Plot: Holly Grant has learned a long time ago not to rely on Santa Claus leaving Mr. Right in her Christmas stocking. But Holly is in for a surprise when a handsome man arrives on her doorstep with a twinkle in his eye and Yuletide tree in tow.

KBZ’s Take: The Hallmark Channel releases an abundance of Christmas-themed Romantic Dramas and Comedies every year with quality ranging from just ok to great. This film isn’t one of Hallmark’s best but is still a very good film with an interesting theme and plot centered around destiny.

While the plot execution is similar to most of Hallmark’s holiday films, it has some surprisingly good performances from Kelli Williams and Patrick Muldoon. Their chemistry makes the film work along with one of the better portrayals of Santa Claus in film by Charles Durning.

This film is also included in our List of Christmas Movies and is one the entire family can enjoy together.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/4620k70

Plot: In this Buddhist sci-fi mystery, a teenage orphan in the slums of Phnom Penh, Cambodia investigates her friend’s past-life visions, uncovering a conspiracy of scientific reincarnation.

KBZ’s Take: What could have been with this film. Karmalink can be summed up by a great first half of the film filled with Cyberpunk themes, mystery and adventure that suffers from a confusing and meandering back end.

The film is unique in how it mixes religious and scientific themes with reincarnation and ‘brain hacking’ – or in this film’s case ‘soul hacking’. There are also great performances by the child actors – especially Srey Leak Chhith and Leng Heng Prak.

If we sound like we’re negative about the film, we’re not. It’s still a great addition to the subgenre and one that fans of Films About Fate & Destiny will also find interesting. Even though the story can get confusing, the Dystopian visuals and “High Tech, Low Life” Cyberpunk themes in the film shouldn’t be missed by fans of the subgenre.

Additional Lists: Top Cyberpunk Films You Haven’t Seen #10

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3IxWJnH

Plot: When both of their engagement proposals are a bust, hopeless romantics Margot and Griffin find themselves together on New Year’s Eve after a bout of fateful events. Both believing in true love, they set out on a magical and comedic journey together, only to quickly realize that the love they’ve been searching for this whole time might be right in front of them.

KBZ’s Take: While most films in the subgenre are subtle with aspects of fate or destiny, About Fate is not one of those films. It’s very open and direct in mentioning fate and destiny throughout the film to the point that the characters continually reference it.

While some fans of the subgenre (and of Romantic Comedies) might be turned off by this somewhat blatant emotional manipulation, the film still has some great performances by Emma Roberts and Thomas Mann and a few humorous romantic scenes. It’s not the best film of the subgenre by any means, but we would recommend it for completists of the subgenre or if you’re looking for a fate-themed romantic comedy for date night.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3Lc5jK6

Plot: After trying to help a family from drowning in a river, Mike ends up in heaven where he meets Annie, who has never reincarnated before.

KBZ’s Take: This is an old school pick as it had a major release in the 1980’s with Timothy Hutton and Kelly McGillis near the peak of their careers. However, it’s also a film that’s been lost to time and is hardly ever referenced when discussing some of the better, lesser-known films of the 80’s.

The film’s plot is one of the most unique of the subgenre as part of the film takes place in a unique version of heaven where Annie (McGillis) and Mike (Hutton) fall in love. The themes of destiny kick in once Annie is reincarnated and Mike has a chance to return to Earth, but the lovers will have no recollection of each other. We won’t spoil the rest other than to say it’s an often-overlooked film that has some of the best portrayals of destiny within the subgenre.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3Z6Rgey

Plot: A man and a woman realize they are separated by two years of time when they exchange letters from different years in a mailbox.

KBZ’s Take: If the plot of this film sounds familiar it’s because it was remade as The Lake House (2006) starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. While The Lake House has its merits and its plot follows closely to the original film, we personally prefer the South Korean film it was based on.

Both films use the theme of Time Travel for a romance that develops between two people in separate time periods. Where Il Mare excels is with a ‘less is more’ approach to the time travel component and better performances from Sung-hyun (Lee Jung-jae) and Eun-joo (Jun Ji-hyun).

If you haven’t seen either film, we would strongly recommend watching Il Mare first before watching The Lake House. And if you’ve already seen The Lake House and enjoyed it (or even hated it), we would still also recommend watching Il Mare to see a much better representation of the overall story.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3sOvsrX

Plot: A man tries to make his wife fall in love with him again, after waking up in an alternate reality where she never knew him.

