57 Best Mystery Movies and Thrillers That Will Keep You Guessing Until the Very End
The beauty of the best mystery movies and TV shows is that they prey on our human instinct to look for answers to questions. It can feel maddening to not know what’s going to happen next, and yet we love it when a crime thriller is impossible to predict. Even better if the mystery has you on the edge of your seat until the very last second.
Whether it’s a vintage whodunit or a terrifying small-town psychological thriller, the best mystery movies never stop being fun. Trying to differentiate the bad from the good, guessing who’s lying or telling the truth, and attempting to solve a true crime thriller are all mental puzzles that are endlessly frustrating yet completely entertaining. We’re never not in the mood for more movies like Knives Out.
But what is the best mystery movie of all time? That we couldn’t decide, so we compiled a list of all the best mystery films you can stream tonight. From Alfred Hitchcock classic movies to Oscar-winning thriller twists directed by M. Night Shyamalan, these picks span every genre. If you’re in the mood for funny comedy, try something light like The Lovebirds. Fans of horror movies and crime thrillers will be intrigued by Get Out and Seven. Meanwhile, those who prefer a moving drama might enjoy Arrival.
No matter what kind of mystery movie you’re feeling, we’ve got you covered.
©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection1/57Knives Out (2019)
Combine a mysterious death with a multimillion-dollar inheritance, and drama is bound to ensue. This comedic take on the classic whodunit, directed by Rian Johnson, follows an extremely dysfunctional wealthy family vying for their share of patriarch Harlan Thrombey’s money. When an anonymous member of the family hires Detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) to figure out who’s responsible for the death of Harlan, things escalate even further in this thriller. Despite being relatively new, this is easily one of the best detective movies of all time, which is why a sequel was released in 2022 and a third is set for late 2025.
Netflix2/57Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
One of the best mystery movies on Netflix, this follow-up to Knives Out features a whole new case for Detective Benoit Blanc to solve. This time the whodunnit revolves around a mysterious billionaire (Edward Norton) who gathers his closest friends—and enemies—for a weekend getaway on his private island. Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Madelyn Cline, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Leslie Odom Jr., and Jessica Henwick also star.
©Searchlight Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection3/57See How They Run (2022)
If a murder mystery is inspired by Agatha Christie, it simply must be on this list. Those are the rules. See How They Run is set in 1950s London, where Christie’s play The Mousetrap is celebrating its 100th performance and on the verge of a big Hollywood adaptation. But when the film’s director is found killed under strange circumstances, it’s up to a jaded inspector (Sam Rockwell) and an earnest new recruit (Saoirse Ronan) to solve the crime.
Photo Credit: Nicola Dove4/57Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
Like we said before, you can’t have a list of the best mystery movies of all time without Agatha Christie. This adaptation of her most well-known novel stars Kenneth Branagh as the famed detective Hercule Poirot, with fun supporting roles for Penelope Cruz, Michelle Pfeiffer, and more A-listers.
©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection5/57Missing (2023)
Storm Reid leads this clever anthology sequel to Searching (which you’ll find further down this list) as a teenager who employs some serious online sleuthing skills after her mother disappears while on vacation with a new boyfriend.
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection6/57The Wonder (2022)
The Wonder combines the lush sets and moving performances one expects in a period piece with the edge-of-your seat drama of a psychological thriller. In it, Florence Pugh stars as a nurse sent to investigate the mystery surrounding a young “fasting girl”—that is, a young woman who is seemingly able to survive without eating. You won’t see the ending coming.
©Columbia Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection7/57The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
Reporter Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is hired by wealthy Swedish industrialist Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to solve the 40-year-old murder of Vanger’s niece. So Blomkvist joins forces with investigator Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) to discover the truth. The David Fincher–directed crime thriller drama works because it stays true to the hit book series the movie is based on.
Courtesy Everett Collection8/57Before I Go to Sleep (2014)
Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman) is unable to remember her life due to amnesia brought on by a violent attack. Because of this, she wakes up every morning with no memories and has to remeet everyone she knows, including her husband. Before long she finds herself questioning everything about her past.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection9/57Kiss the Girls (1997)
This neo-noir film is based on the James Patterson novel of the same name. It tells the story of forensic psychologist Dr. Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman), who is searching for a serial kidnapper after his niece Naomi (Gina Ravera) goes missing. And the woman who assists him on his hunt? A survivor who managed to escape the very man they’re pursuing.
