Best Movies like Back to the Future (1985)

Peggy Sue Got Married, released a year after Back to the Future, also features a protagonist transported from the 1980s back to the 1950s who must confront the younger versions of family members and consider the possibility of shaping their own future by influencing the past.

At her 25th high school reunion, Peggy Sue faints and awakens in 1960—back in her senior year, before her marriage and all her regrets. Given a second chance to relive her youth, she must decide whether to change the choices that shaped her life or embrace the past that made her who she is. Peggy Sue Got Married is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 43m runtime, released in 1986 with an average rating of 6.1 by 665 people. The movie made an estimated total of $41,382,841 in the box office.

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure follows two teenagers who, with the help of an eccentric mentor, travel through time and interact with historical figures, combining science fiction time travel with a comedic tone similar to Back to the Future’s blend of humor and adventure.

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. Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 30m runtime, released in 1989 with an average rating of 6.8 by 2,144 people. The movie made an estimated total of $40,510,984 in the box office.

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time centers on a teenager experiencing unexpected consequences after discovering the ability to travel through different moments, paralleling Back to the Future’s exploration of personal change and the rippling effects of altering the timeline.

When 17-year-old Makoto Konno gains the ability to 'leap' backwards through time, she immediately sets about improving her grades and preventing personal mishaps. However, she soon realises that changing the past isn't as simple as it seems, and eventually, will have to rely on her new powers to shape the future of herself and her friends. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a movie from Japan in Japanese, with a total 1h 38m runtime, released in 2006 with an average rating of 7.8 by 2,281 people. The movie made an estimated total of $3,478,290 in the box office.

Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel mixes comedy and science fiction as ordinary characters unexpectedly find themselves navigating time anomalies, engaging with the chaos and paradoxes of time manipulation much like Back to the Future’s comedic take on time travel complications.

Follows three social outcasts -- two geeks and a cynic -- as they attempt to navigate a time-travel conundrum in the middle of a British pub. Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 23m runtime, released in 2009 with an average rating of 6.9 by 689 people. The movie made an estimated total of $23,820 in the box office.

Safety Not Guaranteed involves characters intrigued by a mysterious classified ad seeking a time travel partner. It blends science fiction elements with themes of risk, friendship, and the possibilities offered by changing the past, resonating with the inventive premise of Back to the Future.

Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified ad seeking a companion for time travel. Safety Not Guaranteed is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 26m runtime, released in 2012 with an average rating of 6.8 by 1,647 people. The movie made an estimated total of $4,424,699 in the box office.

About Time centers on a young man who can travel through time to alter important moments, similarly exploring how time travel affects relationships and personal growth, echoing Back to the Future’s focus on the influence of small changes on familial and romantic connections.

The night after another unsatisfactory New Year's party, Tim's father reveals to him that the men in their family have the ability to travel through time. They can't change history, but they can change what happens and has happened in their own lives. Thus begins the start of a lesson in learning to appreciate life itself as it is, as it comes, and most importantly, the people living alongside us. About Time is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 2h 3m runtime, released in 2013 with an average rating of 7.9 by 9,396 people. The movie made an estimated total of $87,100,449 in the box office.

Time After Time reimagines a historical figure’s journey into the past to alter crucial events, navigating unfamiliar social conventions and trying to set the timeline right, just as Back to the Future’s protagonist struggles to fix what was disrupted in the past.

Writer H. G. Wells pursues Jack the Ripper to modern day San Francisco after the infamous serial killer steals his time machine to escape the 19th century. Time After Time is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 52m runtime, released in 1979 with an average rating of 6.8 by 392 people. The movie made an estimated total of $13,000,000 in the box office.

Timecrimes examines the unforeseen consequences and paradoxes resulting from a character’s repeated accidental time jumps, mirroring Back to the Future’s narrative focus on correcting the timeline to avoid disastrous outcomes after an unexpected trip to the past.

