Movies like Primer

If you like "Primer" you are looking for philosophical, surreal and independent film movies about / with time travel, time loop, parallel universe, time machine, changing the past or future, changing the future and science themes of Drama, Sci-Fi and Thriller genre shot in USA.
Find your next favorite and similar movies in two steps: 1. Identify all themes of interest from this film (block below). 2. Look for them in the presented list.
Primer (2004)
 6.7
 114K
Primer (2004)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min.
Story: Friends and fledgling entrepreneurs invent a device in their garage which reduces the apparent mass of any object placed inside it, but they discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities - ones that could enable them to do and to have seemingly anything they want. Taking advantage of this unique opportunity is the first challenge they face. Dealing with the consequences is the next.
Style: philosophical, surreal, independent film, confusing, mind bending, clever, thought provoking, serious, contemplative, mind twisting ...
Plot: time travel, time loop, parallel universe, time machine, changing the past or future, changing the future, science, inventor, paradox, time traveler, twists and turns, scientist, invention, time, experiment gone awry, philosophy, greed, mathematics, technology, identity crisis, mistrust, puzzle, inventions and discoveries, friends, dishonesty ...
Time: future, year 2004, distant future, 2000s, 21st century, contemporary
Place: texas
Keyword: partners, twilight, reboot, film puzzle, challenge, change

Most similar movies to Primer

The list contains related movies ordered by similarity. Recommendation engine sorted out mind bending, suspense, intellectual and thought provoking films with plots about time travel, parallel universe, twists and turns, puzzle, existentialism, time and plot twist mostly in Sci-Fi, Thriller and Drama genres. Some movies like Primer: Upstream Color (2013), Project Almanac (2015), Coherence (2013), Time Lapse (2014), Donnie Darko (2001). The matching attributes are highlighted in bold.
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 6.5
 35K
Upstream Color (2013)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the lifecycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
Style: surreal, psychological, art house, tense, atmospheric ...
Audience: family friendly
Plot: hypnosis, brainwashing, parasite, love affair, existentialism, drugged, tragic love, memory loss, identity crisis, haunted by the past, parallel universe, trippy ...
Time: year 2013, 90s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Project Almanac (2015)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story: A group of teens discover secret plans of a time machine, and construct one. However, things start to get out of control.
Style: exciting, suspense, futuristic, clever, suspenseful ...
Audience: teens
Plot: time travel, time loop, teenager, time, time machine, alternate timeline, time paradox, butterfly effect, changing the past or future, time traveler, teenage life, teleportation ...
Time: future, year 2015, year 2014, 2010s, distant future ...
Place: usa, woodstock, atlanta georgia
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.2
 144K
Coherence (2013)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 89 min.
Story: On the night a comet is passing near Earth, eight friends at a dinner party experience a troubling chain of reality bending events. When the power goes out, they discover that the only house on the street left with power also holds many secrets.
Style: mind bending, psychological, suspenseful, mind blowing, confusing ...
Plot: alternate reality, twists and turns, parallel universe, parallel world, time loop, quantum physics, disorder, paranoia, dinner party, comet, couples, asteroids and comets ...
Time: 2010s, near future, distant future, year 2013, future ...
Place: usa, los angeles
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
 6.5
 49K
Time Lapse (2014)
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24 hours into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.
Style: twist ending, psychological, tense, cerebral, clever ...
Audience: teens
Plot: time travel, parallel universe, time machine, time paradox, plot twist, time loop, paranoia, twists and turns, blackmail, murder, brutality, death threat ...
Time: future, year 2014, 2010s, near future
⇓ similarity ⇓
92%
Movie in collections
 8.0
 845K
Donnie Darko (2001)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Style: psychological, surreal, mind bending, atmospheric, independent film ...
Audience: teens, date night, adult, teen drama
Plot: mental illness, time travel, psychology, imaginary friend, insanity, schizophrenia, parallel universe, surrealism, suburbs, time loop, social misfits, youth ...
Time: year 2001, 80s, 2000s, future, 20th century ...
Place: virginia, america, los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
84%
The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 100 min.