Courtesy Everett Collection10/57The Girl on the Train (2016)
Emily Blunt is mesmerizing as Rachel Watson, a struggling alcoholic reeling after the loss of her job and marriage. Instead of trying to move on, she rides in and out of Manhattan on a commuter train and spends her time obsessing over her ex-husband, Tom (Justin Theroux), and his new wife, Anna (Rebecca Ferguson). After Anna and Tom’s nanny, Megan (Haley Bennett) disappears, all eyes turn to Rachel because she was spotted in the vicinity. The problem is Rachel can’t remember anything.
Courtesy of Drafthouse Films11/57The Invitation (2015)
A man returns to his former home—where his ex-wife now lives with her new husband—to attend a seemingly normal dinner party. Things take a dangerous turn, though, when he starts to question the true intentions of the event. Moral of the story: Don’t accept invites from your ex.
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection12/57Get Out (2017)
Jordan Peele’s layered horror film is a thought-provoking, deeply unsettling examination of race and the Black experience in America as photographer Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya) visits his white girlfriend’s family. We won’t spoil the end, but you’ve likely heard of the Sunken Place before.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection13/57Arrival (2016)
You know those movies that leave you questioning everything you watched long after the credits roll? Well, this is one. Amy Adams stars in this sci-fi thriller that received eight Academy Award nominations, including best picture, about humans trying to communicate with extraterrestrial visitors.
©Newmarket Releasing/Courtesy Everett Co / Everett Collection14/57Donnie Darko (2001)
This indie starts off with Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) encountering a demonic-looking rabbit named Frank (James Duval). If that’s not weird enough, Frank then reveals to Donnie that the world will end in 28 days, and when Donnie returns home, he discovers that his room was demolished by a jet engine crash. Is this all in Donnie’s head? Or is the world really coming to an end?
Summit Entertainment/courtesy Everett Collection15/57Now You See Me (2013)
A team of illusionists called the Four Horsemen are able to pull off near-impossible bank heists and often reward the lucky guests at their shows with some of the money. Now they must evade an FBI agent, an Interpol agent, and the former magician they’ve hired to help expose the Four Horsemen’s tricks. A long-awaited sequel will hit theaters in late 2025.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection16/57Primal Fear (1996)
When a 19-year-old altar boy is accused of murdering a revered Catholic archbishop, defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) jumps at the chance to represent the young man. His client, Aaron Stamper (Edward Norton), seems innocent, but the case becomes even more complicated once Aaron’s secrets are revealed.
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection17/57Prisoners (2013)
When two girls go missing while on a walk, one of the fathers, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), becomes insistent that the owner of an RV parked on his street is responsible for the kidnappings. But when Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) finds no evidence linking the driver to the crime, Dover decides to take on the case himself.
©Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection18/57Flightplan (2005)
With a mind-bending plot, this movie is a trip (pun intended) from start to finish. Jodie Foster stars in this psychological film about a woman who boards an international plane with her young daughter…and then the girl mysteriously vanishes while they’re still in the air. That’s mysterious enough, but there’s also no evidence of her daughter on the flight plan. Is Foster’s character losing her mind? Or did something terrible happen?
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection19/57Gone Girl (2014)
Based on Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name—in fact, one of the best movies based on a book of all time—Gone Girl shows what can happen when a marriage goes very, very wrong. When Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) goes missing, her husband, Nick (Ben Affleck), looks increasingly guilty with each passing day. Was she kidnapped? Was she killed? Is he behind it? In the end, the truth turns out to be even more shocking than the theories.
ELIZABETH KITCHENS20/57Searching (2018)
Told you we’d get to this one: Searching has a unique format for a mystery movie—it’s told entirely through smartphones and shared computer screens. John Cho plays a father desperate to find his missing 16-year-old daughter. As he searches through her computer history and text messages, he discovers that he may not have known her as well as he thought.
©Newmarket Releasing/Courtesy Everett Collection21/57Memento (2000)
Memory loss seems to be a trend among mystery movies, Memento included. After a man’s wife is killed, he decides to track down the culprit in this Christopher Nolan–directed film starring Guy Pearce. However, this proves to be a difficult task because, while his long-term memory is intact, he has short-term amnesia and can’t remember anything that happened in the prior 15 minutes.
