Movies Like Groundhog Day is something that you can put on and enjoy doesn’t matter how many times you have watched it. It is also one of best Comedy Movie of Bill Murray’s finest performances. The story is very simple. Bill Murray plays a weatherman named Phill. Phill is very self-centred. One day he has gone out to cover a story on the Groundhog.
The groundhog is going to emerge from its hole and Phill wants to cover that story. Unfortunately, his day does not go as planned as a blizzard brews up and he gets caught in it. Soon after the incident, he realises that he has gotten stuck in the day. He is going to have to live the same day again and again.
The movie is really entertaining and the comedy Movie are quite funny. Since the premise of the movie is nothing new and a lot of movies have been made on that premise, we decided to make a list of movies that are similar or are based on a similar time-loop kind of a premise. We hope you enjoy the list and find a decent movie to watch.
Here is the list of the 10 best movies like Groundhog Day.
Primer
Available at Amazon Prime
Primer is one of those movies in which you go in expecting to have a good time but you end up confused in the end feeling weird and asking yourself – what did you just watch? I mean all this positively of course. Primer is definitely worth the watch for anyone who likes sci-fi movies.
It is not the best sci-fi movie that you will see but it is a movie that you will remember to suggest whenever someone asks you for sci-fi movie suggestions. The premise of the movie is that two guys Aaron and Abe have invented something in their garage. They are not entirely sure what the device is but they are confident that it is something very important.
As a viewer, it is often hard to understand what exactly the device is or what these two characters are even talking about. But that is by design. The confusion it creates pulls us into the movie.
Without giving too much of the plot away, the machine the duo created is a time machine and the movie deals with them experimenting with the device and weird experiences that they have. Shane Carruth stars as Aaron and David Sullivan stars as Abe.
Shane actually created this movie. With a mere budget of $7k he had directed, acted and edited the movie. He also composed the background score of it. This goes to show that to make a good movie you may not always need millions. Primer looks crisp and low budget does not affect the film quality.
12:01 (1993)
Available at Amazon Prime
The next movie on this list that takes the premise of a time-loop is 12:01. This movie was released in 1993 and is based on a short story of the same name by Richard Allen Lupoff who is known for his sci-fi mystery stories. Barry Thomas is the protagonist of the movie. He works as an HR in a company along with his friend Howard Richter.
Lisa Fredericks is a scientist who works in the company and Barry Thomas has a great crush on her. But little does he know that his life is about to get turned upside down and he will be thrown into a situation where he needs to get his act together. One fine day Barry and Howard witness the murder of Lisa. Some hitmen from a van assassinate her.
This affects Barry deeply who later walks into a bar and gets himself drunk. At his home, he gets zapped from a lamp at 12:01 am which gives the film its name. When he wakes up the next morning and goes about his day he sees Lisa. He is startled but soon realises that he is reliving the events of the previous day.
Now, being the only person who knows that the day is repeating and Lisa is going to get killed Barry has to work towards getting close to Lisa and try to save her and get out of the time loop. Jonathan Silverman plays Barry Thomas and the gorgeous Helen Slater plays Lisa Frederick. They do a pretty good job of portraying the characters.
Triangle
Available at Amazon Prime | Netflix
The next movie we recommend you watch if you want a similar premise as Groundhog Day is Triangle. This movie falls under the sci-fi horror category. So, if you are a fan of horror flicks you will find this movie enjoyable. The premise is that Jess is a single mother with an autistic son. One day she goes on a boat trip along with a few other people.
But as her luck would have it the boat gets caught inside a storm and capsizes. One of the passengers is swept away while the others cling to the capsized boat. Thankfully, there’s an ocean liner passing by and the group decides to board it in order to save themselves. The ship is stocked but seems deserted.
Soon, weird stuff starts happening and it seems an unknown entity is trying to hunt the survivors one by one. There is an element of time loops in the movie which has been used in a decent way to keep the viewers engaged. Melissa George plays the role of our protagonist Jess. She does a good job at portraying the character and there are some really good “horror-esque” scenes in the movies.
This movie is not that appreciated but we feel that it is one of those underrated flicks that you will soon come to recommend to your friends if they haven’t watched it. If you like to watch a movie that not only plays with your mind but brings in the element of horror with it then you should definitely give Triangle a try.
