The Films About Fate & Destiny subgenre lives mainly within the Drama, Romance, Fantasy and Sci-Fi genres. This subgenre also intersects with other film subgenres including Romantic Dramas, Romantic Comedies, Time Travel Films, Time Loops Films, Alternate History Films and Mystery Thrillers. Themes of Fate typically deal with things you cannot change or are driven by an unseen force whereas Themes of Destiny involve something you’re meant to do or ultimately achieve in the future.
In the 1980’s, Films About Fate & Destiny started to become popular in multiple film genres. The Sci-Fi classic film, Back to the Future (1985), introduced both themes of Fate and Destiny. The Dead Zone (1983) was one of the first Horror films utilizing a theme of Destiny in its narrative. Somewhere in Time (1980) and Made in Heaven (1987) both featured Romance as the primary driver of Fate & Destiny-based narratives.
In the 1990’s, Fate & Destiny Films became even more popular – especially within the Romance & Drama genres. Sleepless in Seattle (1993), Forrest Gump (1994), Only You (1994), Still Breathing (1997), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), You’ve Got Mail (1998), Next Stop Wonderland (1998) and Magnolia (1999) all featured stories about Fate & Destiny. The Alternate History film subgenre also gained in popularity as films such as Mr. Destiny (1990), Run Lola Run (1998) and Sliding Doors (1998) all featured alternate realities and the Multiverse behind Fate & Destiny situations. Other popular and notable subgenre films of the decade included Dead Again (1991) and 12 Monkeys (1995).
The 2000’s started the Golden Age of Films About Fate & Destiny that would continue through the next decade. The rise in Fate & Destiny-based films coincided with the popularity of the Multiverse concept. The Family Man (2000) and Mr. Nobody (2009) were two of the prominent subgenre films of the decade to employ Alternate Realities in their films. Fate was used as a primary theme in Final Destination (2000), Minority Report (2002), The Butterfly Effect (2004), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and TiMER (2009). And Destiny was used as a primary theme in Happy Accidents (2000), Return to Me (2000), Happenstance (2000), Serendipity (2001), Premonition (2004), Slumdog Millionaire (2008) and (500) Days of Summer (2009). Other classic and notable subgenre films of the 2000’s included The Lake House (2006), Click (2006), Déjà Vu (2006), Next (2007), Wanted (2008) and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).
The Golden Age of Fate & Destiny Films would continue into the 2010’s as Sci-Fi and Romance genres dominated the decade. Sci-Fi films about Fate & Destiny in the 2010’s included Never Let Me Go (2010), The Adjustment Bureau (2011), Source Code (2011), In Time (2011), Looper (2012), Cloud Atlas (2012), Time Lapse (2014), Edge of Tomorrow (2014), Predestination (2014) and 2:22 (2017). Fate & Destiny Romance Films from the decade included The Lucky One (2012), About Time (2013), Frequencies (2013), I Origins (2014), The Age of Adaline (2015) and The Choice (2016). Other notable and classic subgenre films of the decade included Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), In Your Eyes (2014), Project Almanac (2015) and Lion (2016).
The 2020’s have only featured one film to date about Fate & Destiny, however, Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) has quickly become a classic film of the subgenre.
Our list of Films About Fate & Destiny includes over 124+ films from 1968 – 2024. Our list primarily includes Romance, Drama and Sci-Fi films that utilize the subgenre theme and it’s a prominent part of the film’s narrative. As a result, though films like Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: End Game (2019) technically feature elements of Fate & Destiny, they are not primary themes of the films’ narratives so we have excluded them from this list.
For our list of Top Films About Fate & Destiny You Haven’t Seen, we had to leave the following films off the list (but still recommend fans of the subgenre check them out): Made in Heaven (1987), Run Lola Run (1998), The Lake House (2006), TiMER (2009), Never Let Me Go (2010), The Lucky One (2012), Frequencies (2013), Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), Project Almanac (2015), Lion (2016) and 2:22 (2017).
You can also view KBZ’s recent articles that cover Films About Fate, Destiny, Karma and Reincarnation below:
- Best Films About Premonitions & Precognition
- Best Time Travel Romance Films
- Best Fate & Destiny Films of All Time
- More Fate & Destiny Films You Haven’t Seen
We have embedded a compilation video of our Top Films About Fate & Destiny You Haven’t Seen and more details on these films can be found in the list below. Note: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
