Movies like Interstellar gain a reputation as mind-bending and strange because they combine elements of science fiction, fantasy, and surrealism to deliver an off-kilter cinematic experience. Christopher Nolan is known for his ability to mess with the mind of the viewer thanks to an impressive dedication to both meticulous plotting and classical filmmaking techniques mixed with new-school effects. Interstellar is one of his greatest works and one of the best mind-bending movies ever because it isn't just one thing.

Nolan's 2014 opus was met with praise from critics (via Christopher Nolan's best films, Interstellar is far from the first movie to mess with audiences by subverting expectations in interesting ways. Movies like Interstellar have always been on the tip of the cinematic spear as they continue to push the envelope on what is possible.

30 Sunshine (2007)

A Doomed Mission To Save A Freezing Earth

Many movies like Interstellar focus on the intricacies of time travel, time dilation, and the nature of how humanity perceives the universe around them. However, there are also many that don't contain these themes and instead mirror Christopher Nolan's epic sci-fi because they feature a team of astronauts or scientists setting out on a deadly mission to save the rest of humanity. When it comes to the former category, director Danny Boyle's 2007 movie Sunshine is one of the best.

Set in 2057, Sunshine finds a world on the brink of freezing due to the sun dying. A team of eight astronauts are tasked with heading to the center of the solar system to detonate a bomb at the center of our star, reigniting it and bringing warmth to Earth once again. The cast of Sunshine is star-studded, with the likes of Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, and Chris Evans all appearing. It's tinged with more horror than Insterstellar, and trades jaw-dropping scale and spectacle for a more claustrophobic and intimate atmosphere, but is worth a watch for fans of Nolan's epic sci-fi.

29 The Core (2003)

There's Just As Much Adventure Within The Earth As Beyond It

Interstellar has a similar set-up to many sci-fi movies in that it features a team of astronauts traveling off-world to save humanity. This is where 2003's The Core, from director Jon Amiel, puts a spin on things. Rather than travelling off-world like the various plucky teams in Interstellar and many other movies like it do, the team of scientists in The Core instead have to burrow down to the center of the earth to prevent the planet's magnetic field from collapsing.

The Core has many moments that are visually similar to Interstellar in a surprising way. For example, there's a moment when the team finds themselves in a giant quartz geode that feels like it would fit right in with Christopher Nolan's 2014 epic. While it's definitely not as acclaimed as Interstellar, and doesn't have anywhere near as much thematic ambition, it still hits many of the same notes. The performances of cast memberts like Arraon Eckhart, Hilary Swank, and Stanley Tucci also make The Core worth watching too.

28 Don't Look Up (2021)

What Happens When Humanity Can't Unite To Stop An Existential Threat?

In many ways, Don't Look Up should be considered a must-watch for fans of movies like Interstellar, as it's a hilarious and poignant satire of the premise of humanity uniting to face a common existential threat. In 2021's Don't Look Up, from director Adam McKay, the world is shocked to learn it's directly in the path of an asteroid whose size would wipe out all life on the surface. However, rather than finding common ground and working together to save life as we know it, the people of Earth become distracted by conspiracy until it's too late.

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Cate Blanchett, Jonah Hill, Ron Perlman, Timothee Chalamet, and a host of other A-Listers, Don't Look Up alone is enough to garner attention. However, it also contains plenty of similarities to Interstellar too, even beyond its satirical elements. Like Interstellar, Don't Look Up also contains many moments that deal with the impact of climate change (which the meteorite is an allegory for). There's even an attempt to colonize another planet to find humanity a second home - though this endeavour ends in a far more disasterous (and hilarious) fashion in Don't Look Up.

27 The Martian (2015)

A Similar Tale Of Survival Far From Home

One of the key themes of Interstellar is the attempts of individual astronauts attempting to survive impossible odds while light years away from Earth. For a more grounded and intimate exploration of this specific idea, 2015's The Martian is one of the best movies like Interstellar out there. From director Ridley Scott, The Martian is based on the novel of the same name by Andy Weird. The film stars Matt Damon as Mark Watney, an astronaut stranded on the surface of Mars with no apparent hope of survival.

Much like the crew of the Lazarus expedition, Watney is left with limited resources, having to rely on his initiative and ability to innovate to ensure he makes it home.

However, Watney defies the odds, and uses the limited resources around him to survive for months on the surface of the Red Planet. While far less grand in scope than Interstellar, it resonates with Christopher Nolan's 2014 sci-fi in many ways. Much like the crew of the Lazarus expedition, Watney is left with limited resources, having to rely on his initiative and ability to innovate to ensure he makes it home. If these moments in Interstellar are waht drew viewers to Nolan's movie, then The Martian is definitely a more than worthwhile watch.