Christmas Every Day
Available at Amazon Prime
Now, obviously, a time loop movie is a great premise for horror flicks or sci-fi thrillers. But if you like the slice-of-life or comedy aspect of Groundhog Day then the next movie is something you can try out. This movie may not be for everyone because as you can guess from the title it is a Christmas movie.
So, yeah it will have symbolism and some underlying themes about the Christmas spirit and why giving is more fulfilling than receiving. If you want to feel warm and watch a movie together with your family then this is something that you can watch. It is a television movie but the quality isn’t that bad.
We had a good time watching it and it did remind us a bit about Groundhog Day. The story was published over a century before this movie was released. The film stars a young Erik Von Detten who portrays a selfish teenager Billy and Yvonne Zima who stars as his sister.
Billy is not having a good Christmas as he learns that his dad is going to go out of business soon because his uncle is coming to town and will be opening a mall. Billy tells his sister about this who decides that it would be better if they have Christmas every day. Well, here wish is granted but now, Billy will have to live this day again and again. It is a normal family movie which is good as a Christmas flick.
Run Lola Run
Available at Amazon Prime
No idea why we haven’t heard about this movie. It is a good spin on the parallel timelines and similar stuff. It showcases the different outcomes a person can reach depending on their actions. This is not a movie that is directly based on a time loop but it does showcase the same sets of events with little alterations three times throughout the movie.
We didn’t expect much going into the movie but it did kind of surprise us. Lola is the protagonist of the story. Her boyfriend is Manni. She gets a phone call from Manni who says that someone has stolen 100k Deutsche Marks from him on the subway. He is supposed to return the money to some gangster and if he can’t then they will kill him.
So, he has come up with a plan to rob a bank. Lola obviously isn’t comfortable with this plan and neither does she want Manni to get killed. So, she decides to find the money somehow and the film shows her desperate 20 minutes journey where she runs from one place to another in search of money. Throughout the movie, we get to see the total 20 minutes journey of Lola over three times.
Each time the outcome is a little bit different depending on what actions she does and whom she talks to. The movie is directed by Tom Tykwer who is a German director. Franka Potente portrays Lola and Moritz Bleibtreu portrays Manni. If you like the premise of Groundhog Day then check this movie out.
TimeCrimes
Available at Amazon Prime
Well, since you are interested in time loops and time travels and you need a decent flick to watch to pass your time then we recommend you check out TimeCrimes. This is a movie about time travel and side-themes related to it. If you enjoy paradoxes and other confusing and complex plot structures that can be developed with the premise of time travel then you might enjoy TimeCrimes.
It does a nice job of portraying the time travel paradox and if you have around 80 minutes to pass watch this flick. One fine day Hector, our protagonist, is sitting on his lawn. He decides to bring out his binoculars and enjoy the view of the woods. Well, the view he is enjoying is a woman stripping naked into the woods.
Soon, he decides to investigate the “situation” but turns out it is not going to be a positive encounter as he finds out that the woman he was spying on has actually been assaulted and some mad man with a bandaged head is trying to attack them. Hector flees the scene and finds himself in a scientific facility where a scientist tells him that if he just hides in the time travel machine he will be able to save himself.
He gives in to the idea to save himself and soon travels back in time a few hours. Yup, now he gets to observe himself. There are a lot of boring time travel movies out there but this is not one of them. We enjoyed this movie and recommend you check it out.
Predestination
Available at Amazon Prime
Predestination is a film that is filled with twists and turns which take the viewers on a roller coaster ride keeping them engaged throughout. This movie was recommended to us and we are very thankful for it. So, if you like a bunch of twists in your sci-fi thriller then this is definitely something that is worth the watch.
The protagonist of the film is a temporal agent. These agents are a group of special operators who travel through time and try to prevent horrible crimes from occurring. A noble cause, right? Ethan Hawke plays the protagonist and as usual, does a decent job at portraying the character.
He is tasked with a final mission in which he has to go back to 1975 and stop an explosion from happening that killed a bunch of people. But little did he know that the task is not going to be that simple.
