Escape from reality movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant escape from reality movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out serious, psychological, independent film, touching, mind bending and realistic films and TV shows about / with escape from reality, coming of age, youth, misfit, friendship, family relations, dream, friends, death and hopes plots mostly in Drama, Fantasy and Comedy genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
escape from reality
 162
escape from reality movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as escape from reality: Alice in Wonderland (2010), Starry Starry Night (2011), Sucker Punch (2011), Bridge to Terabithia (2007), I Kill Giants (2017), Days of Darkness (2007), The Fall (2006), Ben X (2007), The Number 23 (2007), The Zero Theorem (2013).

List of escape from reality movies

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Alice in Wonderland (2010)
Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA, Italy, Canada, Japan, UK
Duration: 108 min.
Story: Alice, an unpretentious and individual 19-year-old, is betrothed to a dunce of an English nobleman. At her engagement party, she escapes the crowd to consider whether to go through with the marriage and falls down a hole in the garden after spotting ...
Style: fairy tale, atmospheric, surreal, gothic, visually appealing ...
Audience: family outing, kids, girls' night, teens, chick flick ...
Plot: fantasy world, magic, escape from reality, magical, imaginary kingdom, transformation, teenage girl, dream, cat, imaginary, alice in wonderland, good versus evil ...
Time: 19th century, year 2010, 2010s, 2000s, 1870s ...
Place: cornwall, england, london, china
Is relevant ?
Starry Starry Night (2011)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy
Country: Taiwan, China, Hong Kong
Duration: 99 min.
Story: There was once a young girl named May who felt alienated from everyone around her. May is worried about her mother and father, whose marriage is on the rocks, and she yearns to return to the woods where her grandfather lives. One day, May befriends ...
Style: sincere, captivating, psychological, visually appealing, sexy ...
Plot: parents and children, escape from reality, family relations, friends, family problems, friendship, imaginary, little girl, supernatural, child, teenager, asian ...
Time: 21st century
Place: taiwan, asia
Is relevant ?
 6.1
 252K
Sucker Punch (2011)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 110 min.
Story: A young girl is institutionalized by her abusive stepfather. Retreating to an alternative reality as a coping strategy, she envisions a plan which will help her escape from the mental facility.
Style: surreal, sexy, visual, atmospheric, exciting ...
Audience: girls' night, chick flick, teens, teen drama
Plot: alternate reality, steampunk, robot, escape from reality, lobotomy, dragon, samurai, violence, escape, confined, sexual abuse, patient ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, 20th century, 60s
Place: vermont
Is relevant ?
Bridge to Terabithia (2007)
Genre: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Jesse Aarons trained all summer to become the fastest runner in school, so he's very upset when newcomer Leslie Burke outruns him and everyone else. Despite this and other differences, including that she's rich, he's poor, and ...
Style: emotional, tear jerker, sad, touching, heartbreaking ...
Audience: family outing, kids, teens, family friendly, chick flick ...
Plot: friendship, childhood, imagination, children, escape from reality, magical, fantasy world, loneliness, classmate, school, imaginary, friends ...
Time: year 2007, 21st century
Is relevant ?
 6.1
 33K
I Kill Giants (2017)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Country: USA, Belgium, Denmark, UK, Sweden, China
Duration: 106 min.
Story: Sophia, a new high school student, tries to make friends with Barbara, who tells her that “she kills giants,” protecting this way her hometown and its inhabitants, who do not understand her strange behavior.
Style: sad, psychological, atmospheric, rough, heartbreaking ...
Audience: kids
Plot: teenage girl, escape from reality, imagination, giant, school, death of mother, cancer, illness, psychologist, girl, fantasy world, bully ...
Time: 2010s
Is relevant ?
Days of Darkness (2007)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Canada, France
Duration: 104 min.
Story: Jean-Marc is a man without qualities living in times that are out of joint. His wife and children ignore him; he's a mid-level government functionary in Montreal doing his job without care. He has an active imagination of sexual conquest, but ...
Style: psychological, humorous, melancholic, light, sad ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: escape from reality, midlife crisis, daydreamer, family relations, social relations, obsession, unfulfillment, imaginary character, losing-it hero, love and romance, impossible love, sexual fantasy ...
Time: 2000s
Place: canada, france, montreal
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 116K
The Fall (2006)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA, South Africa, India
Duration: 117 min.
Story: In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, ...
Style: surreal, offbeat, fairy tale, visually appealing, visual ...
