15 Best Movies Like ‘The Butterfly Effect’, Ranked By IMDb Score
There are movies that you watch, have fun, but then forget about an hour later. The Butterfly Effect isn’t one of those movies. You watch it, have fun, and then you’re left mind-blown for days, even weeks. If you’re like me, those are your favorite movies – those that make you think, that hit differently, and influence your life just a bit.
Although The Butterfly Effect is a unique film in many ways, it still fits a certain genre or type of film that you’d probably like if you liked this movie. Therefore, I’ve created this epic list of the 15 best mind-blowing movies that are like The Butterfly Effect, be it due to the plot, the concept, the atmosphere, or anything in between. The list is ranked solely based on the film’s IMDb score.
Enjoy!
15. Sliding Doors (1998)
IMDb score: 6.7/10
What it’s about: Helen is a PR representative that gets fired from her job in London. She’s trying to return home but misses the subway train. In another reality, we see Helen catch that very same train. We watch how that one little thing made her entire life play out completely differently.
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: If you liked the concept of one tiny decision or change causing a ripple effect that shapes your entire life but still like romance and a bit ‘softer’ films, Sliding Doors is the perfect one for you.
You watch as Helen missing or catching the subway shaped her entire life, from marrying her boyfriend in one life to catching him cheating in the other and all the aftermath of that very fateful train ride. It’s a similar concept to The Butterfly Effect, only more comedic and romantic.
14. The Jacket (2005)
IMDb score: 7.1/10
What it’s about: A war veteran returns home to Vermont after service but suffers from amnesia. While hitchhiking, a stranger picks him up, and a police officer stops them. The stranger shoots and kills the officer, but the veteran is accused of the murder and sent to an asylum.
Once there, he’s put under experimental treatment in a body jacket, where he starts having visions of his future, learning that he’d die in four days. He tries to figure out how and why before it happens, as nobody believes he’s telling the truth.
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: The Jacket is kind of hard to watch. It’s a sci-fi thriller, but it has so many mind-boggling sequences where you won’t be sure what’s real and what’s not, along with the flashbacks and visions – it’s a handful, but a brilliant movie nonetheless. It’s just as mind-blowing – if not more so – as The Butterfly Effect.
13. Predestination (2014)
IMDb score: 7.4/10
What it’s about: A temporal agent about to retire is sent on a final mission to catch a criminal that’s been evading him his entire career. As he finally catches up, what he finds will blow his mind and make him question his very life and existence and the unfathomable paradox that it presents.
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: Both movies are based on a scientific theory. While The Butterfly Effect focuses on the theory of the same name, Predestination focuses on one of the biggest, most mind-blowing paradoxes of time travel. I won’t say more not to spoil the fun, but I absolutely loved it!
12. Frequency (2000)
IMDb score: 7.4/10
What it’s about: In NYC, a strange phenomenon causes a frequency overlap that allows a firefighter to talk to his son over the radio – 30 years into the future. As they realize they are father and son, the son warns the father about his death that, in his timeline, happened in a warehouse fire.
However, the father’s survival changes history and causes a new chain of events resulting in the murder of his wife – the son’s mother. Now, they are working together to try and stop the murderer and change history yet again – but at what cost?
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: Frequency and The Butterfly Effect have a lot in common. In both films, one small change is made in the past that causes a chain reaction, reshuffling not just the lives of the individuals making the change but the entire world.
I found The Butterfly Effect to be a bit more complex, but Frequency is one of the first films I’ve seen that shares this particular subject, so it’ll always hold a dear place in my heart.
11. The Illusionist (2006)
IMDb score: 7.5/10
What it’s about: A magician from 19th century Vienna, Eisenheim, takes a volunteer from the audience at his show. He realizes it’s the Duchess von Teschen – his teenage sweetheart who was forced to break up with him due to status differences.
Now, the Duchess is engaged to Crown Prince Leopold – a violent, power-hungry man who wants to overthrow her father from the throne – in a marriage of interest, not love. Will the illusionist manage to use his craft to get the love of his life and save her from such an abysmal fate?
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: There isn’t that much time-traveling or history-changing in The Illusionist, but what the movies have in common is talking about the unbeatable power of love. And both movies are just insanely mind-blowing.
If you love films about magicians and tricks, nothing beats The Illusionist, other than maybe The Prestige that, interestingly, came out the same year.
10. Source Code (2011)
IMDb score: 7.5/10
What it’s about: Colter Steven, a renowned, honored war veteran, wakes up one day on a train in another man’s body. He has 8 minutes to find a terrorist with a bomb on board, or the entire train will explode – and he’ll get jousted back for another 8 minutes. What ensues is a game of paradoxes, experiments, and destiny-defying consequences.
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: The Source Code is thought to be a program that recreates the last 8 minutes of somebody’s life, allowing one to relive them exactly as they were happening. And, like in The Butterfly Effect, the mind-blowing concept ends up being even more mind-blowing as we move toward the end of the film.
It turns out the program might not be just a program after all. Could it be a gateway creating parallel universes?
9. Mr. Nobody (2009)
IMDb score: 7.7/10
What it’s about: A boy, Nemo Nobody, is standing at a train station with his parents separating. Does he go with his dad or stay with his mother? Does he have to choose? What happens if he simply doesn’t choose? The answer; anything is possible. As Nemo speaks to a reporter, we learn that his story is more mind-boggling than you could’ve imagined.
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: I absolutely loved Mr. Nobody, as it tries to explain the boggling mystery every step of the way and still does not give you blatantly obvious explanations and answers. Like The Butterfly Effect, we see possible outcomes, divergent futures, etc. – but Mr. Nobody takes a different approach – what happens if one just doesn’t choose?
