About Time Is Secretly the Most Romantic Movie of Its Decade

The title promises a love story, and the poster suggests a time-travel gimmick. But About Time (2013), written and directed by Richard Curtis, is quietly doing something more ambitious. Underneath the premise is a film about how little it takes to make a life feel full, which is why it deserves its place among the most romantic films of its decade.

On his twenty-first birthday, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) learns from his father (Bill Nighy) that the men in their family can travel back in time. The rule is simple: step into a dark space, clench your fists, and return to any moment in your own past. Tim decides to use the gift to find love, and he soon meets Mary (Rachel McAdams) in Cornwall and London.

The story could have become a puzzle about paradoxes. It does not. The rules are kept light, and the film uses time travel to explore emotion, not mechanics.

Most romantic comedies treat love as a grand gesture: a speech at an airport, a run through the rain. About Time treats it as a series of small repeated choices. Tim keeps returning to the same evenings to get things right, but the film is more interested in what he notices than in what he fixes. A scene of two people meeting in a dark restaurant, where they cannot see each other, shows how much of attraction is voice, humour and attention.

Gleeson and McAdams give the leads a warmth that feels real. Gleeson plays Tim as awkward and sincere, and McAdams makes Mary funny and grounded. Their chemistry is gentle rather than explosive, which suits the film's modest tone.

The film's surprising emotional core is the relationship between Tim and his father. Nighy plays the role with dry humour and quiet tenderness, and the father-son scenes carry as much weight as the romance. As the story proceeds, the film shifts from "how do I win this woman?" to "how do I spend the time I have?" The answer it gives is simple and moving: live an ordinary day normally, and then live it again, paying attention to the details you missed.

That idea is what makes the film romantic in the broadest sense. It suggests that love is not only about finding the right person but about being fully present for the people already in your life.

The film is not flawless. Its time-travel logic is deliberately loose, and viewers who want strict rules may be frustrated. Curtis's usual comfortable, upper-middle-class English world can feel sheltered, and a few subplots are underdeveloped. These are real limits, but they do not undercut the film's central achievement.

About Time will not satisfy anyone looking for a puzzle or a clever twist, but it is a deeply felt film about love, family and gratitude. It starts as a charming romance and ends as something closer to a meditation on how to live. For those reasons, it has a strong claim to being the most romantic movie of its decade.