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.
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 the writer'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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Based on the popular novel of the same name, this comedy-mystery follows Bernadette (Cate Blanchett), an agoraphobic architect who disappears. When her husband and teen daughter set out on a quest to find her, the story explores what it means to sacrifice yourself for your family and how to find your way back home.
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
The film is loosely based on the Melbourne crime scene in the 1980s and the Pettingills crime family. Also, the random revenge murder of two patrolmen recreates the 1988 Walsh Street police shootings.
Before they put Adam Sandler through the wringer, the Safdie Brothers concocted this "gem." A white-knuckle ride from start to finish and any doubts about Robert Pattinson's acting ability were decidedly vanquished. This is one of the best crime drama movies, and while it is very dramatic it also one of the best crime thrillers out there.
The scene in the subway was shot during rush hour with real passengers on the 7 train. In order to shoot unnoticed, they directed Pattinson by text messages while the camera and crew was filming in the same wagon.
This is a really strong crime drama movie, and one of the only really well made crime romance films. There are some great uses of color and definitely one of the best soundtracks in crime genre, but this is a great date night crime movie as well.
After Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn removed much of the Driver's dialogue, Bryan Cranston felt that his character, Shannon, should make up for the lack of talking in the film, and thus made Shannon a motormouth. Much of his dialogue is improvised.
This is the only movie to star Robert De Niro and Marlon Brando, the first actors to win Academy Awards for playing the same role, that of Vito Corleone in The Godfather (1972) and The Godfather: Part II (1974).
While this is one of the best crime movies out there, it is very different from many of the other crime films on this list. No big shootouts or classic organized crime, but still plenty of good crime to watch.
According to Christian Bale, much of the movie was improvised. So during the shooting of the film, he noted to writer and director David O. Russell, "You realize that this is going to change the plot greatly down track." To which Russell replied, "Christian, I hate plots. I am all about characters, that's it."
The painting that occasions comment even from Ray is "The Last Judgment" by Hieronymus Bosch. Bosch-like symbolism recurs throughout the movie (the dwarf is one example), suggesting that Ray and Ken may indeed encounter their own Last Judgment - or that the waiting period in Bruges is akin to purgatory.
Dennis Hopper and Peter Fonda did not write a full script for the movie, and made most of it up as they went along. They didn't hire a crew, but instead picked up hippies at communes across the country, and used friends and passers-by to hold the cameras, and were drunk and stoned most of the time.
The chase between Scotty and Pookie was improvised. The original idea was for the chase to be a car chase, but the movie had gone over budget and was in danger of being shut down. Chris Rock, instead, hopped on a bicycle, and Ice-T chased him on foot.
Beyond being one of the greatest crime films of all time is how this is slick and sexy and fun. It also works as a really strong crime thriller, and the tonal shifts in the film are really natural and seamless.
The idea of unusual heat in the museum rendering thermal cameras useless, came from Director John McTiernan's Predator (1987). In that movie, McTiernan's thermal cameras began to fail, when the jungle temperature broke ninety degrees Fahrenheit (thirty-two degrees Celsius).
Traffic is a very unique crime movie because it takes a look at crime in a three different storylines during the same time period. This is one of the best crime films ever made because it is painfully real.
Joseph D. Pistone said in an interview in the special features on the DVD that he was supposed to be undercover for a few months. It ended up being six years. His family was moved across the country after nine months. He rarely saw them.
For the bathhouse fight scene, the scene was choreographed with the actors instead of stuntmen. The actors had to train in specific fighting styles chosen for their characters and it took two days to shoot on location in London.
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