Film

A.R.O.G

A Turkish sci-fi comedy where a hapless everyman is tricked into the Stone Age by an alien commander. Cem Yılmaz plays multiple roles across time periods, delivering absurdist humour through prop comedy, slapstick, and character work. It's anarchic and silly in the best way—a film that commits fully to its ridiculous premise and never apologizes for the mess.

TMDb rating3.5

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you enjoy goofy time-travel comedy where a modern fellow's bumbling wit collides with primitive customs, and you don't mind silly sci-fi gadgetry played for laughs.

Skip it if its jokes lean heavily on broad mugging and slapstick, and the loose, episodic plotting may frustrate anyone wanting a tight, carefully built story.

What it asks of you: Settle in for a loose, cheerful ride built from sketch-like scenes and shifting moods; it wants you to laugh at silliness more than follow a tightly wound plot.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Galaxy Quest1999

A comedy that loves sci-fi tropes while mocking them with genuine affection. Tim Allen leads a cast of actors mistaken for real space heroes, and it nails the same balance of heart and absurdity that makes A.R.O.G work.

But The humour leans very American and relies on '90s references that don't age evenly. It's also more polished than the anarchic energy you're after.

Galaxy Quest poster

The Fifth Element1997

Luc Besson's operatic space opera treats its outlandish world and costume designs with complete seriousness, letting the weirdness become the charm. Bruce Willis stumbles through it with bemused charm, much like Yılmaz does here.

But It's a sprawling effects spectacle, so if you loved A.R.O.G's scrappy energy, this might feel overproduced and distant.

The Fifth Element poster

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist2002

Pure committed absurdism—a filmmaker redubbing and re-editing kung fu footage into something completely unhinged. It's not trying to be good in traditional ways; it's trying to be funny through sheer audacity and willingness to be dumb.

But The humour is extremely hit-or-miss, and entire sequences will land with an awkward thud. Some find it grating rather than liberating.

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from A.R.O.G

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Time Chasers1994

Both are genre films from outside the Hollywood machine that prioritize absurdist character comedy over plot logic. They trust the audience to follow a ridiculous premise if the lead performance is committed enough.

An extremely low-budget time-travel comedy where a group of teenagers build a time machine. It has the same DIY energy and willingness to be goofy that A.R.O.G embraces—nothing looks expensive, everything is committed.

But The production values are genuinely rough, the pacing is slack, and the humour is scattered. It's a curiosity rather than a polished entertainment.

Time Chasers poster
More like this (8)

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen1988

Terry Gilliam's fever dream about an aging liar telling impossible stories across time and space. It shares A.R.O.G's willingness to abandon logic for spectacle and visual gags, and the same spirit of anarchic fun.

But Gilliam's style is thick and digressive—if you want plot momentum, this isn't it. It's visually stunning but narratively scattered.

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen poster

Kung Fu Hustle2004

Stephen Chow's martial-arts comedy where the logic is funny instead of realistic. It balances action, slapstick, and character moments with the same joyful disregard for plausibility that drives A.R.O.G.

But The tone whiplashes between comedy and serious action drama. Some moments are genuinely violent, which can jar against the silliness.

Kung Fu Hustle poster

Back to the Future Part III1990

The third film ditches some of the franchise's polish and leans into Western comedy and adventure. It has the same spirit of a hero stuck in the wrong time period figuring out how to survive and get home.

But By the third entry, the formula is familiar. It lacks the fresh energy that made the first two films special.

Back to the Future Part III poster

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective1994

Jim Carrey unhinged and committed to a completely silly premise, delivering physical comedy and absurd character choices without restraint. It's dumb and unapologetic, which is part of its charm.

But The humour relies on '90s comedy sensibilities that have aged poorly, and Carrey's energy can exhaust rather than entertain.

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective poster

The Man from Earth2007

A low-budget sci-fi film about a man revealing that he's 14,000 years old. Despite its constraints, it commits to its premise with intelligence and conviction, letting dialogue and character carry the story.

But It's deliberately stripped-down and dialogue-heavy, the opposite of A.R.O.G's visual excess. Some will find it stagey and claustrophobic.

The Man from Earth poster

Werewolves Within2021

A creature-feature comedy that treats its premise seriously while remaining consistently funny. It's clever about genre expectations and doesn't condescend to its audience.

But The practical effects are occasional and the humour is dry. If you came for slapstick spectacle, this is too restrained.

Werewolves Within poster

Prehistoric Planet2022

If A.R.O.G made the Stone Age feel like a punchline, Prehistoric Planet shows what that era actually might have been. Both use fantasy or fact to explore deep time, but from opposite angles.

A BBC nature documentary about dinosaurs narrated by David Attenborough, using cutting-edge CGI to show dinosaur behaviour realistically. It's gorgeous, genuinely informative, and will recontextualize the Stone Age sequences of A.R.O.G with actual wonder.

But It's completely earnest and serious—there's no comedy here at all. If you want to stay in the silly headspace, this will snap you out of it.

Prehistoric Planet poster

Delirious1991

Both films are about ordinary men navigating absurd genre worlds (sci-fi adventure, action thriller) through sheer goofiness. The heroes aren't warriors or geniuses—they're schlubs who win by being ridiculous.

John Candy is a screenwriter who accidentally falls into his own movie and has to navigate the ridiculous action-adventure logic of his own script. It's a live-action cartoon that understands the joke of treating pulp premises with total sincerity.

But John Candy's comedy style is broad and occasionally cruel. The film is uneven, and some of the humour lands harder than others.

Delirious poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production