©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection22/57Unbreakable (2000)
Written, produced, and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Unbreakable follows security guard David Dunn (Bruce Willis), who survives a train crash with no injuries. Soon after, he meets comic book store owner Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), who proposes an interesting theory: What if superheroes really do exist?
©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection23/57Minority Report (2002)
This Steven Spielberg-directed movie, set in the year 2054, stars Tom Cruise as the leader of a unit that arrests people for crimes before they even happen. But the real mystery begins when he finds himself accused of the future murder of a man he’s never met.
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection24/57Mulholland Drive (2001)
In this surreal film by David Lynch, a mysterious woman, played by Laura Elena Harring, finds herself wandering around Los Angeles after surviving a car crash that left her unable to remember anything. She meets Naomi Watts’s character, and the two work together to try to uncover the woman’s identity.
©Touchstone Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection25/57The Prestige (2006)
It’s all fun and games for rival magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) until Angier’s wife tragically dies during a botched performance. As their careers take off, Angier is pushed to the brink of insanity as he attempts to figure out how the other magician created a teleportation trick.
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection26/57The Lovebirds (2020)
The Lovebirds is proof that thriller movies can be funny too. It’s also one of the best crime movies on Netflix. Jibran (Kumail Nanjiani) and Leilani (Issa Rae) are a couple on the verge of a breakup when they accidentally witness a murder. After they’re mistaken for the culprits, they go on the run and try to clear their name by solving the case themselves.
Courtesy Everett Collection27/57In the Heat of the Night (1967)
Sidney Poitier stars as Virgil Tibbs, a detective from Philadelphia who becomes involved in a Mississippi murder investigation in this critically acclaimed film. It won five Academy Awards, including best picture. In fact, the film is so culturally significant that the United States National Film Registry has preserved it in the Library of Congress.
Courtesy Everett Collection28/57Rear Window (1954)
The premise of Rear Window is as enticing as it is scary. (Would you expect anything less from an Alfred Hitchcock film?) The story follows a photographer confined to a wheelchair who believes he witnessed a murder. So he spies on his neighbors in nearby apartments as he grows more and more convinced that a crime took place.
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection29/57Sherlock Holmes (2009)
Set in 1890 London, this remake of the classic Sherlock Holmes character kicks off with the detective (Robert Downing Jr.) and his partner, Dr. John Watson (Jude Law), preventing the murder of a woman by villain Lord Henry Blackwood (Mark Strong). Despite their success, though, they realize Blackwood has an even bigger plot they must work to stop.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection30/57Shutter Island (2010)
Traveling to a psychiatric asylum on a remote island sounds like a terrible idea, but that’s exactly what U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner (Mark Ruffalo) do in this Martin Scorcese thriller. The two venture out to the ominous island to figure out how a murderous patient somehow managed to escape her locked room.
©New Line Cinema/Courtesy Everett Collection31/57Seven (1995)
This neo-noir psychological thriller is not for the faint of heart, though it is one of the best mystery movies on this list. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt play a pair of detectives investigating a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as a theme for his crimes.
Open Road Films/courtesy Everett Collection32/57Side Effects (2013)
Common side effects of some medicines might include dizziness, headaches, or even nausea. But sleepwalking spells that result in deadly consequences? Side Effects follows Emily (Rooney Mara), a woman who was prescribed experimental drugs by a psychiatrist and claims she murdered her husband as a result. Jude Law is the psychiatrist who doesn’t believe her. Who’s telling the truth?
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection33/57The Pelican Brief (1993)
After two Supreme Court justices are killed, a young law student named Darby (Julia Roberts) writes a legal brief detailing her theories about their deaths. Soon after, she survives an attack and realizes her predictions were correct, so she teams up with a reporter (Denzel Washington) to uncover the truth.
©Fox Searchlight/Courtesy Everett Collection34/57True Story (2015)
After disgraced New York Times journalist Michael Finkel (Jonah Hill) realizes that alleged killer Christian Longo (James Franco) has taken his identity, he starts an investigation that turns into a cat-and-mouse game. In an effort to redeem himself, Michael meets with the accused killer.