Story: Computer scientist Hannon Fuller has discovered something extremely important. He's about to tell the discovery to his colleague, Douglas Hall, but knowing someone is after him, the old man leaves a letter in his computer generated parallel ...
Style: mind bending, intellectual, twist ending, neo noir, atmospheric ...
Plot: virtual reality, alternate reality, cyberpunk, time travel, cyberspace, computer system, parallel universe, twists and turns, artificial intelligence, parallel world, consciousness, imaginary ...
Time: future, 90s, 1930s, year 1999, 20th century ...
Place: los angeles, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.5
 547K
Source Code (2011)
Genre: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, France, Germany
Duration: 93 min.
Story: Decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, discovering he's involved in a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train. He learns he's part of a top-secret experimental program that enables ...
Style: surprise ending, suspense, clever, mind bending, thought provoking ...
Audience: boys' night, teens, chick flick
Plot: time loop, time travel, train, alternate reality, parallel universe, memory, twists and turns, save the day, destiny, changing the past or future, bomb, terrorism ...
Time: future, year 2011, 2010s, 21st century
Place: chicago, usa, somalia, afghanistan, illinois
⇓ similarity ⇓
80%
 7.4
 600K
Looper (2012)
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, China
Duration: 119 min.
Story: In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a looper, a ...
Style: futuristic, clever, mind bending, exciting, thought provoking ...
Audience: family friendly, boys' night, adult
Plot: time travel, time loop, hitman, distopia, organized crime, cyberpunk, time paradox, assassin, shooting, self sacrifice, changing the past or future, parallel universe ...
Time: future, year 2012, 2010s, 2040s, near future ...
Place: seattle, kansas, shanghai, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
Movie in collections
 7.4
 115K
Frequency (2000)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: When a rare phenomenon gives police officer John Sullivan the chance to speak to his father, 30 years in the past, he takes the opportunity to prevent his dad's tragic death. After his actions inadvertently give rise to a series of brutal ...
Style: psychological, feel good, suspense, serious, suspenseful ...
Audience: kids, boys' night
Plot: time travel, radio, father son relationship, investigation, parallel universe, butterfly effect, time, altering history, murder, serial killer, changing the past or future, rescue ...
Time: future, year 1969, year 1999, year 2000, y2k ...
Place: new york, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.4
 303K
Predestination (2014)
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has ...
Style: surprise ending, clever, confusing, philosophical, mind bending ...
Audience: boys' night, chick flick, family friendly, adult
Plot: time travel, time loop, plot twist, time machine, twists and turns, time paradox, parallel universe, changing the past or future, existentialism, transgender, intersex, mission ...
Time: year 1975, future, 2010s, 1940s, year 2014 ...
Place: usa, new york, peru, cleveland ohio
⇓ similarity ⇓
73%
 7.1
 326K
Deja Vu (2006)
Genre: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 126 min.
Story: Called in to recover evidence in the aftermath of a horrific explosion on a New Orleans ferry, Federal agent Doug Carlin gets pulled away from the scene and taken to a top-secret government lab that uses a time-shifting surveillance device to help ...
Style: exciting, suspenseful, tricky, confusing, suspense ...
Audience: boys' night, girls' night, date night, family friendly, teens ...
Plot: time travel, time loop, twists and turns, investigation, terrorism, deja vu, time, police investigation, danger, changing the past or future, parallel universe, shooting ...
Time: year 2006, near future, 2000s, 21st century
Place: new orleans, louisiana, usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.0
 644K
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Genre: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story: In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when ...
Style: psychological, surreal, twist ending, non-linear, atmospheric ...
Plot: time travel, insanity, post apocalyptic, apocalypse, virus, time loop, post apocalypse, paranoia, psychology, end of the world, twists and turns, epidemic ...
Time: future, 90s, 20th century, year 1995, distant future ...
Place: philadelphia, maryland, baltimore, usa, pennsylvania ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 113 min.
Story: A young man struggles to access sublimated childhood memories. He finds a technique that allows him to travel back into the past, to occupy his childhood body and change history. However, he soon finds that every change he makes has unexpected ...
Style: psychological, mind bending, philosophical, suspense, dramatic ...
