The 10 Most Mind-Bending Time-Travel Movies, Ranked

Time Trap (2007) - deserves way more attention than it got. A cave and the deeper in you go the passage of time slows. The cast is a bunch of teenagers, which would normally be off-putting, but they are all sensible likeable and the story is intelligent. It really shouldn't work, but it does.

WTF where is Source Code and Groundhog Day on this list?? There's no way this video can be taken seriously with such omissions! ☹

The Time Cop has a real twist on the ending. It has Jean Claude Van Damme in the lead and Mia Sara as his wife. She was the leading actress in Ferris Bueller's Day off.

Tenet was not good.

I've never liked time travel ,even though I've been a sci-fi nut since I was a kid. From the first my biggest question was how could the entire universe stop and reverse or fast forward? The whole flicking universe would have to or it wouldn't work. You would have a little pocket of time off from everything else. I can suspend my science mind to accept gravity on every starship with no explanation, but time travel is bonkers. If I jumped 10 minutes ahead, I would be somewhere in space. The earth moves, time wouldn't stop it or where it's going. Just a pet peeve of mine! Sorry!😂😂

I liked some of them, but time travel movies are not my favorite.
That’s why I’m not the biggest fan of Nolan!
Arrival was a great movie, but it wasn’t a time travel one!
I would have put Source Code instead in it!

Some of these like tenant and donnie darko are pretty dumb, but I'll Def check out the Spanish movie... thank you for not including that trash "time travel" atleast.

“Predestination” is exactly the short story “—All you Zombies—“, 1959, Robert Heinlein. Truly mind-bending, and airtight.

I've got Christopher Nolan's Tenet on 4K Blu-ray.
(As part of my sci-fi fantasy drama collection)
And even though I've rewatched several times over. I still think that, Nolan
was just playing one big total mindfck on us the audience.
Also...
As good as, John David Washington is in the role of the protagonist, I still can't help reinvisioning Robert Pattison (Neil) in the lead part.

Sidenote:
Hey I'm black. And I know that it's hard for black actor's to get good parts and role's in blockbuster movie & tv show's - but hey I still think
Robert would've done a great job.

Alternatively...
I can imagine Sterling K. Brown as the protagonist.
But if I'm to be 100% totally honest. A younger version of Denzel Washington (early 30s) would have been absolutely perfect.
Denzel is still an absolute GOAT. His son did an admirable job.

As for Nolan...
I am really hoping that he stops some of his strange self-indulgent quirks & ticks of issues with the sound and inaudible dialogue.
It's something which is major problem with both Nolan and his brother Jonathan is that, they get way too overly complex with their subplots and storyline's.

Hence...
It's really great to Denis Villeneuve's Arrival make this list. Because it's truly a magnificent movie.
The cinematography is next level awesome.
And It's also top peak Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner - they both give an acting masterclass.
🔥🔥🔥

12 Monkeys is imo, the best time travel movie ever made. Arrival, oyoh, was garbage. Pretentious, bloated, and....stupid frankly on multiple levels. Tenet, otoh, asks the viewer to accept the absurd premise that the CIA, yes, that CIA, cares about the future of humanity and is fighting the good fight on everyone's behalf. Sure. I can accept the idea that time travel is plausible even If I know its all but impossible in reality. I cant accept the idea that the amerikan CIA being a force for good.

Chrono Crimenes

Primer had an amazing premise, but a muddled plot.

Source Code (2011) is also a great movie.

Looper is stupid and you're stupid for not realizing it's stupid 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️😆

Prdy good!

Perhaps not as mind bending as some of these but you should give 'Idaho Transfer' 1973 a watch. It's sufficiently weird and has a nice 70's bleak/message ending.

Seen them all, and they are all great.

What about Idaho Transfer 1973 Directed bu Peter Fonda .

Arrival is almost unique in as much as it treats the time paradox with respect. Doesn't candy crush it, it presents beautifully beautifully crafted paradoxes. Each accentuating the core.

Tom Cruise re wrote the ending of Edge of tomorrow. Beacause he cant die in a movie. 🤦‍♂️ Look at Rouge One. You can die in the end. And still be a super great movie.

15:01 the extremely loud motors on imax cameras cause the muted dialog

Primer is such a mind-bender. Great flick.

Caddo Lake, you’re welcome.

In butterfly effect, if Evan strangles himself in the womb, he's never born and doesn't stop Kayleigh and Tommy from moving in with their S/O father. So how would that ending have worked?

La Jetee - time travel, a beautiful film… https://youtu.be/Pf4AY_DI9BE?si=SQ-n_PDztO1Uw7JR

Edge of tomorrow is only a good movie cos Tom cruise dies over and over!

12.01 is another time loop film, with a good ending.

Great list, it’s hard to find really good sci fi and time travel movies what about Time Lapse that’s a shocking one

I´ll never get it, why the character of Madeleine Stowe replies at the end, that she knew the character of Willis also from somewhere. Cause in her timeline, she see´s the child for the first time at the airport!!! Btw, your top 3 suck like hell!!!

Nice video … but (minor criticism) there is no actual time travel in Arrival. Even the aliens don’t time travel - they just know the future.

the scientist from the future in 12 monkeys says she is in insurance when the doctor talks to her. meaning she was there to make sure the virus got released and she would be one of the first carriers so when she went back they had the most pure original strain. i loved how subtle that one line was and how huge it actually meant.

What about Triangle (2009)? Inspired by the structure of Time Crimes but adding some extra spice...

TimeCrimes is so clever, so freaky and feels so like it could actually happen in a world where such things can happen. BTW I think you should've included in the the title: SPOILERS. You've not made these movies more attractive potential new viewers because
you've given all the stories away.

Edge of Tomorrow had an awful ending! It was obvious that the reset to the previous day should have just started the cycle over again, but they copped out completely!

Time ttavel stories are quite inpossible to get right. Ifcu,include the gtandfather paradox, you're screwed, cannot resolve it. If Reese does nit manage to kill the terinator, one of the most succesfil films in Arnie's earky career would not have left the mark it did.

My favorite, and IMO one of the smartest time-travel movies would have to be The Grand Tour: A Disaster In Time.

Wow, nice list. But what about "Back to the Future"?

dang, I was really hoping to find one here that I haven't seen

Louise was very unfair to Ian. She should have told him before they had Hannah. I think she was a huge, selfish biotch.

Relentless and Endless are excellent.

Primer is a complete turd.