Movies like Nostalgia for the Future (2016)
The best movies like Nostalgia for the Future (2016) are Orwell: 2+2=5 (2025), The Time Machine (2002) and From Time to Time (2009). If Nostalgia for the Future hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedThe Matrix (1999)8.3/10 from 29,233 votes
- NewestOrwell: 2+2=5 (2025)Released 2025
Orwell: 2+2=5 (2025)
George Orwell was one of the most visionary authors of the 20th century, whose novels 1984 and Animal Farm foretold a chilling, authoritarian future. Acclaimed director Raoul Peck interweaves clips, readings from Orwell's diary, cinematic references, and modern-day footage to craft not only a portrait of the writer, but a fresh take on how prophetic his work has become.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Time Machine (2002)
Hoping to alter the events of the past, a 19th-century inventor instead travels 800,000 years into the future, where he finds mankind divided into two warring races.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFrom Time to Time (2009)
A haunting ghost story spanning two worlds, two centuries apart. When 13 year old Tolly finds he can mysteriously travel between the two, he begins an adventure that unlocks family secrets laid buried for generations.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove, Once and Always (2018)
When Lucy’s childhood sweetheart plans to tear down the Gilded Age estate and replace it with a golf course, Lucy fights to preserve the historic mansion at all costs. As Lucy and Duncan set out to find a compromise, they learn that embracing the past may be the key to protecting the future.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGeneration Wealth (2018)
Over the past 25 years, Lauren Greenfield's documentary photography and film projects have explored youth culture, gender, body image, and affluence. Underscoring the ever-increasing gap between the haves and the have-nots, portraits reveal a focus on cultivating image over substance, where subjects unable to attain actual wealth instead settle for its trappings, no matter their ability to pay for it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWifelike (2022)
A grieving detective in the near-future hunts down criminals who trade artificial humans on the black market. In the fight to end AI exploitation, an underground resistance attempts to infiltrate him by sabotaging the programming of the artificial human assigned as his companion to behave like his late wife. She begins to question her reality as memories of a past life begin to surface in a world where nothing is as it seems.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTime Toys (2016)
A group of middle school kids stumble upon a chest full of incredible toys from the future. The discovery takes them on an adventure using their newfound toys to save their neighborhood and ultimately the world from a maniacal corporate madman. In the process, these "loser" kids learn they have the qualities they thought they were lacking all along.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisI, Robot (2004)
In 2035, where robots are commonplace and abide by the three laws of robotics, a technophobic cop investigates an apparent suicide. Suspecting that a robot may be responsible for the death, his investigation leads him to believe that humanity may be in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Matrix Resurrections (2021)
Plagued by strange memories, Neo's life takes an unexpected turn when he finds himself back inside the Matrix.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNext (2007)
Las Vegas showroom magician Cris Johnson has a secret which torments him: he can see a few minutes into the future. Sick of the examinations he underwent as a child and the interest of the government and medical establishment in his power, he lies low under an assumed name in Vegas, performing cheap tricks and living off small-time gambling "winnings." But when a terrorist group threatens to detonate a nuclear device in Los Angeles, government agent Callie Ferris must use all her wiles to capture Cris and convince him to help her stop the cataclysm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Tomorrow War (2021)
The world is stunned when a group of time travelers arrive from the year 2051 to deliver an urgent message: Thirty years in the future, mankind is losing a global war against a deadly alien species. The only hope for survival is for soldiers and civilians from the present to be transported to the future and join the fight. Among those recruited is high school teacher and family man Dan Forester. Determined to save the world for his young daughter, Dan teams up with a brilliant scientist and his estranged father in a desperate quest to rewrite the fate of the planet.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisHer (2013)
In the not so distant future, Theodore, a lonely writer, purchases a newly developed operating system designed to meet the user's every need. To Theodore's surprise, a romantic relationship develops between him and his operating system. This unconventional love story blends science fiction and romance in a sweet tale that explores the nature of love and the ways that technology isolates and connects us all.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJack the Giant Slayer (2013)
The story of an ancient war that is reignited when a young farmhand unwittingly opens a gateway between our world and a fearsome race of giants. Unleashed on the Earth for the first time in centuries, the giants strive to reclaim the land they once lost, forcing the young man, Jack into the battle of his life to stop them. Fighting for a kingdom, its people, and the love of a brave princess, he comes face to face with the unstoppable warriors he thought only existed in legend–and gets the chance to become a legend himself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisHarrison Bergeron (1995)
"All men are not created equal. It is the purpose of the Government to make them so." This is the premise of the Showtime film adaption of Kurt Vonnegut's futuristic short story Harrison Bergeron. The film centers around a young man (Harrison) who is smarter than his peers, and is not affected by the usual "Handicapping" which is used to train all Americans so everyone is of equal intelligence.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCarnage: Swallowing the Past (2017)
It's 2067, the UK is vegan, but older generations are suffering the guilt of their carnivorous past. Simon Amstell asks us to forgive them for the horrors of what they swallowed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHouse Party (1990)
Young Kid has been invited to a party at his friend Play's house. But after a fight at school, Kid's father grounds him. None the less, Kid sneaks out when his father falls asleep. But Kid doesn't know that three of the thugs at school have decided to give him a lesson in behavior.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Two rock-'n-rolling teens, on the verge of failing their class, set out on a quest to make the ultimate school history report after being presented with a time machine.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Matrix (1999)
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisTime Lapse (2014)
Three friends discover a mysterious machine that takes pictures 24 hours into the future and conspire to use it for personal gain, until disturbing and dangerous images begin to develop.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWater (2005)
In 1938, Mahatma Gandhi's groundbreaking philosophies sweep across India, but 8-year-old Chuyia, newly widowed, must go reside with other outcast widows on an ashram. Her presence transforms the ashram as she befriends two of her compatriots.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
Like Nostalgia for the Future and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Nostalgia for the Future?
The closest matches to Nostalgia for the Future are Orwell: 2+2=5 (2025), The Time Machine (2002) and From Time to Time (2009). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Nostalgia for the Future?
Start with Orwell: 2+2=5 (2025), the closest match to Nostalgia for the Future.
What is the highest-rated movie like Nostalgia for the Future?
The Matrix (1999), rated 8.3/10 by 29,233 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Nostalgia for the Future?
Orwell: 2+2=5 (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Nostalgia for the Future?
Yes: Orwell: 2+2=5 (2025), The Time Machine (2002) and From Time to Time (2009).
How are movies similar to Nostalgia for the Future chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Nostalgia for the Future, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.