Best Movies like X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

X-Men: First Class, as an installment in the same franchise, also follows the ensemble of mutant characters and explores pivotal events in the X-Men timeline, focusing on the origins and evolution of key alliances and conflicts that play a major role in Days of Future Past.

Before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time. Before they were arch-enemies, they were closest of friends, working together with other mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop the greatest threat the world has ever known. X-Men: First Class is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 12m runtime, released in 2011 with an average rating of 7.3 by 13,676 people. The movie made an estimated total of $353,624,124 in the box office.

Terminator 2: Judgment Day shares the central premise of characters attempting to alter past events to secure a better future. Both films intertwine action and science fiction elements with time travel as a direct means to prevent global catastrophe.

Ten years after the events of the original, a reprogrammed T-800 is sent back in time to protect young John Connor from the shape-shifting T-1000. Together with his mother Sarah, he fights to stop Skynet from triggering a nuclear apocalypse. Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a movie from France in English, with a total 2h 17m runtime, released in 1991 with an average rating of 8.2 by 14,563 people. The movie made an estimated total of $517,778,573 in the box office.

Looper involves a storyline centered on time travel and the consequences of changing the past to influence the future. Like X-Men: Days of Future Past, it features action-driven science fiction with characters caught between different timelines and the high stakes that come with them.

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 11,043 people. The movie made an estimated total of $47,042,000 in the box office.

Logan features core X-Men characters and further develops the themes of survival and legacy present in Days of Future Past, focusing on the character journey of mutants fighting against extinction and reflecting on their place in a world hostile to their existence.

In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hideout on the Mexican border. But Logan's attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are upended when a young mutant arrives, pursued by dark forces. Logan is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 17m runtime, released in 2017 with an average rating of 7.8 by 20,597 people. The movie made an estimated total of $619,021,436 in the box office.

Minority Report explores a near-future scenario where technology allows the manipulation of future events to prevent crimes, echoing the theme in Days of Future Past of altering timelines to avert disaster, wrapped in a science fiction action-adventure setting.

John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge. Minority Report is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 25m runtime, released in 2002 with an average rating of 7.4 by 9,775 people. The movie made an estimated total of $358,372,926 in the box office.

The Matrix, like Days of Future Past, uses a blend of action and science fiction to explore realities that can be altered to change the future, with protagonists battling against forces that threaten the survival of humanity.

Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth. The Matrix is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 16m runtime, released in 1999 with an average rating of 8.3 by 28,319 people. The movie made an estimated total of $463,517,383 in the box office.

Edge of Tomorrow features characters reliving key moments with the ability to change outcomes through time manipulation, echoing the structure and stakes of battles fought across different timelines to avert devastating consequences, as seen in Days of Future Past.

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 15,288 people. The movie made an estimated total of $370,541,256 in the box office.

Twelve Monkeys centers on time travel as a tool to intervene in catastrophic futures, paralleling Days of Future Past’s premise where the main conflict is resolved by shifting events across different points in time.

In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease. Twelve Monkeys is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 9m runtime, released in 1995 with an average rating of 7.6 by 9,249 people. The movie made an estimated total of $168,841,459 in the box office.

Watchmen, based on an ensemble of flawed heroes, explores the impact of extraordinary individuals on pivotal historical events and society’s future, mirroring the alternate-history and ensemble-driven narrative approach of Days of Future Past.

In a gritty and alternate 1985, the glory days of costumed vigilantes have been brought to a close by a government crackdown. But after one of the masked veterans is brutally murdered, an investigation into the killer is initiated. The reunited heroes set out to prevent their own destruction, but in doing so they uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger. Watchmen is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 43m runtime, released in 2009 with an average rating of 7.4 by 10,126 people. The movie made an estimated total of $185,258,983 in the box office.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse also weaves together multiple timelines and alternate versions of familiar characters, focusing on collaboration across universes to prevent disaster—a structural similarity to Days of Future Past’s temporal and ensemble-driven story.

Struggling to find his place in the world while juggling school and family, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales is unexpectedly bitten by a radioactive spider and develops unfathomable powers just like the one and only Spider-Man. While wrestling with the implications of his new abilities, Miles discovers a super collider created by the madman Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, causing others from across the Spider-Verse to be inadvertently transported to his dimension. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 57m runtime, released in 2018 with an average rating of 8.4 by 17,522 people. The movie made an estimated total of $394,884,133 in the box office.

Star Trek delves into the use of time travel within a science fiction action-adventure context, where altering past events is necessary to prevent a darker future, closely matching the narrative engine at the heart of Days of Future Past.

The fate of the galaxy rests in the hands of bitter rivals. One, James Kirk, is a delinquent, thrill-seeking Iowa farm boy. The other, Spock, a Vulcan, was raised in a logic-based society that rejects all emotion. As fiery instinct clashes with calm reason, their unlikely but powerful partnership is the only thing capable of leading their crew through unimaginable danger, boldly going where no one has gone before. The human adventure has begun again. Star Trek is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 7m runtime, released in 2009 with an average rating of 7.4 by 10,606 people. The movie made an estimated total of $386,839,614 in the box office.

