What Movies Are Like Interstellar?

What makes a movie like Interstellar?

Interstellar (2014), directed by Christopher Nolan, follows a crew who travel through a wormhole in search of a new home for humanity ^[2]. It runs 169 minutes, and its science was shaped by physicist Kip Thorne, who is credited as an executive producer but whose main role was science adviser, working with Christopher and Jonathan Nolan through writing, production, and editing ^[1]. The film grew out of an idea Thorne developed with producer Lynda Obst ^[1].

So when people search for movies like Interstellar, they usually mean one of four things: space travel, science that feels real, stories that bend time, or a family story underneath the spectacle. We picked 16 films that share at least two of those qualities. Release years, directors, and runtimes come from Wikidata ^[2].

Space survival grounded in real science

If what you loved was the sense that the science mattered, start here.

• The Martian (2015). An astronaut stranded on Mars has to survive until rescue. It is based on Andy Weir's novel ^[3], and it shares Interstellar's problem-solving spirit.
• Gravity (2013). Two astronauts are stranded in orbit after debris destroys their shuttle. At 91 minutes, it is the shortest film on this list.
• Apollo 13 (1995). The 1970 lunar mission that turned into a rescue, told with close attention to how the engineers worked the problem.
• First Man (2018). Neil Armstrong's path to the Apollo 11 Moon landing, focused as much on his family as on the mission.
• The Right Stuff (1983). The test pilots and first astronauts of the early American space program. At 184 minutes, it is the longest pick.

Big-idea science fiction

If you loved Interstellar's sense of wonder and its big questions, these are the closest matches.

• 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Stanley Kubrick's journey from prehistory to a mission toward Jupiter. It is the film Interstellar is most often compared with, in our view, because of its scale and its patience.
• Solaris (1972). Andrei Tarkovsky's slow, haunting film about a psychologist sent to a space station orbiting a mysterious planet.
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). Ordinary people are drawn toward a meeting with UFOs.
• Contact (1997). A scientist detects a signal from space. It is based on Carl Sagan's novel ^[3], and it pairs naturally with Interstellar: the Smithsonian notes that Sagan was the mutual friend who introduced Thorne and Obst ^[1].
• Arrival (2016). A linguist tries to communicate with alien visitors, in a story that plays with how we experience time.

Lonely voyages and personal stakes

Interstellar is also a story about a parent and a child separated by distance. These films share that emotional core.

• Moon (2009). A lone worker nears the end of a long shift on a lunar mining base.
• Sunshine (2007). A crew flies a payload toward the dying Sun to reignite it.
• Ad Astra (2019). An astronaut travels across the solar system in search of his father.

More from Christopher Nolan, and one more epic

If it was Nolan's style you loved, his other films with time at their center are the obvious next step.

• Inception (2010). A team of thieves steals and plants ideas inside people's dreams, with layers of time running at different speeds.
• Tenet (2020). A secret agent works with technology that reverses the flow of time.
• Dune (2021). Not a Nolan film, but a large-scale science-fiction epic from Denis Villeneuve, who also directed Arrival. A young heir is drawn into a struggle over the desert planet Arrakis.

Which of these movies are based on real events or books?

Several picks start from real history or published novels, which is part of why they feel grounded.

• Real missions: Apollo 13 follows the 1970 lunar mission, First Man follows Neil Armstrong's path to the first Moon landing, and The Right Stuff follows the early American astronaut program.
• Novels: The Martian is based on Andy Weir's novel, and Contact is based on Carl Sagan's novel ^[3].
• Original stories: Interstellar itself, Gravity, Moon, Sunshine, and Ad Astra are original screenplays rather than adaptations.

If what you loved was the feeling that the science could be real, the history-based films are the strongest matches. They show engineers and astronauts solving problems step by step, the same kind of problem-solving that drives much of Interstellar's middle act.

Which movies like Interstellar work for a family movie night?

Ratings vary a lot across this list, according to Wikidata ^[2]. 2001: A Space Odyssey is rated G, and Apollo 13, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Contact, and The Right Stuff are rated PG. Most of the newer films, including Gravity, The Martian, Arrival, and First Man, are rated PG-13, while Moon and Sunshine are rated R.

For a mixed-age group, we would start with Apollo 13 or Close Encounters, which are exciting without being frightening. Save Sunshine and Moon for adult viewers.

How long would a space-movie marathon take?

The 16 picks add up to 2,173 minutes, about 36 hours, based on Wikidata runtimes ^[2]. Nobody needs to watch them all at once, so here are three themed double features, each one a full evening:

1. Real missions: Apollo 13 and First Man, 275 minutes.
2. Big questions: Contact and Arrival, 265 minutes.
3. Lost in space: Gravity and Moon, 187 minutes, the shortest pairing on the list.

Each pair works as a single evening, and the third is the easiest to fit on a weeknight.

If you would rather follow one director, Christopher Nolan's Inception and Tenet make a natural pair after Interstellar, and Denis Villeneuve's Arrival and Dune show two very different sides of the same filmmaker. Watching a director's films together is one of the easiest ways to notice the ideas and images they return to. For Interstellar fans, the Nolan pair is the closest in tone and pacing. The Villeneuve pair is the better choice if you prefer quieter, more reflective science fiction with a slower build.

Quick facts for all 16 picks

Film	Year	Director	Runtime (min)
2001: A Space Odyssey	1968	Stanley Kubrick	143
Solaris	1972	Andrei Tarkovsky	160
Close Encounters of the Third Kind	1977	Steven Spielberg	134
The Right Stuff	1983	Philip Kaufman	184
Apollo 13	1995	Ron Howard	134
Contact	1997	Robert Zemeckis	149
Sunshine	2007	Danny Boyle	108
Moon	2009	Duncan Jones	96
Inception	2010	Christopher Nolan	148
Gravity	2013	Alfonso Cuarón	91
The Martian	2015	Ridley Scott	141
Arrival	2016	Denis Villeneuve	116
First Man	2018	Damien Chazelle	141
Ad Astra	2019	James Gray	123
Tenet	2020	Christopher Nolan	150
Dune	2021	Denis Villeneuve	155

Like Interstellar, many of these films are long: eight of the 16 run more than two hours. If you want a shorter evening, Gravity, Moon, and Sunshine all run under two hours.

For more science fiction chosen by outside benchmarks rather than similarity, see our list of the best sci-fi movies. If you enjoyed Interstellar's space-opera scale, the Star Wars watch order is another long journey, and the Alien watch order covers a much darker side of space travel.