDS

A United Kingdom (2016)

Destination: Serowe, Botswana

This true-life love story between Bechuanaland royal heir Seretse Khama (David Oyelowo) and Londoner Ruth Williams (Rosamund Pike) plays like a cross between a Disney fairy tale and a bracing slug of social realism. The couple are subjected to prejudice and disapproval in all its guises – straight-up racism in post-war Britain and prescriptive protocols in Africa – but coolly face it down to make history. The story is inspiring and the backdrops scarcely less so. Director Amma Asante filmed on location in Seretse’s home village of Serowe, so head there for a two-in-one cinematic and historical pilgrimage (and check out the rhinos while you’re there). PDS

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Destination: Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia

This comedy-drama is at once an Aussie classic, a road trip gem and a glorious celebration of difference – all crammed on to a bus called Priscilla and driven across Australia’s Outback to a gig in Alice Springs. The movie’s spiritual home – as its website proudly points out – is The Palace Hotel in hardscrabble Broken Hill, where a night in the tacky-flamboyant Priscilla Suite will set you back around A$200. It’s here that Bernadette Bassenger (Terence Stamp), Mitzi Del Bra (Hugo Weaving) and Felicia Jollygoodfellow (Guy Pearce) stay over en route to the Northern Territory. Or if you want to keep things strictly underground, head for the subterranean White Cliffs motel in the bizarre town of Coober Pedy– another port of call for the trio. PDS

A Room with a View (1985)

Destination: Florence, Italy

What’s most charming about this 1980s Merchant Ivory classic, which follows the  first visit to Italy of the young Lucy Honeychurch (Helena Bonham Carter)? It’s a tough call between the sun-soaked streets of Florence and all those becoming Edwardian ruffles. Though it does a very good job of capturing England’s bucolic countryside too, it’s the first half of the film, full of glorious views of the languid Arno river, the city’s terracotta rooftops and ochre-coloured landmarks that lingers in the memory. EWA

A Walk in the Woods (2015)

Destination: The Appalachian Trail, USA

According to the Bill Bryson memoir from which this warm-hearted outdoorsy adventure is adapted, 2,000 people attempt the 2,200-mile-long Appalachian Trail every year, but only 10 percent make it. Attempting to beat the stats are Robert Redford and Nick Nolte’s old-timers. The trail – the longest hiking-only path in the world – runs from Maine to Georgia, with glorious, Ansel Adams-esque scenery and killer hills all the way. Will our grizzled heroes make it? Do bears shit in the woods? Finally, a movie that can answer both questions. PDS

Monos (2019)

Destination: Chingaza National Natural Park, Colombia

The brilliant ‘Monos’ sometimes feels like a war film, sometimes like a sci-fi and sometimes like some new genre we’ve never encountered before. Its high-altitude locations are guaranteed to have intrepid types reaching for their passports. Rising to more than four kilometres above sea level, Colombia’s Chingaza National Natural Park, where it is filmed, feels like the roof of the world and director Alejandro Landes gives its cloud forests, waterfalls and rocky outcrops the full widescreen treatment. Within range of Bogotá, it’s catapulted straight on to our bucket list. PDS  

Journey to Italy (1954)

Destination: Naples, Italy

This influential Roberto Rossellini film follows discontented marrieds Katherine (Ingrid Bergman) and Alex Joyce (George Sanders) as they drive to Naples and bicker their way towards something that looks likely to involve eye-watering legal costs and a painful conversation about who gets to keep the Frank Sinatra LPs. Watching these sophisticated travellers slugging it out can be an emotionally arduous ride, but they find calm and beauty amid the city’s archaeological treasures. For her, it’s the volcanic Phlegraean Fields and the ancient artefacts of the Naples Museum; for him, a ferry ride to Capri. For us? A trip to the EasyJet website.  PDS

The Way (2010)

Destination: El Camino de Santiago, Spain 

Whether it’s to the football, the pub or just to Homebase for something to de-grease the barbecue, a father-and-son pilgrimage is a special thing. It’s arguably even more special when there’s an actual pilgrimage involved, as is the case in this touching 2010 drama directed by Emilio Estevez and starring his dad, Martin Sheen. The movie follows the path of Galicia’s Camino de Santiago, a UNESCO listed network of hiking trails that leads pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. With its stunning landscapes and moments of footsore camaraderie, it’ll have you itching to follow in its footsteps. PDS

Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008)

Destination: Oahu, Hawaii, USA Boy meets girl. Boy loses girl. Boy tracks down girl in far-flung corner of Hawaii. Boy discovers girl is now having mindblowing sex with a rockstar (Russell Brand). Major bummer. Still, on the upside for Jason Segel’s lovelorn musician – and everyone else in the film – this lol-some romantic-comedy unfolds on Oahu’s stunning north shore. Specifically, the Turtle Bay Resort , a honeymooners’ paradise that comes equal first with Bora Bora from ‘Couple’s Retreat’ in a list of dream destinations Kristen Bell has managed to visit for work . PDS

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Destination: Paris, France

Americans swooning over the City of Light is nothing new. But rarely are their chansons d’amour so persuasive as Woody Allen’s ‘Midnight in Paris’. Gil (Owen Wilson) is a jobbing Hollywood screenwriter on vacation in gay Paree with fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her parents. Each night he wanders off alone, and on midnight’s chime, is transported into a magical-realist time warp: first the 1920s (hello, Ernest, Zelda and Scott), then the Belle Époque of Degas, Gauguin and Toulouse-Lautrec. From Rodin’s hôtel particulier to abandoned fairground the Musée des Arts Forains , Gil is swept up by the city’s charms, and as he falls deeper in love, so do we. HO

The Passenger (1975)

Destination: Vera, Spain

From the nocturnal streets of Milan to the Aeolian Islands and even south-east  London, Michaelangelo Antonioni’s locations often got as much screen time as his actors. Even larger-than-life Jack Nicholson feels swallowed up by the epic sweep of southern Spain, the last stop for his journalist-gone-rogue David Locke after an almost 007-worthy itinerary (Algeria, London, Munich, Barcelona). The dusty Andalusian hilltop town of Vera, with its dilapidated bullring and now-demolished Hotel de la Gloria, is the filming location for the famous six-minute tracking shot in which Locke’s fate is sealed – in typically cryptic Antonioni style, naturalmente . JM

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Destination:  Seyðisfjörður,  Iceland Timid Life magazine staffer Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) heads off to track down grizzled photojournalist Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) and finds himself along the way. It’s basically a mega-budget version of that gap year your mate Charlie still goes on about. But if Walter’s fantastical daydreams of superpowered adventure and heart-stopping romance are eclipsed by the rugged Icelandic landscapes, what landscapes to be eclipsed by. If you want to recreate his high-speed longboard ride , just head for Seyðisfjörður on the eastern edge of Iceland. Just be sure to check the terms of your travel insurance first. PDS

Leap Year (2010)

Destination: Aran Islands, Ireland It may not be a great advertisement for filmmaking but this romcom is an excellent billboard for the Irish counties of Wicklow, Mayo and Galway. Matthew Goode plays Irish innkeeper Declan O’Callaghan and Amy Adams is Anna Brady, the American visitor looking to exploit an arcane tradition whereby a man proposed to on a Leap Day must accept (because no marriage is more likely to last than one you’ve been forced into by an ancient form of blackmail). Forget the plot contortions and focus instead on the glorious Irish vistas, especially those of the rocky Aran Islands where much of the movie was filmed. PDS

L'Avventura (1960)

Destination: Aeolian Islands, Italy In Michelangelo Antonioni’s languid classic, a young woman (Lea Massari) vanishes during a yachting trip to the rocky, mysterious Aeolian Islands and her boyfriend Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti) and BFF Claudia (Monica Vitti) make a slightly half-hearted attempt to find her (think Tommy Lee Jones in ‘The Fugitive’, only on Xanax). The disappearance itself takes place on the tiny volcanic outcrop of Lisca Bianca, which can be visited only by private boat, but Sandro and Claudia’s ensuing wanderings will have you adding Sicily to your holiday wishlist too. Even in black and white, the Tyrrhenian Sea sparkles enticingly. PDS

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Destination: Skopelos, Greece Abba-inspired ‘Mamma Mia!’ is movie Marmite, but it’s impossible to watch the film, or it’s more recent sequel ‘Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again’, and not be left pining for Greece’s many paradise-like islands. And if you’re into tales of friendship, motherhood, a secret search to find a father figure and a dungare ed Meryl Streep singing ’70s hits, they are pure joy. Oh, to be skipping through a Greek orange grove, falling in love in an intimate taverna or diving off a boat into the clear waters that surround sunny Skopelos right now…  EWA

Tracks (2013)

Destination: Western Australia

Australia’s dusty town of Alice Springs is the jump-off point for an outback adventure that’s based on a true story. Mia Wasikowska plays Robyn Davidson who, in 1977, trekked 1,700 miles across the continent with only her dog, Diggity, and four dromedaries for company. At least, until National Geographic photographer Rick Smolan (Adam Driver) pitches up to cover her incredible undertaking. It’s a pure travel movie: a celebration of the dangers and majesty of the great outdoors that captures the spirituality of Aboriginal lands, the vastness of ever-shifting deserts and the spellbinding starscapes of the Australian night sky. PDS

The Two Faces of January (2014)

Destination: Crete, Greece Like ‘The Talented Mr Ripley’, this underrated thriller has everything you could possibly want from a Patricia Highsmith adaptation: gorgeous costumes, slippery characters and exotic European settings. Oh, and foul deeds – let’s not forget about them. Here the double-dealing and betrayals take place in Greece rather than Italy, but the soft Mediterranean light and shimmering seaside backdrops are equally to die for as Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac’s vying tricksters, and Kirsten Dunst’s beautiful sorta-moll, journey from the tourist traps of Athens to Crete’s sun-baked hills and its Minoan ruins. PDS

Jeremiah Johnson (1972)

Destination: Zion National Park, Utah, USA In movie terms, Utah is most famous as home to Monument Valley, a landmark in all those great John Ford westerns. Head a few hours west, though, and you’ll find the even more remote dream destination for the hardcore western lover-cum-outdoors type: Utah’s mountainous Zion National Park, where Robert Redford western and handy gif generator ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ was partly filmed. The real-life Johnson was the nineteenth century’s answer to Bear Grylls and probably smelled badly of bison liver and fetid beard, but needless to say, Redford makes him a total thirst trap(per). PDS

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Destination :  Ventura, California, USA It may not be Big Sur or Malibu but Ventura is famous for a few things: its sandy beaches, long pier, surfing and – surely the topper – hosting the climactic moments of ‘Little Miss Sunshine’. It’s in this sun-kissed corner of California that the dysfunctional Hoover clan pull up in their yellow VW microbus and unleash comedy mayhem. In the film, the setting is actually Redondo Beach, 70-odd miles south, but Ventura was the real-life stand-in for the pier scene . If you really want to get close to the action, check in to the Crowne Plaza Hotel Ventura Beach where Olive Hoover (Abigail Breslin) unleashes her superbly inappropriate ‘Super Freak’ on that unsuspecting beauty pageant. PDS

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

Destination: Machu Picchu, Peru Before becoming a doctor, rebranding as ‘Che’ and becoming the last word in revolutionary chic, Ernesto Guevara (Gael García Bernal) embarked on a roadtrip across South America with his old friend Alberto Granado that is faithfully recorded in Walter Salles’s excellent 2004 biopic. The pair visit the spectacular Incan citadel of Machu Picchu without once referring to ‘Lonely Planet’ and set about exchanging revolutionary ideas and posing for snapshots. If they’d had Instagram back in 1952, @Che would have been lapping up the likes. PDS

Local Hero (1983)

Destination: Pennan, Scotland

Home, as they say, is where the heart is, and in this enduring delight that means Scotland’s unspoiled east coast, with its tiny fishing villages, crystal-clear skies and mystical vibes. It’s here – the fictional seaside village of Ferness, specifically – that oil company exec (Peter Riegert) is sent with a brief to buy the place so it can be turned into a refinery. Unexpectedly, the villagers like the idea because, well, fishing is hard work. It’s a lovely comic twist that throws the whole film winningly off its axis. Any ‘Local Hero’ pilgrims should head for the village of Pennan in Aberdeenshire, Ferness’s real-life stand-in, and grab a selfie by that famous phonebox. PDS

Patagonia (2010)

Destination: Trelew, Patagonia, Argentina This gentle travelogue has Welsh photographer Rhys and his partner Gwen discovering the charms of Patagonia, where their guide (Matthew Rhys) introduces them to the region’s Welsh heritage and the chapels built by Welsh settlers. If you’re intrepid – or Welsh and fancy undertaking a similar pilgrimage – head for the Welsh town of Trelew in Argentina and saddle up for a horse ride into the dusty desert. Bizarrely, it’s exactly what Rhys was doing when he bumped into ‘Patagonia’ director Marc Evans location-scouting the film. PDS

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter… and Spring (2003)

Destination: Juwangsan National Park , South Korea This lushly located Korean masterpiece exudes seriously serene vibes as it charts a young Buddhist monk’s rocky spiritual journey under the tutelage of his master across 40 or so years. Since the film came out in 2003, its location – a purpose-built floating monastery on Jusanji Lake in Juwangsan National Park – has gone from hidden secret to national treasure, with visitors making the trek to sit in the shade of its willow trees and get zen by its tranquil waters. It’s a tricky trek to get there, though: Juwangsan is one of Korea’s most inaccessible national parks and the hike to the lake is a real glute-burner. PDS

Roman Holiday (1953)

Destination: Rome, Italy Sly but chivalrous American journo Joe Bradley (Gregory Peck) shows Audrey Hepburn’s royal fugitive, Princess Ann, around the Eternal City in a classic romance that’s fizzier than a flute of prosecco. He takes her on a whirlwind Vespa tour of Rome’s famous tourist attractions – Joe isn’t one for the hipster haunts – taking in the Spanish Steps, the Mouth of Truth and the Colosseum. Other films have majored on the city’s jaded hedonism (‘La Dolce Vita’, ‘The Great Beauty’) and social ills (‘Bicycle Thieves’); this one just makes Rome feel like a dream. PDS

Seven Years in Tibet (1997)

Destination: Lhasa, Tibet

A Sun-In blond Brad Pitt plays Heinrich Harrer, an Austrian mountaineer who sets out to climb the Himalayan peak of Nanga Parbat in 1939 only to end up in a POW camp. He escapes, crosses the border into Tibet and becomes tutor to the Dalai Lama in Lhasa – then the Chinese plan an invasion and things get complicated. The film faced a couple of problems: Harrer turned out to be a Nazi IRL and Tibet itself was off-limits to the production. Scorsese had the same issue on ‘Kundun’ and recreated it in Morocco; here, it is Argentina and the Canadian Rockies. But director Jean-Jacques Annaud’s time in Tibet recce-ing the country pays off and he does a fine job capturing its rugged beauty on screen. PDS

The Piano (1993)

Destination: Karekare Beach, New Zealand If you’re looking for a beach holiday with a movie pilgrimage thrown in, head for New Zealand’s west coast where Jane Campion’s period drama is set. The gripping emotional journeys of Holly Hunter’s mute immigrant and her young daughter (Anna Paquin) as they deal with the harshness of nineteenth-century life steered the film to eight Oscar nominations. It was all filmed on the black sands of Karekare Beach, only 30 minutes’ drive from Auckland but stretched out at the foot of rugged cliffs in splendid isolation. If there was an Oscar for beaches, it’d be a shoo-in. PDS

Australia (2008)

Destination: East Kimberley, Western Australia

With its glorious shots of the outback and Hugh Jackman taking his kit off, Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Australia’ celebrates the continent’s rugged natural phenomena in all its forms. Sure, the film – an homage to the old westerns of John Ford – is a mite corny, but it showcases the scenery of Western Australia so beautifully, you’d think the tourist board funded it. And sure enough, they did: to the tune of $1 million. Luhrmann also filmed in Sydney and Queensland, but if you want the proper ‘Australia’ experience, head for Kununurra and from there the Kimberley, approximately a bazillion square miles of canyons, cattle stations and beaches. Saddle up. PDS

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Destination: Barcelona, Spain

Set in a world full of beautiful people doing impossibly bohemian things at extreme short notice, ‘Vicky Cristina Barcelona’ is the life we’d all lead if we weren’t at home worrying about loo roll. It’s a seductive love letter to Catalonia and, in particular, a billboard for the beauties of Barcelona: as the title implies, the city itself shares top billing with Vicky (Rebecca Hall) and Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), two friends who fall under the spell of Javier Bardem’s artist while visiting. Needless to say, the movie is full of Barca landmarks, including Park Güell, the Miró Museum, Parc de la Ciutadella and the Sagrada Família, and they all look utterly dreamy. PDS

The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

Destination: Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah, USA

This feelgood yarn has rough-around-the-edges Kiwi biker Burt Munro (Anthony Hopkins) travelling from New Zealand to Utah’s Bonneville Salt Flats, aiming to beat the land speed record (just north of 200mph) on his trusty 1920 Indian Scout motorbike. A true story, it was filmed on location on an expansive salt pan in northwestern Utah that attracts petrolhead pilgrims to the annual Bonneville Speedway every summer. It also pops up in ‘Mad Men’, when a sweat-mottled Don Draper manages to blag a drive in a 1970 Chevelle SS, and ‘Independence Day’ . It’s another reason why anyone embarking on a movie-themed road trip should head straight for Utah. PDS

The Lost City Of Z (2016)

Destination: Tayrona National Park, Colombia Colombia has been South America’s go-to country for big-screen adventure since the days of ‘ Romancing the Stone’ and ‘The Mission’ in the ’80s. It offers a suitably mysterious landscape in James Grey’s dazzling epic about a British explorer (Charlie Hunnam) trying to find an undiscovered civilisation in the early twentieth century. Robert Pattinson joins him as a fellow military man with Ray Mears-like knowledge of the Amazon jungle. Grey and his crew used the Colombian Caribbean town of Santa Marta as a base, but you’ll need to head into the Tayrona National Park – the film’s Amazon scenes were filmed on the nearby Don Diego River – to follow in R-Patz’s and co’s boot prints. PDS  

Skyfall (2012)

Destination: Istanbul, Turkey There’s not many desirable locations that 007 hasn’t passed through over his 25 film outings. The Caribbean has been a popular pitstop, right from his first film outing in ‘Dr No’, while he’s ticked off more European capitals than a 19-year-old Interrailer. One of them, Istanbul, has hosted the big man three times and just about emerged unscathed. In ‘Skyfall’, Daniel Craig’s Bond takes us on a high-speed tour of the city’s vast and labyrinthine Grand Bazaar in pursuit of a mercenary with a vital hard drive. One day, he’ll go back and just have a nice browse instead. PDS