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures35/57Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019)
Yes, mystery movies that are family-friendly exist! A loose adaptation of the video game of the same name, Detective Pikachu finds the beloved Pokémon (voiced by Ryan Reynolds) and trainer Tim Goodman (Justice Smith) working together to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Goodman’s father.
©DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection36/57Collateral (2004)
Jamie Foxx stars in this neo-noir film as Max, a cab driver who is taken hostage and forced to drive for a hit man played by Tom Cruise. What follows is a crazy night of fast-paced action and intrigue, all set in the streets of Los Angeles.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection37/57Zodiac (2007)
The fact that Zodiac is based on the true story of the unsolved murders that terrorized the Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s adds another layer of scary to this crime story. Investigators (Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Edwards) and journalists (Jake Gyllenhaal and Robert Downey Jr.) become consumed with trying to capture the killer after receiving multiple letters from him addressed to the San Francisco Chronicle. Murder mystery movies don’t get better than this.
Kimberley French38/57Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
The incredible lineup of stars alone makes Bad Times at the El Royale a fun watch—Jon Hamm, Cynthia Erivo, Chris Hemsworth, and Dakota Johnson are just a few of the big names you’ll see. And the story is intriguing too: A group of six strangers and one employee, each with their own complicated backstory, spend one fateful night at a hotel on the California-Nevada border.
©Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection39/57Clue (1985)
How many movies have you seen based on a board game…that are actually good? (Clue, that’s the list.) The dark comedy puts strangers Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White, Mrs. Peacock, Mr. Green, Professor Plum, and Miss Scarlet together in a secluded New England mansion. The best, and groundbreaking, part is that there’s more than one ending. When it was first released in 1985, theaters showed one of three possible conclusions so the true ending remained elusive—how mysterious!
Peter Iovino40/57A Simple Favor (2018)
When their sons become friends, Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) and Emily (Blake Lively) form a surprising bond—but then Emily suddenly disappears. As Stephanie, a widow, tries to find out what happened to her missing friend, she becomes increasingly close to the woman’s husband (Henry Golding). You can also watch the sequel, Another Simple Favor, on Prime Video.
©Buena Vista Pictures/courtesy Everet / Everett Collection41/57The Sixth Sense (1999)
With one of the most famous plot twists of all time, this movie will have you thinking about it long after it ends. When a boy realizes he can see ghosts, he seeks the help of a child psychologist to understand his supernatural abilities. What follows is nothing short of a mystery classic.
Courtesy Everett Collection42/57Psycho (1960)
Once a classic, always a classic. There’s no way we could get through this list without including the Hitchcock psychological horror film about a woman who embezzles $40,000 and checks into a motel while she’s on the run. There she meets a young man who is under the control of his mother, and…well, you can probably guess things don’t end well.
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection43/57Enola Holmes (2020)
You’ve seen enough Sherlock Holmes stories—now it’s time to get to know his teen sister, Enola. One of the best mystery movies on Netflix, Enola Holmes stars Millie Bobby Brown in the title role as she travels to London to find her mother, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. “What happens next is an adventure, a romp through Victorian London with a few smart twists and a delightful heroine,” Glamour contributor Elizabeth Logan wrote in her review. The charming sequel, also on Netflix, has Enola on the case to find a missing match-factory worker. A third film is currently in production.
©Warner Bros/courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection44/57Game Night (2018)
This movie has it all: action, comedy, mystery, and a cast full of all your favorites. Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Lamorne Morris, and more star as a group of friends whose game night turns into a real-life whodunnit.
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection45/57The Nice Guys (2016)
Russell Crowe is a tough-guy private eye who prefers brass knuckles over conversation. Ryan Gosling is a down-on-his-luck private investigator and a single dad. The two make a mismatched pair, but they must team up anyway to find a missing young woman and solve the somehow-connected murder of a popular porn star.
courtesy Everett Collection46/57The Guest (2014)
Dan Stevens leads this thriller—which happens to also be one of our favorite action movies—about a soldier who unexpectedly shows up at the house of the family whose son died in combat. He claims he’s there to fulfill a final promise he made to their son—but it soon becomes clear there’s a lot more to the story.