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. Timecrimes is a movie from Spain in Spanish, with a total 1h 32m runtime, released in 2007 with an average rating of 7.0 by 1,497 people. The movie made an estimated total of $553,198 in the box office.

Project Almanac revolves around a group of young people who stumble into time travel through science and tinker with personal timelines, triggering unpredictable consequences much like Back to the Future’s portrayal of youth, invention, and tinkering with one’s fate.

A group of teens discover secret plans of a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control. Project Almanac is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 46m runtime, released in 2015 with an average rating of 6.8 by 2,903 people. The movie made an estimated total of $33,200,000 in the box office.

Predestination delves into the consequences of repeated time travel and its impact on personal identity. Like Back to the Future, it threads the narrative around the careful balance of changing and preserving events across different timelines.

Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost. Predestination is a movie from Australia in English, with a total 1h 38m runtime, released in 2014 with an average rating of 7.4 by 7,205 people. The movie made an estimated total of $4,942,449 in the box office.

Flight of the Navigator features a young protagonist experiencing dramatic time displacement and relying on advanced technology to return home, paralleling Back to the Future’s youthful viewpoint and reliance on science fiction inventions to resolve its central temporal dilemma.

12-year-old David is accidentally knocked out in the forest near his home, but when he awakens eight years have passed. His family is overjoyed to have him back, but is just as perplexed as he is that he hasn't aged. When a NASA scientist discovers a UFO nearby, David gets the chance to unravel the mystery and recover the life he lost. Flight of the Navigator is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 30m runtime, released in 1986 with an average rating of 7.0 by 966 people. The movie made an estimated total of $18,564,613 in the box office.

Looper entwines action and science fiction as characters attempt to manipulate events across past and future timelines, sharing Back to the Future’s core concept of characters facing the hazards and moral complexities of time travel.

In the year 2044, time travel has not yet been invented but in 30 years it will have been. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination. Looper is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 58m runtime, released in 2012 with an average rating of 6.9 by 11,054 people. The movie made an estimated total of $47,042,000 in the box office.

The Infinite Man involves a protagonist who repeatedly replays the same weekend, causing convoluted time loops. This focus on unintended complications of personal time travel is thematically in line with Back to the Future’s narrative engine and comedic approach to causality.

A man's attempts to construct the ultimate romantic weekend backfire when his quest for perfection traps his lover in an infinite loop. The Infinite Man is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 25m runtime, released in 2014 with an average rating of 6.0 by 65 people.

Big explores what happens when a sudden, extraordinary event transforms a youth’s experience and perspective, a thematic bridge to Back to the Future, which also features a teenager unexpectedly thrust into situations forcing rapid personal growth and adaptation.

When a young boy makes a wish at a carnival machine to be big—he wakes up the following morning to find that it has been granted and his body has grown older overnight. But he is still the same 13-year-old boy inside. Now he must learn how to cope with the unfamiliar world of grown-ups including getting a job and having his first romantic encounter with a woman. Big is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 44m runtime, released in 1988 with an average rating of 7.2 by 4,104 people. The movie made an estimated total of $151,927,281 in the box office.

Midnight in Paris features a contemporary protagonist transported to a past era, exploring the interplay between nostalgia, self-discovery, and generational differences, all key touchstones in Back to the Future’s exploration of time travel and encounters with history.

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. Midnight in Paris is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 34m runtime, released in 2011 with an average rating of 7.5 by 7,803 people. The movie made an estimated total of $151,119,219 in the box office.

Mr. Nobody mixes nonlinear storytelling with experiments in personal timelines, delving into how different choices create alternate realities, connecting with Back to the Future’s structure of exploring the effects of altering events in a character’s personal and familial history.

Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092. Mr. Nobody is a movie from Belgium in English, with a total 2h 21m runtime, released in 2009 with an average rating of 7.8 by 6,291 people. The movie made an estimated total of $2,331,721 in the box office.

Edge of Tomorrow depicts a protagonist repeatedly reliving the same day due to time travel, every reset bringing new opportunities to solve problems—a structural parallel to Back to the Future’s focus on making incremental changes to escape a time-dependent predicament.

Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop. Edge of Tomorrow is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 54m runtime, released in 2014 with an average rating of 7.6 by 15,309 people. The movie made an estimated total of $370,541,256 in the box office.

13 Going on 30 features transformation across time from a youthful perspective, echoing Back to the Future’s central idea of a teen experiencing a dramatic shift in context that forces reevaluation of life choices and relationships.

After total humiliation at her thirteenth birthday party, Jenna Rink wants to just hide until she's thirty. Thanks to some magic wishing dust, Jenna's prayer has been answered. With a knockout body, a fabulous wardrobe, an athlete boyfriend, a dream job, and superstar friends, this can't be a better life. But soon Jenna realizes that adult life isn’t as easy as she hoped for. 13 Going on 30 is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 38m runtime, released in 2004 with an average rating of 6.8 by 5,600 people. The movie made an estimated total of $96,458,118 in the box office.

Donnie Darko intertwines a teenage protagonist with complex time travel elements and the challenge of altering troubling events, focusing on the personal confusion and changing fate, a thematic counterpart to Back to the Future’s mix of adolescent perspective and timeline shifts.

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes. Donnie Darko is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 54m runtime, released in 2001 with an average rating of 7.8 by 13,576 people. The movie made an estimated total of $7,500,000 in the box office.

The Kid presents a protagonist encountering and interacting with their own younger self, building on Back to the Future’s conceit of meeting familial figures as peers and considering how one’s actions and personality shape the future.

Powerful businessman Russ Duritz is self-absorbed and immersed in his work. But by the magic of the moon, he meets Rusty, a chubby, charming 8-year-old version of himself who can't believe he could turn out so badly – with no life and no dog. With Rusty's help, Russ is able to reconcile the person he used to dream of being with the man he's actually become. The Kid is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 44m runtime, released in 2000 with an average rating of 6.8 by 1,158 people. The movie made an estimated total of $110,317,580 in the box office.

The Map of Tiny Perfect Things explores the experience of young characters stuck in a time loop, emphasizing the process of discovering how choices and small moments matter, reminiscent of Back to the Future’s exploration of agency within time-related constraints.

Two teenagers trapped in an endless time loop set out to find all the tiny things that make that one day perfect. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 39m runtime, released in 2021 with an average rating of 7.1 by 899 people.

Yesterday follows a character who becomes the only person aware of cultural touchstones in an altered timeline, paralleling Back to the Future’s scenario where a personal journey is complicated by unintended shifts in recognizable history.

A struggling musician realizes he's the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate reality where the group was forgotten. Yesterday is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 56m runtime, released in 2019 with an average rating of 6.7 by 4,306 people. The movie made an estimated total of $154,608,856 in the box office.

Turn Back the Clock, though much older, also weaves in the premise of an ordinary individual granted the chance to relive and potentially alter previous experiences, sharing Back to the Future’s core question of how the past might shape a better present.

While recuperating in a hospital after he's hit by an automobile, a struggling shopowner dreams what his life might have been like if he'd made different choices twenty years earlier. Turn Back the Clock is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 18m runtime, released in 1933 with an average rating of 5.4 by 10 people.

The Butterfly Effect presents a protagonist repeatedly revisiting his own past, each alteration leading to significant changes in the present, emphasizing the far-reaching repercussions of tampering with history, as explored in Back to the Future.

A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected consequences. The Butterfly Effect is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 53m runtime, released in 2004 with an average rating of 7.6 by 8,375 people. The movie made an estimated total of $96,800,000 in the box office.

Interstate 60 features a young protagonist embarking on an unusual journey shaped by fantastical occurrences and self-discovery, aligning with Back to the Future’s blend of coming-of-age adventure and reality-defying scenarios guided by odd mentorship.

An aspiring painter meets various characters and learns valuable lessons while traveling across America. Interstate 60 is a movie from Canada in English, with a total 1h 56m runtime, released in 2002 with an average rating of 7.4 by 796 people.

