# Movies where the timeline is not linear **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [January 13, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169 "2023-01-13T15:05:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/41 "2023-01-16T13:06:34Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > The Sixth Sense (1999) How does that apply? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/42 "2023-01-16T14:43:43Z")
Haven’t seen the film for a long time, but remembered it having a lot of flashbacks and flashforwards. It’s also listed as a non-linear film [here](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls057446067/) and here. But, maybe my sixth sense is off. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/43 "2023-01-16T16:39:38Z")
_Betrayal_, based on a Harold Printer play, is in reverse chronological order. It maps the history of an affair, starting with its end and ending at its beginning. > **[Betrayal (1983 film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betrayal_(1983_film))** > > Betrayal is a 1983 British drama film adaptation of Harold Pinter's 1978 play of the same name. With a semi-autobiographical screenplay by Pinter, the film was produced by Sam Spiegel and directed by David Jones. It was critically well received. Distributed by 20th Century Fox International Classics (USA), it was first screened in movie theaters in New York in February 1983. > Betrayal follows significant moments in the seven-year extramarital affair of art gallery owner Emma with literary agent J... ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2023, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/44 "2023-01-16T22:46:51Z")
[Mr. Peabody and Sherman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Peabody_%26_Sherman) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/45 "2023-01-17T21:51:29Z")
> [@Tibby](#): > > Haven’t seen the film for a long time, but remembered it having a lot of flashbacks and flashforwards. It’s also listed as a non-linear film [here](https://www.imdb.com/list/ls057446067/) and here. But, maybe my sixth sense is off. I don’t think that quite counts. Having the audience go back in time to see something is non-linear. Having a character think back is just portraying a memory. It’s a subtle difference but I think it’s an important one. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2023, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/46 "2023-02-05T22:14:31Z")
_Predestination_, a film version of the Heinlein short story _All You Zombies_. ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/47 "2023-02-12T19:10:05Z")
> [@iamatractorboy](#): > > Where would Rashomon fit…? Actually, I believe it would not fit. Rashomon is the main characters finding the results of a tragedy and telling their different versions[1] of what led up to those results. So it’s not the timeline jumping around in one reality, it’s more like different parallel universes leading to a common _this is how we got to this point here_ and, in fact, none of the characters really knows. I was going to create a separate thread to discuss this style of story-telling, but I think one has already been made, years ago. Jet Li’s [u]Hero]/u] is a movie like that, but many critics didn’t comprehend that facet. Memento, by the way, is linear, but in reverse; it’s jumping backward in 10-minute intervals so the viewer’s experience is similar to the main character’s short-term amnesia. –G! [1] Largely just to pass the time while waiting out a storm. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/48 "2023-02-12T19:23:08Z")
Backwards linear is a _kinda_ non-linear. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/49 "2023-02-12T19:27:53Z")
Not exactly a movie, but _the Witcher_ does not follow a linear timeline. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2023, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/50 "2023-02-12T21:10:17Z")
Neither did the books. At least the first couple. I haven’t read all of them. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2023, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169/51 "2023-02-13T21:38:33Z")
Does “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” count? It’s probably technically in sequence because Jim Carrey’s memories are being erased in linear time, but the progression of his memories in order to learn about his relationship with Kate Winslet was not linear. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-the-timeline-is-not-linear/978169.md?page=2)