The Butterfly Effect features a protagonist who repeatedly alters past events to mend a troubling future, closely aligning with the key narrative device and philosophical themes of changing fate, prevalent in Days of Future Past.

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 8,364 people. The movie made an estimated total of $96,800,000 in the box office.

Déjà Vu’s plot centers on using advanced technology to revisit and change past events to prevent tragedy, creating parallel structure and thematic concerns with Days of Future Past regarding intervention in the timeline to save lives.

Called in to recover evidence in the aftermath of a horrific explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Federal agent Doug Carlin gets pulled away from the scene and taken to a top-secret government lab that uses a time-shifting surveillance device to help prevent crime. Déjà Vu is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 6m runtime, released in 2006 with an average rating of 6.9 by 5,372 people. The movie made an estimated total of $180,557,550 in the box office.

The Adjustment Bureau explores individual agency in overriding predetermined destinies, using science fiction concepts to challenge fate, akin to the way Days of Future Past’s characters struggle to rewrite their own future through intervention.

A man glimpses the future Fate has planned for him – and chooses to fight for his own destiny. Battling the powerful Adjustment Bureau across, under and through the streets of New York, he risks his destined greatness to be with the only woman he's ever loved. The Adjustment Bureau is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 46m runtime, released in 2011 with an average rating of 6.8 by 4,992 people. The movie made an estimated total of $127,900,000 in the box office.

Dark Phoenix is another chapter in the X-Men series, dealing with the same mutant characters and their ongoing struggle to survive in a world that fears them. It complements Days of Future Past’s exploration of pivotal events in mutant history.

The X-Men face their most formidable and powerful foe when one of their own, Jean Grey, starts to spiral out of control. During a rescue mission in outer space, Jean is nearly killed when she's hit by a mysterious cosmic force. Once she returns home, this force not only makes her infinitely more powerful, but far more unstable. The X-Men must now band together to save her soul and battle aliens that want to use Grey's new abilities to rule the galaxy. Dark Phoenix is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 54m runtime, released in 2019 with an average rating of 6.0 by 7,173 people. The movie made an estimated total of $252,442,974 in the box office.

Source Code employs time-loop mechanics and the repeated manipulation of a specific event to avert disaster, offering a focused variation of the time-altering suspense seen on a grander scale in Days of Future Past.

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 9,257 people. The movie made an estimated total of $147,332,697 in the box office.

Inception, like Days of Future Past, builds a complex narrative across multiple layers of altered reality and time, where changing one layer’s events impacts the ultimate outcome, delivered as action-driven science fiction.

Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious. Inception is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 28m runtime, released in 2010 with an average rating of 8.4 by 39,726 people. The movie made an estimated total of $839,030,630 in the box office.

X-Men introduces the central ensemble of mutants and their struggle for survival, establishing the foundations for the interwoven character arcs, timelines, and conflicts that reach a pivotal culmination in Days of Future Past.

Two mutants, Rogue and Wolverine, come to a private academy for their kind whose resident superhero team, the X-Men, must oppose a terrorist organization with similar powers. X-Men is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 44m runtime, released in 2000 with an average rating of 7.0 by 12,333 people. The movie made an estimated total of $296,339,527 in the box office.

Predestination hinges entirely on time travel and looping chronology, examining how altering actions in the past affects identity and outcomes, resonating with Days of Future Past’s structure and themes regarding causality and fate.

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 7,197 people. The movie made an estimated total of $4,942,449 in the box office.

Avengers: Endgame features an ensemble cast who use time travel to revisit critical past events and alter the course of the future, matching both the scale and narrative structure employed in Days of Future Past’s efforts to prevent apocalypse.

After the devastating events of Avengers: Infinity War, the universe is in ruins due to the efforts of the Mad Titan, Thanos. With the help of remaining allies, the Avengers must assemble once more in order to undo Thanos' actions and restore order to the universe once and for all, no matter what consequences may be in store. Avengers: Endgame is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 3h 1m runtime, released in 2019 with an average rating of 8.2 by 28,171 people. The movie made an estimated total of $2,147,483,647 in the box office.

Coherence, while smaller in scale, employs alternate timelines and parallel realities colliding on a single night, creating a similar fascination with the consequences of different choices on the ultimate fate of characters, as in Days of Future Past.

Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead. Coherence is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 29m runtime, released in 2014 with an average rating of 7.2 by 3,511 people. The movie made an estimated total of $139,745 in the box office.

Project Almanac centers on a group of young people who build a time machine, only to realize that their interventions in the past bring unforeseen consequences for the future—a premise closely mirroring the stakes in Days of Future Past.

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 2,900 people. The movie made an estimated total of $33,200,000 in the box office.

Donnie Darko revolves around a teenager’s experiences with time manipulation and the profound effects of altering events, sharing with Days of Future Past an underlying preoccupation with temporal change and destiny’s repercussions.

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 13,566 people. The movie made an estimated total of $7,500,000 in the box office.

Timecrimes explores the complications and paradoxes that arise when a person inadvertently becomes entangled in a series of ever-tightening time loops, aligning it with the narrative structure and cause-effect focus of Days of Future 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 1,494 people. The movie made an estimated total of $553,198 in the box office.