Audience: teens, chick flick, girls' night, adult
Plot: time travel, memory, time loop, butterfly effect, memory loss, twists and turns, alternate reality, psychology, time traveler, changing the past or future, mind control, destiny ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa
⇓ similarity ⇓
75%
The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 92 min.
Story: After his girlfriend, Julie and two best friends are killed in a tragic auto accident, Nick struggles to cope with his loss and grief. Suffering from migraine-like seizures, Nick soon discovers that he has the power to change the past via his ...
Style: suspense, serious, suspenseful, erotic, mind bending ...
Audience: teens
Plot: time travel, destiny, changing the past or future, sent to the past, supernatural ability, time loop, childhood, suicide, supernatural, haunted by the past, hopes, profanity ...
Time: 21st century
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.8
 2.5M
Inception (2010)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 148 min.
Story: Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another ...
Style: psychological, mind bending, clever, cerebral, surreal ...
Audience: teens, date night, adult
Plot: dream, virtual reality, memory, alternate reality, twists and turns, imagination, subconscious, philosophy, existentialism, fictional reality, heist, puzzle ...
Time: year 2010, future, 2000s, 2010s, near future
Place: paris france, japan, los angeles, iran, tokyo ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
83%
 7.1
 68K
Timecrimes (2007)
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Spain
Duration: 92 min.
Story: A man accidentally gets into a time machine and travels back in time nearly an hour. Finding himself will be the first of a series of disasters of unforeseeable consequences.
Style: twist ending, enigmatic, suspense, psychological, cerebral ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: time travel, time loop, time machine, twists and turns, plot twist, problem solving, mysterious character, surrealism, distopia, memory, insanity, puzzle ...
Time: future, 21st century
Place: iberian peninsula, spain, europe
⇓ similarity ⇓
70%
 5.9
 6K
One Point O (2004)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Romania, Iceland
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Paranoid computer programmer Simon wakes up to find a package in his room one day. Despite attempts at securing his apartment, the packages keep arriving. While cameras watch Simon's every move, he struggles to find the answers to the ...
Style: surreal, enigmatic, psychological, cerebral, confusing ...
Plot: cyberpunk, paranoia, mind control, computer, technology, distopia, existentialism, hacking, neighbor, investigation, hacker, life is a bitch ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.7
 582K
Ex Machina (2014)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Caleb, a 26 year old coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds ...
Style: psychological, futuristic, philosophical, twist ending, mind bending ...
Audience: girls' night, adult
Plot: artificial intelligence, robot, androids, existentialism, technology, cyberpunk, isolation, cyborgs, manipulation, androids and robots, female robot, psychology ...
Time: future, 2010s, year 2015, year 2014, year 2016 ...
Place: england
⇓ similarity ⇓
71%
Movie in collections
 7.1
 119K
The Jacket (2005)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 103 min.
Story: A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.
Style: psychological, surreal, enigmatic, mind bending, tricky ...
Audience: girls' night, boys' night
Plot: time travel, psychology, time loop, mental institution, supernatural, murder, hallucination, mental illness, memory loss, butterfly effect, supernatural ability, parallel universe ...
Time: year 2005, 90s, 2000s, 20th century, year 1992 ...
Place: iraq, vermont
⇓ similarity ⇓
67%
Southland Tales (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, USA
Duration: 145 min.
Story: Set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now, an ...
Style: surreal, futuristic, allegory, cult classic, cynical ...
Plot: time travel, dystopian future, alternate reality, memory, apocalypse, prophecy, chaos, end of the world, distopia, marxism, mad scientist, drug ...
Time: future, year 2005, year 2006, near future, 2000s ...
Place: los angeles, middle east, nevada, afghanistan, southern california ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.7
 245K
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: Belgium, Germany, Canada, France, UK, Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 141 min.
Story: Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092.
Style: psychological, surreal, philosophical, mind bending, thought provoking ...
Audience: date night, teens, adult
Plot: time, philosophy, destiny, alternate reality, surrealism, butterfly effect, depression, choice, utopia, twists and turns, multiple outcomes, parallel world ...
Time: future, year 2009, year 2011, distant future, 2010s ...
Place: canada
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 8.7
 2.1M
Interstellar (2014)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration: 169 min.
