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, weird, independent film, atmospheric and stylized films and TV shows about / with escape from reality, coming of age, youth, family relations, friendship, misfit, fantasy world, dream, imagination and death plots mostly in Drama, Fantasy and Comedy genres shot in USA, UK, France and other countries.
186
TOP 10 movies tagged as escape from reality: Alice in Wonderland (2010), Sucker Punch (2011), Bridge to Terabithia (2007), Starry Starry Night (2011), I Kill Giants (2017), The Number 23 (2007), The Fall (2006), Ben X (2007), Days of Darkness (2007), Slipstream (2007).
Best films
New films
List of escape from reality movies
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, visually appealing, surreal, gothic ...
Audience:
family outing, kids, girls' night, teens, date night ...
Plot:
fantasy world, magic, escape from reality, imaginary kingdom, magical, transformation, alice in wonderland, teenage girl, imaginary, cat, animal, dream ...
Time:
19th century, year 2010, 1870s, 2010s, 2000s ...
Place:
england, cornwall, london, china
Is relevant?
260K
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Thriller
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, atmospheric, modern fairy tale, exciting ...
Audience:
girls' night, chick flick, teens, teen drama
Plot:
alternate reality, steampunk, imagination, lobotomy, escape from reality, surrealism, escape, violence, murder, sexual abuse, girl gang, dream ...
Time:
year 2011, 2010s, 20th century, 60s
Place:
vermont
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Family, Fantasy
Country: USA, New Zealand
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, touching, sad, tear jerker, teen ...
Audience:
family outing, kids, teens, family friendly, chick flick ...
Plot:
friendship, childhood, imagination, children, escape from reality, fantasy world, classmate, loneliness, magical, imaginary, teenage girl, loss of friend ...
Time:
year 2007, 21st century
Is relevant?
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:
sexy, sincere, captivating, visually appealing, psychological ...
Plot:
parents and children, escape from reality, family relations, friends, family problems, friendship, imaginary, little girl, supernatural, japanese teenager, asian, love story ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
taiwan, asia
Is relevant?
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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, teen drama
Plot:
teenage girl, school, escape from reality, imagination, death of mother, giant, cancer, illness, forest, fantasy world, bully, girl ...
Time:
2010s, 21st century
Is relevant?
221K
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, twist ending, surprise ending, suspense, suspenseful ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
twists and turns, obsession, insanity, plot twist, losing-it hero, escape from reality, a vision, murder, riddles and clues, uncover truth, investigation, paranoia ...
Time:
year 2007, 2000s
Place:
los angeles, usa, virginia
Is relevant?
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, scenic ...
Audience:
teens, date night, kids, family outing
Plot:
self discovery, daydreamer, travel, life changing experience, loneliness, disorder, adventurer, journey, lifestyle change, photographer, coworker, obsessive quest ...
Time:
year 2013, 2010s, 21st century
Place:
iceland, greenland, usa, new york, los angeles ...
Is relevant?
127K
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, cerebral, emotional ...
Audience:
kids, date night, adult
Plot:
hospital, surrealism, suicide attempt, imagination, escape from reality, suicide, desert, storytelling, stuntman, magic realism, imaginary kingdom, friendship ...
Time:
1920s, year 2006, 2000s, 20th century, 1910s
Place:
india, los angeles, california, cambodia, taj mahal ...
Is relevant?
20K
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, asperger's syndrome, communication problem, escape from reality, internet, faked death, bullying, computer game, mental illness, computer, imaginary friend, antisocial behavior ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
belgium, brussels, brussels belgium
Is relevant?
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:
humorous, psychological, erotic, light, melancholic ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
escape from reality, daydreamer, midlife crisis, impossible love, family relations, social relations, obsession, unfulfillment, imaginary character, love and romance, losing-it hero, sex scene ...
Time:
2000s
Place:
canada, france, montreal
Is relevant?
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, atmospheric, humorous, intellectual ...
Plot:
filmmaking, self discovery, aging, screenwriter, escape from reality, imaginary, daydreamer, hopes, writers, imagination, hallucination, friendship ...
Time:
year 2007, 21st century
Place:
usa, las vegas
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: France, Belgium
Duration: 105 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, erotic, suspense ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens
Plot:
virtual reality, double suicide, woman seduces a man, suicidal, virtual world, mind game, lifestyle, escapades, youth, obsessive quest, mysterious character, dishonesty ...
Time:
year 2010, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
france, europe, south of france
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Poland
Duration: 116 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:
tense, bleak, captivating, serious, adult animation ...
Audience:
teens, teen drama
Plot:
suicide, escape from reality, gay, youth, depression, emo, alienation, delusion, internet, mental illness, fictional reality, self harm ...
Time:
year 2011, 21st century
Place:
poland, europe
Is relevant?
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:
serious, touching, stylized, controversial, disturbing ...
Audience:
teen drama
Plot:
sexual abuse, child's point of view, child molestation, child molester, making love, pedophile, children, youth, music, child rape, poor white trash, child ...
Time:
1950s, 20th century, 50s
Place:
alabama, usa
Is relevant?
