10 Cool Movies About Time-Traveling and Time Loops!

If you had a time machine, would you like to go? Would you visit the past or the future? Or maybe you’d prefer re-living your happiest day over and over again? Imagine how awesome it would be to actually be able to go to different periods in history! Sadly, despite all the fast developing technologies, the concept of time-traveling is possible only in the fictional world... At least for now. There are many amazing movies about time-bending, including the recent release 65, which sees Adam Driver as an astronaut who crash lands on prehistoric Earth. Here are 10 more of our faves!

1. Back to the Future (1985)

Let’s start with one of the most classic movies about time traveling. In case you’re not familiar with its plot, we’ll give a quick recap. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is a lonely teenager who often feels rejected. Emmett Brown, aka Doc (Christopher Lloyd), is a scientist who’s been working on building a time machine out of a Delorean. While testing the machine, Doc accidentally sends Marty back to 1955, and he gets stuck there. He has to find out more about the past of his parents, as well as convince the younger version of Doc to help him go back to the future. The sci-fi franchise consists of 3 movies, and if you by any chance haven’t seen them, we definitely recommend watching these iconic films! 

2. Palm Springs (2020)

On her sister’s wedding day, Sarah (Cristin Milioti) meets a guy named Nyles (Andy Samberg). As these two hook up, someone shoots Nyles, and he runs into a cave to hide. Sarah follows him and wakes up on the same day -- it’s her sister’s wedding again. Nyles explains to Sarah that he’s been living in a time loop for a while, and now Sarah is stuck there too. As they re-live the same day over and over, Sarah and Nyles bond and start understanding both each other and themselves much better. However, after a big fight with her new friend, Sarah starts studying quantum physics to find a way of getting out of the loop. 

3. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

If you’re looking for a good comedy, trust us, this film will absolutely crack you up! Four friends go to a ski resort and enjoy their time in a hot tub. But when they go back into town, they realize that it doesn’t look the same way it did before. The next day, the group finds out that they have traveled back to 1986, and they even look like their younger selves! Well, except for Jacob, who wasn’t even born yet. At first, the friends want to re-enact everything they did on the exact same day (like throwing a fight, breaking up with a girlfriend, performing at an open-mic, etc.), in order not to create a butterfly effect and change the timeline. But soon they realize that they have to fix their mistakes to have a better future. 

4. Groundhog Day (1993)

Another famous classic, Phil (Bill Murray) is a self-centered, cynical, and egoistical weatherman. He only cares for his well-being and is totally oblivious of others. He travels to Pennsylvania to film a report about Groundhog’s Day. He was supposed to stay in the small city for one just day, but that day lasts forever, as Phil appears in a time loop. First, he gets depressed from living the same day, but slowly he realizes how he can use all the “free” time beneficially not only for himself but for others as well. A funny and motivating movie that will teach you to appreciate your life. 

5. 13 Going on 30 (2004)

What would you get if you mixed time-traveling with a rom-com? That’s right, one of the biggest faves of the '00s! On her 13th birthday, a misfit teenager, Jenna, makes a wish to become thirty, flirty, and thriving! Imagine her surprise when she wakes up to discover that her birthday wish has come true! She seems to have everything -- a good job, friends, a hot boyfriend, and an amazing wardrobe. However, not everything is perfect in the adult world, and now Jenna has to deal with the consequences of the actions of her older-self. 

6. Happy Death Day (2017)

What can be worse than being killed on your birthday? Being killed on your birthday over and over again! Theresa “Tree” Gelbman (Jessica Rothe) is one of the most popular students in college. On the way to her birthday party, Tree is lured into a tunnel and killed by a masked figure. Then, she wakes and discovers that it’s her birthday again. As she lives the same day again and again, she realizes all the mistakes she’s been making in her life. Plus, she has to find her murderer’s identity in order to escape this crazy time loop.

7. Midnight in Paris (2011)

And the award for the most atmospheric film of this list goes to Midnight in Paris! A romantic writer named Gil (Owen Wilson) is spending his holidays with his fiancée in Paris. He is fascinated by the city’s culture and history, and one day, he suddenly discovers that, as the clock strikes midnight, he goes back in time to the Roaring 1920s. There, he gets acquainted with many prominent artists of the era, such as F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, and many others. He is inspired by the old era and is desperate to stay there; however, he has a life to live and important decisions to make in the present, so Gil has to find the perfect balance for his life. 

8. Looper (2012)

If you’re more into thrillers and action films, this one will be the best choice for you! In the year 2074, instead of executing a person, the Syndicate sends them back to 2044 where assassins -- or "loopers" -- kill that person. Sometimes they have to get rid of their older selves, and one day a looper named Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) faces himself, but the older Joe (Bruce Willis) manages to escape. That’s when everything goes wrong, as now two Joes exist in the same timeline, which has never happened before. Old Joe has to find a way to survive and take vengeance for his wife, who was killed in his own timeline.  

9. Before I Fall (2017)

Sam (Zoey Deutch) lives a normal teenager’s life -- she has cool friends and a great boyfriend. One day, as Sam and her friends are driving home from a party, the car hits something and Sam wakes up on the same day. She soon realizes that she’s stuck in a time loop and starts doing everything she wants. Throughout the days (well, that one day, actually), she learns a lot about her friends and other students that they used to bully. Now Sam understands what has to be done in order to make things right again. 

10. The Adam Project (2022)

There’s a rumor flying around that there is not a single bad movie starring Ryan Reynolds. And this film once again confirms it. In 2050, the world looks like a technicalogical utopia with various cool technologies and time traveling. Adam wants to fly back to 2018 to find and save his wife, but somehow his time jet lands in 2022. He finds the younger version of himself, and together they have to get to 2018 in order to find their father and save the world. The whole journey is full of danger and funny conversations between the same person of two different timelines. Well, it’s a Reynolds film, after all, did you expect anything else?