By Heide R. Orleth

My favorite icebreaker when meeting new people is simply asking “What are your thoughts on time travel?” I find that it gives me an impression of the person and whether or not we will get along.

Time travel has been a tool in fiction writer’s metaphorical toolbox for generations. From Star Trek to Tokyo Revengers, it applies to a wide range of mediums and scratches our innate human itch to imagine what we might do if placed in an era outside of our lifetimes.

I have a complicated relationship with time travel, because if it’s done poorly, I become more infuriated than entertained. I tend to avoid things with time travel because it is so easy to fall into a classic time paradox, or alternate timeline shenanigans. There are countless plot holes that can spawn from a poorly designed time travel mechanic, and if the story continues without consequences from such fallacies, it kills the magic for me.

Time travel fails

• Primer – It’s a decently produced movie for an indie film, but the timeline is utterly incomprehensible and loops back in on itself a ridiculous number of times. The main characters meddle with their past selves and the editing makes it unclear when they travel back, and how many times they do it.
• Avengers: Endgame – if you want an understandable time travel tale, this is not the best choice. Not only do you need to have seen all Avengers movies to understand the context, but the alternate timelines created make the plot muddled and contradictory.

Time Travel Excellence

When the time-meddling is unique, fleshed out, and follows a semi-logical path (pseudo-scientific or not), I am more on board. There are many time-travel-centric books and films, but these are a few of my favorites.

A couple books including time travel that I’d recommend are:

• The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle By Stuart Turton – [Murder mystery, Time Loop, Body swapping] A super creative take on a typical mansion murder mystery. The main character wakes up in a different character’s body each day, and his hosts vary in helpfulness. The final twists are excellent, and I had a lot of fun reading this rollercoaster of a book.
• Furyborn By Claire Legrand– [YA Fantasy, Badass women, Grey morality] This story is told in 2 time periods, a thousand years apart. As the story goes on, the lives of the heroines become more and more intertwined, and there is a compelling corruption arc in the earlier timeline that plays out in real time, and its effects had a massive impact on the present from the outset.

Movies with time travel that I recommend:

• Arrival – [Aliens, Drama, Linguistic nerd heaven] This is an Oscar-nominated film that richly deserved that prestige. It is beautifully shot, well-paced, has an excellent allegory, and the time aspect is understated yet essential to the story as a whole. Plus, the deep dive into linguistics is compelling for a language nerd such as myself.
• The Terminator – [Robots, Apocalyptic, Action] The first two movies in this franchise are a masterclass in science-fiction action. The story is fast-paced and connects with the era’s fear of nuclear war and rising influence of technology that is still relevant to this day. **I only really recommend the first 2 movies in this series as they are a full story on their own, and the following sequels cheapen what made T1 & T2 so special.**

There are, of course, exceptions to my standards. The Back to the Future film trilogy has alternate timelines, a “what if my parents never met?” debacle, and more holes than a sieve, but its infectious charm compels me to overlook inconsistencies in favor of riding along in the iconic souped-up DeLorean.

I hope that you all develop your own thoughts on this wild sub-genre, and beware, if I meet you in real life, I will absolutely ask you what your thoughts on time travel are.

Heide R. Orleth is a 2nd year Creative Writing & English Language student at the University of Westminster. She loves to write fantasy & science-fiction, and is an avid reader, anime enjoyer, and occasional cosplayer. Instagram: @aechrwrites.