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (2004)

Destination: Lech, Austria Beyond James Bond, ski resorts are a rare sight in movies. After all, there’s only so much drama to be juiced from fondue evenings and teenagers necking pints, right? Wrong! Bridget Jones (Renée Zellweger), who could ring drama from an empty packet of ready salted, delivers her own inimitable brand when Mark Darcy (Colin Firth) whisks her off to the Austrian Alps, hurricaning down the slopes and into a pharmacy to request a pregnancy test in strangled German, worried that she is ‘mitt baby’. Hosting the mayhem is Lech, a resort that promises ‘200km of high alpine powder’ and at least one skiable chemist. PDS

Unrelated (2007)

Destination: Tuscany, Italy  A spiritual cousin to ‘The Green Ray’, another movie that sets a woman’s personal crisis against a woozy summer holiday backdrop, Joanna Hogg’s debut film has fortysomething Anna (Kathryn Worth) joining some friends at their villa in Tuscany where she finds herself gravitating towards their young public school-y offspring – led by Tom Hiddleston in his first film role. It’s all surprisingly edgy stuff and culminates in a barney for the ages but the setting is to die for: the holidaying families staying in villa on the San Fabiano Estate just outside Siena, a world of rolling hills and olive groves. It’s a real B&B so you can check in any time; you just might not want to leave. PDS

Out of Africa (1985)

Destination:   Chyulu Hills, Kenya

Your grandma’s favourite film has Danish farmer Karen Blixen (Meryl Streep) and Tiger Moth-flying big-game hunter Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) falling in love on the Kenyan savannah, despite the presence of hungry lions and (irksomely) an actual Mr Blixen (the astonishing  Klaus Maria Brandauer). It all goes on for ages which allows for plenty of time to take in the sweeping African landscapes, replete with watering holes, green hills and the vast, sunbaked expanse of the Great Rift Valley. If you’re looking for the ‘Out of Africa’ experience, head for Kenya’s Chyulu Hills where the film was shot. PDS

The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2001-2003)

Destination: New Zealand 

The action is plentiful in the big-screen adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s magical ’Lord of the Rings’ epic, but the setting is jaw-dropping enough to still be a distraction. While Frodo and his fellowship battle their way across Middle-earth to return the One Ring to Mordor, the only place where it can be destroyed, New Zealand’s sweeping plains, lush forests and snowcapped mountains are in the background like an 11-hour advert for Tourism New Zealand. A one-way ticket to Rivendell via Auckland International, please. EWA

The Green Ray (1986)

Destination: St Jean-de-Luz, France

Sometimes a holiday isn’t enough. Secretary Delphine (played by director Éric Rohmer’s muse Marie Rivière) finds herself dumped and facing the prospect of being stuck in sweltering Paris for the summer ( quelle horreur! ). But trips to Cherbourg, the Alps and Biarritz only serve to make her feel more alienated – from smug couples, flirtatious singles, clueless tourists and the whole seething mass of humanity. Then, she finds a transcendent sunset in the Basque beach town of St Jean-de-Luz. Rohmer’s classic is not only a funny, magical exploration of human connection but a snapshot of a French summer – complete with dodgy holiday fashion. JM  

[image] [title]

More on Time In

Discover Time Out original video

• Press office
• Investor relations
• Work for Time Out
• Editorial guidelines
• Privacy notice
• Do not sell my information
• Cookie policy
• Accessibility statement
• Terms of use
• Modern slavery statement
• Manage cookies
• Advertising

Time Out Worldwide

• All Time Out Locations
• North America
• South America
• South Pacific

The 50 Best Travel Films of All Time

By CNT Editors

It's arguable that, more than any other piece of pop-culture ephemera, movies have the power to transport—to sweep you away on a European adventure ( Before Sunrise ), cross an African desert ( Out of Africa ), even send you to the never-before-seen Paradise Falls ( Up ). These 50 films are especially captivating, with well-told stories that evoke the magic (or harsh reality) of travel, and beautiful scenery that overwhelms the senses. Read on for the favorite travel movies of editors past and present—and get your Netflix queue ready.

This gallery was originally published in 2015 and has been updated.

Roman Holiday (1953)

What’s not to love about this black-and-white classic? It’s got Audrey Hepburn, it’s got Gregory Peck, it’s set in Rome ; there’s a quirky, comical love story. Hepburn plays a princess in town for a goodwill tour, Peck a journalist for an American news bureau who misses his big interview with HRH. When he helps a young, seemingly drunk woman one night and lets her sleep it off in his apartment, he realizes he may have the scoop of his career as the next day’s news reports say the princess has canceled her engagements due to illness. And then he pieces the two together. What follows is a grand romp, with Peck playing the regular joe and local guide to the princess, who just wants to shed the royal obligations and enjoy a little freedom for a change. Their tour of Rome proves the perfect catalyst for their budding romance, and it’s impossible not to have the same effect on the audience. –Corina Quinn

To Catch a Thief (1955)

Cary Grant as a cat burglar, Grace Kelly as a rich debutante, falling in love under the guidance of Alfred Hitchcock? Sold. This stunning thriller was filmed in Cannes and Nice and perfectly captures the Golden Age of travel we always wax poetic about, that time when bringing a gold lamé gown to the beach was a no-brainer. – Meredith Carey

Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Russia during the Soviet Revolution doesn't exactly sound like a prime tourist destination, but director David Lean makes a big argument for the country's haunting beauty in this romantic epic (even thought it was actually shot in Spain). From the opulence of Imperial Moscow to the flowering countryside of the Urals to the windswept Siberian tundra, Lean's camera is as much as in love with the landscape as it is with Julie Christie's doe-eyed Lara. – Jenna Scherer

The Endless Summer (1966)

“Catch a wave and you’re sitting on top of the world,” sang the Beach Boys; and if ever a film embodied that mindset, it’s Bruce Brown’s 1966 surfer documentary. Brown shadowed buddies Robert August and Mike Hynson on a round-the-world surfing trip, filming their travels to places like Hawaii , New Zealand, and South Africa as they crested waves and met like-minded surf obsessives. The film’s impact on surf culture and tourism was huge, thanks in no small part to Brown’s cinematography, as well as the subjects’ ability to make riding those impossibly large waves seem effortless. – Amy Plitt

Shannon McMahon

CNT Editors

Hannah Towey

Two For the Road (1967)

Travel is a constant theme in this romantic dramedy about a married couple, played by Albert Finney and Aubrey Hepburn. The movie starts off with a road trip to Saint-Tropez, and as they drive through France, the audience is treated to flashbacks of previous trips that have affected their relationship. - Jenni Miller

Easy Rider (1969)

Released the year of the Woodstock festival—perhaps the biggest event of the ’60s counterculture movement— Easy Rider couldn’t have come out at a better time in history. The film plays out like a motorcycle travelogue, following Wyatt (Peter Fonda) and Billy (Dennis Hopper) on their sojourn from Mexico to Los Angeles to New Orleans . Shot on a shoestring budget, the film is flush with desert landscapes and towns that the pair of nogoodniks (and co-stars, like a young Jack Nicholson) pass through on their drug-and-booze-fueled hippie adventure. – Will Levith

Murder on the Orient Express (1974)

While the 2017 remake of Murder on the Orient Express was pretty to look at , you simply can't beat the 1974 original. The mystery boasts an excellent ensemble cast led by Albert Finney as Agatha Christie's iconic Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. He’s minding his own business on the long-distance train when a fellow passenger is murdered in the middle of the night. Poirot agrees to investigate the murder, along with the train's first-class compartment full of characters, ranging from a Russian princess to a gorgeous young countess. Throw in the snowy Yugoslavian countryside, and train travel has never looked so glamorous. (Minus the murder, of course.) – J.M.

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Raiders of the Lost Ark was a giant-sized collaboration between two of the world's biggest blockbuster directors at the time: Steven Spielberg ( Jaws ), who directed, and George Lucas ( Star Wars ), who executive produced. The film follows hunky explorer Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford) as he circles the globe on a quest to track down the legendary Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do. With filming locations in France and Tunisia (which stood in for Egypt ), Raiders is travel porn at its mega-blockbuster best. – W.L.

National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

Vacation was the world’s introduction to the Griswold family, led by accident-prone dad-in-chief Clark (Chevy Chase). The film spoofs the tried-and-true American tradition of the family road trip , taking the Griswold car through at least two real-life national parks—Death Valley and Grand Canyon—on their way to the fictional amusement park, Walley World. Add in an unforgettable cameo from Christie Brinkley and a hit theme song in “Holiday Road,” and you have a movie every vacationer should watch once in their lifetime. – W.L.

Romancing the Stone (1984)

The ’80s were the era of the action movie, but Romancing the Stone took that concept and blew it out, mixing in pinches of Indiana Jones and pulpy romance novel. Co-starring Reagan Era sex-symbols Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner, the adventure begins when novelist Joan Wilder (Turner) travels to Colombia in search of her kidnapped sister. – W.L.

Out of Africa (1985)

Meryl Streep and Robert Redford star in this tragic love story about a married baroness who falls for a big-game hunter, based on the autobiographical novel by Isak Dinesen. Filmed on location in the U.K. and Kenya, including the Shaba National Game Reserve , Out of Africa feels about as epic as the doomed love affair between two very different people. – J.M.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)

Set around Thanksgiving, Planes uses the travel rush in the days leading up to the holiday as a more-than-worthy comedic vehicle. Steve Martin goofs as Neal Page, who faces a series of travel nightmares on his trip from New York City to Chicago in advance of Turkey Day. After his flight is canceled due to inclement weather, Page ends up sharing his trip home with salesman Del Griffith, played by the late, great John Candy. The actors' chemistry is hard to deny… especially when they’re sleeping in the same bed together on the road. –W.L.

Withnail & I (1987)

“We’ve gone on holiday by mistake!” Withnail’s (Richard E. Grant) desperate moan is the centerpiece of this British cult comedy, which sees two hard-drinking, unemployed actors escaping the horrors of their impoverished London flat with a trip to the countryside. Naturally, the countryside turns out to be even worse. But the desolate, windswept beauty of Cumbria, in Northern England, is the perfect setting for their self-created drama and melancholy. – J.S.

Thelma & Louise (1991)

Thelma & Louise reinvented the concept of the buddy movie by putting two women on the road, escaping good-for-nothing men and setting off on an adventure of their own making. For the first time, women were at the center of the picaresque. Ultimately, Thelma and Louise don't get their happy ending, but the best coda is knowing their movie paved the way for countless other women to hit the road on their own. – Lilit Marcus

The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994)

Guy Pearce, Hugo Weaving, and Terence Stamp star as two drag performers and a transwoman who travel to Alice Springs, Australia , in a lavender-hued school bus they've named Priscilla. A road trip across the Outback serves as a dusty backdrop for personal revelations and general awesomeness, like a fireside lip-sync performance of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive." – J.M.

Before Sunrise (1995)

Richard Linklater turned the stroll-and-talk into an art form in his slow-cinema trilogy. It all began with this quiet, lovely indie, which features a baby-faced Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy flirting and philosophizing as they wander the cobblestone streets of Vienna after hours. The city becomes the third character in the romance, just as Paris would nine years later in Before Sunset, and Messenia, Greece, nine years after that in Before Midnight. All three movies are a testament to travel's power to realign your perception of your own life. – J.S.

The English Patient (1996)

From its star-crossed love story to its sweeping cinematic shots, few movies of the modern era are as lavishly romantic as this adaption of Michael Ondaatje's Booker Prize–winning novel. With a storyline split between pre-war Egypt and post-war Italy, director Anthony Minghella gives us artfully crafted glimpses of both locations: a bombed-out villa in Tuscany and Lawrence of Arabia -esque sweeps of the Egyptian desert (actually filmed in Tunisia). – J.S.

The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

It may be creepy as hell, but The Talented Mr. Ripley also happens to be one of the most beautiful depictions of Italy ever captured on film. Set in the 1950s, the movie follows a group of pretty young things (including Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Matt Damon as the titular sociopath) on their luxurious-slash-murderous holiday, from the pristine beaches in Lazio to the opulent hotels in Venice . – Caitlin Morton

The Beach (2000)

Richard (played by a boyish Leonardo DiCaprio) finds himself tramping from one Thai hostel to the next, desperately searching for something meaningful. A tip from a fellow traveler in Bangkok sends him on a journey to a hard-to-reach island, described as the ultimate paradise—white sands, clear water, and only a handful of other travelers who’ve sworn to keep its location a secret. But, of course, paradise isn't exactly what it seems—and the same goes for real life too, as fans have since trashed the filming location , Maya Beach, forcing its closure. – Megan Spurrell

Y Tu Mamá También (2001)

Y Tu Mamá También follows two best friends and a sexy older woman as they road trip through Mexico, searching for a magical (and fictional) beach called Heaven’s Mouth. Director Alfonso Cuarón shows the beautiful nature of Oaxaca , but also gives a no-holds-bar glimpse into the poverty that exists in Mexico—an aspect that most films set there simply gloss over. – C.M.

Amélie (2001)

Paris is one big shiny confection in this sun-drenched modern fairy tale. Jean-Pierre Jeunet's camera looks at the city through candy-colored lenses, primarily following his quirky-loner heroine (Audrey Tautou) through the winding streets of Montmartre. Everything seems to be lit from within, from the green water of the Canal Saint-Martin to the lurid red lights of a Pigalle sex shop. The city has never looked so dreamy. – J.S.

L’Auberge Espagnole (2002)

For anyone who’s ever studied or lived abroad, discovering L’Auberge Espagnole (i.e. “the Spanish Inn”) is like finding the Rosetta Stone. The film follows a French student, Xavier, who travels to Barcelona in search of himself. Cooped up in a giant apartment with six other contemporaries—all from different countries—Xavier wades through the muddy waters of cohabitation with men and women who don’t share his customs or language. Look out for a fantastic post- Amélie cameo by Audrey Tautou. – W.L.

Catch Me If You Can (2002)

Steven Spielberg's stylish caper tells the real-life story of Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio), a teenage con artist who manages to avoid the feds while pulling off elaborate schemes. Abagnale famously impersonated a Pan Am pilot, and the film plays this up with plenty of vintage air travel eye candy. – A.P.

Catch a glimpse of Eero Saarinen's space-age TWA terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, in a conversation between Abagnale and Carl Hanratty, played by Tom Hanks. The terminal has been turned into a hotel , which just officially opened in May 2019. – M.C.

Lost in Translation (2003)

Lost in Translation chronicles the budding friendship of two Americans in Tokyo (played with the perfect amount of resignation by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson), shot in typically beautiful Sofia Coppola fashion. From the upmarket Park Hyatt hotel to the neon-filled karaoke bars and streets, the movie is like a tourism ad for Tokyo. But more importantly, it’s a melancholy portrayal of loneliness—even in a city filled with millions of people. – C.M.

Under the Tuscan Sun (2003)

Before there was Eat, Pray, Love , there was Under the Tuscan Sun —the story of a woman who buys a villa in Italy after her marriage falls apart. As we watch Frances (Diane Lane) renovate her gorgeous new house and take day trips to the Amalfi Coast, the thought of dropping everything to move to Tuscany suddenly doesn’t seem so ridiculous. – C.M.

Sideways (2004)

The allure of California’s fantastic vineyards is well known (and documented), but wine culture still has a sniff of exclusivity. That’s what makes Sideways, whose wine-touring protagonist is actually a middle-aged slob, so relatable—and hilarious. Aside from telling a great story with great characters, the movie also happens to showcase some of the most beautiful vineyards and tasting rooms in Santa Barbara. Have a glass while you watch—just not merlot. – C.M.

The Motorcycle Diaries (2004)

This is where it all began for Ernesto "Che" Guevara (Gael García Bernal), whose road trip across Latin America with his pal Alberto Granado (Rodrigo de la Serna) opened Che's eyes to political injustice. Director Walter Salles filmed their travels through major landmarks in South America, as per Che's memoir, from the Andes mountain range to Machu Picchu and even a leper colony in San Pablo. – J.M.

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

And you thought your family road trips were dysfunctional. How about cramming your elderly father-in-law, voluntarily mute son, suicidal brother, overworked husband, and quirky daughter with beauty queen aspirations into a lemon of a VW bus? Toni Collette manages just fine (sort of). I'm stressed just thinking about it, but somehow Little Miss Sunshine manages to find that perfect intersection of humor and nostalgia that makes you feel warm and fuzzy by the time the movie ends. – M.C.

The Darjeeling Limited (2007)

Wes Anderson reimagines the all-American family road trip as a rail journey across India. Set on a cramped train rattling across the subcontinent, Darjeeling juxtaposes the claustrophobia of travel against the backdrop of Rajasthan's vast open spaces . Anderson's love of strange and beautiful objects is very much at home in the colorful, busy aesthetic of India; but the movie's most arresting visuals come in the form of barren desert and mountain landscapes. – J.S.

Into the Wild (2007)

The true story of Christopher "Alexander Supertramp" McCandless's disappearance and demise in the Alaskan wilderness can be viewed as poetic or moronic, depending who you talk to. But there's no denying the essential sense of beauty and desolation in Sean Penn's filmic take on the story. As McCandless, Emile Hirsch rides the rails, kayaks the Colorado River, summits snowy peaks, races into the Pacific, and embodies a classically American vision of unchecked wanderlust—exuberant, unstoppable, and foolish. – J.S.

In Bruges (2008)

"Maybe that's what hell is: The entire rest of eternity spent in effin' Bruges ." Cinema has given us few vacationers as reluctant as Ray (Colin Farrell), an Irish hit man lying low in Belgium's most picturesque city. With its gentle, touristy beauty, the medieval town makes an unlikely setting for Martin McDonagh's darkly comic tale of mob justice—which, of course, only makes it funnier. – J.S.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Woody Allen movies usually pay homage to New York City, but he switched geographical gears for 2008’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona . The film shows the adventures and subsequent love affairs of two young women visiting Barcelona , and the city ends up becoming a character itself. As you see all of the gorgeous architecture and landscapes through these tourists’ eyes, you’ll want to hop on a plane and listen to acoustic Spanish guitar immediately. – C.M.

Up might have been rendered as a digital “cartoon” in the vein of Toy Story , but it’s anything but a kid's film. A heart-wrenching tale of love and loss, the film follows septuagenarian Carl (voiced to crotchety perfection by Ed Asner) and his young friend, Russell, as they travel to South America together in Carl’s house-turned-dirigible (we’ll leave it up to your imagination). Up is one of those rare travel films that makes you realize that you’re just floating on like everybody else is on this giant, blue orb called Earth, with nothing holding you down except maybe a little gravity. Have a box of tissues handy. – W.L.

