Christopher Nolan has developed a reputation for playing with non-linear structures and time travel in his movies, but there are plenty of other filmmakers who explore similar themes. Many of Christopher Nolan’s best movies deploy non-linear structures in one way or another, like Memento‘s reverse plot thread or Oppenheimer‘s concurrent portrayal of the past and the future. Other movies explore time travel more explicitly, like Tenet and Interstellar.

With the news that Christopher Nolan’s next movie is an adaptation of The Odyssey, it will be interesting to see how he leaves his own mark on a story that has been pᴀssed down through generations. One possibility is that he will chop up the structure to his own liking. This would be a bold move for such a revered classic, but Nolan frequently devises non-linear structures that enhance his movies, rather than coming across as mere gimmicks. Other great directors, like Quentin Tarantino, Terry Gilliam and Denis Villeneuve, have all produced movies that use similar techniques.

10

Looper (2012)

Rian Johnson’s Time Travel Thriller Overflows With Originality

Although Looper owes a debt to other time-travel thrillers that came before it, Rian Johnnson takes it in an unexpected direction. This is something that he’s done throughout his career, whether he’s shaking up the tired mystery genre with the Knives Out or bringing his own divisive ideas to the Star Wars franchise. Looper is one of the most interesting and unique time travel movies ever made.

Looper stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a contract killer whose targets are sent back in time by criminal syndicates in the future, so that they can distance themselves from the murder. Matters are complicated when he must “close the loop” by killing the future version of himself. Johnson constantly finds new ways to push his concept to new places, and this leads to some dazzling and completely original action scenes.

9

Edge Of Tomorrow (2014)

Tom Cruise Anchors A Complex Time Loop Actioner

Time loop movies have created an interesting subgenre, because many of them choose not to explain how or why the characters are stuck in repeating patterns. It’s often just an accepted fact that the characters have to come to terms with, like in Groundhog Day and Palm Springs. Edge of Tomorrow is somewhat different, and the way that it describes the mechanics of its time loop structure shapes the entire story.

Tom Cruise stars as a soldier in a near-future when aliens have invaded Earth and swiftly conquered all but a few secluded corners. As Edge of Tomorrow gradually reveals the truth behind the aliens and the time looping structure, the story sets off in an unexpected direction. Surprisingly, the movie manages to maintain its stakes throughout, even when death loses any finality, and the enchanting mystery also helps propel the plot.

8

The Terminator (1984)

James Cameron’s Time Travel Classic Is An All-Out Thrill Ride

The Terminator showcases James Cameron’s mastery of blockbuster action set pieces and interesting sci-fi storytelling simultaneously, and it has earned its status as a classic time travel movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger has found few roles which suit him as perfectly as the Terminator, a high-tech killing machine from the future with a singular goal in its hard drive. Although Schwarzenegger is physically imposing and frighteningly impersonal, he still knows how to inject some humor.

The Terminator franchise may have lost its way after the first two entries, but the sequels have done nothing to detract from the sheer excitement of the earlier movies. Although the franchise is more focused on action than most of Christopher Nolan’s movies, his fans will likely appreciate the synthesis of mind-bending sci-fi and frantic thrills. The Terminator takes a relatively simple idea and executes it superbly.

7

Déjà Vu (2006)

Denzel Washington Breaks Out Of Familiar Territory With A Sci-Fi Twist

Denzel Washington has made so many crime movies that it seems like familiar ground for him, and whenever he wants to branch out and try something different, he often does so while playing a detective or federal agent. Just as his first Western, The Magnificent Seven, sees him playing a detective, Déjà Vu has Washington playing a federal agent seeking justice after a devastating terrorist attack on US soil. This is a rare sci-fi movie for Washington, but the time-travel set-up doesn’t stray too far from his strengths.

In some ways, Déjà Vu is a fantasy about wishing to turn back the clock after horrific tragedies, as Washington’s character is granted access to time-travel technology to go back and stop the terrorist plot from happening. Déjà Vu seems like a response to America’s national grief following 9/11, but it’s also significant that it was filmed in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Ultimately, Déjà Vu can be seen as a fantasy addressing both events, likening manmade tragedies to natural disasters, showing the limitations of law enforcement, justice and retribution.

6

Arrival (2016)

Arrival’s Non-Linear Plot Is Tied To Its Message

Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival uses a non-linear structure that sneaks up on the audience. The story follows a linguist who is recruited by the United States government to interpret and decode the language of an alien species that mysteriously arrives on Earth. As she gradually comes to understand their methods of communication, her own interpretation of the world around her begins to shift.