The concept is brilliant – executed a bit confusingly, at times – but everything falls into place after a second or third rewatch. I highly recommend this one!
8. The Game (1997)
IMDb score: 7.7/10
What it’s about: A wealthy banker in San Francisco celebrates his birthday – the very same age his father was when he died. He shakes things up and accepts an invitation to participate in a mysterious game.
Suddenly, his life turns into a nightmare of mystery, conspiracy, and suspicion that somebody is out to destroy him. Is this real? Is anything actually real?
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: Although no time-traveling or trippy scientific theories exist, The Game is just as mind-blowing and life-changing as any of the movies on this list. There’s mystery, thrill, and even violence, but there’s a reason why The Game is a classic.
Sure, the plots are different, but just like in The Butterfly Effect, you won’t know what’s real and what’s a figment of imagination half the movie before you eventually get all the answers in the end.
7. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
IMDb score: 7.8/10
What it’s about: Benjamin Button is a unique boy. Or man, or grandpa. He’s completely ordinary, except for the fact that his life is flowing backward. Why? Because Benjamin is aging backward, starting as an old man, going back to becoming a baby at the end…
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: Yes, the whole premise is crazy, and you’ll absolutely love it. In The Butterfly Effect, the lead character can go back in time. Well, here, time goes backward all the time for Benjamin Button. It’s a beautiful, fantastic, sweet, and mind-bending film that will likely leave you speechless and deep in your feelings as the end credits roll.
6. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
IMDb score: 7.9/10
What it’s about: Major William Cage wakes up and gets thrown into a mission to stop a massive alien invasion on Earth. It’s an impossible mission (pun intended, Mr. Cruise), and he is killed within minutes. However, he just wakes up in the same spot, at the same time again, with another chance to complete the mission.
The loop won’t end until the aliens are stopped, and William Cage stops dying…
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: When you think of it, it’s a similar concept to these two movies. However, instead of willingly going back to change things, William Cage is brought back to relive the same moments, with the opportunity to change things and decisions to get different outcomes. It’s a bit more futuristic and action-packed than The Butterfly Effect, but equally awesome.
5. 12 Monkeys (1995)
IMDb score: 8.0/10
What it’s about: In the future, people are forced to live underground after a devastating virus destroyed the world’s population. A prisoner in 2035 is offered a chance to go back in time to find out who made the virus that made air poisonous.
However, when he gets back to 1990, he’s imprisoned in an asylum, as everybody thinks his warnings about the virus are crazy… What happens later makes him actually question his sanity, as the fine line between fact and fiction starts to fade…
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: Again, 12 Monkeys is a more futuristic film but no less mind-bending than The Butterfly Effect. It involves some type of time travel and trying to correct past mistakes to change future outcomes. 12 Monkeys is one of the best-executed time-travel movies ever with a spectacular cast.
4. Donnie Darko (2001)
IMDb score: 8.0/10
What it’s about: Donnie Darko is a teenager who’s always been a bit odd. However, after escaping a wild accident and barely surviving, he starts seeing Frank – a man in a huge bunny suit that makes Donnie commit crimes, escalating from tiny stuff to actual violence.
Is Frank real, or did Donnie lose his mind? Or did he lose something else? What did actually happen that day when the accident happened?
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: It’s impossible to tell you why these movies are actually so alike unless I’m going to spoil at least one, if not both, of them. There are mystery, drama, and incredible twists in both movies – trust me, it’s more than just a guy being crazy and seeing a giant humanoid rabbit.
3. The Truman Show (1998)
IMDb score: 8.2/10
What it’s about: Truman Burbank is an insurance salesman living in a peaceful town surrounded by regular people. Maybe too regular. Like, way too regular. Something is not quite right here. It’s as if Truman was the star of a show. As if his entire life is nothing but a reality show…
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: When I first watched this movie, it was the first time I realized how absolutely brilliant Jim Carrey is as an actor – not just a comedian. The same thing happened to me with Ashton Kutcher when I watched The Butterfly Effect but in a different way.
Both films are mind-blowing, although nowhere near similar in their plots. Still, The Truman Show will have you absolutely lose your mind. Imagine waking up one day, realizing your entire life is nothing but an illusion…
2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
IMDb score: 8.3/10
What it’s about: Joel Barish learns that his ex underwent an intricate medical procedure to erase him from her memories. As payback, he decides to do the same but soon learns that he doesn’t want to lose those cherished memories. Will he be able to reverse the irreversible procedure, or will his memories be replaced with an empty, black void?
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: The main character in The Butterfly Effect has the ability to go back in time and relive certain moments and then change the outcome of certain events in his life, but in the end, everything boils down to love.
In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the lead character does what he does out of love and a broken heart and can enter his own mind to relive certain moments while trying to delete a person from his memory.
When the credits roll, you’ll sit in front of the screen and be like: how insanely deep was this thing? I don’t like romantic films, but this is SO much more. Trust me. This is another proof that Jim Carrey is once-in-a-generation acting talent, despite people knowing him as that dude that makes funny faces.
1. Memento (2000)
IMDb score: 8.4/10
What it’s about: A man suffering from significant short-term memory loss is doing his best to conduct an investigation to find his wife’s murderer. The problem is every day he wakes up, he forgets what he had learned the day before, so he has to leave notes to himself to help move forward with the investigation.
The question is, does he really want to get to the bottom of it? Even if he does, would he remember?
Why it’s like The Butterfly Effect: In The Butterfly Effect, the lead can relive moments from his life and change the outcome. In Memento, however, the lead relives what seems to be the same day, the same actions, and the same investigation every day due to his memory condition, hoping for a different outcome every time…
Memento is the reason why Christopher Nolan is the best non-linear director of all time and one of the best mind-blowing mystery films you’ll ever watch,