DreamWorks/Courtesy Everett Collection47/57What Lies Beneath (2000)
Michelle Pfeiffer stars opposite Harrison Ford in this thriller about a couple who may or may not be living in a haunted house. As the mystery surrounding their home starts to unravel, one thing becomes crystal clear: The marriage may not be as solid as they thought.
©20th Century Studios/Courtesy Everett Collection48/57Death on the Nile (2022)
Gal Gadot, Rose Leslie, Letitia Wright, Annette Bening, and Russell Brand are just some of the famous faces who star in this big-screen adaptation of the 1937 Agatha Christie novel. The title says all you need to know about the plot: After a mysterious death happens on—you guessed it—the Nile, it’s up to famed detective Hercule Poirot to solve the case.
©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection49/57Last Night in Soho (2021)
When Eloise “Ellie” Turner (Thomasin McKenzie) starts having visions of a glamorous singer named Sandie (Anya Taylor-Joy), the aspiring fashion designer is inspired to change her own life. She dyes her hair blonde, updates her wardrobe, and even gets a job at a pub. Things soon take a dark turn, though, and Ellie finds she must uncover what really happened to Sandie. Bonus: Of all the suspense movies on this list, Last Night in Soho has the best soundtrack.
©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection50/57Spiral (2021)
Spiral may be a spin-off of the Saw film series, but the tone is much more like a classic detective procedural than the gruesome horror of the OG franchise. While critics were torn on this new direction, others preferred it. Our suggestion? Just forget the Saw connection altogether.
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection51/57Nope (2022)
Here’s what Keke Palmer told Glamour in her cover story tied to the release of this film from acclaimed director Jordan Peele: “Human beings are intrigued by spectacles, even when they can be dangerous or even when they are emotionally in danger more so than physically. But spectacles are something that we’ve been dealing with all of humanity, whether we’re watching the gladiators, or we’re watching political scandals, or we’re on the latest gossip site, or we’re on the freeway rubbernecking because we saw a car accident happen back there. We expose ourselves to so many spectacles online that it can sometimes alter the way we think about things positively or negatively…. And this movie does it in a unique way that’s fun, exciting, and within the horror genre.”
©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection52/57Where the Crawdads Sing (2022)
Daisy Edgar-Jones leads this adaptation of the controversial Delia Owens novel of the same name. She plays Kya, a young woman who is on trial for the murder of the town’s star football player. Okay, but did she do it? Watch the movie—or, sure, read the book—to find out.
©Sony Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection53/57The Kid Detective (2020)
As a child, Abe (the effortlessly charming Adam Brody) was so good at solving small crimes around his hometown that he became known as the “kid detective.” By 32, however, he’s a burnt out and depressed private detective struggling to keep his business afloat. When a high school student hires him to help investigate the murder of her boyfriend, he sees an opportunity to reignite his career.
Courtesy Everett Collection54/57Decision to Leave (2022)
If you liked The Handmaiden, one of the sexiest movies of all time, don’t sleep on director Park Chan-wook’s romantic mystery Decision to Leave. It follows a detective who becomes obsessed with the woman he’s investigating for murder, and you won’t see this movie’s twists and turns coming.
©Focus Features/Courtesy Everett Collection55/57Vengeance (2022)
B.J. Novak makes his directorial debut in this clever satire about a journalist’s attempts to turn the death of his onetime hookup into a murder-mystery podcast. Issa Rae, Dove Cameron, Boyd Holbrook, and Ashton Kutcher also star.
©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection56/57Drop (2025)
Drop starts out more like a rom-com than a mysterious thriller: Meghann Fahy is a single mother who finally agreed to her first date in years, with a hunky and seemingly perfect photographer played by Brandon Sklenar. Things take a turn at the restaurant, however, when Fahy’s character starts receiving threatening messages demanding that she kill her date—or else.
Courtesy Everett Collection57/57Longlegs (2024)
Spiritually similar to The Silence of the Lambs, Longlegs stars Maika Monroe as a FBI agent assigned to investigate a case involving several mysterious murder-suicides instigated by a mysterious serial killer (played to unhinged perfection by Nicolas Cage).
Still want more intrigue? Don’t miss our guides to the best spy movies and true crime TV shows.
