Top 25 must match murder mystery movies.
25. 'Scream' (1996)
Starring: David, Campbell, Courtney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore.
The mystery: Speaking of horror movies secretly channeling murder-mysteries, this classic is a meta-slasher film combined with a whodunit that asks, "Who's the terrifying Ghost face?" Besides, that iconic first scene with Drew Barrymore is one of the finest bait-and-switches in movie history (spoilers at that link) and the perfect setup to what follows.
24. 'A Simple Favor' (2018)
Starring: Anna Kendrick, Blake Lively, Henry Golding, Andrew Runnels, Linda Castellini, Rupert Friend, and Jean Smart.
The mystery: Two moms become friends, then one goes missing. The hunt to figure out what's happened (and who the woman really is) begins. No spoilers on who dies—yes, it's included on a murder mystery list for a reason—or why the mystery's so compelling. But just trust me on this one: It's actually kind of brilliant. And, guys, Blake Lively is really funny (and so is the film, contrary to what the trailer might make you believe). Don't sleep on this one.
23. 'Dark Places' (2015)
Starring: Charlize Theron, Nicholas Holt, Chloe Grace Moritz, Ty Sheridan, Sterling Jerkins, Corey Stroll, and Christina Hendricks
The mystery: Based on the novel of the same name by Gone Girl author Gillian Flynn, Dark Places focuses on Libby, whose mother and sisters were brutally murdered when she was a child. As a girl, Libby identifies her brother as the murderer to police, but years later starts wondering if there wasn't more to the story.
22. 'Kiss-Kiss Bang Bang' (2005)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Val Wilmer, Michelle, and Corbin Bernsen.
The mystery: Harry Lockhart (Downey Jr.) is a thief who gets mistaken for an actor. He's subsequently thrown into the glamorous, murder-y world of Hollywood, complete with a mystery involving his childhood crush. Director Shane Black (Lethal Weapon, Iron Man 3) somehow manages to make all of that funny and heralded the triumphant return of Downey Jr. as one of the best actors of our time.
21. 'Game Night' (2018)
Starring: Jason Bate man, Rachel McAdams, Billy, Sharon Hogan, Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse P lemons, Michael C. Hall, and Kyle Chandler.
The mystery: Ok, so technically this doesn't start as a murder mystery so much as a kidnapping whodunit: Max (Bate man) and Annie (McAdams) are pros at game night—then Max's brother Brooks (Chandler) hosts an "immersive" mystery game that immediately goes horribly, hilariously wrong. The couple and their friends must figure out what's real and what's not, and the film pulls out the rug from under us in spectacular fashion. Whodunits are rarely funny, but boy this one is.
20. 'L.A. Confidential' (1997)
Starring: Guy Pearce, Russell Crowe, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger, James Cromwell, and Danny DeVito.
The mystery: This neo-noir is ostensibly about three police officers (Pearce, Crowe, Spacey) investigating a series of murders. But it's really about police corruption, California's criminal underbelly, and the glitz of Hollywood—the film aims high, and totally delivers. Beloved (and award-winning), this is the rare murder mystery that cares just as much about its characters and setting as it does about uncovering the truth.
19. 'Bad Times at the El Royale' (2018)
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Cynthia, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, and Chris Hemsworth.
The mystery: In 1959, a man arrives at the El Royale, a hotel on the border between California and Nevada, and hides a bag of money beneath the floorboards of one of the rooms—only to be killed immediately after. Ten years later, a group of strangers arrives at the hotel, each with secrets and mysterious motives of their own. Delightfully star-studded and twisty, it's a modern take on a Clue-type story.
18. 'Haunted Mansion'
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Terence Stamp, Nathaniel Parker, Marsha Thomason, Davis, and Marc John Jefferies.
The mystery: An oldie, but a goodie! On the way to a family vacation, an ambitious real estate agent (Murphy) stops at an old mansion he's hoping to sell. A storm forces the group to stay the night at the creepy mansion, with its eccentric owner. There, amidst supernatural happenings, the family begins to unravel the truth behind a decades-old murder.