26 engers (2016)

Recolonization Sets The Stage For An Intriguing Love Story

The purpose of the Lazarus expedition in Interstellar is to discover new habitable planets outside of Earth. In some ways, the plot of director Morten Tyldum's sci-fi romance engers follows on from this. It focuses on a ship of colonists, the Avalon, on its 120-year voyage from Earth to a new world dubbed Homestead II. Much like Interstellar, the purpose of this voyage is directly rooted in climate change, as Earth has experienced a complete collapse of the biosphere making the planet unable to sustain life.

However, while the premise has many similarities to Interstellar, it should be noted that engers isn't a grand sci-fi epic. Rather, it's a surprisingly grounded, complex, and heartfelt love story. The plot focuses on Jim (Chris Pratt) and Aurora (Jennifer Lawrence), two colonists awakened years before the 120-year journey is set to end. This meshing of genres makes for an intriguing watch, making engers one of the more unique examples of movies like Interstellar out there.

25 Dark Star (1974)

A Surprisingly Satirical Sci-Fi Flick From John Carpenter

Horror auteur John Carpenter’s feature film debut was actually a clever sci-fi satire in the form of 1974’s Dark Star. The film follows a crew of incompetent astronauts as they are sent on a mission across space to destroy a rogue planet. Unlike most movies like Interstellar, which take their sci-fi elements very seriously, Dark Star makes salient points about society through humor.

Made on a shoestring budget, the movie's visuals pale in comparison to blockbusters, but the real mind-warp comes from the commentary about society. Co-written by Dan O'Bannon (Total Recall), the movie follows the crew's main directive is to destroy unstable planets that threaten future colonization, and while it was not a box office success, it had a huge influence on movies and other fictional works that came later, including sci-fi movies like Danny Boyle's Sunshine.

24 The Fountain (2006)

A Melodrama That Bends Space & Time

Writer/director Darren Aronofsky blended multiple distinct genres together in this thrilling and emotional romantic drama that follows the lives of Hugh Jackman's protagonist through space, time, and stories within stories. Partly the adventure of a conquistador searching for the tree of life, partly a contemporary weepy about marriage and illness, and partly an arthouse science fiction movie about a haunted monk delivering a tree through the universe in a bubble to reach the heart of a dying star.

The Fountain is a lot for the audience to wrap their heads around, but it all fits together remarkably well. Much like Interstellar, both movies play around with time and fate, and both have characters interact in different timelines in unexpected ways. They are also both highly intelligent movies and expect a lot from the audience when it comes to following along and buying into the story the directors are telling.

23 Source Code (2011)

One Of The Most Underrated Time-Loop Movies

Through a strange technology that creates a kind of simulated reality, Army Captain Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) is forced to relive the final moments of a terrorist bombing on a train over and over again in order to try and find clues as to who the bomber is and where they will strike next. Through his different runthroughs of the incident, Gyllenhaal's main character begins to believe that he can alter the course of events with plenty of mind-bending concepts coming into play.

Both Interstellar and Source Code are movies where time travel is used to solve a problem and save lives, but they are done on completely different scales. Duncan Jones' sci-fi movie is about finding out who bombed a train and using time travel to send a man back to find clues so the terrorist can be identified and ensure it doesn't happen again. In Interstellar, it is about finding a way to save the entire Earth, but both movies play with time in interesting ways.

22 Looper (2012)

Unlike Any Other Time Travel Movie Ever Made

Rian Johnson dipped his toe into the world of sci-fi years before taking on the Star Wars universe with The Last Jedi, and his time travel thriller, Looper, is often considered the superior film. Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis star as the same hitman named Joe in the not-too-distant future as they fight the mob and each other when Willis' older version is sent back in time to be killed by his younger self.

Filled with all the twists that writer/director Rian Johnson's movies would become famous for, Looper is an action-packed, mind-bending ride. Looper is a very different movie than Insterstellar, as it is more of a science fiction film noir compared to the epic sci-fi that Christopher Nolan created. However, when it comes to time travel and the ability to manipulate time to ensure one's goals, they both play in the same sandbox and are very similar in of science fiction storytelling.

21 Moon (2009)

A Cult-Classic Isolated Sci-Fi Movie

Before he went on to make the time travel movie Source Code, Duncan Jones (David Bowie's son) directed the low-budget sci-fi movie Moon. In the film, astronaut Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is about to end his three-year tour of duty alone on a lunar mining facility when he is suddenly plagued by visions of a doppelgänger of himself. The only thing that he had to keep him company over the years was the AI computer system, reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

By limiting the story's scope, Jones finds the true heart of the themes by allowing the singular character in the story to carry the load. The movie was also a very personal affair for Jones, who did most of the effects himself and limited a lot of the overuse of CGI that many sci-fi movies are guilty of. Like Interstellar, the movie focuses more heavily on the personal story of the astronaut and his place in the world while tackling much deeper themes than its contemporary movies.