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, psychological, psychedelic, philosophical, visually stunning ...
Audience:
girls' night, date night
Plot:
dream, surrealism, magic realism, love story, magic, daydreamer, escape from reality, artist, existentialism, melancholy, imagination, childhood ...
Time:
year 2006, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
paris france, mexico, france, europe, latin america ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Canada
Duration: 82 min.
Story:
A former CIA operative is kidnapped by a group of terrorists. When his son learns there is no plan for his father to be saved, he launches his own rescue operation.
Style:
exciting, disturbing, suspense, suspenseful, tense ...
Plot:
terrorist, death of wife, female warrior, escape from reality, computer cracker, rescue, machismo, murder, deception, brutality, father son relationship, violence ...
Time:
year 2016, 2000s, 2010s, year 2005, year 2004 ...
Place:
langley virginia, central europe, czech republic, prague, usa ...
Is relevant?
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, philosophical, thought provoking, offbeat, psychedelic ...
Plot:
loneliness, computers and web, society, computer, computer system, virtual reality, escape from reality, computer genius, dystopian future, uncover truth, hacker, distopia ...
Time:
future, 2010s, year 2013, distant future
Is relevant?
797
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, emotional, sincere, realistic ...
Plot:
youth, suicide, teenage crush, coming of age, escape from reality, dysfunctional family, grownups, society, social misfits, family problems, family relations, parents and children ...
Time:
70s, 20th century, year 1974
Place:
israel, middle east
Is relevant?
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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, independent film, black comedy ...
Plot:
countryside, escape from reality, housewife, eccentric family, family life, youth, teenage love, delusion, parents and children, surrealism, family history, magic realism ...
Time:
year 2004, 2000s
Place:
japan, east asia, asia
Is relevant?
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:
semi serious, witty, humorous, atmospheric, surreal ...
Plot:
impossible love, hopes, elderly, moral dilemma, escape from reality, subconscious, love and romance, aging, introspection, couples, couple relations, crumbling marriage ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
czech republic, czechoslovakia
Is relevant?
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, brother brother relationship, dating, suicide attempt, sibling relationship, loneliness, depression, hospital, dreaming, estrangement, family relations, friendship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
poland, europe, warsaw poland
Is relevant?
1K
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:
realistic, serious, psychological, captivating, contemplative ...
Audience:
teens, pre-teens
Plot:
losing-it hero, single parent, coming of age, teenage boy, introspection, teenage life, bullying, youth, society, life is a bitch, juvenile delinquency, parents and children ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
europe, eastern europe
Is relevant?
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: Poland
Duration: 95 min.
Story:
A man, after having abandoned his family to live in a monastery, goes back into the world after 17 years.
Style:
semi serious, humorous, emotional, realistic, clever
Plot:
woman urinating, escape from reality, dysfunctional family, leaving home, social decay, church, monastery, society, family problems, family life, clergy, woman peeing ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
poland, europe
Is relevant?
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3K
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, sex scene, profanity, explicit sex, male masturbation, prostitute, stealing money, depression, escape from reality, human nature, drug abuse, friendship ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
india, kolkata, asia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, War
Country: Mexico, Spain
Duration: 118 min.
Story:
Living with her tyrannical stepfather in a new home with her pregnant mother, 10-year-old Ofelia feels alone until she explores a decaying labyrinth guarded by a mysterious faun who claims to know her destiny. If she wishes to return to her real ...
Style:
fairy tale, dark fantasy, surreal, atmospheric, gothic ...
Audience:
kids, teen fantasy, date night, adult, teen drama
Plot:
monster, fantasy world, imagination, creature, mythology, macabre, legends and myths, magical, young heroes, imaginary, good versus evil, maze ...
Time:
1940s, 2000s, year 1944, 20th century, year 2006
Place:
spain, south america, europe, canada
Is relevant?
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, semi serious, realistic, captivating, exciting ...
Plot:
gamer, computer game, escape from reality, computer, obsession, friends, addiction, friendship, game, misfit, video game, socially awkward ...
Is relevant?
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:
sincere, touching, serious, melancholic, realistic
Audience:
family outing
Plot:
parents and children, coming of age, dysfunctional family, friendship, bird, father son relationship, youth, pets, escape from reality, dishonesty, life & death, children ...
Time:
year 2012, 21st century
Place:
holland
Is relevant?
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:
atmospheric, serious, surreal, captivating, gloomy ...
Plot:
youth, teenage life, introspection, social decay, teenage love, escape from reality, love and romance, hopes, society, life is a bitch, bittersweet, small town ...
Place:
brazil, latin america
Is relevant?
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:
woods, male nudity, friendship, teenage boy, rebellion, life is a bitch, social misfits, rebelliousness, youth, friends, escape from reality, male pubic hair ...
Time:
21st century
Place:
england, europe
Is relevant?
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, cyber ...
Audience:
boys' night
Plot:
virtual reality, survival, save the world, danger, escape from reality, imaginary, trapped in space, murder, crew, planet, gang rape, interracial couple ...
Time:
future
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
