A Glean movie guide
Mind-Bending Paradoxes & Temporal Loops
Don't forget to close the loop.
Master the mechanics of time travel with these essential, brain-twisting films.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Primer
A hyper-realistic look at the technical and ethical decay caused by overlapping 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.
- 02
Predestination
A masterclass in the bootstrap paradox that will leave you questioning identity 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.
- 03
Timecrimes
A tight, suspenseful thriller where every attempt to fix the past only tightens the knot.
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.
- 04
12 Monkeys
A gritty exploration of a fixed timeline where the future is written in the past.
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.
- 05
Looper
A stylish noir that tackles the physical and moral mess of confronting your older self.
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.
- 06
Tenet
A massive spectacle built on the concept of entropy reversal and temporal pincer movements.
Armed with only one word - Tenet - and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
- 07
Triangle
A recursive, psychological puzzle that traps its protagonist in a terrifying cycle of intervention.
When Jess sets sail on a yacht with a group of friends, she cannot shake the feeling that there is something wrong.
- 08
Donnie Darko
A surreal journey through wormholes and tangent universes that demands a second viewing.
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.
- 09
Arrival
A profound drama that shifts the focus from machines to the linguistic perception of time.
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.
- 10
Back to the Future
The quintessential pop-culture guide to the grandfather paradox and the ripple effect.
Eighties teenager Marty McFly is accidentally sent back in time to 1955, inadvertently disrupting his parents' first meeting and attracting his mother's romantic interest. Marty must repair the damage to history by rekindling his parents' romance and - with the help of his eccentric inventor friend Doc Brown - return to 1985.
- 11
The Butterfly Effect
A dark look at how small changes in the past can lead to catastrophic shifts in the present.
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.
- 12
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel
A clever, meta-comedy that deconstructs the tropes and rules of temporal displacement.
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.