Plot: The night after another unsatisfactory New Year’s party, Tim’s father tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can’t change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own life – so he decides to make his world a better place… by getting a girlfriend. Sadly, that turns out not to be as easy as he thinks.

KBZ’s Take: About Time has some truck-sized plot holes in the film (especially in the third act), but you’ll likely excuse those plot holes because of the wonderful journey in this film. There is hardly any sci-fi in this film and the time travel mechanism isn’t a very visual one, but it does explore some paradoxes of time travel and its resulting outcomes.

Where the film shines are from the performances by Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel Adams and Bill Nighy. They give the film the necessary heart and humanity to look at family and relationships in an entirely different light due to time travel. A highly recommended film of the subgenre and one of the best (and funniest) films about time travel and love.

Additional Lists: Best Time Travel Romance Films #4, Top Time Travel Films You Haven’t Seen – 2010 – 2016 #5

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Ash is transported back to medieval days, where he is captured by the dreaded Lord Arthur. Aided by the deadly chainsaw that has become his only friend, Ash is sent on a perilous mission to recover the Book of the Dead, a powerful tome that gives its owner the power to summon an army of ghouls.

KBZ’s Take: Sam Raimi’s The Evil Dead film trilogy underwent an interesting transition from the pure Cosmic Horror and Survival Horror of The Evil Dead (1981) to the Fish Out of Water Comedy and Horror Comedy of Army of Darkness. Though the third installment still features the Necronomicon and franchise-defining Demons, it’s much more reliant on comedy than its predecessors.

With that said, the over-the-top comedy works in the film from the multiple, murderous mini versions of Ash to the humorous castle assault by an army of demonic skeletons. Though the time travel elements in the film are minor, it’s hands down the craziest Horror Comedy within the subgenre.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Thirty-five years after the shocking murders of three teens, an infamous killer returns on Halloween night to claim a fourth victim. When 17-year-old Jamie comes face-to-face with the masked maniac, she accidentally time-travels back to 1987. Forced to navigate the unfamiliar culture, Jamie teams up with her teenage mother to take down the psycho once and for all.

KBZ’s Take: This recent Slasher Film and Fish Out of Water Comedy was one of the best recent horror films of 2023. The film has been likened to Back to the Future (1985) meets Scream (1996) and we agree with that assessment.

There are as many funny moments involving Jamie’s (Kiernan Shipka) awkward interactions with her teenage parents as there are gruesome kills. It’s a film that leverages its time travel concept in a unique way for one of the best comedy, horror and sci-fi genre hybrids of the subgenre.

Additional Lists: The Best Horror Films of 2023 for Halloween #3

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: When diabolical genius Dr. Evil travels back in time to steal superspy Austin Powers’s ‘mojo’, Austin must return to the swinging 60’s himself – with the help of American agent, Felicity Shagwell – to stop the dastardly plan. Once there, Austin faces off against Dr. Evil’s army of minions to try to save the world in his own unbelievably groovy way.

KBZ’s Take: While every film in the Austin Powers franchise has varying themes of Time Travel and Fish Out of Water Comedy, it’s this second film that has some of the funniest unintended consequences of traveling back in time in the subgenre.

For a film that features a time traveling Volkswagen Beetle, characters including Mini-me, Fat Bastard and Ivana Humpalot and a time travel theme of recovering one’s sexual mojo, it’s a full on parody of not only Time Travel but Films About Clones, Films About Spies and just about every other subgenre. It’s also arguably the Raunchiest Comedy in the subgenre and one of the funniest Time Travel Comedies of all time.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: A café owner discovers that the TV in his café suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future.

KBZ’s Take: We like to think of Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes as a comedic version of Primer (2004). Like Primer, this Japanese film was made on a ridiculously low budget, but it’s ideas and execution rival those of Hollywood subgenre offerings.

This is a film with a simple concept about time yet gets increasingly creative with how the people in the film try to manipulate time over a two-minute period. It’s a film that shows that there can continue to be innovation within the subgenre despite all the overused Time Travel Film tropes.

We put off seeing this film for a while, and we wish we hadn’t. It is one of the hidden gems of the subgenre and one any fan of Time Travel should watch as soon as possible.