Audience: kids, date night, adult
Plot: hospital, surrealism, suicide attempt, escape from reality, magic realism, imagination, storytelling, suicide, imaginary kingdom, friendship, stuntman, child ...
Time: 1920s, year 2006, 2000s, 20th century, 1910s
Place: india, los angeles, california, cambodia, taj mahal ...
Is relevant ?
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 114 min.
Story: A timid magazine photo manager who lives life vicariously through daydreams embarks on a true-life adventure when a negative goes missing.
Style: feel good, inspirational, motivational, surreal, offbeat ...
Audience: teens, date night, kids, family outing
Plot: self discovery, travel, daydreamer, life changing experience, journey, loneliness, adventurer, photographer, obsessive quest, lifestyle change, disorder, dream ...
Time: year 2013, 2010s, 21st century
Place: iceland, greenland, usa, new york, los angeles ...
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 19K
Ben X (2007)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Belgium, Netherlands
Duration: 93 min.
Story: Harassed by bullies because of his mild autism, teen Ben (Greg Timmermans) finds refuge in an online computer game, which leads him to his virtual dream girl, Scarlite (Laura Verlinden). Together, the odd couple seeks revenge against Ben's ...
Style: psychological, surprise ending, serious, stylized, sad ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: autism, bullying, asperger's syndrome, communication problem, escape from reality, internet, mental illness, computer, suicide, computer game, antisocial behavior, imaginary friend ...
Time: 21st century
Place: belgium, brussels belgium
Is relevant ?
 6.4
 212K
The Number 23 (2007)
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: Walter Sparrow is an animal control officer that becomes obsessed with a mysterious book that seems to be based on his own life. As soon as he opens the book, he notices strange parallels between what he reads and what he's experienced. But now ...
Style: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspenseful, psychological thriller ...
Audience: adult
Plot: insanity, twists and turns, obsession, murder, losing-it hero, a vision, escape from reality, plot twist, investigation, psychology, uncover truth, riddles and clues ...
Time: year 2007, 2000s
Place: los angeles, virginia, usa
Is relevant ?
The Zero Theorem (2013)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, Romania, France, USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story: A computer hacker's goal to discover the reason for human existence continually finds his work interrupted thanks to the Management; this time, they send a teenager and lusty love interest to distract him.
Style: surreal, thought provoking, philosophical, psychedelic, cerebral ...
Plot: computers and web, computer, computer system, virtual reality, loneliness, escape from reality, distopia, society, computer genius, hacker, dystopian future, existentialism ...
Time: future, distant future, year 2013, 2010s
Is relevant ?
 6.6
 11K
Suicide Room (2011)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Poland
Duration: 110 min.
Story: Dominik is an ordinary boy. He's got loads of friends, the hottest girl in school, rich parents and money to spend on brand-name clothes. But one innocent kiss with a mate changes everything. He begins to isolate himself from the outside world, ...
Style: bleak, tense, captivating, serious, disturbing ...
Audience: teens, teen drama
Plot: suicide, gay, mental illness, escape from reality, youth, emo, addiction, internet, alienation, self destructing, teenage boy, fictional reality ...
Time: year 2011, 21st century
Place: poland, europe
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 4.8
 5K
Slipstream (2007)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min.
Story: Aging screenwriter Felix Bonhoeffer has lived his life in two states of existence: in reality and his own interior world. While working on a murder mystery script, and unaware that his brain is on the verge of implosion, Felix is baffled when his ...
Style: surreal, semi serious, humorous, atmospheric, mind bending ...
Plot: filmmaking, aging, self discovery, escape from reality, imaginary, daydreamer, hopes, writers, imagination, screenwriter, hallucination, friendship ...
Time: year 2007, 21st century
Place: usa, las vegas
Is relevant ?
 6.2
 7K
Hounddog (2007)
Genre: Drama, Music
Country: USA
Duration: 98 min.
Story: A drama set in the American South, where a precocious, troubled girl finds a safe haven in the music and movement of Elvis Presley.
Style: disturbing, serious, touching, stylized, controversial ...
Audience: teen drama
Plot: sexual abuse, child's point of view, child molestation, child molester, nymphet, children, youth, music, child rape, blues, child, life is a bitch ...
Time: 1950s, 20th century, 50s
Place: alabama, usa
Is relevant ?
The Taste of Tea (2004)
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Country: Japan
Duration: 143 min.