17. 'The Woman in the Window'
Starring: Amy Adams, Julianne Moore, Anthony Mackie, Wyatt Russell, and Gary Oldman.
The mystery: Anna Fox (Adams) is an agoraphobic child psychologist who won't leave her house. After befriending a neighbor (and, admittedly, spying on her through the window from her house) she witnesses a vicious crime. The cops don't believe her, so it's up to Anna to serve justice. Based on the book by Joe Wright of the same name, The Woman in the Window is packed with twists and turns.
16. 'The Nice Guys' (2016)
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Boomer, Margaret Quayle, Keith David, and Kim Basinger.
The mystery: Remember "Kiss-Kiss Bang Bang"? Shane Black is back with a witty, highly quotable '70s-era mystery. Two detectives, who initially can't stand each other, must team up to investigate a suspicious suicide—and find a vast, city-wide conspiracy instead. An homage to L.A. Confidential, both Crowe and Basinger are back in the genre and clearly enjoying themselves. The real treat, though, is watching Crowe and Gosling try to out-banter each other as the twists keep coming.
15. 'Happy Death Day' (2017)
Starring: Jessica Roth, Israel Broussard, Ruby Mo dine, Rachel Matthews, and Charles Aiken.
The mystery: Is this a traditional murder mystery setup? Absolutely not. Is it a great mystery movie? You bet. In a Groundhog Day-like scenario, Tree (Roth) is seeking out a murder. The victim? Tree. Every morning, she goes in search of her murderer, trying to beat the clock and survive to tomorrow. I'd argue the premise makes the whodunit even more interesting.
14. 'The Usual Suspects' (1995)
Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Gabriel Byrne, Palminteri, Kevin Pollack, Pete Postlethwaite, Kevin Spacey, Suzy Ames, Benicia, and Giancarlo Esposito.
The mystery: Who is Keyser Söze? Once considered the most compelling mystery of all time, the films starts near the end, with the murders already committed and the killer basically identified. Then it painstakingly goes back into the story via police interviews, gently unwinding everything you think you know about what happened. This is as much a "why done it" as a "who done it," and the film waits until the final few seconds to answer both brilliantly.
13. 'The Fugitive' (1993)
Starring: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Ward, Joe Pantoliano, Andreas, and Jeroen Krabbé.
The mystery: Harrison Ford's a doctor wrongly convicted for murdering his wife—so, as you do, he escapes and sets out to investigate the crime himself. Tommy Lee Jones is the U.S. Marshall who comes after him, reluctantly starting to realize the man he's chasing might be innocent after all. It's not the typical "10 people in a room—figure out who the killer is" story, but the modified format works incredibly well. Having the man convicted of the crime investigate the crime is a brilliant framework, and Ford carries it off perfectly.
12. 'Primal Fear' (1996)
Starring: Richard Gere, Edward Norton, Laura Linney, John Mahoney, Alfie Woodard, and Frances McDormand.
The mystery: When the Archbishop of Chicago is murdered, a media-hungry attorney takes on the case, defending the altar boy who is the prime suspect in the case. Norton (only 27 at the time and in his film debut) gives a star-making performance as a young altar boy who's more than meets the eye.
11. 'Mystic River' (2003)
Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, and Laura Linney.
The mystery: An ex-con's daughter is murdered and two of his childhood friends are connected to the case, prompting him to conduct his own investigation into the murder. The mood is dark and twisted, with a true gut punch of an ending (no spoilers here).
10. 'Gone Girl' (2014)
Starring: Ben Affleck, Rosamond Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, and Tyler Perry.
The mystery: A man (Affleck) is the prime suspect in his wife's disappearance and apparent murder, but things are definitely not what they seem. David Fischer really understands what made the book so powerful, and structuring it similarly means there are multiple jaw-dropping twists throughout the windy story.
9. 'Us' (2019)
Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker.