Up in the Air (2009)

George Clooney stars as Ryan, a “downsizing expert” (i.e., companies hire him to fly all across the country to inform strangers they’ve lost their job) who loves life on the road. An obsessive frequent flyer, he’s also about to reach his goal of getting a million miles. The arrival of a young upstart Natalie (Anna Kendrick) who wants to downsize via video conferencing—possibly eliminating their need to travel—sets the two on the road, for him to mentor her. He also meets Alex (Vera Farmiga), a woman equally in love with her transient life, and the two begin meeting up when their schedules overlap. Natalie’s growing disillusionment with the business they’re in, along with Ryan’s deepening relationship with Alex, begin to challenge his cherished way of life, and make him question what that collection of miles is really worth. – C.Q.

Away We Go (2009)

A few months before their baby is due, Verona (Maya Rudolph) and Burt (John Krasinski) decide to take a road trip to find the perfect location to raise their family. Their journey takes them from Phoenix and Tucson to Madison and Montreal , a city that has never seemed more friendly or inviting. The movie is a wonderful tour of North America’s cities, as well as a touching tribute to love and family. – C.M.

The Trip (2010)

Not quite a buddy comedy—you get the sense that the characters played by British comedians Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan may not even like each other very much—this meandering 2010 film is hilarious nevertheless. Brydon and Coogan road-trip through England to dine in fancy restaurants, all the while one-upping each other’s jokes and pondering the meaning of life, death, and relationships. Come for the beautiful shots of the English countryside , but stay for the goofy jokes—particularly the brilliant bit riffing on Michael Caine and Sean Connery impressions. – A.P.

Midnight in Paris (2011)

Gil Pender, played by Owen Wilson, is a wide-eyed screenwriter and aspiring novelist on a trip to Paris with his fiancée (Rachel McAdams). Like many tourists in the City of Light, he retraces the steps of Parisian creatives past, drinking coffee (and absinthe) in the same places they once did—until, late one night, a car of these very icons appears, sweeping him back in time to an evening of revelry among the literati of the 1920s. Sure it's time travel, but past or present, Paris always enchants. – M.S.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011)

Facing widowhood, and the realities of aging, a handful of Brits decide to flip retirement on its head. Rather than succumb to creaking stairlifts and hospital-grade linens that come with retirement at home, they follow advertisements for the Marigold Hotel in Jaipur, India , which promises grandiose accommodations at a bargain—and an exhilarating second act. Cue tangled love stories, easy laughs, and endearing fish-out-of-water moments delivered by a crowd-pleasing ensemble cast (including Judi Dench, Celia Imrie, and Bill Nighy), who prove how deeply travel can stir us, at any age. – M.S.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Walter Mitty is the visual embodiment of "wanderlust," following a daydreaming, work-laden Life magazine employee (played by Ben Stiller) as he embarks on a journey his own imagination couldn't have conjured. Looking for one lost, cover-worthy photo slide from renowned photojournalist Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn), Mitty heads from the streets of Manhattan to Greenland to Iceland and even to the Himalayas. It's a stunning, fantastical movie that'll get even an armchair traveler up to the passport office. – M.C.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Of all the fictional hotels in the cinematic world, none come close to rivaling the top-notch service of the Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson's hyper-stylized confection. Complete with a world-class dining room and pink façade, the hotel owes much of its success to Monsieur Gustave (Ralph Fiennes), the most dedicated concierge of all time. Whether he’s fighting off murderous armies or providing, er, "company" to the older female guests, it becomes immediately clear that Gustave would truly do anything for his beloved GBH. – C.M.

Tracks (2014)

Standing in for real-life writer Robyn Davidson, Mia Wasikowska travels across the breathtaking landscape of Western Australia with only four camels and a beloved dog for company. Her occasional human visitors include a photographer for National Geographic (Adam Driver), an indigenous Australian elder named Mr. Eddy who guides her through sacred lands, and various tourists who come to gawk at the so-called Camel Lady. Davidson’s solo trip was beyond the pale for a woman in the '70s, but it's still incredibly inspiring today. We'll just leave the camel-training to someone else. – J.M.

Wild (2014)

Reese Witherspoon donned a pair of ill-fitting hiking boots and a giant backpack for her role as Cheryl Strayed , a writer who trekked 1,100 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail after the devastating loss of her mother. (The film is based on Strayed’s best-selling 2012 book of the same name.) Strayed crosses the dusty Mojave, crazy forests, snowy fields, and muddy trails, losing toenails but gaining mental clarity—or at least self-acceptance—along the way. – J.M.

Spectre (2015)

Art imitates life, but this time it was the other way around. The 26th James Bond movie's intro scene follows Daniel Craig through a Mexico City Dia de los Muertos parade that didn't actually exist until enough tourists showed up that the city decided to create one in the movie's image . As in most Bond movies, the plot crosses a multitude of borders, from Austria to Italy to Morocco, as the MI6 agent fights the global criminal organization Spectre and a perfectly villainous Christoph Waltz. – M.C.

Carol (2015)

A forbidden 1950s love affair between shop girl and photographer Therese (Rooney Mara) and soon-to-be divorcee Carol (Cate Blanchett) grows stronger on a winding road trip, that takes the couple from New York City through Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa, before reality catches up. The Oscar and Golden Globe nominee is a great period piece as well as a love letter to road trips. – M.C.

Call Me By Your Name (2017)

Consider Luca Guadagnino's Call Be By Your Name a starter guide to the Italian countryside life (specifically in Bergamo, and greater Lombardy) you've always wanted: Riding bikes through hundred-year-old piazzas, fossil-diving in Lake Garda, and waking up to a breakfast of soft-boiled eggs and freshly picked peaches. – Rachel Coleman

Roma (2018)

Another Mexico-based film directed by Alfonso Cuarón, Netflix’s Roma follows the story of Cleo, an indigenous woman working as a maid in 1970s Mexico City (Cuarón hometown). The sweeping black-and-white masterpiece provides glimpses of CMDX's Colonia Roma neighborhood, complete with shuttered house-fronts and laundry fluttering on clothes lines across the rooftops. While Colonia Roma is a tad more gentrified today (think lots of coffee shops and Airbnb properties ), Cuarón's film perfectly captures the neighborhood he grew up in some 50 years ago. – C.M.

Crazy Rich Asians (2018)

Crazy Rich Asians tells the story of Rachel Chu, a Chinese-American professor who travels to Singapore to meet her fiancé's wealthy family. The world of Singapore's old-money elite is filled with yacht parties and royal weddings, but between all that extravagance, Rachel—and viewers—get glimpses of the city's greatest hits: Gardens by the Bay , the infinity pool of Marina Bay Sands , Chinatown's pastel-colored shophouses, and allll the hawker center street food . If you saw the movie and immediately started researching your next trip to Singapore, you're not alone: Orbitz reportedly saw a 20% spike in inquiries to the city in the week following the movie's premiere. Now if only we could figure out how to spend the night in the Young family mansion... – C.M.

Midsommar (2019)

Midsommar was easily one of the most discomforting movies of 2019. But two things shone beautifully through all the creepy cult rituals: Florence Pugh’s performance, and the sunny countryside of Sweden. (Most scenes of the Hårga village were actually filmed just outside of Budapest, but the filmmakers definitely tricked us into wanting to visit Sweden in June.) Scandinavia’s famous midnight sun was used as a tool to warp time and unsettle viewers, but it sure did shed some serious light on northern Sweden’s decorated farmhouses, verdant meadows, and coniferous forests. Just stay away from the mushroom tea, and you’ll be fine. – C.M.

The Farewell (2019)

Golden Globe award–winning Awkwafina stars in this movie about the Chinese-American experience, the power of family, and the importance of levity in the face of grief. The movie follows Billi (played by Awkwafina) as she heads from her home in New York City to visit her grandmother and extended family in Changchun, in northeast China. Visiting under the guise of a wedding—and the reality of a secret cancer diagnosis for her grandmother, Nai Nai—Billi struggles to adjust to mainland Chinese life, and the reality that her grandmother may not always be around. It's absolutely a tear jerker. But it's also funny, sweet, and ultimately heart-warming, with the lives of first-generation Americans and daily life in China taking center stage. –M.C.  

Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019)

Quentin Tarantino’s films tend to focus more on plot and character development than setting, but the director still knows how to incorporate location into his complex storylines. (I’d lie if I said the Kill Bill movies didn’t make me want to visit Japan even more than I already did.) The best example of this technique can be seen in his latest movie, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood . Rather than relying on mood and language alone, Tarantino uses slow pans across Hollywood Boulevard and backdrops of recognizable sites like Westwood Village to give us a (slightly fantastical) sense of Los Angeles in the late 1960s. Many scenes were filmed in still-standing bars in restaurants , in case you want to recreate some of the less murder-y storylines for yourself. – C.M.

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement (including the class action waiver and arbitration provisions ), our Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement and to receive marketing and account-related emails from Traveller. You can unsubscribe at any time. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Here are the 25 best British movies of the last 10 years

• British cinema has really flourished in the last decade.
• Directors like Andrea Arnold and Steve McQueen have made incredible stories for the big screen. 
• Here are 25 of the best British movies of the last 10 years.

British filmmakers have spent the last decade providing the world of cinema with the most interesting and inventing stories one can find anywhere in the world. Working across a diverse range of genres at an increasingly mercurial rate, the British film industry is currently enjoying an acclaimed period of creativity. 

Long gone are the days of cliched period dramas or ill-conceived remakes of comedy classics. British filmmakers are offering fresh takes that are leading the industry and pushing the film form forward. 

So, keep reading below to see a list of the 25 best British films of the last decade, listed in no particular order.

"Attack the Block" (2011)

Effortlessly weaving together scary jumps and biting social commentary, Joe Cornish's 2011 cult classic "Attack the Block" is a fast-paced sci-fi comedy that follows an unlucky young nurse (Jodie Whittaker) who is forced to create an unlikely alliance with a group of mischievous local teenagers (John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Leeon Jones) to fight off an invasion from a rabid species of Aliens. 

"Wuthering Heights" (2011)

Andrea Arnold's unconventional re-imagining of Emily Brontë's classic novel strips away all the period-drama clichés we are accustomed to seeing when any Brontë is hauled over to the big-screen to create an immersive and incredibly daring drama that pushes beyond the well-known love story of Catherine Earnshaw and Heathcliffe. 

Instead, Arnold uses the love between the two young northerners who are split by rank; and, most prominently in Arnold's adaptation , race to create a movie that offers up all the gothic spirit of the novel alongside the even darker history of British imperialism.

"We Need to Talk About Kevin" (2011)

Lynne Ramsay's acclaimed adaptation of Lionel Shriver's award-winning novel follows Kevin (Ezra Miller), a wild teenager who is in prison after committing a mass murder at his high school. 

His mother, Eva (Tilda Swinton), a once-successful travel writer struggles to deal with the pain her son has inflicted and we follow her as she descends further into her memories recounting every moment of her life that led up to Kevin's violent crime. 

"Shame" (2011)

Oscar-winning artist and director Steve McQueen's "Shame" is a compelling and provocative psychological thriller. 

McQueen's frequent collaborator Michael Fassbender stars as a 30-something businessman who manages to balance his high-powered work life with a secret and unflinching addiction to sex. But when his free-spirited sister Sissy (Carey Mulligan) arrives for an unexpected visit, Brandon's secret slowly starts to unravel.

"Skyfall" (2012)

"Skyfall" is the first James Bond film by British theater and film director Sam Mendes. 

The dark and stylish edition opens with James Bond (Daniel Craig) on a dangerous assignment that takes a wrong, almost fatal turn. As a result, all the personal details of MI6's undercover agents are released.

With MI6 now compromised from within, M (Judi Dench), the agency's head, creates an undercover cell with Bond to track down Silva (Javier Bardem), a dangerous villain from her past. 

"Skyfall" is widely considered as the film that shot the storied James Bond franchise into the modern blockbuster business. The film also features Adele's "Skyfall," the best Bond theme since Paul McCartney's 1973 "Live and Let Die."

"Under the Skin" (2013)

Writer-director Jonathan Glazer's third movie "Under the Skin" is a complicated and sparse sci-fi drama that is loosely based on Dutch author Michel Faber's acclaimed book of the same name.

The movie follows an unnamed alien mutant (Scarlett Johansson) who inhabits the body of a young woman who trails the streets of Scotland in a van in search of unsuspecting prey. Much of "Under the Skin" is shot objectively using small hidden cameras and unconventional, almost documentary-style techniques. 

There is also an equally harsh and contemporary score by Mica Levi. 

"Paddington" (2014)

After a deadly earthquake destroys his home in the South American rainforest, a young bear named Paddington (Ben Whishaw) makes his way to England in search of a new home. And soon he finds shelter in the family home of Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary Brown (Sally Hawkins). 

But while Paddington's charm seems to rub off on his new family and their friends, he has also caught the attention of an evil museum taxidermist Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman) who captures, kills, and stuffs exotic animals to house in the Natural History Museum.

And when Clyde becomes aware of Paddington, she sets out to hunt him down. 

"Ex Machina" (2014)

British writer Alex Garland is responsible for numerous acclaimed screenplays including "23 Days Later" and "Never Let Me God." And his directorial debut "Ex Machina" follows similar dark and metaphysical themes. 

The movie follows Caleb, a 26-year-old computer programmer at a large internet company who wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company.

And when Caleb arrives, he finds that he will have to participate in a strange experiment in which he must interact with the world's first most advanced AI computer, which is housed in the body of a beautiful girl.

"The Imitation Game" (2014)

With an outstanding leading performance from Benedict Cumberbatch who illuminates on-screen, "The Imitation Game" serves as a perfect entry into the life of the mathematical genius and father of the modern computer, Alan Turing. 

During World War 2, Turing, along with four other Cambridge mathematicians, was recruited by the newly created British intelligence outfit MI6 to crack the Nazi's unbreakable Enigma code.

And in 1942 Turing his team succeed. But 10 years later his life ends abruptly after he is arrested and convicted when it is revealed that Turing is gay. 

"'71" (2014)

"'71." is a powerfully directed and acted thriller about a young recruit to the British army named Gary Hook (Jack O'Connell) who is sent to Belfast in 1971 during the early stages of the Troubles.

And under the poor guidance of an inexperienced Lieutenant, Hook and his regiment are sent into a volatile area where a violent riot breaks out and Hook is accidentally abandoned. Left without the ability to contact his base, Hook is forced to survive the night and find his way to safety.  

The movie manages to stay extremely close to historical facts while reveling in all the beats of the classic Hollywood genre in a way that is sure to take your break away. 

"Amy" (2015)

Acclaimed filmmaker Asif Kapadia uses archival footage and new personal testimonies to present a powerfully honest look at the twisted and dangerous relationship between artists, celebrities, and the media through the life and career of the immensely talented British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse.  

"I, Daniel Blake" (2016)

"I, Daniel Blake" is classic Ken Loach. 

The movie follows Daniel Blake (Dave Johns) a 59-year-old widowed carpenter who is forced to rely on welfare after a recent heart attack leaves him unable to work. But despite his doctor's diagnosis, Blake is denied benefits and is told to return to his job.

We follow Daniel as he attempts to navigate his way through an agonizing and dehumanizing appeals process in which he begins to develop a strong bond with a single mother (Hayley Squires) who's struggling to take care of her two children.

"Dunkirk" (2017)

Christopher Nolan is best known for his raucous "Batman" thrillers but his greatest achievement thus far is the much quieter, but no less groundbreaking WW2 drama "Dunkirk."

Once again feeding his trademark obsession with time, Nolan crafts three interweaving stories to provide an emotionally engaging recreation of the evacuation of Dunkirk, which saw some 340,000 allied troops rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk after the German invasion. 

"Dunkirk" is an emotionally satisfying spectacle delivered by a writer-director who is in total command of his craft with a richly talented ensemble cast to match.

"Disobedience" (2017)

Based on British author Naomi Alderman's novel of the same name, "Disobedience" follows Ronit, a young photographer who returns home to her Orthodox Jewish community in North London after her father, a well-respect Rabbi, unexpectedly dies.

But many years earlier, she was shunned both by her father and the community for developing feelings for Esti, a childhood friend. And once back, the pair reignite that same intense passion, but this time Esti is married to Dovid, a rising Rabbi in their community. 

"The Death of Stalin" (2017)

Armando Iannucci cemented his place within the pantheon of classic, British satirists with his work in TV. And thankfully, none of his recent big-screen work has lost any of his trademark bite. 

Set in 1953 during the Great Terror of Joseph Stalin's reign, Iannucci's second directorial effort "The Death of Stalin" opens, as advertised, with the sudden death of the tyrannical dictator.

And when his corrupt, psychopathic councilors are notified, they descend on Moscow one-by-one, and a hilarious fight to install the next head of state begins.

"God's Own Country" (2017)

British writer-director Francis quite literally burst onto the scene after the debut of his quiet, confident, and moving drama "God's Own Country." 

Josh O'Connor, who is best known as Prince Charles in Netflix's "The Crown," stars as a young Yorkshire farmer who battles addiction until the arrival of a worker from Romania who ignites an intense relationship that changes Johnny's life forever.

"Matangi/Maya/M.I.A." (2018)

Director Stephen Loveridge has known the British rapper M.I.A. for over 20 years. The pair have been friends since they were film students at Central Saint Martins in London.

And as a result, "Matangi/Maya/M.I.A." — the documentary Loveridge made about M.I.A.'s life, her rise to fame, and the myriad of controversies that have followed — manages to mix a uniquely critical lens with intimate access to the subject. 

The documentary is woven together using a vault of never-before-seen footage spanning decades and provides an expansive look into the life of one of Britain's most inventive and controversial artists. 

"McQueen" (2018)

"McQueen" is a moving documentary that charts the legacy of Lee Alexander McQueen, the boisterous, anti-establishment fashion designer best known as Alexander McQueen.

Co-directed by Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui, the movie divides the designer's life in to distinct chapters that are named after some of his most famed collections.

Archival footage and interviews with McQueen's closest friends and family offer insight into his extraordinary life and offer new context to some of his more controversial shows such as Jack the Ripper Stalks His Victims and Highland Rape. 

"McQueen" is a fitting tribute to a complicated artist of mesmerizing and profound genius.

"The Favorite" (2018)

Yorgos Lanthimos brought his trademark dark, absurdist humor to the mainstream with his 2018 Oscar-winner "The Favourite."