Story: A spell of time in the life of a family living in rural Tochigi prefecture, north of Tokyo. Though her husband is busy working at an office, Yoshiko is not an ordinary housewife, instead working on an animated film project at home. Uncle Ayano has ...
Style: surreal, touching, semi serious, contemplative, disturbing ...
Plot: escape from reality, countryside, family life, eccentric family, youth, teenage love, parents and children, housewife, delusion, dull life, surrealism, family history ...
Time: year 2004, 2000s
Place: japan, east asia, asia
Is relevant ?
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 105 min.
Story: A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.
Style: surreal, psychedelic, psychological, philosophical, meditative ...
Audience: girls' night, date night
Plot: dream, surrealism, magic, daydreamer, artist, escape from reality, existentialism, insanity, magic realism, imagination, love story, friendship ...
Time: year 2006, 2000s, 21st century
Place: paris france, mexico, france, europe, latin america ...
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 762
Sweet Mud (2006)
Genre: Drama
Country: Israel, Germany, France, Japan
Duration: 90 min.
Story: Set in mid-70's, 12-year old Dvir Avni navigates between the equality values of his home-born Kibbutz and the relationship with his undermined mother, whom the Kibbutz members will to denounce.
Style: disturbing, serious, sincere, emotional, realistic ...
Plot: youth, suicide, coming of age, teenage crush, dysfunctional family, escape from reality, grownups, family problems, family relations, social misfits, society, escape attempt ...
Time: 70s, 20th century, year 1974
Place: israel, middle east
Is relevant ?
 5.5
 2K
Black Heaven (2010)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 100 min.
Story: An innocent young man becomes enamored with a mysterious girl. He is lured into "Black Hole" - a dark, obscure video game world of avatars with deadly serious intentions in the real world.
Style: serious, realistic, tense, suspense, erotic ...
Audience: boys' night, teens
Plot: virtual reality, double suicide, suicidal, mind game, youth, escapades, lifestyle, obsessive quest, dishonesty, rivalry, mysterious character, escape from reality ...
Time: year 2010, 2000s, 21st century
Place: france, europe, south of france
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
 6.5
 1K
Sebbe (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: Sweden
Duration: 79 min.
Story: Duct tape, electrical cables, trigger, explosives. Sebbe never planned to build a bomb. It just happened. Sebbe is 15 years old and lives with his mother in an apartment that is too narrow. He does his best. He never strikes back. Sebbe loves his ...
Style: serious, realistic, psychological, captivating, contemplative ...
Audience: teens
Plot: single parent, coming of age, teenage boy, introspection, teenage life, life is a bitch, losing-it hero, youth, juvenile delinquency, society, escape from reality, parents and children ...
Time: 21st century
Place: europe, eastern europe
Is relevant ?
 5.5
 3K
Gandu (2010)
Genre: Drama
Country: India
Duration: 85 min.
Story: Gandu hates his life. He hates his mother. Gandu raps out his hate, anger, dirt and filth of his existence. He and his rickshawpuller friend enter the world of smack, rap, porn and horror. Reality and fiction, surreal and bizarre come together. Can ...
Style: surreal, tense, atmospheric, disturbing, psychological ...
Plot: rapper, hand job, explicit sex, depression, escape from reality, human nature, friendship, drug abuse, friends, drug use, sex, prostitute ...
Time: 21st century
Place: india, kolkata, asia
Is relevant ?
Surviving Life (2010)
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Japan
Duration: 109 min.
Story: Eugene, an aging man, leads a double life – one real, the other in his dreams. He goes to see a psychoanalyst, who tries to interpret the meaning of his dreams. Eugene finds a way of entering his dream-world at will and finds out about his ...
Style: humorous, witty, semi serious, atmospheric, surreal ...
Plot: hopes, elderly, moral dilemma, escape from reality, impossible love, crumbling marriage, couples, love and romance, couple relations, introspection, aging, subconscious ...
Time: 21st century
Place: czech republic, czechoslovakia
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 2K
Kauwboy (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Netherlands
Duration: 81 min.
Story: Ten-year-old Jojo lives with his father, a security guard with a volatile personality who drinks to manage the unspoken despair he feels about his wife's absence, which he refuses to discuss with his son. In the midst of so much uncertainty, ...
Style: touching, sincere, serious, melancholic, realistic
Audience: family outing
Plot: parents and children, coming of age, family problems, dysfunctional family, friendship, father son relationship, youth, pets, escape from reality, dishonesty, bird, life & death ...
Time: year 2012, 21st century
Place: holland
Is relevant ?
