Romance/Comedy with a key Sci-Fi/Fantasy element
by JSage | created - 01 Dec 2013 | updated - 23 May 2022 | PublicThese are great and often quirky films where the main focus is romance or comedy with a significant sci-fi or fantasy element.
These are some of my favourite films, and this comes from someone who rarely watches comedies, avoids romance movies and absolutely detests romantic comedies.
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1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne
Votes: 1,078,431 | Gross: $34.40M
2. The Time Traveler's Wife (2009)
PG-13 | 107 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Henry DeTamble, a librarian, possesses a unique gene that lets him involuntarily travel through time. His wife, Claire Abshire, finds it difficult to cope with it.
Director: Robert Schwentke | Stars: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, Ron Livingston, Michelle Nolden
Votes: 157,941 | Gross: $63.41M
3. Your Name. (2016)
PG | 106 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
Two teenagers share a profound, magical connection upon discovering they are swapping bodies. Things manage to become even more complicated when the boy and girl decide to meet in person.
Director: Makoto Shinkai | Stars: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Mone Kamishiraishi, Ryo Narita, Aoi Yûki
Votes: 320,664 | Gross: $5.02M
4. Timer (2009)
R | 99 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
If a clock could count down to the moment you meet your soul mate, would you want to know?
Director: Jac Schaeffer | Stars: Emma Caulfield Ford, Scott Holroyd, Kali Rocha, Katie Von Till
Votes: 13,490
5. Being John Malkovich (1999)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
Votes: 353,441 | Gross: $22.86M
6. About Time (I) (2013)
R | 123 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
At the age of 21, Tim discovers he can travel in time and change what happens and has happened in his own life. His decision to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend turns out not to be as easy as you might think.
Director: Richard Curtis | Stars: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Lydia Wilson
Votes: 386,077 | Gross: $15.32M
7. Safety Not Guaranteed (2012)
R | 86 min | Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Three magazine employees head out on an assignment to interview a guy who placed a classified advertisement seeking a companion for time travel.
Director: Colin Trevorrow | Stars: Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass, Jake Johnson, Karan Soni
Votes: 130,868 | Gross: $4.01M
8. Another Earth (2011)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
On the night of the discovery of a duplicate Earth in the Solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.
Director: Mike Cahill | Stars: Brit Marling, William Mapother, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, DJ Flava
Votes: 100,039 | Gross: $1.32M
9. Perfect Sense (2011)
R | 92 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
A chef and a scientist fall in love as an epidemic begins to rob people of their sensory perceptions.
Director: David Mackenzie | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Eva Green, Lauren Tempany, Connie Nielsen
Votes: 63,973 | Gross: $0.00M
10. Robot & Frank (2012)
PG-13 | 89 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
In the near future, an ex-jewel thief receives a gift from his son: a robot butler programmed to look after him. But soon the two companions try their luck as a heist team.
Director: Jake Schreier | Stars: Peter Sarsgaard, Frank Langella, Susan Sarandon, Liv Tyler
Votes: 65,781 | Gross: $3.33M
11. The Fountain (2006)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
As a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn
Votes: 248,809 | Gross: $10.14M
12. Warm Bodies (2013)
PG-13 | 98 min | Comedy, Horror, Romance
After a highly unusual zombie saves a still-living girl from an attack, the two form a relationship that sets in motion events that might transform the entire lifeless world.
Director: Jonathan Levine | Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Teresa Palmer, John Malkovich, Lio Tipton
Votes: 243,658 | Gross: $66.38M
13. The Shape of Water (2017)
R | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
At a top secret research facility in the 1960s, a lonely janitor forms a unique relationship with an amphibious creature that is being held in captivity.
Director: Guillermo del Toro | Stars: Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer, Michael Shannon, Doug Jones
Votes: 447,801 | Gross: $63.86M
14. Her (2013)
R | 126 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
In a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Rooney Mara
Votes: 669,912 | Gross: $25.57M
15. The Prestige (2006)
PG-13 | 130 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After a tragic accident, two stage magicians in 1890s London engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion while sacrificing everything they have to outwit each other.
Director: Christopher Nolan | Stars: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine
Votes: 1,441,812 | Gross: $53.09M
16. Never Let Me Go (2010)
R | 103 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Keira Knightley, Carey Mulligan, Andrew Garfield, Izzy Meikle-Small
Votes: 153,320 | Gross: $2.43M
17. Zoe (I) (2018)
R | 104 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
A story about how synthetic humans can feel and even love and how the people they are involved with react to this concept.
Director: Drake Doremus | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Léa Seydoux, Theo James, Rashida Jones
Votes: 10,290
18. Reminiscence (2021)
PG-13 | 116 min | Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Nick Bannister, a private investigator of the mind, navigates the alluring world of the past when his life is changed by new client Mae. A simple case becomes an obsession after she disappears and he fights to learn the truth about her.
Director: Lisa Joy | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rebecca Ferguson, Thandiwe Newton, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 65,512 | Gross: $3.90M
19. Cashback (2006)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After a painful breakup, Ben develops insomnia. To kill time, he starts working the late night shift at the local supermarket, where his artistic imagination runs wild.
Director: Sean Ellis | Stars: Sean Biggerstaff, Emilia Fox, Michelle Ryan, Erica Ellis
Votes: 90,802 | Gross: $0.02M
20. Mr. Nobody (2009)
R | 141 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
A boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.
Director: Jaco Van Dormael | Stars: Jared Leto, Sarah Polley, Diane Kruger, Linh-Dan Pham
Votes: 245,892 | Gross: $0.00M
21. Upside Down (I) (2012)
PG-13 | 109 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Adam and Eden fell in love as teens despite the fact that they live on twinned worlds with gravities that pull in opposite directions. Ten years after a forced separation, Adam sets out on a dangerous quest to reconnect with his love.
Director: Juan Solanas | Stars: Jim Sturgess, Kirsten Dunst, Timothy Spall, Blu Mankuma
Votes: 73,943 | Gross: $0.10M
22. Frequencies (2013)
Not Rated | 109 min | Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
In an alternate reality, children learn how lucky they will be (their "frequency"), knowledge which shapes their destiny. The unluckiest boy must parse the mysteries of free will in order to pursue his forbidden love of the luckiest girl.
Director: Darren Paul Fisher | Stars: Daniel Fraser, Eleanor Wyld, Owen Pugh, Dylan Llewellyn
Votes: 14,802
23. The Lobster (2015)
R | 119 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
In a dystopian near future, according to the laws of The City, single people are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or they're transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos | Stars: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Jessica Barden, Olivia Colman
Votes: 296,738 | Gross: $8.70M
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