Movies like The Time That Never Came (2026)
The best movies like The Time That Never Came (2026) are Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Equals (2015) and Mr. Nobody (2009). If The Time That Never Came hooked you with its science fiction and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)8.1/10 from 16,980 votes
- NewestMain Vaapas Aaunga (2026)Released 2026
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisEquals (2015)
A futuristic love story set in a world where emotions have been eradicated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMr. Nobody (2009)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStarman (1984)
When an alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona, the government tries to stop them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPeter Ibbetson (1935)
When his mother dies, young Peter Ibbetson leaves Paris and his best friend, Mary, behind to live with a severe uncle in England. Years later, Peter is an architect with little time for women, until he begins a project with the Duke and Duchess of Towers. When Peter and the duchess become great friends, she reveals that she is Mary — but the duke soon suspects his wife of infidelity and challenges Peter to a duel, threatening the pair's second chance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMarjorie Prime (2017)
A service which creates holographic projections of late family members allows an elderly woman to spend time with a younger version of her deceased husband.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: Dark Water / Death in Heaven (2014)
In this epic two-part finale, the Doctor comes face to face with the mysterious Missy, and an impossible choice is looming. With Cybermen on the streets of London, old friends unite against old enemies, and the Doctor takes to the air in a startling new role.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Giver (2014)
In a seemingly perfect community, without war, pain, suffering, differences or choice, a young boy is chosen to learn from an elderly man about the true pain and pleasure of the "real" world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Short Film About Love (1988)
19-year-old Tomek whiles away his lonely life by spying on his opposite neighbour Magda through binoculars. She's an artist in her mid-thirties, and appears to have everything - not least a constant stream of men at her beck and call. But when the two finally meet, they discover that they have a lot more in common than appeared at first sight...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisNot Easily Broken (2009)
A car accident and shifting affections test the bond between a married couple.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVesper (2022)
After the collapse of Earth's ecosystem, Vesper, a 13-year-old girl struggling to survive with her paralyzed Father, meets a mysterious Woman with a secret that forces Vesper to use her wits, strength and bio-hacking abilities to fight for the possibility of a future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrequencies (2013)
The story of the forbidden relationship between a 'low born' boy and a 'high born' girl in an alternate reality where every person's relationships and life worth are determined by their innate 'frequencies'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
Due to a genetic disorder, handsome librarian Henry DeTamble involuntarily zips through time, appearing at various moments in the life of his true love, the beautiful artist Clare Abshire.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Lost Husband (2020)
Trying to put her life back together after the death of her husband, Libby and her children move to her estranged Aunt's goat farm in central Texas.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisUpstream Color (2013)
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.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Fugitive Kind (1960)
Val Xavier, a drifter of obscure origins, arrives at a small town and gets a job in a store run by Lady Torrence. Her husband, Jabe M. Torrance, is dying of cancer. Val is pursued by Carol Cutere, the enigmatic local tramp-of-good-family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGabriel's Redemption: Part I (2023)
After leaving his prestigious post at the University of Toronto, Gabriel embarks on a new journey with Julia, and he is eager to become a father. However, Gabriel's idyllic vision is jeopardized when Julia's intensive program becomes all consuming. When Julia is granted a prestigious opportunity to deliver an academic lecture at Oxford, Gabriel challenges her about the subject of her presentation, which clashes with his own research. In Oxford, their past resurfaces, including an old nemesis determined to humiliate Julia and expose one of Gabriel's well-guarded secrets. Emotions run high, alliances are tested, and the couple must confront the shadows of their shared history in a battle for love, truth, and redemption.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisAshes in the Snow (2018)
The coming-of-age tale of 16-year-old Lina Vilkas who is deported to Siberia amid Stalin's reign of terror in the Baltic region during WWII. An aspiring artist, she secretly documents her harrowing journey with her drawings.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassion of Mind (2000)
A psychological romantic thriller where fantasy and reality become indistinguishable for a woman leading a double life in her dreams.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & romance
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Map That Leads to You (2025)
Heather is a young woman traveling Europe with friends before starting her perfectly planned life. A chance meeting with Jack sparks an unexpected romance that leads to deep emotional discovery. As secrets and life choices test their bond, her path changes forever.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both romance & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisVanilla Sky (2001)
David Aames has it all: wealth, good looks and gorgeous women on his arm. But just as he begins falling for the warmhearted Sofia, his face is horribly disfigured in a car accident. That's just the beginning of his troubles as the lines between illusion and reality, between life and death, are blurred.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMain Vaapas Aaunga (2026)
Haunted by a childhood romance and recollections of love lost during the 1947 Partition of India, 95-year-old Ishar Singh Grewal shares his story with his grandson Nirvair, the past unfolding through memories of migration, longing, and a romance that endures across generations.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both romance & drama
1984 (1956)
In a totalitarian future society, a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
Thomas Jerome Newton is an alien who has come to Earth in search of water to save his home planet. Aided by lawyer Oliver Farnsworth, Thomas uses his knowledge of advanced technology to create profitable inventions. While developing a method to transport water, Thomas meets Mary-Lou, a quiet hotel clerk, and begins to fall in love with her. Just as he is ready to leave Earth, Thomas is intercepted by the U.S. government, and his entire plan is threatened.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Time Machine (1960)
A Victorian Englishman travels to the far future and finds that humanity has divided into two hostile species.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction & romance
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTerminator Salvation (2009)
All grown up in post-apocalyptic 2018, John Connor must lead the resistance of humans against the increasingly dominating militaristic robots. But when Marcus Wright appears, his existence confuses the mission as Connor tries to determine whether Wright has come from the future or the past -- and whether he's friend or foe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMay December (2023)
Twenty years after their notorious tabloid romance gripped the nation, a married couple buckles under the pressure when an actress arrives to do research for a film about their past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Island (2005)
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWANTS: We Are Not the Same (TBA)
In a futuristic society, homogenization is the only accepted status, divergence is not allowed.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both science fiction
Die Fürstin Woronzoff (1920)
In Russia shortly before the outbreak of the First World War, Princess Vorontsov (Ellen Richter) is in love with a high-ranking officer of the tsarist army. When he is murdered, she craves revenge. The leading suspect is a lawyer with ties to nihilist revolutionaries. On behalf of the secret police, she travels to Switzerland in order to gain his trust and facilitate his arrest. Too late she realizes that she has been toyed with all along. Her fiancé was not the man she thought she was.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Time That Never Came?
The closest matches to The Time That Never Came are Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), Equals (2015) and Mr. Nobody (2009). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Time That Never Came?
Start with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), the closest match to The Time That Never Came.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Time That Never Came?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004), rated 8.1/10 by 16,980 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Time That Never Came?
Main Vaapas Aaunga (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to The Time That Never Came chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Time That Never Came, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.