In Time was met with underwhelming reviews, but it is an intriguing concept and an interesting aesthetically designed world. In Time may not have fully pleased audiences and critics, but there are a whole lot of great movies like it. Some of them star the pop star-turned-actor Justin Timberlake, while others share a cohesively dystopian outlook on the world and others still play with the same science fiction time concepts or deal with class disparity in a unique way in a science fiction universe.
Whether you loved In Time or just found some elements of it interesting, here are a list of great movies to watch next. These are the top 10 best movies like In Time.
10. Hunger Games
A dystopian movie based on a book with the same name. The Hunger Games takes place in a universe where various districts in a post-apocalyptic US need to send a duo of children to the Capitol in order to maintain order. These children participate in a televised event where each of them fight to the death, until there is a single winner.
While sometimes maligned, the Hunger Games has a lot going for it. Its aesthetics are very unique to the point where legions of imitators have tried to capture the same appearances for both the Capitol and the districts. It’s a classic of early 2010s Young Adult films, and few other movies that adapt YA fiction have been able to replicate the same appeal and quality. Hunger Games deals with the same issues of classism and wealth as In Time, with the Capitol being a rich, entertainment-hungry force domineering the other, often much poorer, districts.
9. Edge of Tomorrow
Edge of Tomorrow is a Tom Cruise sci-fi movie which also deals with the theme of time, though instead of your time being limited mechanically it deals with a time loop. Tom Cruise plays an army recruiter who is forced to war against an alien menace and his untimely death. The one catch is that once he dies he is forced to repeat the last day of his life over and over, and find a way to defeat the aliens once and for all.
Edge of Tomorrow also stakes a lot on its premise being interesting, much like In Time, and there’s a lot they do to play within the time loop in a military sci-fi setting. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt play interesting and compelling characters and the aesthetics of the world and technology are very good. The humans have grimy exosuits while the aliens are strange looking, spindly techno organic tentacled creatures. If you want a solid film with an intriguing premise, then Edge of Tomorrow is a good pick for movie night.
8. Snowpiercer
Snowpiercer is a sci-fi movie about wealth disparity. In a frozen world where the only living humans are on a train, Snowpiercer is about the class divide between the people at the back of the train versus the people at the front. Several of the people from the back decide to start a revolution and redistribute the wealth of the front more equitably.
Snowpiercer is a lot more of a harsh and dark film than In Time, which is fitting given that the state of the world in that film is somehow even worse. Both films deal with a sort of inhuman cruelty that feels grimly realistic and display a potentially horrible vision of the future. Both movies use their metaphors, time and trains, to talk about class divide. If you want something a little darker and more gritty than In Time, but dealing with similar themes, Snowpiercer is a good choice.
7. District 9
Directed by Neill Blomkamp, this movie is about a group of aliens who crashlanded on earth and are forced into slums by the residents of the planet. A government agent is exposed to their technology and begins to transform into an alien himself. This is all delivered with a bit of a mockumentary style that helps District 9 stand out.
In Time and District 9 could not be more aesthetically different, but they share the time honour tradition of being sci-fi interested in social commentary. District 9 is a satire on racism and xenophobia that is perhaps a little more cogent and purposeful than In Time, but they’re both part of a genre of dystopian fiction that use hypothetical science to comment on current events and phenomenon. While District 9 uses aliens to talk about Xenophobia, prejudice and poverty In Time attempts to tackle class and wealth disparity using immortality technology as a metaphor.
6. The Social Network
This may seem like an odd film to recommend alongside a bunch of science fiction films, but if you like Justin Timberlake then his best performance is in the Social Network. The movie tells the tale of Facebook’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, going from his youth in college to the height of his early success at the time of the movie’s release.