The movie follows a frail Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) during the early part of the 18th century as England is about to wage war with the French. And for the most part, Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz), the Queen's lover and closest confident governs the country while tending to Anne's ill health. 

But when a new servant named Abigail (Emma Stones) arrives at court a battle for the Queen's attention begins.

"The Souvenir" (2019)

Over the last decade, British writer-director Joanna Hogg has released three movies, all of them masterpieces, and "The Souvenir" is the first of two to make this list.

Slightly pushing past her trademark small-scale yet managing to keep the deeply intimate nature of her previous work, Hogg charts a stunning semi-autobiographical film about youth, love, and, cinema. 

There is also a stunning, career-making performance from Honor Swinton Byrne daughter of Tilda Swinton — who is a lifelong friend of Hogg's — and also stars. 

The movie was executive-produced by Martin Scorsese. 

"Lynn + Lucy" (2019)

"Lynn + Lucy" is illuminated by a pair of masterful performances by Roxanne Scrimshaw (Lucy) and Nichola Burley (Lynn), two lifelong friends who have never ventured far from their childhood homes.

But when Lucy gives birth to her first child, she doesn't react well to being a mother. Soon, the pair's friendship is tested by the most extreme criminal circumstances. 

Writer-director Fyzal Boulifa's debut movie is a contemporary social realist drama with the morality of a classic Greek tragedy. 

"His House" (2020)

The horror genre, whether in film, literature, or visual art, is often described as the most political of all genres for its ability to encase grand, subversive stories and ideas into narratives that can shake audiences into action. And with his debut film "House House," director Remi Weekes creates one of the most terrifying political horrors of all time. 

The film follows a refugee couple who make the harrowing transatlantic journey from war-torn South Sudan to England. But they struggle to adapt to their new lives when a vicious evil enters their lives. 

"Small Axe" (2020)

Steve McQueen's "Small Axe" — a name borrowed from a 1973 single by the Wailers ("If you are the big tree, we are the small axe") — is not a singular work but instead a collection of five separate films that explore the lives of people living in London's West Indian community between the early 1960s and the late 1980s.

The "Small Axe" collection is on this list not only because all five films are so good that they could all be cited individually, but because the collection together is an exceptionally acted and nuanced portrait of an underrepresented culture during a transitional time in history.

John Boyega, Letitia Wright, and Malachi Kirby star. 

"Belfast" (2021)

Actor and director Kenneth Branagh drew from his own experiences growing up during The Troubles in Northern Ireland for 2021's "Belfast." The semi-autobiographical drama tells the coming-of-age story of 9-year-old Buddy (Jude Hill), who is growing up in a Protestant family in the titular city as riots erupt in 1969.

"Belfast" was nominated for seven Oscars at the 2021 Academy Awards, with Branagh taking home best screenplay. It also won the BAFTA award for outstanding British film and the Golden Globe for best screenplay.

"Aftersun" (2022)

Charlotte Wells' debut film, "Aftersun," looks at the complicated relationship between 11-year-old Sophie (Frankie Corio) and her father, Calum (Paul Mescal) while they're on holiday together in Turkey. 

In this emotional character study, the vacation is a pivotal point in Sophie's coming of age. It's also a heartbreaking portait of a father trying to hide his own struggles from his daughter.

Mescal was nominated for best actor at the 2023 Oscars for playing Calum, and Wells won outstanding debut at the 2023 BAFTAS.

• Main content

Screen Rant

London calling: 10 british films that make us all want to travel to the uk asap.

Some movies just make you want to travel. Anyone who watches these films will absolutely want to pack their bags for the UK.

Some of the most memorable films of our age have been set in the United Kingdom, and more specifically, in the English capital city of London. Seeing monuments like the famous Marble Arch or natural sights like the expansive River Thames in the background of these movies always makes us want to jump on the first flight to Great Britain.

RELATED:  10 Underrated British Comedies On Netflix

There is a special quality to British films that makes them stand out from the rest. Maybe it’s the stunning scenery, especially in those films set beyond London in the English countryside. And maybe it’s something else! Keep reading to find out what 10 British films make us want to travel to the U.K.

Notting Hill

Notting Hill  is not only one of the most famous and beloved British romance films of all time but is also one of the best romance films period. Who wouldn’t fall in love with the story of a shy bookshop owner from Notting Hill who finds a happy ending with a movie star from America?

The relationship between Will and Anna is what really captivates us in this movie, but the scenery also makes us want to book a one-way ticket to London. We get to see some of the city in the background, especially the famous Portobello Road.

The Parent Trap

The Parent Trap  isn’t strictly a British film: it’s half British and half American. Though most scenes take place in the United States, we do get to see some of London when Hallie Parker, played by Lindsay Lohan, goes to London disguised as her twin sister Annie James, to live with her mother.

We see some stock footage of some of the major sights of London and also hear about how Annie and her mom love to spend their time getting lost in Harrods. Sounds like a pretty good way to spend your time!

The Harry Potter Films

Even though a lot of what we see in the Harry Potter films isn’t exactly real, they still make us want to travel to the United Kingdom. In the later films, we get to see the three main characters spending some time in London before getting on with their fight against Voldemort. We also get to see the iconic Kings Cross Station, which is the first place that any Harry Potter fan visits when they travel to London.

RELATED:  10 Scariest British Horror Movies To Never Watch Alone, Ranked

Hogwarts itself may not be real, but many scenes were filmed in various locations around the United Kingdom. Seeing the stunning green scenery makes us want to explore the British countryside.

Bohemian Rhapsody

There are two things that Bohemian Rhapsody inspires us to do: listen to every Queen album on repeat and travel to London. Even though the city itself isn’t the focus of the film, which follows the life of Queen lead singer Freddie Mercury, we still get to see some of London in the background.

The film also shows us iconic London locations, such as Wembley Stadium where Queen performed their Live Aid set, and Garden Lodge, where Freddie Mercury lived. The original Wembley Stadium was rebuilt, but you can still visit the outside of the real Garden Lodge in London today.

Sliding Doors

Sliding Doors  doesn’t get quite as much attention as other British romance films do, but that doesn’t mean it’s any less enjoyable. The story follows Helen who gets fired from her PR job and is unknowingly being cheated on by her boyfriend.

We get to see Helen miss the train on her way home from work, and an alternate reality where she doesn’t miss the train, and how the two events have different consequences. There are a few prominent London sights that we get to see in the background which makes us want to hop on the next plane across the Atlantic!

A Fish Called Wanda

While A Fish Called Wanda  is set against a London backdrop, the film doesn’t show us all of the breathtaking sights that the English capital has to offer. But still, watching this classic comedy makes us want to travel to the U.K. anyway. There’s just a certain charm that the film has that makes us feel like we can’t get enough of all things British.

RELATED: 10 Intense British & Irish Horror Movies That You've Probably Never Heard Of

Two of the film’s protagonists, Wanda and Otto, are American, but several hilarious and memorable British characters are still featured. Archie Leach, in particular, played by John Cleese, makes us fall in love with British humor.

About A Boy

Starring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult, About a Boy  is another quintessentially British film that gives us serious London cravings. In the background, we get to catch a glimpse of Clerkenwell, where Will’s apartment is located, as well as the Regent’s Park Zoo, where Will and Marcus chat about the difference between a girl who’s your friend and a girlfriend.

The film, which was adapted from the novel written by Nick Hornby, is about Grant’s Will, who befriends a young boy called Marcus and ends up learning how to be an adult through their friendship.

It has been over 10 years since Atonement  was first released and we’re still not over the way this story toyed with our emotions. The powerful tale of one girl’s desire to atone a big mistake that she made was adapted from a novel written by Ian McEwan.

The film doesn’t give us London cravings, per se, but the stunning scenes of crisp green countryside do make us want to visit the United Kingdom and maybe spend a little time in the countryside. The manor scenes were filmed at Stokesay Court in Shropshire. And luckily for fans of the film, you can even book a guided tour of the grounds!

The Holiday

Like The Parent Trap , The Holiday   shows us scenes that take place in the United States as well as those that take place in the United Kingdom. When English woman Iris and American Amanda connect online, they organize to switch houses for two weeks over the Christmas period. While Amanda stays in Iris’s idyllic and classic cottage in the English countryside, Iris stays in Amanda’s L.A. mansion.

Sadly, Iris’s cottage isn’t a real place that you can stay at. It was built purposely for the film. However, there are several other cottages just like it in the Cotswolds region of England.

Love Actually

Picking the best British film in difficult, but many fans would nominate the Christmas flick Love Actually   as their absolute favorite English movie. The story follows several characters as they navigate through their lives and love lives in London in the week leading up to Christmas.

We get to see lots of classic London locations and the enchanting vibe of the film makes us wish that we could be there amongst all the action. Whether it’s the lights or the snow, there’s something about London at Christmas that really is magical.

NEXT:  British Invasion: 10 Best Series Streaming On Acorn TV

Things you buy through our links may earn  Vox Media  a commission.

The 25 Greatest Time-Travel Movies Ever Made

It must say something, surely, about humans, how often time-travel movies are about returning to the past rather than jumping to the future. As Mark Duplass’s forlorn character says in Safety Not Guaranteed , “The mission has to do with regret.” With all the potential to explore the unknown world of the future, so often when our minds conspire to bend the rules of time it’s instead to rehash the old. It’s compelling to watch a character in a movie do what we cannot — right past wrongs or uncover the reason for or meaning behind the events in their lives, whether they be emotionally catastrophic or merely geopolitically motivated.

So absent is the future from the canon, in fact, that when it is involved, typically future dwellers are leaving their own time to come back to the present. Back to the Future Part II aside, it seems as if there’s something about going forward in time that just doesn’t track for humans. (Of course, you could argue that this is because the present-day concept of bidirectional time travel would infinitely multiply or change beyond recognition any future that may occur, but that’s a knot for another article.)

In any case, the time-travel stories deemed worthy of Hollywood budgets aren’t always straightforward in their mechanics. Some films on this list barely qualify as time-travel movies at all; others could hardly qualify as anything else. There are movies about trips through time but also ones about the bending and fracturing and muddying thereof; then there are those about, as Andy Samberg aptly puts it in Palm Springs , “one of those infinite time-loop situations you might have heard about.” There’s even a movie in which we get only 13 seconds’ worth of time travel, when it functions more like a joke whose punch line hits at the film’s climax.

What these films all do have in common is a fascination with changing the way time works. That being said, the list leaves out movies in larger, more extended franchises in which time meddling is a one-off dalliance thrown into a sequel with little by way of foreshadowing: think Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban , Avengers: Endgame , and Men in Black III . (It also leaves off perhaps the Ur-time-travel movie, Primer , and the quite good Midnight in Paris because their directors don’t deserve the column inches.) We’re looking at self-contained stories using time mechanics from the start, with preference given to those that involve themselves more intently with the ins and outs of time travel; that ask questions about time, aging, memory and so forth; and that try to succeed at it in new and interesting ways. So let’s get to it.

25. Galaxy Quest (1999)

Does Galaxy Quest really count as a time-travel movie? Some compelling reasons argue that it doesn’t: Time travel isn’t a major factor in the plot, and the time traveling that does occur is, yes, only a 13-second jump. But its use of time travel is meaningful insofar as the movie itself is a loving spoof of Star Trek , which makes use of time travel in three films ( one of which made this list ), not to mention dozens of episodes across its various TV iterations. Tacking on time travel as a deus ex machina for the actors in a Star Trek– like show pressed into service as an actual space crew by an endangered alien race is the exact right amount of ribbing in a movie that’s as on point as it is hilarious.

Galaxy Quest is available to rent on Amazon .

24. Happy Death Day (2017)

Pick away at the surface of a time-loop movie and you find a horror movie. Most of the entries on this list are covered in enough feel-good spin to land as comedies, but Happy Death Day stares the horror of the time-loop phenomenon right in the face. (It’s also quite funny.) Reliving the same day over and over is an unimaginably potent form of psychological torture, and adding murder to the equation does little to dull that edge. The film follows a college-age protagonist struggling to escape from a masked slasher hell-bent on killing her again and again while she tries to solve the mystery of how she got stuck in a time loop.

Happy Death Day is available to rent on Amazon .

23. Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Seriously, this may be the only good movie in which the film’s whole focus is using a time machine to travel into the future. The fact that it’s a sequel is telling — the characters already traveled into the past in the first movie , and the filmmakers decided to save “traveling even further into the past“ for the third film in the trilogy. Still, Back to the Future Part II is a fun time that makes great use of sight gags and references, recasting scenes from the first film in the distant future year of 2015 with all its hoverboards and self-lacing Nikes.

Back to the Future Part II is available to rent on Amazon .

22. See You Yesterday (2019)

It’s a dirty little secret of time-travel movies that they tend to be, well, pretty white. Tenet ’s Protagonist aside, if Hollywood’s sending someone through time, they’re almost certainly not a Black person, and for obvious reasons: Most of post-contact North American history is deeply unfriendly to people of color, and the problems a person running around out of time and place is going to encounter are deeply compounded if they’ll likely be the target of racist abuse or violence — which makes See You Yesterday all the more compelling. Produced by Spike Lee and featuring one of filmdom’s most famous time travelers in a cameo role, it follows a Black teenage science prodigy who uses a time machine to try to save her brother from being killed by a police officer.

See You Yesterday is streaming on Netflix .

21. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)

No offense to the Back to the Future franchise, but time travel never looks more fun on film than it does in the first Bill & Ted movie. It’s a concept that feels distinctly of a different era, so pure is its zaniness, that it’s hard to imagine anyone concocting it today. The titular duo, Californian high-school students in the ’80s, travel through the past looking for historical figures in order to ace a history project, then bring them all back to the present. High jinks ensue! We get Genghis Khan in a sporting-goods store and Mozart on an electric keyboard. What more could you want?

Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is streaming on HBO Max .

20. Source Code (2011)

Time-travel-film aficionados know this won’t be Jake Gyllenhaal’s only stop on this list, but no matter. Source Code finds him repeating the same eight minutes over and over as he struggles to find the culprit in a train bombing — with each replay ending in his own death by explosion. For some reason, a romantic subplot is shoehorned into this, along with a bunch of frankly unnecessary technical mumbo-jumbo, but the core idea is a compelling mix of the time-loop movie and the train whodunit that Gyllenhaal is a perfect fit for.

Source Code is available to rent on Amazon .

19. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Some sort of law of nature dictates that every genuinely good idea and/or piece of true art has to at some point be turned into a Hollywood movie. Thank God La Jetée was adapted into something that can stand on its own feet artistically. 12 Monkeys may not retain its source material’s black-and-white look or stripped-down, static-image presentation, but it is a rollicking good time nonetheless. That’s in no small part due to director Terry Gilliam getting the best out of Bruce Willis and a young Brad Pitt, and recasting World War III as a planet-decimating virus. Which, like at least one other movie on this list , “speaks to the present moment,” or whatever.

12 Monkeys is available to rent on Amazon .

18. Run Lola Run (1998)

Unlike almost all of the other films on this list, the terms time travel and time machine don’t show up anywhere in Run Lola Run . Rather, it’s a sort of de facto time-loop scenario in which the protagonist tries repeatedly to pay a ransom to save her boyfriend’s life. In fact, if not for a few key details, it could easily be characterized (and often has been) as an alternate-endings movie rather than a time-travel film. But the fact that Lola seems to be learning from her past attempts with each successive one suggests that she is, indeed, using knowledge gained from previous loops to bring a satisfactory end to this situation.

Run Lola Run is available to rent on Amazon .

17. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)

One of the most striking things about Groundhog Day is the mutability and replicability of its core conceit. Perhaps the best case in point is Edge of Tomorrow , sometimes known as Live. Die. Repeat. after its original tagline. It’s the kind of physically grueling movie only an actor as genuinely unhinged as Tom Cruise could pull off. A noncombatant thrust into a war against invading aliens, Cruise’s character finds himself reliving day one of combat over and over, slowly but surely refining his techniques in order to survive the extraterrestrial onslaught. Like the central twosome in the much less violent Palm Springs , he winds up with a partner in (war) crime, teaming up with the similarly time-trapped Emily Blunt, and the explanation for the replay glitch here is actually pretty satisfying.

Edge of Tomorrow is streaming on Fubo TV .

16. Star Trek (2009)

If you could create some sort of an advanced stat to measure controversy generated per unit of interesting filmmaking decisions, J.J. Abrams would have to be near the top in terms of his ability to rig up movie drama from almost nothing. This is a guy whose filmography is like Godzilla rip-off, Spielberg homage, safe reboot of cherished IP, repeat. Star Trek may be his best film, though, a sure-footed reinvention of a dorky sci-fi franchise that made it, well, cool. Somehow, the beauty of Spock and Kirk’s bromance being woven through chance encounters with future selves kind of … works?

Star Trek is available to rent on Amazon .

15. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (2006)

There’s a relative dearth of time travel in animated film, which perhaps is a function simply of the fact that it’s less impressive to stage in a world that’s already unreal. If you can Looney Tunes your way through physics, what’s so special about grabbing the flow of time and tying it into a bow? Still, the original Girl Who Leapt Through Time deserves mention here. It’s a beautiful story that interlaces the complexity of time leaping with the intensity of teenage emotion and the thorny process of growing up where the opportunity to redo things leads, over time, to growth — a less shitty Groundhog Day , in a way.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is available to rent on Amazon .

14. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

She may not be the most famous, decorated, or emulated actress of her generation, but Aubrey Plaza is someone whose personality spoke to the irony-soaked 2010s in a way that simply could not be denied. Her character on Parks and Recreation , April Ludgate, was, by all accounts, created specifically to channel Plaza’s real-life personality to the screen, and she plays essentially the same character in Safety Not Guaranteed . Here, she’s a sarcastic intern at a magazine working on a story about a would-be time traveler and using her feminine wiles to slowly gain his trust. The chemistry between Plaza and Mark Duplass is probably the film’s high point; the subplot about the FBI feels like it was clipped out of a bad X-Files episode.

Safety Not Guaranteed is streaming on Tubi .

13. La Jetée (1962)

At only a 28-minute run time, La Jetée is arguably too short to merit inclusion on this list. However, what it lacks in content (and in, well, moving images; it’s almost exclusively a collection of static black-and-white shots set to voice-over), it more than makes up for in inventiveness and influence, and it would be a travesty to leave it out in favor of more recent by-the-book fare. Tracing the tale of a man held prisoner in post-WWIII Paris being used in time-travel experiments as his captors seek to remedy the postapocalyptic state of the world, he’s sent into both the future and the past and ends up unraveling a lifelong personal mystery while he’s at it.

La Jetée is streaming on the Criterion Channel .

