Movies like Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread (1987)
The best movies like Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread (1987) are Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (2010), Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death (1999) and Blackadder: Back & Forth (1999). If Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread hooked you with its comedy and science fiction, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedSouth Park: Imaginationland (2008)7.9/10 from 316 votes
- NewestBugonia (2025)Released 2025
Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (2010)
Millions of years from now, after Socrates, Shakespeare and the bible are long forgotten, only two great works will remain: the sci-fi cinema epic Star Wars and Adult Swim's stop-motion animated, cheap gag extravanganza Robot Chicken. And now, for the first time, they come together for the third time, in this all new special. That's right, all your mot beloved Star Wars characters are going back through the comedy meat grinder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDoctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death (1999)
Before the Doctor can settle down to married life, he must face one last confrontation with his deadly enemy of certain death - the Master.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlackadder: Back & Forth (1999)
What was a cunning plan from Lord Edmund Blackadder V to fake a time machine on his gullibly incompetent friends, turns out to be the real thing and hurls him and his imbecile underling, Baldrick, through the course of human history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFamily Guy Presents: Blue Harvest (2007)
With the Griffins stuck at home during a blackout, Peter tells the story of "Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope".
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisRobot Chicken: DC Comics Special (2012)
The Robot Chicken DC Comics Special brings you the awesomeness of the DC Comics universe of characters as only Robot Chicken can, with amazing guest stars and the stop-motion sketch comedy you've come to love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisProject: ALF (1996)
Six years ago, the lovable intergalactic fugitive Gordon Shumway, best known as ALF, was on his way back to his new home when the Alien Task Force finally caught up with him. Now, he is being studied at a top-secret military base where he finds allies who feel that ALF's existence should be announced to the world to ensure his safety... especially when they learn that the abrasive Colonel Milfoil wants ALF, and all Alien Life-Forms, destroyed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAfterburn (2025)
Set against the backdrop of a postapocalyptic Earth whose Eastern Hemisphere was destroyed by a massive solar flare, leaving what life remains mutated from radiation and fallout. The story revolves around a group of treasure hunters who extract such objects as the Mona Lisa, the Rosetta Stone and the Crown Jewels while facing rival hunters, mutants and pirates.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisReal Men (1987)
A womanizing CIA agent and an insecure insurance agent are paired together to make sure a deal goes through with aliens for the future of mankind.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDr. Strange (1978)
A psychiatrist becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth in order to battle an evil Sorceress from the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDark Star (1974)
A group of scientists are sent on a mission to destroy unstable planets. Twenty years into their mission, they have to battle their alien mascot as well as a "sensitive" and intelligent bombing device that starts to question the meaning of its existence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSouth Park: Imaginationland (2008)
Some of the boys from South Park Elementary find themselves on a balloon ride to an imaginary land. Upon their arrival they're faced with an unimaginable threat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAmazon Women on the Moon (1987)
Centered on a television station which features a 1950s-style sci-fi movie interspersed with a series of wild commercials, wacky shorts and weird specials, this lampoon of contemporary life and pop culture skewers some of the silliest spectacles ever created in the name of entertainment.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Bed Sitting Room (1969)
In the hazy aftermath of World War III, the fallout from a 'nuclear misunderstanding' is producing strange mutations amongst the survivors, and the noble Lord Fortnum finds himself transforming into a bed sitting room.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBugonia (2025)
Two conspiracy obsessed young men kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy (1981)
Don't Panic! The story of Arthur Dent, an average Englishman whose life was spared by his friend, who turned out to be an alien, while the planet Earth is destroyed. His friend tells him about the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a guide with anything you ever needed, and wanted to know. They travel across the galaxy, meeting friendly, and not so friendly characters in order to find the great question (the answer being 42).
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBen 10: Race Against Time (2008)
Ben, Gwen, and Max must stop an extraterrestrial who plans to open a gateway that leads to an alien invasion.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
SnoozefestMovies like thisBen 10: Alien Swarm (2009)
Ben and a mysterious girl from his past must prevent an alien threat from destroying the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBen 10 / Generator Rex: Heroes United (2011)
Ben Tennyson falls through a wormhole and encounters Rex. The two heroes must unite against a foe that can absorb their powers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInvisible Sister (2015)
Teenager Cleo's school science project goes quite awry, causing her popular older sister Molly to go invisible.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDoctor Who: Planet of the Dead (2009)
A meeting in a London bus with jewel thief Lady Christina takes a turn for the worse for the Doctor when the bus takes a detour to a desert-like planet, where the deadly Swarm awaits.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both science fiction
Worth the HypeMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread?
The closest matches to Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread are Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (2010), Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death (1999) and Blackadder: Back & Forth (1999). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread?
Start with Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (2010), the closest match to Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread.
What is the highest-rated movie like Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread?
South Park: Imaginationland (2008), rated 7.9/10 by 316 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread?
Bugonia (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread?
Yes: Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode III (2010), Doctor Who: The Curse of Fatal Death (1999) and Blackadder: Back & Forth (1999).
How are movies similar to Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.