Frequency’s protagonist communicates across time to change events and prevent personal tragedy, parallel to Days of Future Past’s use of inter-temporal communication and action to avert disaster, both relying on familial and world-saving stakes.

When a rare phenomenon gives police officer John Sullivan the chance to speak to his father, 30 years in the past, he takes the opportunity to prevent his dad's tragic death. After his actions inadvertently give rise to a series of brutal murders he and his father must find a way to fix the consequences of altering time. Frequency is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 58m runtime, released in 2000 with an average rating of 7.3 by 2,054 people. The movie made an estimated total of $68,106,245 in the box office.

Palm Springs features characters trapped in a repeating day, exploring how actions across repeated timelines shape relationships and fate, echoing the temporal experimentation and focus on altering outcomes central to Days of Future Past.

When carefree Nyles and reluctant maid of honor Sarah have a chance encounter at a Palm Springs wedding, things get complicated when they find themselves unable to escape the venue, themselves, or each other. Palm Springs is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 30m runtime, released in 2020 with an average rating of 7.3 by 3,789 people. The movie made an estimated total of $1,818,417 in the box office.

Primer’s intricate depiction of time travel and the resulting unintended consequences for its characters provides a cerebral take on causality and altered events, similar in theme to the efforts to change history in Days of Future Past.

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 2,476 people. The movie made an estimated total of $545,436 in the box office.

Arrival employs a science fiction framework to examine how knowledge of time and events alters perception and decision-making, offering a contemplative complement to Days of Future Past’s narrative mechanics of changing the future by shifting perspectives on the past.

Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat. Arrival is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 56m runtime, released in 2016 with an average rating of 7.6 by 19,616 people. The movie made an estimated total of $203,388,186 in the box office.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is built around an iconic alternate timeline concept, where the actions of one superhero fundamentally alter the past and reshape the future, paralleling Days of Future Past’s multitemporal conflict and high-stakes mission.

The Flash finds himself in a war-torn alternate timeline and teams up with alternate versions of his fellow heroes to restore the timeline. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 21m runtime, released in 2013 with an average rating of 7.9 by 1,991 people.

The Tomorrow War sends characters back in time to change the outcome of a losing battle for humanity’s survival, making use of a military science fiction setting and action scenes similar to the time-altering premise in Days of Future Past.

The world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future, mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester. Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist and his estranged father in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet. The Tomorrow War is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 18m runtime, released in 2021 with an average rating of 7.5 by 4,329 people. The movie made an estimated total of $14,400,000 in the box office.

The Time Machine, an adaptation of the genre classic, revolves around the protagonist’s quest through time to prevent tragedy and save humanity, echoing Days of Future Past’s core of traveling across eras to change disastrous outcomes.

Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th-century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds mankind divided into two warring races. The Time Machine is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 36m runtime, released in 2002 with an average rating of 6.3 by 2,597 people. The movie made an estimated total of $123,729,176 in the box office.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, while not involving time travel, follows an ensemble undertaking a seemingly impossible mission to alter the course of a larger conflict, mirroring Days of Future Past’s tension around group efforts that determine the future.

A rogue band of resistance fighters unite for a mission to steal the Death Star plans and bring a new hope to the galaxy. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 2h 13m runtime, released in 2016 with an average rating of 7.5 by 16,572 people. The movie made an estimated total of $1,056,057,273 in the box office.

Infinity Chamber focuses on a confined, science-fiction setting where memory and time manipulation become keys to survival, sharing Days of Future Past’s fascination with how perception of time affects a character’s fate and choices.

A man trapped in an automated prison must outsmart a computer in order to escape and try and find his way back to the outside world that may already be wiped out. Infinity Chamber is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 43m runtime, released in 2016 with an average rating of 6.3 by 284 people.

Next deals with predicting and altering future events within a science fiction action framework, matching Days of Future Past’s theme of using unique abilities to avert coming disaster and change predetermined outcomes.

Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret which torments him: he can see a few minutes into the future. Sick of the examinations he underwent as a child and the interest of the government and medical establishment in his power, he lies low under an assumed name in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm. Next is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 36m runtime, released in 2007 with an average rating of 6.1 by 3,335 people. The movie made an estimated total of $76,066,841 in the box office.

The Fountain weaves together multiple storylines set in different eras, exploring interconnected destinies and the repeated attempt to overcome loss, intertwining narrative threads across time as in Days of Future Past.

Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world. The Fountain is a movie from United States of America in English, with a total 1h 36m runtime, released in 2006 with an average rating of 6.9 by 3,150 people. The movie made an estimated total of $15,304,890 in the box office.

Children of Men presents a struggle for survival in a world facing extinction, following a desperate effort by a small group that shapes the future of humanity, echoing Days of Future Past’s central conflict and high stakes around species survival.

In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind. Children of Men is a movie from United Kingdom in English, with a total 1h 49m runtime, released in 2006 with an average rating of 7.6 by 7,975 people. The movie made an estimated total of $70,595,464 in the box office.