12. Planet of the Apes (1968)

Unlike the worse but more straightforwardly time-traveling Tim Burton remake, the relationship between the original Planet of the Apes and time travel is inexact — technically, the astronaut crew that lands on the titular planet does travel forward 2,000 years, but it’s not done via a time machine. The travel isn’t instantaneous: It literally does take them 2,000 years to get there; they’re just unconscious and on life support. Still, the way the film’s ending handles the iconic reveal is exactly in line with the best of the time-travel canon, the telescoping, mise en abyme feeling of the world shifting in front of your very eyes without your moving an inch.

Planet of the Apes is available to rent on Amazon .

11. Groundhog Day (1993)

The famous Bill Murray vehicle essentially invented the infinite-time-loop genre (and it’s hardly a movie that succeeds on the strength of its concept alone), but the idea at its core is so steeped in the casual misogyny of late-’80s and early-’90s cinema that it’s hard to watch today without cringing. Murray’s character employing what amounts to PUA-style techniques over and over and over in a desperate bid to fuck his hapless co-worker just doesn’t hit the way it did back then. If the story arc didn’t present a guy detoxifying himself of the worst aspects of masculinity in order to be worthy of a woman’s love as the primary way for a 20th-century white man to achieve full personhood, this would be much higher on the list.

Groundhog Day is streaming on Starz .

10. Predestination (2014)

This is probably the most complicated film on the list. Following a “temporal agent” (played by Ethan Hawke) who’s trying to prevent a bombing in 1970s New York, it’s based on a Robert A. Heinlein short story and features Shiv Roy herself, Sarah Snook, in a star-making turn as someone with a complicated backstory and a secret. Like the best sci-fi, the film’s premise raises all kinds of fascinating questions about the titular concept and throws in some interesting musings on sex, gender, and the self in the process.

Predestination is streaming on Tubi .

9. Looper (2012)

Wes Anderson gets a lot of flak for his overwrought twee visuals, but Rian Johnson has a knack for making movies that feel and function like dioramas even if they don’t look it. Narratively speaking, everything here is constructed just so — and there’s a certain beauty in that — but who ever had a profound experience of art by looking at a diorama? Looper was probably Johnson’s least precious pre– Star Wars film, which is nice because the temptation to drastically overmaneuver the mechanics of a time-travel story can lead to disaster. The tech used to Bruce Willis–ify Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s face is distracting, and the third act’s retreat from the postapocalyptic city of the future to the postapocalyptic corn farm of the future is a brave choice that the film struggles to land. Still, Johnson’s vision of a future in which organized crime runs time travel is compelling and well worth a watch.

Looper is streaming on Netflix .

8. Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko is a bit of a genre mash-up. Part high-school movie, part sci-fi flick, part bleak meditation on the soullessness of late-’80s America, it’s nevertheless a weirdly successful piece of filmmaking that makes fantastic use of a young Jake Gyllenhaal, a great supporting cast (Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore, Jena Malone, and Patrick Swayze among others), and an absolutely iconic haunting cover of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World.” Watching high schoolers navigate parallel universes, wormholes, and time travel is a dicey proposition, but director Richard Kelly makes it work, somehow.

Donnie Darko is streaming on HBO Max .

7. Back to the Future (1984)

While it’s clearly superior to the sequel (and leagues ahead of the final film in the trilogy), the original Back to the Future is a bit of a mess (John Mulaney was right , to be honest). Its racial and gender politics are cringey, and the incest subplot is weird (“It’s your cousin Marvin. Marvin Pornhub . You know that new plot element you’ve been looking for?”), but there’s a clear interest in time travel beyond its shimmering surface: the very real addressing of the “grandfather problem” in time travel via the slow disappearance of Marty from his family photo, the accidental invention of rock music, and a genuine curiosity about the nuts-and-bolts mechanics of time machines. Ahh, what the hell. It’s a romp.

Back to the Future is available to rent on Amazon .

6. Palm Springs (2020)

No offense to Gen-Xers and boomers, but the best time-loop movie of all time is Palm Springs . The film isn’t without its missteps, but it’s much more curious about life than Groundhog Day was through the eyes of Murray’s misanthrope. Cristin Milioti and Andy Samberg‘s characters, stuck in the loop together, are a perfect comedic match, and their shared humanity makes for a beautiful arc. The film raises questions about what’s worth doing in life when nothing lasts and how to stay sane when every day is the same. Of course, as a sort of polar opposite of Tenet , it benefited from coming out during the pandemic by speaking, as it does, to the experience of lockdown.

Palm Springs is streaming on Hulu .

5. Tenet (2020)

Interstellar wasn’t enough for Chris Nolan, apparently. Tenet ’s legacy may end up being little more than that of the COVID action movie no one saw — a bloated thriller that Nolan fought to get into theaters and bar from home viewing reportedly to swell the size of his own pockets. It really did suffer from bad timing, though, because this is genuinely a quintessential big-screen popcorn movie whose absurdity is all the more palatable when it’s given the audiovisual bombast it deserves. Ambitious in scope as it traces a war on the past by the future (yes, you read that right), Tenet is as enamored of action tropes as it is in bucking them, and its investment in rendering visible the brain-bendingly knotty mechanics of moving through time is laudable, even when the movie itself remains opaque — as impenetrable as the future, as hazy as the past.

Tenet is streaming on HBO Max .

4. The Terminator (1984)

A partner to Blade Runner in the mid-’80s invention of sci-fi noir, The Terminator is a stunning film in many ways, despite the third act’s now-iffy visual effects. While it’s not James Cameron’s debut, and it would go on to be bested by its sequel , it functions as an incredible showcase for an emerging young director who would exclusively make big stories for the rest of his career. Arnold Schwarzenegger is perfectly cast as the relentless, unemotional killer cyborg sent back from the future to terminate the mother of the eventual resistance leader, and the film’s romantic subplot has just the perfect amount of time-travel-induced cheesiness for it to work.

The Terminator is streaming on Amazon Prime Video .

3. Interstellar (2014)

It’s not inaccurate to say Christopher Nolan is a director who’s more interested in scale and scope than in expressing the minutiae of the human experience in its purest form. But in Interstellar, a Nolan movie in its titular ambitions, there’s a core element of time travel wrought not as sci-fi fireworks but as a paean to the sheer force and will of the power of love. It both does and doesn’t work, depending on your capacity for cheese in space, but even besides that, Nolan’s use of time as story arc — the way Miller’s planet functions, in particular — is conceptually masterful in the best kind of time-travel-movie way.

Interstellar is streaming on Paramount+ .

2. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Whereas the franchise’s first movie spends more time on the question of time travel, in the second it takes a bit of a back seat to the action itself. It’s hard to fault director James Cameron for this decision; T2 remains one of the best action movies of the ’90s and — along with Jurassic Park and The Matrix — one of the decade’s best when for special effects. The groundbreaking T-1000 would honestly be enough to get this movie on the list; a tween John Connor grappling with questions of predestination and the fact that he is vicariously responsible for his own conception feel almost like icing on the time-travel cake. Much as in 12 Monkeys , time travel here is mistaken for delusion, as valiant Sarah Connor, in a Cassandra-esque nightmare, has to battle against the future only she knows is coming. Of course, Cassandra never had access to any firepower stored in underground desert arsenals.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day is streaming on Netflix .

1. Arrival (2016)

It’s fair to wonder whether Arrival really is, in fact, a time-travel movie. The Ted Chiang short story it’s based on isn’t about time travel per se; rather, it’s an exploration of alternate forms of temporal understanding. The linguist protagonist, played by Amy Adams, doesn’t travel through time so much as come to experience it differently. Still, the plot ends up hinging on foreknowledge that she is granted not via visions but by actually experiencing her future simultaneously with her present and past. For our purposes, though, that’s time fuckery enough to merit inclusion, and boy howdy does the film deliver in overall quality. Partly, that’s simply a question of the source material. Chiang is arguably the most talented (and possibly the most decorated) American sci-fi writer of his generation. But the source story is not especially Hollywood friendly, and director Denis Villeneuve has adopted it lovingly, borrowing a plot device from another of Chiang’s stories, the more straightforwardly time-travel-based “The Merchant and the Alchemist’s Gate,” in order to add some third-act blockbuster flavor. The result is a beautiful meditation on love, choice, and courage that packs art-film ethos into a genuine sci-fi blockbuster.

Arrival is streaming on Hulu and Paramount+ .

• vulture homepage lede
• timey-wimey
• vulture lists
• time travel
• vulture picks

Most Viewed Stories

• The Man Who Gossiped Too Much  
• Cinematrix No. 43: April 24, 2024
• Bonus Cinematrix: The Criterion Channel Edition
• Diddy’s Open Secrets
• Shōgun Finale Recap: Scholar of the Wind
• Vanderpump Rules Recap: Attack of the 50-Foot Man-Baby
• Everything Barbra Streisand Eats in Her 970-Page Memoir

Editor’s Picks

Most Popular

What is your email.

This email will be used to sign into all New York sites. By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive email correspondence from us.

Sign In To Continue Reading

Create your free account.

Password must be at least 8 characters and contain:

• Lower case letters (a-z)
• Upper case letters (A-Z)
• Numbers (0-9)
• Special Characters (!@#$%^&*)

As part of your account, you’ll receive occasional updates and offers from New York , which you can opt out of anytime.

25 Best British Movies Of All Time: A Journey Through UK Cinema

• Latin America
• The Caribbean
• Czech Republic
• 100+ Film Countries
• Southeast Asia
• Asian Cinema
• Philippines
• South Africa
• New Zealand

British cinema has a rich history that spans over a century, producing many iconic and influential films that have left a lasting impact on cinema around the world. From the early days of silent cinema to the modern era of blockbuster franchises and indie gems, British filmmakers have consistently pushed the boundaries of the medium and created works of enduring artistic value.

Some of the most beloved and acclaimed British films of all time have become cultural touchstones, celebrated for their wit, style, and emotional depth. From sweeping epics to intimate character studies, British cinema has a wide range of genres and styles that appeal to a diverse audience.

Best British Movies

In this article, we’ll explore some of the best British movies across various genres and time periods, highlighting their unique contributions to cinema and their enduring legacy.

1. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

Lawrence of Arabia is a 1962 epic historical drama film directed by David Lean and starring Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness, and Omar Sharif. The film tells the story of T.E. Lawrence, a British soldier who became a key figure in the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

Here are a few reasons why Lawrence of Arabia is considered a classic and worth watching:

Epic scope: Lawrence of Arabia is known for its epic scale and stunning visuals. The film was shot on location in Jordan and Morocco, and features sweeping desert landscapes and impressive battle sequences. The film’s scope and grandeur have earned it a reputation as one of the greatest epic films of all time.

Strong performances: The film features a talented cast of actors, including Peter O’Toole in his breakout role as T.E. Lawrence. Alec Guinness also delivers a memorable performance as Prince Faisal, and Omar Sharif’s role as Sherif Ali has become an iconic part of film history.

Exploration of complex themes: Lawrence of Arabia is not just a war movie, but a film that explores complex themes such as identity, imperialism, and the nature of heroism. The film’s portrayal of T.E. Lawrence as a flawed and conflicted hero has made it a favorite of film critics and scholars.

Overall, Lawrence of Arabia is a masterpiece of cinema that continues to captivate audiences over 50 years after its release. Whether you’re a fan of epic films, historical dramas, or just great filmmaking, it’s definitely worth watching.

• Factory sealed DVD
• Peter O'Toole, Alec Guinness, Anthony Quinn (Actors)
• David Lean (Director) - Sam Spiegel (Producer)
• Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese (Subtitles)
• Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

2. The Red Shoes (1948)

The Red Shoes” is a visually stunning and emotionally powerful film that tells the story of a young ballerina who becomes consumed by her ambition to become a great dancer. The movie explores themes related to art, love, and sacrifice, and features breathtaking dance sequences that have become iconic in the history of cinema.

The film has been highly influential and has inspired countless filmmakers, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg. It is also noteworthy for its innovative use of Technicolor cinematography and its imaginative storytelling techniques.

So while “The Red Shoes” may not be a French film, it is certainly a movie that any film lover should see, as it represents a pinnacle of cinematic achievement and artistic vision.

• Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring (Actors)
• Michael Powell (Director)
• English (Publication Language)
• Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)

3. A Clockwork Orange (1971)

“A Clockwork Orange” is a 1971 British dystopian crime film directed by Stanley Kubrick, adapted from the novel of the same name by Anthony Burgess.

The film is set in a near-future society where youth violence is rampant and follows the story of Alex DeLarge, a young man who leads a gang of “droogs” and commits horrific acts of violence.

The film is known for its striking visual style, its use of classical music, and its provocative themes surrounding free will, morality, and the nature of evil.

The controversial film was met with both critical acclaim and outrage upon its release, with some critics praising its artistry and others criticizing its explicit depictions of violence and sex.

Despite the controversy, “A Clockwork Orange” has become a cultural touchstone and a landmark in British cinema, influencing countless films and filmmakers with its bold and daring vision.

It remains a powerful and thought-provoking work of art that challenges audiences to confront difficult questions about the human condition.

• Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates (Actors)
• Stanley Kubrick (Director) - Anthony Burgess (Writer)
• Audience Rating: R (Restricted)

4. Brief Encounter (1945)

Brief Encounter is a classic British romantic drama film directed by David Lean and released in 1945. The film is based on a play by Noël Coward and stars Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard in the lead roles.

The story follows the chance meeting of a married woman, Laura, and a doctor, Alec, at a railway station. The two are instantly drawn to each other and begin to meet regularly, falling deeply in love despite their respective spouses and societal expectations.

The film is known for its beautifully crafted dialogue and poignant performances, as well as its portrayal of the repressed emotions and societal constraints of post-World War II Britain. The film has been widely acclaimed by critics and audiences alike, and is considered a timeless classic of British cinema.

• Brief Encounter (1945) ( Noel Coward's Brief Encounter )
• Brief Encounter (1945)
• Noel Coward's Brief Encounter
• Trevor Howard, Irene Handl, Celia Johnson (Actors)
• David Lean (Director) - Brief Encounter (1945) ( Noel Coward's Brief Encounter ) (Producer)

5. Barry Lyndon (1975)

Barry Lyndon is a 1975 historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and starring Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, and Patrick Magee. The film is based on the novel The Luck of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray, and tells the story of an Irish rogue who attempts to climb the social ladder in 18th-century England.

Here are a few reasons why Barry Lyndon is considered a classic and worth watching:

Visual style: Like many of Kubrick’s films, Barry Lyndon is known for its striking visual style. The film was shot almost entirely using natural light, and features a painterly quality reminiscent of the 18th-century art it portrays. The film’s visuals earned it an Academy Award for Best Cinematography.

Complex characters: The film’s characters, particularly the titular Barry Lyndon, are complex and nuanced. O’Neal delivers a strong performance as a character who is both sympathetic and flawed, and the supporting cast is equally impressive.

Exploration of social class: Barry Lyndon is a film that explores the complexities of social class and the lengths to which people will go to climb the social ladder. The film’s portrayal of the wealthy and powerful is both scathing and insightful, and its commentary on the social dynamics of the time period remains relevant today.

Overall, Barry Lyndon is a beautifully crafted film that is both visually stunning and intellectually engaging. Whether you’re a fan of Kubrick’s work or just appreciate great filmmaking, it’s definitely worth checking out.

• Barry Lyndon - Blu-ray Brand New
• Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee (Actors)
• Stanley Kubrick (Director) - Stanley Kubrick (Writer) - Jan Harlan (Producer) - William Makepeace...

6. The Third Man (1949)

 It is a British film directed by Carol Reed and written by Graham Greene. However, like “The Red Shoes”, “The Third Man” is a classic of world cinema that has had a significant impact on the medium.

Set in post-World War II Vienna, “The Third Man” tells the story of a writer who arrives in the city and discovers that his friend, a shady businessman, has been killed in mysterious circumstances. As he investigates his friend’s death, he becomes embroiled in a dangerous web of deception and intrigue.

The film is notable for its striking visual style, which includes iconic shots of Vienna’s sewers and its famous Ferris wheel, as well as its haunting zither score by Anton Karas. It is also remembered for its unforgettable performance by Orson Welles as the enigmatic Harry Lime.

Overall, “The Third Man” is a masterpiece of suspense and cinematic storytelling that has stood the test of time and remains one of the greatest films ever made, regardless of its nationality.

• Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio.

7. Trainspotting (1996)

“Trainspotting” is a 1996 British black comedy-drama film directed by Danny Boyle and based on the novel of the same name by Irvine Welsh. The film follows a group of heroin addicts in Edinburgh, Scotland, as they navigate their way through addiction, friendship, and betrayal.

The film is known for its gritty and raw depiction of drug addiction and its accompanying lifestyle, as well as its use of stylish visuals and a pulsating soundtrack.

The film’s cast, which includes Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller, and Robert Carlyle, delivers powerful and memorable performances, with McGregor’s portrayal of the protagonist Renton becoming a cultural icon.

“Trainspotting” was a critical and commercial success upon its release, receiving praise for its bold and unflinching portrayal of addiction and youth culture. It has since become a cult classic and a defining film of the British cinema of the 1990s, known for its visual style, music, and irreverent sense of humor.

• Ewan McGregor, Ewen Bremner, Jonny Lee Miller (Actors)
• Danny Boyle (Director) - Andrew MacDonald (Producer)

8. Don’t Look Now (1973)

Don’t Look Now is a British-Italian supernatural horror-thriller film directed by Nicolas Roeg and released in 1973. The film stars Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland as a married couple, John and Laura Baxter, who travel to Venice after the death of their daughter.

While in Venice, they encounter a pair of elderly sisters, one of whom claims to be clairvoyant and tells Laura that she has seen the spirit of their daughter. As the Baxters begin to experience a series of strange and unsettling events, including ominous premonitions and visions, they become increasingly desperate to uncover the truth about what is happening to them.

The film is known for its haunting imagery, use of fragmented editing, and intricate symbolism. It has been praised for its ability to blend horror and psychological drama, as well as for its atmospheric and suspenseful storytelling.

The film has had a significant impact on the horror genre and is widely regarded as a classic of British cinema.

• Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason (Actors)
• Nicolas Roeg (Director) - Allan Scott (Writer)
• English (Subtitle)

9. Doctor Zhivago (1965)

Doctor Zhivago is a 1965 epic romantic drama film directed by David Lean and starring Omar Sharif, Julie Christie, and Geraldine Chaplin. It is based on the novel of the same name by Boris Pasternak and tells the story of a physician and poet named Yuri Zhivago who falls in love with a young woman named Lara during the tumultuous years of the Russian Revolution.