Additional Lists: Obscure Time Travel Films You Might Have Missed #2

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Three magazine employees try to interview a man who is looking for a companion for time travel.

KBZ’s Take: This film is a low budget affair but hits much higher above its weight. Unlike most larger budget studio offerings about time travel, this film delves more into the psychological aspect of a supposed ‘inventor’ of time travel and if he’s crazy or somehow figured out something deemed impossible all on his own.

It’s also a very original Romantic Comedy with stellar performances from Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson and Karan Soni. We want to say so much more about this film but don’t want to ruin it for those of you who haven’t seen this great film yet. Our advice is to watch it as soon as you can as it’s one of the best romantic films with one of the best endings in the entire Time Travel Films subgenre.

Additional Lists: Top Time Travel Films You Haven’t Seen – 2010 – 2016 #1, Top Time Travel Films You Haven’t Seen #1, Best Time Travel Romances #2

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: A malfunctioning time machine at a ski resort takes a man back to 1986 with his two friends and nephew, where they must relive a fateful night and not change anything to make sure the nephew is born.

KBZ’s Take: While Austin Powers can lay claim to the raunchiest comedy in the subgenre, Hot Tub Time Machine arguably has the funniest themes of unintended consequences when traveling back in time. The film is also at its best when it plays with past scenarios that must be repeated to not affect the future.

The film does feature typical Raunchy Comedy that was prevalent throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s, but it also has some surprisingly well developed characters and their different motivations for changing the past and their future.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: To test its top-secret Human Hibernation Project, the Pentagon picks the most average Americans it can find – an Army private and a prostitute – and sends them to the year 2505 after a series of freak events. But when they arrive, they find a civilization so dumbed-down that they’re the smartest people around.

KBZ’s Take: Idiocracy uses it’s time travel mechanism to get right to the main themes of the film – a full on Fish Out of Water Comedy and Satire about the future. Like a few other films of the subgenre involving someone waking up in an unfamiliar future, there’s plenty of comedy to be mined from these situations. But Mike Judge kicks this theme into overdrive with one of the dumbest and funniest possible futures imagined.

Most Time Travel Comedies are light on the specifics of time travel in their films and Idiocracy is no different. However, it’s a film where the time travel is not as important when you’re dealing with characters such as the future U.S. President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: Bill and Ted are high school buddies starting a band. They are also about to fail their history class – which means Ted would be sent to military school – but receive help from Rufus, a traveler from a future where their band is the foundation for a perfect society. With the use of Rufus’ time machine, Bill and Ted travel to various points in history, returning with important figures to help them complete their final history presentation.

KBZ’s Take: After The Back to the Future series of films, the Bill & Ted franchise is probably the funniest and most popular set of Time Travel Comedies. While the most recent entry in the series, Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020), couldn’t quite recapture the magic of the first two films, it did introduce a new generation of moviegoers to the stoner / slacker time travelers.

The first film is still the best of the franchise with many humorous historical situations upended by the infamous Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves). Throw in the underrated performance of George Carlin (Rufus) and you have one of the best Time Travel Comedies that is still funny today as it was 35 years ago.

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon

Plot: 80’s 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.

KBZ’s Take: Back to the Future can arguably be considered the film that gave prominence to Time Travel Films and opened the door for more family friendly subgenre fare. Like Time After Time (1979), Back to the Future is a master class in script writing that foreshadows all the aspects of Time Travel (both in the present and past) and steps that will need to be taken to return to the future.

It’s also one of the better subgenre films that establishes the rules of Time Travel and clearly articulates them to the audience. By explaining the rules and the impact of changing the past, Back to the Future helped make the film more accessible to moviegoers outside of the sci-fi genre.

From a comedy standpoint, there’s really no dispute that the film paved the way with many of its comedic time travel situations (and consequences) found in every subgenre film after it – including films that were not comedies. As a result, it should come as no surprise that Back to the Future is the reigning Time Travel Comedy and likely will be for the rest of our untampered with future.

Additional Lists: Best Time Travel Films #2

Where to Stream / Buy: Amazon