The mystery: Jordan Peele's super-successful followup to Get Out is not so much about the whodunit, but the whodunit. Evil doppelgangers come to kill, well, everyone—and it's not clear where they've come from and what their motivations are. It's eerie and twisty and has a few unexpected twists, so don't ruin the mystery for yourself and go watch.
8. 'The Girl on the Train' (2016)
Starring: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Allison Janney, Edgar Ramírez, and Lisa Kudrow.
The mystery: Alcoholic Rachel aimlessly rides the train to the city from the suburbs every day after losing her job and her marriage. One day, Rachel gets off the train and, after a confrontation, wakes up covered in blood and learns that a woman has disappeared. Can she trust her unreliable memory?
7. 'Memento' (2000)
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Jorja Fox.
The mystery: This film, Christopher Nolan's early smash hit, is most well-known for the fact that it plays in reverse order. But core to the conceit is the central question: "Who killed Leonard's (Pearce) wife? And will he get revenge?" The stakes matter, and the twists, plural, are as shocking as they come.
6. 'Knives Out' (2019)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Don Johnson, Toni Colette, LaKeith Stanfield, Christopher Plummer, and Katherine Langford.
The mystery: Harlan Trombley, famous author and aging patriarch of a needy, pissed off family, dies by suicide. Or does he? Detective Benoit Blanc (Craig) is hired to investigate, but absolutely everyone in this family has a motive. As the story unwinds, the plot takes...let's call it an unusual turn that actually, truly, pays off. This is a terrific example of a modern spin on the classic genre. Rian Johnson really gets the murder-mystery.
5. 'Sherlock Holmes' (2009)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, and Eddie Marsan.
The mystery: Sherlock Holmes is the original detective, and some of Arthur Conan Doyle's stories are the best whodunits out there. Many films have been made about the super-sleuth, but this one (directed by Guy Ritchie) gives it a much-needed shot of adrenaline. Ritualistic killings are going on in London, and it seems like the culprit's obvious. Then it gets weird, and more bodies start piling up. (This one is far superior to the sequel.)
4. 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' (2011)
Starring: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer, Stellan Skarsgård, Steven Berkoff, Robin Wright, Yorick van Wageningen, and Joel Richardson.
The mystery: A disgraced financial reporter and a genius hacker team up to investigate a 40-year-old murder case. Fair warning: it gets violent, including violence throughout. But if you've got the stomach for it, this remake and book adaptation channels the depth and horror of the subject.
3. 'Zodiac' (2007)
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, Charles Fleischer, Zach Grenier, Philip Baker Hall, Elias Koteas, James LeGros, Donal Logue, John Carroll Lynch, Dermot Mulroney, Candy Clark, and Chloe Sevigny.
The mystery: Director David Fischer's 2007 film took on the still officially unsolved murders of the Zodiac Killer. The film is long and complex, but doesn't feel it. If the lack of closure makes you wary of seeing it, don't let that deter you. This film's as riveting as it gets.
2. 'Get Out' (2017)
Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Bradley Whit ford, Catherine Keener, Caleb Landry Jones, Marcus Henderson, LaKeith Stanfield, and Lil Rel Howery.
The mystery: This would probably be categorized first as a horror film, and second as a murder mystery. But the twist is as compelling as any on this list. Chris (Kaluuya) goes to meet his girlfriend's (Williams) parents, but their ensuing behavior seems bizarre. Then things get so much scarier. The questions that the film poses about racism, privilege, and classism are terrifying—and the answers they provide, including what happens to the man kidnapped in the first scene, are even more so. If you've watched this as a horror flick, watch it again for the mystery.
1. 'Seven' (1995)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, John C. McGinley, and Kevin Spacey.
The mystery: A serial killer starts a seven deadly sins-themed murder spree, and two detectives (Freeman and Pitt) have to try to solve the case before he strikes again. The film's now known for a few key scenes, but the plot's underrated and very tense. Watch out if you're squeamish, though.
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