Here are a few reasons why Doctor Zhivago is considered a classic and worth watching:

Sweeping epic scope: Doctor Zhivago is an epic film that spans several decades and covers a significant period in Russian history. The film’s scale and scope are impressive, and it captures the beauty and grandeur of the Russian landscape.

Stellar cast: The film boasts a talented cast, with Omar Sharif delivering a powerful performance as Yuri Zhivago. Julie Christie is also memorable as Lara, and the supporting cast is equally strong.

Compelling love story: At its core, Doctor Zhivago is a compelling love story between two people caught up in the chaos of history. The film’s exploration of the human heart in the midst of political turmoil is both moving and insightful.

Overall, Doctor Zhivago is a beautifully crafted film that is both visually stunning and emotionally resonant. Whether you’re a fan of epic historical dramas or just appreciate great filmmaking, it’s definitely worth watching.

• Audience Rating: Unrated (Not Rated)

10. The Remains of the Day (1993)

“The Remains of the Day” is actually a British film directed by James Ivory and written by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, based on the novel of the same name by Kazuo Ishiguro. It is not a French film, but it is certainly a remarkable film that has earned critical acclaim and numerous awards.

Starring Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson, “The Remains of the Day” is a poignant and subtle drama that explores themes of duty, loyalty, and regret.

Hopkins plays a butler who has dedicated his life to his profession and served a distinguished British lord, played by James Fox. As he reflects on his past and his loyalty to his employer, he begins to question the choices he has made and the sacrifices he has endured.

The film features masterful performances from its lead actors, as well as exquisite cinematography and a beautiful score by Richard Robbins. It is a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant film that has become a classic of British cinema.

While “The Remains of the Day” is not a French film, it is certainly a movie that any lover of cinema should watch, as it is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking and storytelling.

• Polish Release, cover may contain Polish text/markings. The disk has English audio and subtitles.
• Anthony Hopkins, Emma Thompson, John Haycraft (Actors)
• James Ivory (Director) - Kazuo Ishiguro (Writer) - Donald Rosenfeld (Producer)
• Arabic, Bulgarian, Czech, Danish, Dutch (Subtitles)

11. Repulsion (1965)

“Repulsion” is a 1965 British horror film directed by Roman Polanski and starring Catherine Deneuve. The film follows a young woman named Carol who begins to experience increasingly disturbing hallucinations and delusions while living alone in her apartment in London.

The film is known for its psychological intensity, innovative camerawork, and masterful direction by Polanski. It explores themes of sexuality, repression, and mental illness in a deeply unsettling and disturbing way, and is considered a landmark in the horror genre.

“Repulsion” received critical acclaim upon its release and has since become a classic of British cinema. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest horror films ever made, and has been praised for its visual style, its psychological depth, and its unflinching examination of the human psyche.

• Catherine Deneuve, Ian Hendry, John Fraser (Actors)
• Roman Polanski (Director) - Roman Polanski (Writer) - Gene Gutowski (Producer)

12. Stairway to Heaven (1946)

Stairway to Heaven (also known as A Matter of Life and Death) is a British fantasy-romance film directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, and released in 1946. The film stars David Niven as Peter Carter, a British wartime pilot who miraculously survives after his plane is shot down.

And Kim Hunter as June, an American radio operator who communicates with Peter during his final moments. Peter and June fall in love despite being from different countries and worlds, and the film explores the concept of life, death, and the afterlife.

The film is known for its stunning visual effects and imaginative use of color and symbolism, as well as its exploration of themes such as love, mortality, and the afterlife.

It has been widely acclaimed for its unique blend of romance, drama, and fantasy, and is considered a classic of British cinema. The film also received several Oscar nominations, including Best Original Screenplay and Best Art Direction.

• David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote (Actors)
• Emeric Pressburger (Director)

13. About Time (2013)

About Time is a 2013 romantic comedy-drama film directed by Richard Curtis and starring Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, and Bill Nighy. The film follows the story of Tim Lake, a young man who discovers that he has the ability to travel back in time and tries to use this power to improve his life and relationships.

Here are a few reasons why About Time is a charming and heartwarming film that is worth watching:

Unique time-travel concept: About Time explores the idea of time travel in a unique and refreshing way, using it as a vehicle to explore themes of family, love, and the importance of living in the moment.

Strong performances: The film boasts a talented cast, with Domhnall Gleeson delivering a standout performance as Tim Lake. Rachel McAdams is also memorable as Tim’s love interest, Mary.

Heartwarming and funny: About Time strikes a great balance between heartwarming and funny moments, making it an enjoyable watch for audiences of all ages.

Thought-provoking: The film’s exploration of the importance of cherishing the present moment and making the most of every day is thought-provoking and inspiring.

Overall, About Time is a charming and uplifting film that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. Whether you’re a fan of romantic comedies or just appreciate a good story, it’s definitely worth checking out.

• Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy (Actors)
• Richard Curtis (Director) - Richard Curtis (Writer) - Tim Bevan (Producer)
• Spanish, French (Subtitles)

14. The King’s Speech (2010)

“The King’s Speech” is a British film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. It is not a French film, but it is a remarkable film that has earned critical acclaim and numerous awards, including Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

Starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter, “The King’s Speech” tells the story of King George VI, who suffers from a severe stutter and must overcome his speech impediment in order to lead his country through the tumultuous years leading up to World War II.

The film explores the relationship between the King and his unorthodox speech therapist, played by Rush, and the challenges they face together.

The film features outstanding performances from its lead actors, as well as exquisite production design and a beautiful score by Alexandre Desplat. It is a moving and inspiring film that celebrates the power of friendship and perseverance in the face of adversity.

While “The King’s Speech” is not a French film, it is certainly a movie that any lover of cinema should watch, as it is a remarkable achievement in filmmaking and storytelling.

• Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush (Actors)
• Tom Hooper (Director) - David Seidler (Writer) - Iain Canning (Producer)
• Spanish, English (Subtitles)

15. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)

“Kind Hearts and Coronets” is a 1949 British black comedy film directed by Robert Hamer and starring Alec Guinness, Dennis Price, and Valerie Hobson. The film follows the story of Louis Mazzini, a young man who is determined to claim his rightful place as the Duke of Chalfont by eliminating the eight members of his aristocratic family who stand in his way.

The film is known for its witty dialogue, clever plot twists, and Guinness’s memorable performances in multiple roles. It also features beautiful cinematography and art direction that captures the elegance and decadence of British aristocracy.

“Kind Hearts and Coronets” received critical acclaim upon its release and has since become a classic of British cinema. It is often cited as one of the greatest British films ever made, and is particularly notable for its innovative use of a single actor in multiple roles.

The film’s biting satire of British class society and its absurdity has made it a perennial favorite among film enthusiasts.

16. The Wicker Man (1973)

The Wicker Man is a British horror film directed by Robin Hardy and released in 1973. The film stars Edward Woodward as Sergeant Howie, a devoutly Christian police officer who is summoned to investigate the disappearance of a young girl on the remote Scottish island of Summerisle.

As Howie begins to uncover the island’s pagan rituals and customs, he becomes increasingly disturbed and alarmed by what he finds. His investigation ultimately leads him to a shocking and terrifying climax.

The film is known for its atmospheric and suspenseful storytelling, as well as its exploration of themes such as religion, paganism, and human sacrifice. It has been widely acclaimed for its effective use of music and imagery, as well as its memorable performances, particularly by Christopher Lee as Lord Summerisle.

The film has also been the subject of various adaptations and remakes, including a 2006 version starring Nicolas Cage. Despite its initial poor box office performance, The Wicker Man has since gained a cult following and is considered a classic of British horror cinema.

• Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee, Diane Cilento (Actors)
• Robin Hardy (Director) - Anthony Shaffer (Writer)

17. Atonement (2007)

Atonement is a 2007 British romantic drama film directed by Joe Wright and based on Ian McEwan’s 2001 novel of the same name. The film features a talented cast, including Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, and Saoirse Ronan, and follows the story of a young girl named Briony who makes a terrible accusation that has far-reaching consequences for herself and those around her.

Here are a few reasons why Atonement is a powerful and emotionally gripping film that is worth watching:

Beautifully crafted visuals: The film features stunning cinematography and intricate set designs that transport the viewer back to the pre-World War II era of England.

Complex and compelling story: Atonement explores themes of guilt, redemption, and the consequences of our actions in a thoughtful and nuanced way, making for a deeply moving and thought-provoking film.

Stellar performances: The film boasts a talented cast, with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy delivering standout performances as the star-crossed lovers at the heart of the story. Saoirse Ronan is also excellent as the young Briony.

Haunting soundtrack: The film’s haunting score by composer Dario Marianelli perfectly captures the film’s emotional resonance and elevates the viewing experience.

Overall, Atonement is a beautifully crafted and emotionally powerful film that explores the complexities of human relationships and the impact that our choices can have on those around us. Whether you’re a fan of romantic dramas or just appreciate a good story, it’s definitely worth checking out.

• Brenda Blethyn, Paul Harper, Gina McKee (Actors)
• Joe Wright (Director)

18. In Bruges (2008)

“In Bruges” is actually a British-American film directed and written by Martin McDonagh, and it is not a French film. However, it is a critically acclaimed and highly regarded film that is well worth watching.

Starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, “In Bruges” tells the story of two hitmen who are sent to the picturesque Belgian city of Bruges to lay low after a botched job. As they wait for further instructions from their boss, they explore the city and their own moral compasses, leading to unexpected and darkly comic consequences.

The film features exceptional performances from its lead actors, as well as beautiful cinematography that captures the unique and historic city of Bruges. It is a film that blends humor and violence in a way that is both engaging and thought-provoking.

While “In Bruges” is not a French film, it is a highly recommended movie that any lover of cinema should watch, as it is a unique and unforgettable experience that showcases the talents of its director, writer, and cast.

• Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes, Brendan Gleeson (Actors)
• Martin McDonagh (Director)

19. Sense and Sensibility (1995)

“Sense and Sensibility” is a 1995 British period drama film directed by Ang Lee and based on the novel of the same name by Jane Austen. The film stars Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Hugh Grant, and Alan Rickman, and follows the story of the Dashwood sisters as they navigate the social and romantic challenges of 19th-century England.

The film is known for its beautiful cinematography, elegant costumes, and superb performances, particularly by Thompson, who also wrote the screenplay. It explores themes of love, societal expectations, and the challenges faced by women in a patriarchal society.

“Sense and Sensibility” received critical acclaim upon its release and was a commercial success, earning over $135 million worldwide. It won numerous awards, including the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Thompson.

The film is considered a classic of British cinema and a faithful adaptation of Austen’s novel, and has continued to captivate audiences with its timeless themes and charming characters.

No products found.

20. Goldfinger (1964)

Goldfinger is a British spy film directed by Guy Hamilton and released in 1964. It is the third film in the James Bond series, and stars Sean Connery as the iconic secret agent James Bond, also known by his code number “007”.

The film follows Bond as he investigates a gold-smuggling operation run by the wealthy and powerful businessman Auric Goldfinger, played by Gert Fröbe. Along the way, Bond teams up with the beautiful and resourceful Pussy Galore, played by Honor Blackman, and confronts Goldfinger in a high-stakes game of poker.

The film is known for its exciting action sequences, memorable characters, and iconic theme song performed by Shirley Bassey. It has been widely acclaimed for its stylish direction, inventive use of gadgets, and sophisticated humor, and is considered one of the best Bond films of all time.

Goldfinger also marked a turning point for the Bond franchise, as it introduced many of the signature elements that would become synonymous with the series, such as exotic locations, high-tech gadgets, and glamorous women.

• Goldfinger - DVD Brand New
• Sean Connery, Gert Frbe, Honor Blackman (Actors)
• Guy Hamilton (Director) - Ian Fleming (Writer)
• English, French, Spanish (Subtitles)

21. A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A Fish Called Wanda is a 1988 British-American heist comedy film directed by Charles Crichton and starring an ensemble cast, including John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin. The film tells the story of a group of diamond thieves who team up to pull off a heist, but things quickly go awry when they begin to double-cross each other.

Here are a few reasons why A Fish Called Wanda is a hilarious and entertaining film that is worth watching:

Stellar cast: The film boasts an all-star cast of comedic actors, including John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, and Michael Palin, who all deliver pitch-perfect performances and have great chemistry on screen.

Clever writing: The film’s script, co-written by John Cleese, is filled with witty one-liners, hilarious physical comedy, and clever plot twists that keep the viewer engaged and laughing from start to finish.

Unique blend of genres: A Fish Called Wanda seamlessly blends elements of comedy, heist films, and even romance, making for a fun and unpredictable viewing experience.

Memorable characters: Each of the film’s characters is quirky and memorable in their own way, from Jamie Lee Curtis’s seductive con artist to Kevin Kline’s unhinged hitman.

Classic comedic moments: A Fish Called Wanda is filled with classic comedic moments that have become iconic, from Kevin Kline’s fish-eating scene to Michael Palin’s stuttering character trying to assassinate the wrong person.

Overall, A Fish Called Wanda is a hilarious and well-crafted film that stands the test of time as a classic comedy. Whether you’re a fan of heist films, British humor, or just enjoy a good laugh, it’s definitely worth checking out.

• A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
• John Cleese, Michael Palin, Tom Georgeson (Actors)
• Charles Crichton (Director) - A Fish Called Wanda (1988) (Producer)

22. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

“The Bridge on the River Kwai” is actually a British-American film directed by David Lean, and it is not a French film. However, it is a classic and highly regarded film that is definitely worth watching.

Starring Alec Guinness, William Holden, and Jack Hawkins, “The Bridge on the River Kwai” tells the story of British prisoners of war who are forced to build a bridge for their Japanese captors during World War II. The film explores themes of loyalty, honor, and the morality of war, culminating in a dramatic and unforgettable finale.

The film features exceptional performances from its cast, as well as beautiful cinematography that captures the lush and dangerous jungle environment. It won numerous awards, including Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and has stood the test of time as a classic of cinema.

While “The Bridge on the River Kwai” is not a French film, it is a highly recommended movie that any lover of cinema should watch, as it is a powerful and thought-provoking work that showcases the talents of its director, cast, and crew.

• The Bridge On The River Kwai - DVD Brand New
• Alec Guinness, William Holden, Jack Hawkins (Actors)
• English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Georgian (Subtitles)

23. Hot Fuzz (2007)

“Hot Fuzz” is a 2007 British action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The film follows police officer Nicholas Angel, who is transferred to a small village and uncovers a series of mysterious deaths that turn out to be part of a larger conspiracy.

The film is known for its sharp wit, clever references to other action films, and over-the-top action scenes. It also features a strong supporting cast, including Martin Freeman, Bill Nighy, and Timothy Dalton.

“Hot Fuzz” was a critical and commercial success upon its release, and has since become a cult classic. It was praised for its unique blend of humor and action, as well as its clever commentary on genre tropes. The film’s humor and style have made it a favorite among fans of both British cinema and action films.

• None (Subtitle)

24. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is a British comedy film directed by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones and released in 1975. The film is a surreal parody of the legend of King Arthur and his knights, and follows their quest to find the Holy Grail.

The film stars the Monty Python comedy troupe, including Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin, who play multiple roles throughout the film.

The film is known for its irreverent humor, absurdist sketches, and innovative use of animation and special effects. It has become a cult classic and is considered one of the greatest comedies of all time.

The film’s most iconic scenes include the Black Knight battle, the taunting French soldiers, and the “Bring out your dead” scene. The film has also spawned numerous spin-offs, including the Tony Award-winning musical Spamalot, which was based on the film’s story and characters.

• Monty Python And The Holy Grail (Special Edition) - DVD Brand New
• Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle (Actors)
• Terry Jones (Director) - Mark Forstater (Producer)
• English, Spanish, French (Subtitles)

25. Gandhi (1982)

Gandhi is a 1982 epic biographical film directed by Richard Attenborough and starring Ben Kingsley in the title role. The film tells the story of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Indian independence leader who became known for his nonviolent civil disobedience and played a pivotal role in India’s struggle for independence from British rule.

Here are a few reasons why Gandhi is a must-watch film:

Ben Kingsley’s performance: Kingsley’s portrayal of Gandhi is widely considered one of the greatest performances in film history, and he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his work in the film. He captures Gandhi’s mannerisms and voice perfectly, and brings a quiet intensity to the role.

Powerful storytelling: The film spans several decades and covers Gandhi’s life and work from his early days in South Africa to his role in India’s independence movement. It’s a sweeping epic that is both informative and inspiring.

Historical significance: Gandhi is an important historical figure who played a major role in India’s struggle for independence, and the film does a great job of capturing the historical context of the time and the challenges that Gandhi faced in his work.

Beautiful cinematography: The film was shot on location in India, and the stunning landscapes and architecture are captured beautifully on film. The cinematography adds to the epic feel of the story and helps transport the viewer to another time and place.

Timeless themes: Gandhi’s message of nonviolence and peaceful protest is still relevant today, and the film’s themes of social justice, equality, and the power of the individual to effect change are timeless and important.

Overall, Gandhi is a powerful and moving film that is well worth watching for its historical significance, beautiful cinematography, and inspiring message of nonviolence and social justice.

• MAHATMA GANDHI
• Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox (Actors)
• Richard Attenborough (Director)

3 Characteristics of British Movies

Here are three characteristics that are often associated with British movies:

Dry humor: British movies are often known for their witty and subtle humor that may not be immediately apparent to those unfamiliar with British culture. This style of humor is often characterized by understatement, irony, and wordplay.

Social commentary: Many British movies explore social and political issues, often using satire and humor to critique society. From class divisions to race relations, British cinema often offers a nuanced and thought-provoking perspective on contemporary issues.

Period pieces: British movies are also known for their historical dramas and adaptations of classic literature. These films often feature stunning period costumes and settings, and are frequently praised for their attention to detail and historical accuracy.

3 Reasons To Watch British Movies

Here are three reasons why you should watch British movies:

Rich cultural heritage: British cinema has a rich cultural heritage that dates back to the early days of film. From iconic classics like “The Third Man” and “Lawrence of Arabia” to modern hits like “The King’s Speech” and “1917,” British movies have made significant contributions to the world of cinema. Watching British movies allows you to explore the country’s culture, history, and artistic vision.

Unique storytelling: British movies often have a unique storytelling style that sets them apart from Hollywood blockbusters. Many British movies explore complex themes and characters in a nuanced and thought-provoking way. They often feature understated performances and dialogue, and rely on subtle humor and wit rather than flashy action sequences. Watching British movies can expose you to a different kind of storytelling that you may not find in other cinema.