Happy Accidents involves the intertwining of romance and speculative science when the possibility of time travel impacts a present-day relationship, connecting to Back to the Future’s narrative of relationships complicated and potentially redeemed by rewriting past events.

A comedy that pays tribute to the science fiction genre -- specifically, the sub-genre of time travel. But here the alternate reality is contemporary New York City where past and future experiences of trust, commitment and denial are cleverly put to the test. Just as Ruby is beginning to relish her first-ever healthy relationship, Sam begins muttering about being a time traveler from the year 2470. Happy Accidents is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 50m runtime, released in 2000 with an average rating of 6.8 by 145 people. The movie made an estimated total of $688,510 in the box office.

Primer dives into the technical and ethical implications of accidental time travel experimentation, echoing Back to the Future’s focus on inventiveness, temporal anomalies, and the escalating complexity of changes made to timelines.

A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them. Primer is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 17m runtime, released in 2004 with an average rating of 6.7 by 2,481 people. The movie made an estimated total of $545,436 in the box office.

Source Code places a protagonist in a loop to repeatedly solve a life-altering event and adjust specific actions each time. Its structure, like Back to the Future, hinges on changing key moments in the timeline to avert disaster.

When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. Source Code is a movie from Canada in English, with a total 1h 33m runtime, released in 2011 with an average rating of 7.3 by 9,266 people. The movie made an estimated total of $147,332,697 in the box office.

Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home has its characters utilizing time travel to save the future by venturing into the recent past, mixing science fiction, humor, and the challenge of navigating a distinctly different decade, much like Back to the Future.

When a huge alien probe enters the galaxy and begins to vaporize Earth's oceans, Kirk and his crew must travel back in time in order to bring back whales and save the planet. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 58m runtime, released in 1986 with an average rating of 7.2 by 1,677 people. The movie made an estimated total of $133,000,000 in the box office.

Hot Tub Time Machine centers on present-day characters transported to their adolescent years in the 1980s and grappling with the possibility of reshaping history, creating strong parallels to Back to the Future’s time-travel premise and its comedic approach to generational culture shock.

Four pals are stuck in a rut in adulthood: Adam has just been dumped, Lou is a hopeless party animal, Nick is a henpecked husband, and Jacob does nothing but play video games in his basement. But they get a chance to brighten their future by changing their past after a night of heavy drinking in a ski-resort hot tub results in their waking up in 1986. Hot Tub Time Machine is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 41m runtime, released in 2010 with an average rating of 6.0 by 2,789 people. The movie made an estimated total of $64,780,213 in the box office.

Time Bandits features a young protagonist swept away on a time-travel adventure by eccentric companions, evoking Back to the Future’s motif of youthful discovery, unpredictable historical misadventures, and the influence of odd mentors.

Young history buff Kevin can scarcely believe it when six dwarfs emerge from his closet one night. Former employees of the Supreme Being, they've purloined a map charting all of the holes in the fabric of time and are using it to steal treasures from different historical eras. Taking Kevin with them, they variously drop in on Napoleon, Robin Hood and King Agamemnon before the Supreme Being catches up with them. Time Bandits is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 56m runtime, released in 1981 with an average rating of 6.6 by 1,175 people. The movie made an estimated total of $42,365,581 in the box office.

My Science Project follows students whose tampering with a scientific device leads to unpredictable disruptions in time, mirroring Back to the Future’s central theme of teenagers’ experimentation unleashing unintended consequences on their immediate world.

His high school teacher issues an ultimatum: turn in a science project or flunk. So Mike Harlan scavenges a military base's junk pile for a suitable gizmo. He finds one... and unwittingly unleashes the awesome power and energy of the unknown. Twisted dimensions. Time warps. A fantastic realm where the past, present, and future collide in a whirling vortex of startling adventure and superlative special effects. My Science Project is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 34m runtime, released in 1985 with an average rating of 6.3 by 166 people. The movie made an estimated total of $4,122,748 in the box office.