The movie is exceptionally well-written, by legendary screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, with some of the best dialogue for a film of its kind. Scenes like Zuckerberg’s date telling him that women don’t dislike him because he’s a nerd, but instead because he’s an asshole, are the bread and butter of this movie. Justin Timberlake plays the role of Sean Parker in this film, being the influence that makes Zuckerberg’s Facebook more commercial. Timberlake effectively plays his unlikeable character well, which may seem like a backhanded compliment but for an actor who was previously known mostly for music, it’s very impressive how he made his character unlikeable yet believable.
5. The Truman Show
Writen by Andrew Niccol, who also wrote In Time, The Truman Show stars Jim Carrey as the unwitting star of a reality TV show where the premise is to watch one man’s life unfold. As Truman Burbank realizes his reality is constructed, he works to escape it. The Truman Show is a brilliant bit of satire and comedy that is aided, in no small part, by Jim Carrey’s always electrifying performance.
In Time and Truman Show are so different stylistically and tonally that it can be hard to believe they’re written by the same person, but to be fair, Truman Show and In Time both have moments where you’re not sure whether or not what’s happening is meant to be serious or funny. With In Time, this is somewhat of a weakness as they are constant time puns that detract from the movie, but with The Truman Show it’s more that the concept is slightly terrifying. The idea that your entire life is a reality show is existentially nightmarish.
4. Minority Report
Minority Report is a sci-fi movie about time, like In Time, but instead of being about immortality and time as a currency, it’s about predicting the future. Tom Cruise is an officer in a team who arrest people based on their future crimes, though he finds himself accused of a future murder himself. Minority Report is a Steven Spielberg classic that feels more relevant than ever now.
Both In Time and Minority Report are, in a running theme on this list, both about commenting on the present as well as predicting the future. Minority Report predicted much of our algorithm and machine predicting present itself, but it was also a commentary on law and justice. It’s also surprisingly philosophical when it comes to it’s own take on the predictions of the future and the line between determinism and freedom.
3. Blade Runner
The granddaddy of most modern sci-fi dystopias and many parts of the cyberpunk genre as a whole, Blade Runner is about a man whose job is to hunt down beings known as Replicants who are bioengineered humans that are created for various jobs like being soldiers or workers in off-world colonies.
In Time and Blade Runner are interesting comparisons because Blade Runner represents the grubby and dark aesthetics of traditional cyberpunk but In Time represents more modern sci-fi aesthetics informed somewhat by something like Blade Runner. Both stories are centered around people who have to question the justice and humanity of the world they are placed in. Blade Runner is a sci-fi classic and it’s highly recommended to watch it and its sequel Blade Runner 2049.
2. Inception
Inception is one the best highlights of Christopher Nolan’s career as a director. Inception is a heist movie about planting an idea within someone’s brain by invading their dreams. The characters have to question their own reality as the layers of dreams within the movie become ever more complex. It’s a great watch filled with drama and futuristic imagery.
Both In Time and Inception are linked by the fact that they’re stylish sci-fi movies with very clear premises that they explore through the film. Inception has a lot of depth in how it explores dreams and how it creates the rules of manipulating and extracting from someone’s dream. While not talked about so much, Inception does a lot with plot and character in a way which is very characteristic of Christopher Nolan. You have a plot which is very experimental and requires the audience to pay close attention to understand and you have characters who are tormented by memories and past sins.
1. The Matrix
In Time, and almost any sci-fi movie written after it, owes this movie a bottomless debt of gratitude. The Wachowskis’ visionary sci-fi film is perhaps the best example of a movie that changed the aesthetic of movies and culture at large. The Matrix tells the story of Neo learning that his reality is a simulation and of his fight against the machines that constructed that reality.
The Matrix has a few weak points. It’s a little dry at points and somewhat pretentious, but it’s fundamentally an excellent action movie that has the bravery to delve into more philosophical topics than most action movies. If you’ve never seen The Matrix, I recommend you watch it first before any other movies. The music, the dystopian tone and some of the action scenes are instantly memorable and create a great unified aesthetic.
So, there you have it. Hopefully this helped clue you in on the top 10 best movies like In Time. For more, feel free to browse the relevant links down below.
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