The Girl from the Wardrobe (2012)
Genre: Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 90 min.
Story: This is the story of three characters (brothers Tomek and Jacek and their neighbor Magda), each of them is in their own way lonely and alienated. The title character makes herself secluded. Tomek's alienation results from his neurological ...
Style: psychological, realistic, touching, atmospheric, cute ...
Plot: alienation, suicide attempt, dating, sibling relationship, loneliness, depression, hospital, dreaming, brother brother relationship, estrangement, autism, family relations ...
Time: 21st century
Place: poland, europe, warsaw poland
Is relevant ?
Related movie lists
The Famous and the Dead (2009)
Genre: Drama
Country: Brazil, France
Duration: 101 min.
Story: In a small town in the countryside in the south of Brazil, a teenager that uses the codename Mr. Tambourine Man spends his time in Internet, at school, smoking pot with his best friend Diego and with his dysfunctional mother. He dreams on leaving ...
Style: surreal, serious, atmospheric, captivating, contemplative ...
Plot: youth, introspection, teenage life, society, hopes, love and romance, life is a bitch, social decay, teenage love, escape from reality, misfit, social misfits ...
Place: brazil, latin america
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 987
My Brother Tom (2001)
Genre: Drama
Country: UK
Duration: 105 min.
Story: A teenage girl, Jessica, befriends a teenage boy called Tom, who is bullied by a local gang. She is abused by Jack, who is both her neighbour and school teacher, and Tom is sexually abused by his father. Together they bond in the woods, creating a ...
Style: psychological, rough, sincere, emotional, captivating ...
Plot: male nudity, woods, friendship, rebellion, teenage boy, life is a bitch, rebelliousness, youth, social misfits, friends, escape from reality, dysfunctional family ...
Time: 21st century
Place: england, europe
Is relevant ?
 5.7
 4K
Virtuality (2009)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 87 min.
Story: Twelve extremely talented men and women have been chosen to be part of the Phaeton mission, a 10-year trek to explore a distant planetary system. In order to endure the stress of being confined to their high-tech vessel, the crew passes the time ...
Style: exciting, atmospheric, suspenseful, futuristic, space horror ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: virtual reality, spacecraft, outer space, space, survival, save the world, danger, escape from reality, imaginary, trapped in space, murder, crew ...
Time: future
Is relevant ?
 7.4
 4K
Dead Pixels (2019)
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Country: UK
Duration: 25 min.
TV show
Story: Meg, Nicky and Usman's lives all revolve around their obsession for the massively popular fantasy game "Kingdom Scrolls" – a mystical, magical and most importantly virtual world of wizards and wyverns. But when gaming n00b Russell ...
Style: humorous, realistic, semi serious, exciting, entertaining ...
Plot: computer game, gamer, escape from reality, obsession, computer, friends, friendship, video game, addiction, misfit, game, socially awkward ...
Is relevant ?
 7.9
 21K
Awake (2012)
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story: Michael lives in two separate realities after a car accident. In one reality, his wife Hannah survives the accident; in the other reality, his son Rex survives. Michael does not know which reality is "real", and uses the wristbands to ...
Style: psychological, mind bending, detective, serious, emotional ...
Plot: alternate reality, double life, car accident, grief, police investigation, family problems, loss, therapy, sanity, loss of spouse, loss of loved one, family relations ...
Time: future, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
Captain Abu Raed (2007)
Genre: Drama
Country: Jordan
Duration: 102 min.
Story: Abu Raed is an old airport janitor who has always yearned to travel the world but has never been able to afford it. One day, he finds an old discarded pilot's hat, and discovers a calling: a group of children in his poor neighborhood assume ...
Style: serious, uplifting, sentimental, realistic, captivating ...
Plot: hopes, mistaken identity, human spirit, working class, friendship, dishonesty, life is a bitch, elderly, longing, escape from reality, down on your luck, wedding planning ...
Time: 21st century
Place: jordan, middle east
Is relevant ?
 6.1
 39K
Greenberg (2010)
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min.
Story: A New Yorker moves to Los Angeles in order to figure out his life while he housesits for his brother, and he soon sparks with his brother's assistant.
Style: psychological, independent film, semi serious, mumblecore, sincere ...
Plot: friendship, personal assistant, depression, starting over, self fulfillment, fall in love, misfit, mental illness, mentally unstable, love and romance, buddies, escape from reality ...
Time: year 2010, 2010s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, new york, usa, manhattan new york city ...
Is relevant ?
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