The ending of Arrival recontextualizes everything that came before it, bending the timeline in retrospect. In doing so, Arrival explores the Sapir-Whorff hypothesis, which states that language can affect how people understand their environments. Arrival takes this theory to extreme lengths, with a non-linear language that allows someone to experience non-linear time once they master it.

5

Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko Deserves A Couple Of Rewatches

Donnie Darko is a quintessential cult classic, still undervalued despite its fascinating portrayal of teenage angst and its complex, rewarding sci-fi story. The themes of alienation and loneliness seep into the confronting horror elements of the story, as Donnie is offered cryptic messages by a strange figure in a bunny costume. It’s as if James Stewart’s Harvey were a psychological thriller.

The ending of Donnie Darko reveals the meaning behind most of its puzzling imagery and strange prophesies, but it still leaves some questions hanging in the air about the exact nature of the time-bending story. It’s a movie that lingers in the memory, urging its audience to watch it back once more to unravel the mess and come to their own conclusions about Frank and the vortex.

4

Pulp Fiction (1994)

Tarantino’s Non-Linear Crime Thriller Keeps The Audience On Their Toes

Quentin Tarantino is a director known for toying with his narrative structures, much like Christopher Nolan. While he hasn’t yet delved into sci-fi, he frequently presents his scenes out of order to reveal information to his audience if and when he chooses. This deliberate layer of artificiality could be seen as a crutch in the hands of a less capable director, but it all feels intelligent and intentional when Tarantino draws his audience into a puzzle.

Pulp Fiction is arguably the peak of Tarantino’s experiments with non-linear structure. As Nolan does in Oppenheimer, Tarantino chops and changes the order of his story to lead his audience in whatever direction he sees fit. It can be difficult to sort Pulp Fiction into the correct order on a first watch, but this is exactly the point. Tarantino’s sprawling, interconnected crime story is a complex tangle that tears down the usual cause and effect relationship that other crime movies revolve around.

3

12 Monkeys (1995)

Terry Gilliam Is A Master Of Mind-Bending Cinema

Looking back on Monty Python, it seems as though Terry Gilliam was likely the one responsible for most of the group’s meta comedy and nonsensical plots, since his later works have continued to deconstruct narrative traditions from the inside out. 12 Monkeys isn’t his only movie that plays a game with the audience, but it encapsulates this concept perfectly, with a time travel plot that keeps changing the rules.

Just like with Gilliam’s other movies, 12 Monkeys has a streak of absurd humor running throughout the story. The mechanics of time travel originally seem simple in 12 Monkeys, as a convict is sent back in time to find the origins of a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly virus, but his premonitions and a few other details muddy the waters a little. In the end, 12 Monkeys reveals itself to be far more complex, with the specifics of its time travel launching a philosophical debate.

2

Last Night In Soho (2021)

Edgar Wright’s Mysterious Thriller Blends The Past With The Present

Edgar Wright is mostly known for directing comedy movies, but Last Night in Soho ditches the humor of his earlier work in favor of dark, psychological horror. Thomasin McKenzie plays a fashion student in London who starts to experience the life of a woman in 1960s London in her dreams. As the story progresses, she is drawn deeper into this alternate timeline, and her grasp on her own reality starts to slip.

Last Night in Soho‘s peculiar narrative doesn’t quite consтιтute time travel, but it shows the past and the present collapsing into one tangled timeline, where the past can affect the present and vice versa. Wright declines to explain the mechanics behind this strange anomaly, leaving the audience to decide whether there is some supernatural occurrence or a more psychological explanation.

1

Run Lola Run (1998)

Run Lola Run Toys With The Idea Of A Non-Linear Narrative

Run Lola Run starts off with the simple premise of a woman who needs a lot of money in a very short amount of time, but it explores this premise three times. After Lola’s initial attempt to get the money, the story resets from the beginning and shows an alternate version of events. This branching structure is the same kind of bold narrative experiment as something like Memento, where the structure is the defining feature of the movie.

More than a simple branching narrative, Run Lola Run weaves its different plot threads together in intriguing ways. Characters seem to possess some limited knowledge of the other timelines, even going so far as to refer to events from alternate realities as if they happened in a previous iteration of the same plot. This strange relationship between the different narratives suggests that they may all be occurring simultaneously within Lola’s imagination, or that the story shouldn’t be seen as anything more than a fictional narrative.