Diverse genres: British cinema offers a diverse range of genres, from historical dramas to romantic comedies to horror movies. Many British movies are also known for their political commentary and social criticism. Whether you’re looking for a gripping thriller or a heartwarming coming-of-age story, British cinema has something for everyone. By watching British movies, you can broaden your cinematic horizons and discover new genres and styles that you may not have explored before.

Best British Movies – Wrap Up

In conclusion, British cinema has produced many classic and iconic films that have had a significant impact on the world of cinema. From timeless classics like Brief Encounter and Lawrence of Arabia to more recent hits like Slumdog Millionaire and 1917, British cinema has shown a diverse range of styles and themes. Many British films are known for their wit, humor, and eccentric characters, as well as their bold and innovative storytelling.

Whether you are a fan of classic dramas or modern comedies, British cinema has something to offer for everyone. With its rich history and continued influence on the film industry, British movies are sure to remain a beloved part of cinema for years to come.

18 Best Spanish Movies: Exploring The Richness Of Spanish Cinema

18 Best Italian Movies: A Feast of Italian Cinema

Matt Crawford

Related posts, 20 best sidney lumet movies: top lumet films, 10 best jim carrey movies: the wildly inventive world of a comedy icon, 13 best shark movies: a jaw-dropping collection of oceanic thrillers, 18 best jonathan demme films: a master of genre-defying cinema, what is a kitchen sink drama definition & examples, 10 best john leguizamo movies: the dynamic range of a multifaceted colombian-american actor, leave a reply cancel reply.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Username or Email Address

Remember Me

Registration is closed.

Pin It on Pinterest

10 great lesser-known time-travel films

Trip back through history with our list of terrific time-travelling movies that deserve to be better known.

4 December 2014

By  David Parkinson

Although H.G. Wells published The Time Machine in 1895, the same year that the Lumière brothers projected the first moving images to a paying audience, cinema was slow to recognise the dramatic potential of time travel. Master illusionists like Georges Méliès passed up the opportunity to travel through time and space. But Fritz Lang embraced the notion in Destiny (1921), which took its cues from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (1843) and D.W. Griffith’s Intolerance (1916) in showing how Death (Bernhard Goetzke) allows a 19th-century waif (Lil Dagover) to travel across history to Baghdad, Venice and China in a bid to save her lover’s life.

Dreams were Dagover’s mode of transportation and concussion enabled Harry Myers to find himself in Camelot in Emmett J. Flynn’s 1921 take on Mark Twain’s satirical fantasy, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court. A decade later, an enchanted radio took Will Rogers to the same destination in David Butler’s sound remake. But it wasn’t until Felix Aylmer’s shiny Time Ball landed in Elizabethan England in Walter Forde’s Time Flies (1944) that screen time travel was accomplished in a specially designed machine.

Get the latest from the BFI

Sign up for BFI news, features, videos and podcasts.

Three years later, Hollywood got in on the act when Kane Richmond boarded John Merton’s Time Top to venture back 200 years to retrieve a formula from an uncharted island in Spencer Gordon Bennet and Thomas Carr’s serial, Brick Bradford. But it was 1960 before George Pal got round to filming Wells’s 802,701 encounter with the Eloi and Morlocks of a future Earth and, even though time travel became a familiar plotline in TV shows like The Twilight Zone, Doctor Who and Star Trek, features exploring the subject, such as Franklin J. Schaffner’s Planet of the Apes (1967) and Luis Buñuel’s The Milky Way (1968), remained comparatively rare.

Everything changed in the blockbuster era, however, with James Cameron’s The Terminator (1984) and Robert Zemeckis’s Back to the Future (1985) focusing more on spectacle than plausibility. Subsequently, filmmakers have sought variations on the theme that allow travellers to pass along fixed timelines and through multiverses, as well as enter loops and paradoxes. Some have permitted free travel, while others have opted for involuntary jaunts. A few have attempted profound statements on humanity’s place in an unknowable scheme, but the majority have settled for escapist entertainment that fires the imagination without overtaxing the intellect.

Yet, away from the arthouse masterpieces (La Jetée, 1962), the slacker comedies (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989), the canny satires (Groundhog Day, 1993), the conundrums (Donnie Darko, 2001), the nostalgic fantasies (Midnight in Paris, 2011), the high-concept thrillers (Looper, 2012) and the comic-book escapades (X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2014), there are those time-travelling gems that have somehow slipped off the radar … 

Time Flies (1944)

Director: Walter Forde

Produced by Gainsborough during the Second World War, this trip down memory lane had a ‘hands across the water’ feel, as Brits Tommy Handley and Felix Aylmer are transported back to Elizabethan times in the company of American entertainers Evelyn Dall and George Moon.

Although the metallic spherical time machine concocted by production designer John Bryan and effects master Jack Whitehead made screen history, the core storyline was a little less original, as it recalled Thomas Bentley’s Old Bill ‘Through the Ages’ (1924), a spin-off from a popular Bruce Bairnsfather comic strip that saw soldier Syd Walker hallucinate his way back to Merrie England after eating a tin of lobster in the trenches. However, while he merely looked on as Shakespeare (Austin Leigh) bored Queen Elizabeth (Gladys Ffolliott) with passages from Hamlet, Dall helps the Bard (John Salew) write the Romeo and Juliet balcony scene before breaking into a jazz number.

Je t’aime je t’aime (1968)

Director: Alain Resnais

Concluding her 2014 review of this 1968 revival, New York Times critic Manohla Dargis averred: “Cinema is a time machine, and, as he has long proved, from Last Year at Marienbad to Muriel and beyond, Mr Resnais is its ultimate time traveller.”

Time, space and memory were certainly key to Alain Resnais’s oeuvre, but he adopts an audaciously cubist approach to their depiction in this saga meticulously constructed from slivers and fragments by editors Albert Jurgenson and Colette Leloup. Resnais told Stan Lee (with whom he developed two unrealised sci-fi projects) that he learnt English from Marvel comics and he indulges his sense of the fantastic by having suicide survivor Claude Rich test a time machine by travelling back a year to relive a single minute. However, the apparatus (designed by Jacques Dugied Pace) malfunctions and Rich is trapped in a vortex that confronts him with key moments in his marriage to Olga Georges-Picot.

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

Director: George Roy Hill

Despite winning Cannes’s jury prize, George Roy Hill’s adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s acclaimed novel has consistently been unfavourably compared with Alain Resnais’s Je t’aime je t’aime and placed alongside Mike Nichols’s take on Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 (1970) as a brave stab at an unfilmable book.

Yet Hill, screenwriter Stephen Geller and editor Dede Allen make shrewd use of visual, verbal and sonic cues to show how middle-aged optometrist Billy Pilgrim (Michael Sacks) is randomly buffeted by memory and fate after he becomes “unstuck in time”. His return to the abattoir where he sheltered from the 1945 firebombing of Dresden as a PoW is depicted with a terrifying authenticity that gives way to tragic absurdity, as Billy and starlet Montana Wildhack (Valerie Perrine) are abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore and put on display in a zoo. Charlie Kaufman is reportedly reworking the text for Guillermo del Toro, but this version deserves reappraisal.

The Amazing Mr. Blunden (1972)

Director: Lionel Jeffries

Director Lionel Jeffries adapted this follow-up to The Railway Children (1970) from an Antonia Barber novel entitled The Ghosts, a time-slip story that employs a potion made from woodland herbs to transport two children back a century in order to save a time-travelling brother and sister from the fire that will otherwise kill them.

Opening in a Pinewood recreation of Camden Town in 1918, the action moves to the derelict shell of Heatherden Hall, as siblings Lynne Frederick and Garry Miller accompany mother Dorothy Alison after she accepts solicitor Laurence Naismith’s offer to become caretaker of the crumbling Langley Park. But the scene soon shifts to 1818, as Frederick and Miller strive to protect Rosalyn Landor and Marc Granger from the machinations of the dastardly Diana Dors and David Lodge. Veering between suspense and pantomime, this ends with a satisfying twist and the half promise of a sequel. But it never materialised.

Tomorrow I’ll Wake Up and Scald Myself with Tea (1977)

Director: Jindrich Polák

Jindrich Polák is best known to non-Czech audiences for the Stanislaw Lem adaptation, Ikarie XB -1 (1963). But this take on Josef Nesvadba’s short story deserves to be equally renowned, as much for a moment of devastating poignancy inside Adolf Hitler’s bunker on 8 December 1941 as for its wonderfully convoluted plotline and the throwaway gags involving anti-ageing pills, a green incapacitating spray and a dissolving dishwashing detergent.

At the centre of the mayhem is Petr Kostka, who plays both womanising pilot Karel Bures and his milquetoast inventor twin Jan, who helped design a rocket capable of taking tourists to any point in history. But, when Karel chokes to death on a bread roll, Jan finds himself blasting off with a Nazi cadre intent on offering the Führer a hydrogen bomb. The SFX are a little creaky, but this is a worthy successor to the mischievous sci-fi classics of Karel Zeman. 

Time after Time (1979)

Director: Nicholas Meyer

Nicholas Meyer made his directorial debut with this rousing century-crossing clash between Jack the Ripper and H.G. Wells, which was based on an unpublished novel by Karl Alexander. Anachronisms and implausibilities abound, but they actually enhance a story that sees murderous physician Leslie John Stephenson (David Warner) steal the time machine that Wells (Malcolm McDowell) is about to demonstrate to his dinner guests in 1893 London and flee from the pursuing police to San Francisco in 1979.

Revelling in the depravity and violence he encounters (“Ninety years ago, I was a freak. Now … I’m an amateur.”), Stephenson has no desire to return and face justice when Wells follows him and their friendship founders further over sexually liberated bank clerk Amy Robbins (Mary Steenburgen). But, amid the gags about the shock of the new, the knowing references to “non-return keys” and “vapourising equalisers” firmly root this romcomedic thriller in the sci-fi genre. 

Les Maîtres du temps (1982)

Director: René Laloux

The time-travelling occurs late in the action of this animated adaptation of Stefan Wul’s 1958 novel, The Orphan of Perfide. Yet it proves crucial to unlocking the secret at the heart of René Laloux’s follow-up to the revered Fantastic Planet (1973), which also boasted designs by Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud.

Similarities to Yellow Submarine (1968) and Star Wars (1977) abound, as space pilot Jaffar heads to Perfide to rescue Piel, the son of a friend who has been killed by giant hornets. Passengers Prince Matton and his sister Belle are incensed when Jaffar diverts the Double Triangle 22 to collect wizened pal Silbad and his gnome-like companions, Yula and Jad. But they prove their worth during encounters with the faceless angels of Gamma 10 and the piratical troopers from Interplanetary Reform, before the Masters of Time whisk the spaceship out of the gravitational field of the Blue Comet and send it six decades into the past. 

The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988)

Director: Vincent Ward

Warning against the twin perils of contagion and conflagration, Vincent Ward’s stylised parable draws heavily on the art of Bosch, Bruegel and Grünewald, as well as the cinema of Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkovsky. But this odyssey across time is also gently humorous and cannily avoids the broader strokes employed by Jean-Marie Poiré in Les Visiteurs (1993).

Production designer Sally Campbell and cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson contribute significantly, as an expedition through a mineshaft sees Connor (Bruce Lyons), his visionary nine-year-old sibling Griffin (Hamish McFarlane) and their four companions pass from monochrome Cumbria in 1348 to colourful modern-day Auckland in the hope that raising a copper cross on the cathedral spire will protect their village from the Black Death.

Ward had the idea while stranded between the lanes of a German autobahn and, fittingly, his favourite response came from Werner Herzog: “My God, this looks like a hard film to make!”

Timecrimes (2007)

Director: Nacho Vigalondo

Few have travelled more often through time to unravel mishaps than Family Guy’s Stewie Griffin. But Karra Elejalde gives him a run for his money in writer-director Nacho Vigalondo’s feature debut, which brought a new complexity and sophistication to the realms of causal paradox and alternate timelines.

Elejalde winds up in scientist Vigalondo’s time pod after wandering into an institute adjoining the woods where he had been assaulted by a bandaged stranger after venturing from his garden for a closer look at the naked girl (Bárbara Goenaga) he had spotted through his binoculars. But a 90-minute backward jaunt turns Elejalde into a spectator of the events in which he has just participated and a further trip only exacerbates matters. Cinema rarely chronicles looping excursions with such keen acuity, but Australian first-timer Hugh Sullivan has recently matched Vigalondo’s ingenuity in The Infinite Man (2014), which resembles a cross between Primer (2004) and Last Year at Marienbad (1961).

Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)

Director: Colin Trevorrow

Originally published in issue 92 of the Backwoods Home Magazine, John Silviera’s cod personal ad about a time traveller seeking a companion had taken on a life of its own by the time screenwriter Derek Connolly saw it some 15 years later. However, Connolly and debuting director Colin Trevorrow saw past such sly lines as “you’ll get paid after we get back”, “must bring your own weapons” and “I have only done this once before” to concoct a mumblecoresque lo-fi romcom around rookie journalist Aubrey Plaza, who is sent to investigate Pacific Northwest shelf-stacker Mark Duplass, who has placed an identically eccentric message.

Amid the droll banter and deadpan set-pieces, a parallel love story develops between Plaza’s cynical co-reporter, Jake Johnson, and his old flame, Jenica Bergere. But, as Plaza starts to believe she actually can go back and prevent her mother’s fatal car crash, she receives not one, but two life-changing surprises.

Sci-Fi: Days of Fear and Wonder, a major BFI celebration of film and  TV ’s original blockbuster genre, ran from October to December 2014.

Discover award-winning independent British and international cinema

Free for 14 days, then £4.99/month or £49/year.

Other things to explore

5 things to watch this weekend – 19 to 21 april.

By Sam Wigley

Children’s Film Foundation: 10 fabulous films from the home of kid-based hijinks

By Vic Pratt

10 great Catholic films

By Georgina Guthrie

• Copy from this list
• Report this list

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: 1,306,076 | 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: 1,173,491 | 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: 923,747 | 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: 520,941 | 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: 572,308 | 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: 646,506 | 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: 684,789 | 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: 1,264,872 | 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: 744,875 | 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: 2,097,925 | 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: 304,582 | 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: 64,196

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: 182,542

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: 449,757 | 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: 68,751 | 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: 736,458 | 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: 385,641 | 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: 157,870 | 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: 480,585 | 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: 620,157 | 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: 51,675 | 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: 188,340 | 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: 386,861 | 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: 549,556 | 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: 44,825

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: 182,112 | 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: 8,316

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: 49,120

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: 602,814 | 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: 157,617 | 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: 36,553

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: 115,713 | 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: 89,058 | 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: 84,216 | 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: 130,834 | 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: 418,416 | 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: 377,184 | 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: 114,113 | 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: 11,326 | 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: 849,762 | 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: 43,470

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: 56,798 | 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: 41,854

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: 68,312 | 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: 77,748 | 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: 224,442 | 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: 162,656 | 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: 64,158 | 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: 8,083

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: 356,561 | 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: 53,907

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: 130,366 | 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: 119,249 | 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: 122,147 | 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: 129,716

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: 248,744 | 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: 186,404 | 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: 40,793 | 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: 3,096

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: 141,611 | 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: 9,817 | 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: 81,026 | 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: 6,945

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: 32,511 | 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: 327,523 | 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: 2,920 | 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: 41,636 | 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: 20,693

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: 17,456 | 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: 1,126

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: 37,320

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: 11,617

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: 3,332

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: 47,774 | 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: 14,476

List Activity

Tell your friends, other lists by eusad.

Recently Viewed

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

• Backchannel
• Newsletters
• WIRED Insider
• WIRED Consulting

Will Bedingfield

The Best Time Travel Movies of … All Time

Time—ravager of youth; spoiler of milk; humanity’s oldest and deadliest foe. Yet in films we can conquer time easily: running it forwards and backward, skipping into the future or past with a simple edit. Filmmakers constantly time travel, so it’s no coincidence that there are so many films where this trick becomes a plot conceit.

But unfortunately for their protagonists, the best time travel films often show us that time’s prison is inescapable. Even when these protagonists look like they’ve found a way out, from natural wormholes to heretical machines, their fates are usually shown to be predetermined: Often they end up stuck in time loops, or just dead. Time and death are close companions .

Of course, this chaos translates into mind-bending entertainment for the viewer, so without further ado, let us introduce our picks for the best time travel movies.

Terminator 1 and 2 are really quite different movies. In the first, Arnie—the terminator—is the bad guy. He’s sent back in time by our machine overlords to kill a woman who will give birth to a child that will lead the human resistance to victory. A human from said resistance is sent back to stop Arnie. It’s a dark and weird story: a classic action film made on a stringent budget. The second, in contrast, is a big-budget extravaganza, featuring perhaps the greatest special effects in movie history relative to their time. Here, Arnie, now a blockbuster star, demanded to play the good guy: He’s still a robot, but he’s defending the key kid from the icy, and more advanced, T-1000 robot.

The most famous art house film about time travel, La Jetée follows a man sent back from a post-World War III dystopia to save the future, and to find the truth behind a traumatic memory for his past. Only 28 minutes long, the film is a simple series of black and white photographs put to a hazy narrative, yet it's captivating. Terry Gilliam turned it into 12 Monkeys , a zany, colorful caper starring Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt, a similarly weird but tonally different film.

This modern sci-fi classic follows the alien “arrival” of giant, peaceful, ink-inscribing squids. Before geopolitical squabbles can escalate the situation into a nuclear exchange, Amy Adams must translate the squid’s inky pleas into American English. (Spoiler: It relates to time travel.) This visually stunning film is based on Story of Your Life , a short by Ted Chiang, one of the best living sci-fi writers. The movie is a great introduction to his writing.

A classic featuring Bill Murray at his laid-back best. Murray plays a jerkish newsman who wakes up one morning to find that he is stuck in a time loop on Groundhog Day (and, yes, that is where the term comes from). Fear gives way to joy as he realizes he is now an omniscient god. This then gives way to boredom as he lives out the same day an infinite number of times, and Murray must work out why he has been cursed. Still a moving and thoughtful comedy.

This is really the time travel movie to beat them all, if you really want to get into the nuts and bolts of time travel itself. Two engineers accidentally discover an “A-to-B” causal loop side effect: They can basically travel back a short distance of time, and begin to use it to make huge amounts of money on the stock market. What follows is a highly technical and philosophical take on the implications of time travel.

Looper is just an air tight, fantastic action film: a compelling world, sketched in just under two hours, with entertaining and interesting characters. Joseph Gordon Levitt plays a contract killer who kills and disposes of his targets in the past, in order to avoid detection in the future. Bruce Willis plays his older self, who Levitt is tasked to kill. The time travel aspect being realistic isn’t really the point of the film: Writer Rian Johnson contrasted it directly to Primer , where the rules of time travel are so important; Looper was intended instead as a character driven thriller.