KBZ’s Take: One of the more popular themes of Multiverse Films involves a person crossing into a parallel world to find a love they lost in their current world. Though Another Version of You (2018) uses the multiverse concept in greater detail within the love lost theme, we went with Love at Second Sight here as it’s a much better film.

What makes this film one of the best films of the subgenre are the two leads – François Civil and Joséphine Japy. They have great chemistry together and are a joy to watch throughout the film. Civil has the easier role as the same person in both worlds who slowly adapts to the new version of the love of his life and Japy is outstanding as the alternate version of herself who doesn’t know this man but senses something special about him.

This is one of the best films that employs themes of destiny in an alternate reality and is one we’re highly confident fans of Fate & Destiny Films will love.

Additional Lists: Top Films About the Multiverse You Haven’t Seen #7

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3H6kNNQ

Plot: In an attempt to spur citizens into taking more productive roles in society, the Japanese government issues death messages, or ikigami, informing them that they have only 24 hours left to live. The film follows a young man tasked with delivering these messages, as well as the victims.

KBZ’s Take: This is one film on our list that isn’t a subgenre-themed Romantic Drama or Comedy like most films. However, it’s a film with some great themes about destiny that we highly recommended for fans of this subgenre and we included our original writeup below.

First and foremost, this film is mainly a drama set in a Dystopian environment. The totalitarian government injects nanotechnology in children and 1 out of 1000 of these children will have the nanotechnology injection stop their heart between the ages of 18-24. There are also other totalitarian measures including thought crimes, surveillance and strict conformity for the ‘betterment of society’.

The main narrative of the film follows Kengo (Shôta Matsuda) as he delivers the ‘death notices’ to three people. What each person does with their remaining 24 hours to live is at the heart of the film.

This is a film we highly recommend for every fan of the subgenre. Though it doesn’t have the action or thrills of similar subgenre films, Ikigami is one of the best films about governmental control of your life and how you would use your last moments.

Note: Unfortunately, we cannot find a streaming link (or legitimate DVD seller) of the film so have supplied the link below to see the film. We will update the link when the film is available to stream.

Additional Lists: Top Dystopian Films You Haven’t Seen – 2010’s #2

Where to Stream / Buy: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8i9kpn

Plot: Two seemingly unconnected souls from different corners of the United States make a telepathic bond that allows them to see, hear and feel the other’s experiences, creating a bond that apparently can’t be broken.

KBZ’s Take: In Your Eyes has one of the most unique premises of the subgenre and is also one of the best films about fate. While most subgenre films will show the random occurrences that lead to (or prevent) a fateful event from happening, this film explores the lives of two people and their growing realization that a higher power has determined they’re destined for each other.

While the film is predictable in places (especially when one person can see the other in a mirrored view), it’s still a great romantic-themed film that we highly recommend for fans of the subgenre.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/460SRVz

Plot: Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Decades later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront destiny, love and the choices that make a life.

KBZ’s Take: Most films of the subgenre utilize romanticized themes of fate and destiny often with fantasy elements. Past Lives is the opposite of those films as it takes a real-life and grounded view of two childhood friends that eventually realize they might be soulmates.

This is one great film that doesn’t shy away from showing the realities of life if a person you’re destined to be with suddenly shows up as you’ve moved on in life. We can’t think of a better film of the subgenre that also explores the thoughts and feelings of a married man who slowly comes to realize that his wife and her childhood friend might in fact be soulmates.

Past Lives will likely end up on quite a few Best of 2023 film lists and it’s one of the best films in this subgenre.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3LesROF

Plot: While a shy teacher (Moritz Bleibtreu) travels to meet the woman he loves, he picks up a hitchhiker (Christiane Paul) who has feelings for him.

KBZ’s Take: We wanted to put Past Lives here as it’s just an amazing film, but we also feel In July is a special film – but in a much different way. Unlike Past Lives, In July is very open about its themes of fate and destiny with Juli (Christiane Paul) convinced Daniel (Moritz Bleibtreu) is her soulmate after talking with him for the first time. However, Daniel doesn’t share that feeling as he’s enamored with a Turkish woman he just met and feels his fate is to travel to Turkey to find her.

What follows is a Road Trip Comedy as these two very different personalities have competing objectives yet continually get separated only to find each other again (in very random situations). It’s a film most people will relate to with its themes of romantic fate and real-world scenarios. If you’ve ever been into someone, they’re not into you, but you’re convinced you both have a special connection, then you’ll be smiling through most of this film.

It’s romantic, it’s funny, it has some great themes of fate and destiny and it’s one of the best films of the subgenre you haven’t seen.

Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3sR6Ui0