Movies like On the Invention of the Wheel (2016)
The best movies like On the Invention of the Wheel (2016) are Primer (2004), Flash of Genius (2008) and Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999). If On the Invention of the Wheel hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.

Quick picks
- Highest ratedKoyaanisqatsi (1983)7.9/10 from 814 votes
- NewestLamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend (2022)Released 2022
Primer (2004)
A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlash of Genius (2008)
In this David vs. Goliath drama based on a true story, college professor Robert Kearns goes up against the giants of the auto industry when they fail to give him credit for inventing intermittent windshield wipers. Kearns doggedly pursues recognition for his invention, as well as the much-deserved financial rewards for the sake of his wife and six kids.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999)
Mickey, Minnie, and their famous friends Goofy, Donald, Daisy and Pluto gather together to reminisce about the love, magic and surprises in three wonder-filled stories of Christmas past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Absent-Minded Professor (1961)
Bumbling professor Ned Brainard accidentally invents flying rubber, or "Flubber", an incredible material that gains energy every time it strikes a hard surface. It allows for the invention of shoes that can allow jumps of amazing heights and enables a modified Model-T to fly. Unfortunately, no one is interested in the material except for Alonzo Hawk, a corrupt businessman who wants to steal the material for himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKoyaanisqatsi (1983)
Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies 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
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Skywalker Legacy (2020)
The story lives forever in this feature-length documentary that charts the making of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisVoyage of Time: The IMAX Experience (2016)
A celebration of the universe, displaying the whole of time, from its start to its final collapse. This film examines all that occurred to prepare the world that stands before us now: science and spirit, birth and death, the grand cosmos and the minute life systems of our planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)
Against all the odds, a thirteen year old boy in Malawi invents an unconventional way to save his family and village from famine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisA Day's Pleasure (1919)
A father takes his family for an outing, which turns out to be a ridiculous trial.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAn Adventure in Space and Time (2013)
Actor William Hartnell felt trapped by a succession of hard-man roles while wannabe producer Verity Lambert was frustrated by the TV industry's glass ceiling. Both of them were to find unlikely hope and unexpected challenges in the form of a Saturday tea-time drama. Allied with a team of unusual but brilliant people, they went on to create the longest running science fiction series ever made.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSteve Jobs: The Man in the Machine (2015)
When Steve Jobs died the world wept. But what accounted for the grief of millions of people who didn’t know him? This evocative film navigates Jobs' path from a small house in the suburbs, to zen temples in Japan, to the CEO's office of the world's richest company, exploring how Jobs’ life and work shaped our relationship with the computer. The Man in the Machine is a provocative and sometimes startling re-evaluation of the legacy of an icon.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRadioactive (2020)
The story of Nobel Prize winner Maria Skłodowska-Curie and her extraordinary scientific discoveries—through the prism of her marriage to husband Pierre—and the seismic and transformative effects their discovery of radium had on the 20th century.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend (2022)
Follow the launch of Lamborghini’s career as a manufacturer of tractors, a creator of military vehicles during World War II, and the designer of Lamborghini cars, which he launched in 1963 as the high-end sports car company Automobili Lamborghini.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Brave Little Toaster (1987)
A group of dated appliances, finding themselves stranded in a summer home that their family had just sold, decide to seek out their eight year old 'master'.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZappa (2020)
With the help of more than 10,000 dedicated Zappa fans, this is the long-awaited definitive documentary project of Alex Winter documenting the life and career of enigmatic groundbreaking rock star Frank Zappa. Alex also utilizes in this picture thousands of hours of painstakingly digitized videos, photos, audio, writing, and everything in between from Zappa's private archives. These chronicles have never been brought to a public audience before, until now.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBanana (2010)
The Minions fight over a delicious banana... but is that all they want?!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley (2019)
With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionize blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, heralded as the next Steve Jobs. Then, overnight, her 10-billion-dollar company dissolved. The rise and fall of Theranos is a window into the psychology of fraud.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story (2018)
The life and career of the hailed Hollywood movie star and underappreciated genius inventor, Hedy Lamarr.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (1953)
Professor Owl gives a lecture on the evolution of Western musical instruments, starting with the advent of rudimentary brass, woodwind, string and percussion instruments by ancient cave dwellers at the dawn of history.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like On the Invention of the Wheel?
The closest matches to On the Invention of the Wheel are Primer (2004), Flash of Genius (2008) and Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after On the Invention of the Wheel?
Start with Primer (2004), the closest match to On the Invention of the Wheel.
What is the highest-rated movie like On the Invention of the Wheel?
Koyaanisqatsi (1983), rated 7.9/10 by 814 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like On the Invention of the Wheel?
Lamborghini: The Man Behind the Legend (2022) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like On the Invention of the Wheel?
Yes: Primer (2004), Flash of Genius (2008) and Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999).
How are movies similar to On the Invention of the Wheel chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside On the Invention of the Wheel, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.



