One of the highest-grossing anime films of all time, Your Name is a slick, ever so slightly hollow affair, but undoubtedly fantastic entertainment. Two school kids swap bodies each night, bicker about wrecking each other's lives, then eventually fall in love. They must fight through time to save a town from an apocalyptic disaster. The animation is gorgeous, painterly and fluid, the music from Radwimps is brilliant earworm pop, and the story is a real tearjerker.

Where the time travel in Tenet was left largely unexplained, in Interstellar Nolan actually seems interested in teaching his audience, and does an admirable job depicting some of the implications of Einsteins’ theory of general relativity. The movie’s dialog can be a bit saccharine and vapid, but the visit to the mountain-high planet of waves, where years pass as minutes, is just a great piece of cinema, worth the price of entry alone.

A cult classic that rocketed Jake Gyllenhaal to massive fame. It’s one of those high concept films that bombards you with lore, but really isn't as smart as it thinks it is. It’s better to just sit back and let it wash over you, including, of course, Frank, the iconic black bunny rabbit, who tells Gyllenhaal the world will end in 28 days. It’s also an important artifact of a certain section of Millennial culture: any Gen Z cultural critic trying to understand Millennial neuroses should definitely add this film to their research.

The original Planet of the Apes is a deeply odd film—there’s something disconcerting about the apes now: the prosthetic makeup techniques by artist John Chambers were revolutionary at the time. But while the prequels with Andy Serkis are certainly more action packed, the original has got to make the list because it features the most iconic time travel “twist” in cinema. Charlton Heston’s final revelation as he smashes his fists into the beach at the film’s end has been parodied to death, most notably by The Simpsons . (Which also created a fantastic musical adaptation of the film.)

This story originally appeared on WIRED UK .  

• 📩 The latest on tech, science, and more: Get our newsletters !
• Prisoners, doctors, and the battle over trans medical care
• The US needs to get back in the business of making chips
• These are the 5 best portable storage drives
• QAnon pivots its exiled online movement to the real world
• Be very careful where you build that seawall
• 👁️ Explore AI like never before with our new database
• 🎮 WIRED Games: Get the latest tips, reviews, and more
• 💻 Upgrade your work game with our Gear team’s favorite laptops , keyboards , typing alternatives , and noise-canceling headphones

Amanda Hoover

Andy Greenberg

Mark Andrews

Matt Burgess

Angela Watercutter

Jennifer M. Wood

Eric Ravenscraft

Jason Parham

The 50 best films of 2021 in the UK

Our countdown of the best films released in the UK during 2021 reaches No 1 with Jane Campion’s menacing western about two warring brothers

• 50 best films of 2021 in the US
• More on the best culture of 2021

This list is compiled by the Guardian film team, with all films released in the UK during 2021 in contention. Check in every weekday to see our next picks, and please share your own favourite films of 2021 in the comments below.

• Promising Young Woman

Deathly dark satire of gender politics from writer-director Emerald Fennell, with Carey Mulligan at her ice-cold best as a scheming sociopath in a fearless unpicking of entitlement and victimhood. Read the full review.

Boiling Point

Dizzying single-take drama featuring a potent lead performance from Stephen Graham as a chef enduring a nightmarish evening. Read the full review.

Natural Light

Documentary director Dénes Nagy explores how conflict erodes loyalty, morality and human consciousness in his award-winning first feature about Hungarian troops occupying Ukraine during the second world war. Read the full review.

Last Night in Soho

Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Matt Smith star in Edgar Wright’s horror-thriller that takes a trip to the sleazy heart of London’s past and toxic 60s glitz. Read the full review.

Julia Ducournau’s follow-up to her smart 2016 debut, Raw, is a freaky Cronenbergian body-horror that facetiously explores identity with yucky flair. Read the full review.

State Funeral

The eerie last rites of Stalin’s Soviet Union are enacted as massed mourners hail the dictator’s flower-clad body in a film that gives long-lost footage, assembled by In the Fog director Sergei Loznitsa , a new and unnerving lease of life. Read the full review.

Writer-director Emma Seligman’s debut about a young woman running into her sugar daddy at a family event is an amusing, transparently personal piece, a black comedy festival of excruciating embarrassment. Read the full review.

C’mon C’mon

Written and directed by Thumbsucker’s Mike Mills , this coming-of-age heartwarmer, shot in classy monochrome and starring Joaquin Phoenix, oozes prestige as it tackles weighty themes. Read the full review.

Martin Eden

Excellent Italian adaptation of Jack London ’s 1909 thrilling tale, which follows the ascent of a proletarian novelist to popular success that proves a bitter disappointment. Read the full review.

Aubrey Plaza hits a career high in an ingenious meta-movie in which social tensions spiral towards disaster before a cryptic rug-pull in this strange comedy gem. Read the full review.

The lives of three young Egyptians become tragically entangled in Ayten Amin ’s sharp, subtle coming-of-age drama that offers a shrewd and poignant study of social media identities. Read the full review.

The Reason I Jump

This documentary inspired by the bestselling book of the same title is an empathic study of nonverbal autism that takes us into the world of young neurodivergent people across the world. Read the full review.

Director Michel Franco leaves no room for sympathy or redemption in this violent, cynical thriller, a brutally unforgiving attack on Mexico’s super-rich that delivers a vivid warning against the consequences of inequality. Read the full review.

Adam Driver and Marion Cotillard brim with nervous energy in this bizarre musical collaboration between Leos Carax and the Sparks brothers, which kicked off this year’s Cannes film festival. Read the full review.

A woman working as a film censor in the 80s is shocked to discover a horror movie that recreates a traumatic incident from her childhood in Prano Bailey-Bond’s disturbing descent into video nastiness. Read the full review.

Never Gonna Snow Again

A mysterious masseur visits a dysfunctional gated community in this absorbing fairytale from Polish film-maker Małgorzata Szumowska, resulting in a rich brew of strangeness in an unsettling vision of suburbia. Read the full review.

The Velvet Underground

Todd Haynes’ documentary about the celebrated art-rockers, with insights from former members and friends, takes its job seriously and gets under the band’s skin. Read the full review.

House of Gucci

True-crime fashion-house drama directed by Ridley Scott as a pantomimey soap following a stylish Lady Gaga, as Patrizia Reggiano, as she plots to kill her ex, Maurizio Gucci. Read the full review.

I Care a Lot

Rosamund Pike is exquisitely nasty in J Blakeson’s toxic thriller, playing a black-hearted con artist who drains the bank accounts of well-off elderly patients after gaining legal guardianship of them. Read the full review.

Rose Plays Julie

Uncanny and transgressive film from writer-directors Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor about a young woman who tracks down her birth parents is the film-makers’ best work yet. Read the full review.

Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan find love among the fossils in Francis Lee’s sensational biopic of palaeontology pioneer Mary Anning , which reimagines her encounter with a woman trapped in a stifling marriage. Read the full review.

Jude Law moves his family to a dark Surrey manor house in Sean Durkin’s 80s-set ghost story cum emotional parable that becomes a riveting neoliberal fever dream. Read the full review.

Robert Greene’s extraordinary documentary follows the stories of six men abused as children by Catholic priests in Kansas City with remarkable care and creativity. Read the full review.

tick, tick … BOOM!

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s heartfelt tribute to Broadway features Andrew Garfield as Rent composer Jonathan Larson, in his early years, in a sugar rush of showbiz highs and lows. Read the full review.

The World to Come

Katherine Waterston and Vanessa Kirby play two wives who fall in love amid the grinding exhaustion and violence of pioneer life in a tale of secret passions in frontier-era America. Read the full review.

The Killing of Two Lovers

A humiliating marital breakdown triggers a riveting portrait of male rage in Robert Machoian’s thought-provoking thriller, starring Clayne Crawford and Sepideh Moafi. Read the full review.

Palm Springs

Ingenious Groundhog-Day style romance starring Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti as two wedding guests who get stuck in a time loop that they can’t seem to escape from. Read the full review.

Identifying Features

First-time director Fernanda Valadez conjures up a vision of real evil in her story of the horror and heartbreak faced by migrants into the US in Mexico’s borderlands. Read the full review.

Rebecca Hall ’s directing debut is a stylish and subtle study of racial identity, starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga as friends who are both “passing” for what they are not, in an adaptation of Nella Larsen’s 1929 novel. Read the full review.

The Story of Looking

An eye operation sets veteran cinephile Mark Cousins out on a delicate and fascinating exploration of what it means to look at movies and the world. Read the full review.

Joanna Scanlan gives a tremendous performance as a Muslim convert, who agonisingly uncovers the secret life led by her late husband Ahmed, in a lacerating portrait of a life built on marital lies. Read the full review.

Heart-rending portrait of refugees stranded in Scotland that announces Ben Sharrock as a master of atmospheric film-making, in a stirring drama about a Syrian migrant. Read the full review.

Summer of Soul

Questlove’s magnificent documentary of the forgotten 1969 Harlem cultural festival gives moving context to rediscovered footage of Stevie Wonder, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone et al. Read the full review.

Getting Away with Murder(s)

David Nicholas Wilkinson’s epic investigation into the Nazis who escaped a postwar reckoning is a powerful call for Holocaust justice, but lays out the difficulty of prosecuting a technocratic atrocity. Read the full review.

Stephen Karam’s Tony-winning play makes the leap to film with ease. A masterly drama that is an extraordinarily well acted, uncomfortably intimate look at a family at Thanksgiving. Read the full review .

Quo Vadis, Aida?

Through the eyes of a translator moving between the different ethnic factions, director Jasmila Žbanić musters real tragic power and clear-eyed compassion revisiting the Srebrenica massacre 25 years on. Read the full review.

Infused with a wonderful sentimentality, Lee Isaac Chung ’s fictionalised account of his rural Arkansas childhood explores the growing pains of a family farm. Read the full review.

Dear Comrades!

Andrei Konchalovsky’s stunning re-creation of a Soviet-era massacre, in which Red Army soldiers and KGB snipers opened fire on strikers, is a rage-filled triumph. Read the full review.

No Time to Die

The long-awaited 25th outing for Ian Fleming’s superspy James Bond has Daniel Craig saying goodbye to 007 in a weird and self-aware epic with audacious surprises up its sleeve. Read the full review.

Meek’s Cutoff director Kelly Reichardt returns with a superbly chewy story about a pair of drifters in the old west trying to make money by stealing milk from a newly arrived cow. Read the full review.

Anthony Hopkins is superb playing a man with dementia in Florian Zeller ’s unbearably heartbreaking film full of intelligent performances, disorienting time slips and powerful theatrical effects. Read the full review.

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand hit top form in Joel Coen’s austere reimagining of Shakespeare’s Scottish bloodbath. Read more .

The Lost Daughter

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s accomplished directing debut makes humid, sensual cinema of Elena Ferrante’s psychodrama of a novel, and boasts a superb central performance from Olivia Colman. Read more .

Unnervingly subtle drama from Andreas Fontana, about a Swiss private banker visiting clients in Argentina during the period of the military junta and “disappearances”. Read more

West Side Story

Stunning recreations of the original film’s New York retain the songs and the dancing in a re-telling that will leave you gasping at the verve and panache of Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner. Read more .

Denis Villeneuve’s awe-inspiring take on the sci-fi classic starring Timothée Chalamet, Oscar Isaac and Zendaya has been given room to breathe, creating a colossal spectacle and an epic triumph. Read more .

Frances McDormand delivers a wonderful performance as a boomer forced out of her home and on to the road in Chloé Zhao’s inspired Oscar-winning docufiction. Read more .

Drive My Car

Ryûsuke Hamaguchi reaches a new grandeur with this engrossing adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story about a theatre director grappling with Chekhov and his wife’s infidelity. Read more.

Petite Maman

A spellbinding ghost story from Portrait of a Lady on Fire’s Céline Sciamma. A girl meets her mother as a child in the woods in a moving tale of memory, friendship and family. Read more .

The Green Knight

Dev Patel rides high in the director David Lowery’s sublimely beautiful quest, which conjures up visual wonders and metaphysical mysteries from the anonymously authored 14th-century chivalric poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Read more .

The Power of the Dog

Jane Campion’s superb gothic western is a mysterious and menacing psychodrama about two warring brothers ( Benedict Cumberbatch and Jesse Plemons) on a ranch in 20s Montana. Read more.

• Top UK films 2021
• Drama films
• Horror films
• Documentary films
• Carey Mulligan

Most viewed

8 Best Time Travel Movies on Netflix Right Now

Let’s be honest here: I haven’t met a single individual yet who either wouldn’t want to travel back in time to correct a few wrongs, or to have a glimpse of what their future holds for them. That coupled with the inevitability of it all, the very real nature of time being irreversible and its independent physical construct is what I think allures the human mind to the concept of time travel so much, because what greater pursuit than one that is with the current means, unattainable?  However, that didn’t stop a few dreamers from dreaming of it. Literature and films have been telling stories involving time travel since as far as I can imagine, and due to the very reasons specified above, the audience just can’t seem to have enough, so much so that time travel movies can clearly be identified into a sub-genre of their own.

But sadly enough, Netflix’s library has currently omitted a number of time travel classics and fairly obviously definitive films from their library, including the ‘Back to the Future Movies’ and ‘Groundhog Day’ that popularised the sub-genre in the first place, and current modern classics like ‘Looper’ and ‘ Predestination ’ among others, and that is with respect to the current streaming scenario fast changing. However, we did a little digging and found some of the finest  movies involving time travel and resultant time loops as a relevant plot point for you to watch. So, here’s the list of really good time travel movies on Netflix that are available to stream right now.

8. ARQ (2016)

I honestly didn’t expect ARQ to blow me away the way it did. The film is about an engineer who is able to develop a perpetual motion machine that in turn leads to him experiencing a home invasion scenario again and again, stuck in a time loop. At less than 90 minutes, ‘ARQ’ is taut, relentless and doesn’t let your attention waver for a second. It is not a perfect film by any means. In fact, it has quite a number of flaws and discontinuities that stringent viewers might not be able to wrap their heads around. However, if you know what you are getting into: a small film with a few characters, virtually no location to boast of except a room inside a home, and a timeline spanning only a few hours, but telling an interesting and entertaining story, you may come off completely surprised, like I did.

7. Looper (2012)

Starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, and Paul Dano, ‘Looper’ is a science fiction action-thriller film written and directed by Rian Johnson. The movie is set in the near future, where time travel has not only become a reality but is used extensively in the black market by mobsters for their twisted goals. Putting the illegal technology to good use, the criminals sent back their targets in the past where hired guns called Loopers were waiting to execute them.

Joe is one of the many killers used by mobs who have become immensely rich by indulging in illegal activity, but his life takes an unexpected turn when the mob not only decides to close the loop but also have Joe killed. The action-packed drama that unfolds captures Joe’s high-stakes attempt to survive while the mob relentlessly tries to hunt him down.

6. Long Story Short (2021)

Directed, written, and co-produced by Josh Lawson, ‘Long Story Short’ is a romantic drama film. The Rafe Spall and Zahra Newman-starrer follow Teddy, a young woman who accidentally ends up kissing Leanne on new year’s eve after mistaking her for his then-girlfriend. As she has peanuts in her mouth at the moment, he goes into an anaphylactic shock and has to be saved by Leanne’s presence of mind. A few years later, the duo not only fell madly in love with each other but also got married.

However, things take a surprising turn when the morning after the marriage, Teddy realizes that he is jumping one year into the future every few minutes. As his life begins to fall apart, he must find a way out of the cruel time anomaly before he loses everything and everyone.

5. Synchronic (2019)

Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead, ‘Synchronic’ is a science fiction horror film. The Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan-starrer follow Dennis and Steve, two paramedics working in New Orleans, Louisiana. Although their job requires them to spend a lot of time in dangerous conditions, nothing could have prepared them for a series of strange deaths, all of which are linked to a designer drug named Synchronic.

As they investigate further, Steve and Dennis learn the otherworld effects of the drug, which even alters people’s perception of time. Before they could put things into perspective and solve the mystery behind Synchronic, their personal and professional lives begin to fall apart, forcing them to act before it’s too late.

4. In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)

Jim Mickle’s ‘In the Shadow of the Moon’ is a science fiction thriller film that features stand-out performances by Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, and Michael C. Hall. The movie centers upon Police officer Thomas Lockhart, who, along with his fellow detectives, comes across a series of murders that appear to be connected with each other. As he investigates further and finally corners the suspect, it turns out that she somehow knows the future and even predicts her own death.

Although the case is closed after that, the strange murders begin to occur again several years later but are initially thought to be committed by a copycat. However, as Lockhart comes closer to the truth, his personal and professional life begins to fall apart.

3. Mirage (2018)

I don’t think a better title for the film would have sufficed, even if it’s translated. The film deals with a similar idea that is undertaken by ‘The Butterfly Effect’ and ‘Mr. Nobody’, of small happenings in time snowballing into completely different parallel realities. ‘ Mirage ’ is the story of one such woman who wakes up one day with her life and reality completely altered and her daughter, not existing in the current sequence of events. This strange happening seems to be connected to another eerie set of events from 25 years ago, linked to the house she recently moved in. I won’t spoil much for you, but hear me when I say that ‘Mirage’ may just be among the year’s best thrillers and sci-fi films. To add to the already twisted narrative, how the woman finds her way out of the time continuum is truly mind bending stuff. Watch for yourself.

2. The Adam Project (2022)

‘The Adam Project’ is a science fiction adventure film that features powerful performances by talented actors such as Ryan Reynolds, Mark Ruffalo, Jennifer Garner, and Walker Scobell. The Shawn Levy directorial centers upon the distraught fighter pilot Adam Reed in a dystopian 2050, who embarks on a perilous mission to save his wife, Laura, after stealing a time jet. Although he planned to go in the year 2018, because of an accident in which he injured himself, Adam ended up in 2022 instead. There he meets his 12-year-old self, and the two of them join hands to save the future, all the while trying to rescue Laura before it’s too late.

Read More: Best Maths Movies on Netflix

1. See You Yesterday (2019)

Inspired by Stefon Bristol’s short film of the same name, ‘See You Yesterday’ is a science fiction film produced by Spike Lee. The movie follows two young science prodigies who are obsessed with their invention that enables time travel and opens up prospects for era-defining changes that could not have been previously imagined. However, their lives take an unexpected turn when one of them loses their brother, and the two vow to use their unfinished invention to go back in time and save him.

Read More: Best Rags to Riches Movies on Netflix

SPONSORED LINKS

• Movie Explainers
• TV Explainers
• About The Cinemaholic