Why do we keep returning to stories about time travel? From books like H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine to movies such as Back to the Future, Donnie Darko, Palm Springs, and Tenet, and even in TV shows like Outlander and Russian Doll, we’ve never stopped imagining what it would be like to visit the distant future or relive our past. What are these fantasies of mastering time really about? Here’s our Take on the deeper meaning behind the time-travel story.