Story: Interstellar chronicles the adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
Style: futuristic, mind bending, cerebral, philosophical, thought provoking ...
Audience: teens, date night, kids, chick flick, girls' night ...
Plot: space travel, time travel, outer space, father daughter relationship, nasa, astronaut, space, survival, end of the world, distopia, natural disaster, apocalypse ...
Time: future, year 2014, 2010s, near future, 21st century
Place: los angeles, colorado
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.8
 107K
eXistenZ (1999)
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, UK, France, USA
Duration: 97 min.
Story: A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
Style: surreal, psychological, mind bending, psychedelic, disturbing ...
Plot: virtual reality, cyberpunk, alternate reality, twists and turns, cyberspace, dystopia, distopia, escape from reality, dystopian future, conspiracy, video game, parallel world ...
Time: future, 90s, year 1999, near future
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Movie in collections
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 149 min.
Story: Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
Style: futuristic, philosophical, psychedelic, mind bending, cerebral ...
Audience: family outing, teens, kids, adult
Plot: space travel, astronaut, outer space, space, artificial intelligence, moon, scientist, computer, trippy, space opera, human versus computer, space station ...
Time: future, year 2001, 20th century, stone age, year 1968 ...
Place: persia
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.1
 34K
The Final Cut (2004)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, Germany
Duration: 95 min.
Story: Set in a world with memory implants, Robin Williams plays a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger.
Style: psychological, psychological thriller, intellectual, suspense, philosophical ...
Plot: surveillance, distopia, cyberpunk, memory, twists and turns, existentialism, microchip, afterlife, dystopian future, social satire, machine, deception ...
Time: future, year 2004, near future
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 6.3
 42K
ARQ (2016)
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 88 min.
Story: Two old friends living in a dystopic future become trapped in a mysterious time loop — one that may have something to do with an ongoing battle between an omnipotent corporation and a ragtag band of rebels.
Style: tense, psychological, twist ending, suspense, enigmatic ...
Audience: teens
Plot: time loop, time travel, twists and turns, survival, post apocalypse, life & death, distopia, creativity, memory, dystopia, parallel universe, post apocalyptic ...
Time: future
⇓ similarity ⇓
50%
 6.8
 22K
Ink (2009)
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story: Invisible forces exert power over us in our sleep. A mercenary named Ink, on a literal nightmare mission, captures the spirit of 8-year-old Emma in the dream world. To save her, the dream-givers marshal all their resources, focusing on saving the ...
Style: surreal, dark fantasy, atmospheric, fairy tale, serious ...
Audience: adult
Plot: another dimension, parallel universe, good versus evil, imagination, supernatural, father daughter relationship, parent child relationship, time paradox, dystopia, surrealism, existentialism, fantasy world ...
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 7.3
 107K
Take Shelter (2011)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 121 min.
Story: Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.
Style: psychological, bleak, suspense, ambiguous ending, psychological thriller ...
Plot: mental illness, schizophrenia, insanity, nightmare, obsession, paranoia, end of the world, nervous breakdown, dream, twists and turns, fear, delusion ...
Time: 2010s, year 2011, year 1986, 21st century
Place: ohio, peru, usa, columbus ohio
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
Sound of My Voice (2011)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 87 min.
Story: A journalist and his girlfriend get pulled in while they investigate a cult whose leader claims to be from the future.
Style: thought provoking, surreal, tense, cerebral, suspenseful ...
Plot: manipulation, cult leader, sect, religions or cults, brainwashing, amnesia, investigation, journalist, twists and turns, time travel, uncover truth, exploitation ...
Time: year 2011, distant future, future, 21st century
Place: los angeles, usa, california
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
 5.8
 5K
Parallel (2018)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 104 min.
Story: A group of friends stumble upon a mirror that serves as a portal to a "multiverse", but soon discover that importing knowledge from the other side in order to better their lives brings increasingly dangerous consequences.
Style: surreal, intellectual, thought provoking, independent film, psychotronic ...
Plot: alternate reality, mirror, existentialism, time travel, evil, time, nerd, visceral, real world, philosophy, destiny, transformation ...
Time: 2010s
Place: seattle
⇓ similarity ⇓
100%
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