Romantic time travel and alternate reality movies are pretty amazing to watch.
I love movies that jump around in time or show an alternate reality. Back to the Future, which is a classic example and one of the greatest time travel movies ever, comes to mind first, but this list is going to include my ten favorites in the romance category. They are in release date order.
10 Best Romantic Time Travel & Alternate Reality Movies
1. Big (1988)
Tom Hanks knows how to live it up! As a boy who is suddenly in a man’s body, he faces the reality of adulthood, including getting a job, finding a place to live, and even dating. He’s still a child at heart, but will he be stuck as a man forever without experiencing life as a teenager?
2. Mr. Destiny (1990)
Life is pretty average for James Belushi’s character, but he wonders how much better life would be if he had won his high school baseball championship. He gets his birthday wish and is placed in an alternate reality. Will this new version of his life be that much better?
3. Groundhog Day (1993)
Does living the same day over and over again seem appealing or frustrating to you? Bill Murray’s character eventually makes the most of it by learning some new skills and trying to win his crush’s heart. Will he wake up to the song “I Got You Babe” forever?
4. Sliding Doors (1998)
Gwyneth Paltrow stars as a woman in London who faces many challenges. One storyline shows the progression of events when she makes the train to get home, while a second storyline follows the chain of events after she misses that train. How different will her life be from missing one train?
5. Freaky Friday (2003)
Lindsay Lohan thinks life is so much simpler for her mom, while Jamie Lee Curtis doesn’t understand her daughter’s behavior at all. This remake from the 1976 version tells the story of a mother-daughter switcheroo.
6. 13 Going on 30 (2004)
This movie is pretty similar to Big, but this time a girl gets transformed into a woman overnight. Jennifer Garner brings out the kid in all of us, and she shows us the trials and tribulations of being both a teenager and an adult.
7. Click (2006)
Adam Sandler takes advantage of a universal remote that allows him to jump through time and skip the boring parts of life. What’s the harm in fast-forwarding an argument with his wife or an illness? He sees what his future will be if he continues on this same path.
8. 17 Again (2009)
This plot is somewhat the opposite of Big and 13 Going on 30. Matthew Perry plays a man who gets a chance to redo his past mistakes by being reborn as his teenage self, played by Zac Efron. Will being a teenager again help him improve his current life?
9. The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)
I was excited when they turned this book into a movie. Imagine jumping around in time without control. That’s exactly what Eric Bana’s character goes through. Rachel McAdams plays his loving wife who has to accept his continuous disappearances as he travels through time.
10. About Time (2013)
Did you know that Rachel McAdams has been in four movies about time travel, but she’s never the one to travel through time? In this movie, the leading man has control over his ability, so he uses it to try to win her heart. Will he succeed?
Let me know if you have others to add to the list. This article mentions some other romantic time travel movies that are worth watching. Two more that I also love are Hot Tub Time Machine and When We First Met. So many great ones to choose from! Check out my list of the Top 20 Romantic Comedies as well.