The entire film has a lot to offer and can be quite confusing in a good way. Well, if you start picking apart its logic then it might start seeming not so decent but if you just want to strap up and let the film take you through an intense roller coaster ride then this is a good choice.
Source Code
Available at Amazon Prime | Netflix
Well, now we have entered the part of the list where the movies are quite popular and for good reasons. Source Code is quite a popular time travel flick and if you haven’t already watched it then you actually should. If you love sci-fi thrillers and watch movies that tinker with the idea of time travel then you should definitely give this movie a try.
The protagonist of the film is Colter Stevens. He is an army captain who has been assigned to assist in a special project wherein his consciousness can be put inside another person. In the film, we see Colter inside the mind of a teacher who is taking a journey on a train and talking to a female passenger named Christina Warren.
Colter is confused as he doesn’t remember anything about the current situation except his name. He remembers that he was in Afghanistan in a helicopter but that’s it. But the people in charge of the project soon come to his help and let him know that the train he is on has a bomb in it.
He needs to find the bomb and locate the bomber since it’s suspected that there will be another bombing. The instructions that come to Colter are that he needs to only watch and gather information as he cannot change the past.
But he wants to be proactive and save people as he has taken a sort of liking to Christina, his co-passenger on the train. The movie has been nicely crafted and Jake Gyllenhaal and Michelle Monaghan’s performances are commendable. This is a highly entertaining movie to watch.
Edge of Tomorrow
Available at Amazon Prime | Netflix
Edge of Tomorrow is one of those movies that you have either heard of and seen or you haven’t seen it but have definitely heard of it. If you are an avid movie viewer then it is very hard for a Tom Cruise movie to go unnoticed. We weren’t too sure about the movie. It is a sci-fi flick and it felt as if it would be another testosterone pumping action movie where people use body armour to kill some big monsters.
If that’s your expectation as well then you will be pleasantly surprised. Tom Cruise plays the role of a soldier, William Cage, who is part of a military unit to fight extraterrestrial creatures. William however has zero combat experience and ends up getting killed within minutes after entering the combat zone. But that’s not the end of the story.
He finds himself stuck in a time loop where his day starts the same way as soon as he gets killed. Day after day of getting killed William soon becomes better at engaging with the enemy and starts living a bit longer each day using his past experiences of the same day. He teams up with Emily Blunt’s character Rita Vrataski to come up with strategies to get closer to defeating the aliens once and for all.
We thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt are quite decent in the role of the protagonists. This movie is quite entertaining and thrilling to watch. If you haven’t already viewed it then awesome! You still have an entertaining movie left to watch.
The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
Available at Amazon Prime
Let’s end the list with a movie that is very similar to Groundhog Day in its setting and feel. The Map of Tiny Perfect Things is a romantic comedy that was released in 2021. The movie received largely positive reviews and is a good watch for people who want to watch a nice romantic comedy. Mark is the male protagonist of the movie.
He is a quick-witted teenager who is stuck in a time loop. Yes! He has to live the same day again and again in an endless loop. Sounds fun, right? But everything changes when he meets the female protagonist of the movie viz. Margaret. She is also in a similar predicament. She has been living the same day on an endless loop as well.
The characters slowly get closer and decide to venture out and find out the various details, events and other stuff about the day. The story goes through different avenues in which we see the relationship of the characters blossom as they get closer and closer. Should they figure out why is this happening to them? How can they stop this endless cycle?
Do they even want to get out of this as they already are familiar with all the aspects of the day? The film is well-written and anyone looking for a teenage romantic comedy will enjoy this movie. Kyle Allen portrays Mark and Margaret is portrayed by Kathryn Newton. The chemistry between the actors translates to the screen quite well. So, give it a try if you want to watch something similar to Groundhog Day.
Conclusion
So, that was our list. We hope you found some nice options to choose from and enjoy. Time loop movies are often quite interesting since the concept of being stuck and having to repeat the same day over and over again is actually quite fascinating. But there has been a lot of movies that have been made on this concept that isn’t that well made.
We hope that we were able to find some of the most entertaining of them and provide you with a list of decent movies to watch. Which is your favourite time-loop movie? Did we miss anything? Let us know which of the above movies you liked. Happy watching!