Mystery has never been bigger: the proliferation of true crime has brought real-life murder and detection into our living rooms, while movies like Knives Out have seen a revival of cozy, funny, and often satirical mysteries that make murder comfortable and even kinda fun. Looking ahead, an all-star adaptation of The Thursday Murder Club by Richard Osman is on its way to Netflix—the book finds a group of very amateur sleuths trying to work out a murder in their retirement village, and has been a bit of a mini-phenomenon in itself. A fifth book in the series is on its way, providing more than enough fodder for future installments in a film series.
The point being that mystery is as much a medium as it is a (hugely popular) genre, one which can support a variety of styles: comedy, horror, science fiction, etc., all of which are represented in Netflix’s offerings. If you’re on the hunt for your next favorite mystery, look no further.
Wicked Little Letters (2023)
A dark comedy based on real events of the 1920s, Wicked Little Letters stars the always-phenomenal Olivia Colman as Edith Swan, a devout and rather dull woman of Littlehampton under the sway of her controlling father and quiet mother. Edith has been receiving letters, over a dozen of them, filled with shocking profanities—something like obscene phone calls by mail. When the police get involved, they naturally suspect the next door neighbor, Rose (Jessie Buckley), who’s a single mother with a penchant for swearing and, not for nothing, an immigrant. There are no bodies here, and you’ll probably solve the mystery relatively quickly, but Colman and Buckley are wildly entertaining as foils. Stream Wicked Little Letters.
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
This is a compelling (and twisty) tale that plays fast and loose with some real history, even as it conjures up a chilly and brooding atmosphere. Christian Bale plays a retired and troubled detective teaming up with a young West Point cadet you might have heard of: his name’s Edgar Allen Poe, and he’s played here by Harry Melling (who’s great—and, yes, Poe did really attend West Point for a bit). The two team up to solve a case involving a hanged cadet, an apparent death by suicide, at least until it’s discovered that the young man is missing his heart and holding a note summoning him to a cult meeting. Stream The Pale Blue Eye.
Enola Holmes (2020)
Her brother Sherlock wasn’t above a bit of fisticuffs now and then—but it was his sister, Enola (Millie Bobbie Brown), we learn here, who really got to mix it up. With some help and training from their mother, Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter), of course. Enola starts out on a hunt for that same mum, who’s gone missing, while staying a step or two ahead of big bro (Henry Cavill). It all leads to a mystery that threatens the entire country, as well as to a sequel that is also quite a lot of fun. Stream Enola Holmes.
Shimmer Lake (2017)
This crime mystery begins on a Friday, with Andy (Rainn Wilson) hiding in his basement while his wife stalls his brother Zeke (Benjamin Walker), who’s also the sheriff. Andy, on the run with a bag of money, will be dead before the day’s out, but we’re going backwards here: writer/director Oren Uziel’s narrative then takes us to Thursday, and each previous day subsequently, until we understand how everyone wound up where they are. It works (mostly) and since noir is typically premised on our protagonist being doomed, knowing the ending doesn’t hurt the narrative in the least. Stream Shimmer Lake.
Luther: The Fallen Sun (2023)
Continuing from the British crime series starring Idris Elba, but also a movie you can watch on its own, the film finds disgraced, imprisoned former DCI John Luther taunted by a serial killer (Andy Serkis) who, he’s pretty sure, can only be stopped if Luther busts out of jail and hunts him down. If you watched the series, this is an essential follow-up. If you haven’t, it’s a perfectly good time to find out how it is that Elba does morally gray detective thing better than just about anyone, with Serkis making for an effectively creepy nemesis. Stream The Fallen Sun.
Murder Mubarak (2024)
Based on Anuja Chauhan’s novel Club You To Death (a much better title), this adaptation stars Pankaj Tripathi as Assistant Police Commissioner Bhavani Singh, a slightly goofy, no-frills detective in a Columbo mode assigned to investigate a murder at Royal Delhi Club, a holdover from the British Raj that hosts the city’s wealthiest and snootiest. The morning after the year’s biggest party, the club’s popular gym trainer is found dead beneath his own barbells, kicking off an investigation that leads to all sorts of hidden secrets and connections being revealed. It’s a bit long, but it’s elevated by its light tone and elements of class satire. Stream Murder Mubarak.
7 Women and a Murder (2021)
There are hints of Agatha Christie in this Italian import, a bit of a locked-house mystery that follows Susanna home to her family’s mansion. When she arrives earlier than expected, the maid goes to wake her dad—only to find that he’s been murdered in the night. With a blizzard building outside, the six women of the house and dad’s glamorous mistress from next door find that the phone lines have been cut and that the car’s been tampered with. All of the suspects, all with plenty of secrets and plenty of reasons for murder, are together in one place; it only remains to put together the clues to figure out who killed dear old dad. Despite the death, it’s light and colorful. It’s also wonderfully brisk at just under 90 minutes. Stream 7 Women and a Murder.
In for a Murder (2021)
Magda (Anna Smolowik) is a mystery-loving stay-at-home mom who finds herself wrapped up in a murder investigation when she stumbles across a dead body while out for a stroll. The woman is wearing a necklace belonging to Magda’s best friend—who disappeared 15 years ago. Unsatisfied with the progress of the police inspector assigned to the case, the resourceful woman takes matters into her own hands, beating the real detective at his own game. This Polish import isn’t a comedy, but Magda’s enthusiasm keeps things from getting too heavy. Stream In for a Murder.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)
After crafting a superb mystery-comedy in Knives Out, writer-director Rian Johnson returned with this sequel that almost tops the original, and certainly outdoes it in size and scope. Daniel Craig is back as slow-talking, quick-thinking detective Benoit Blanc, this time taken to the island of a billionaire and faced with, as expected, multiple murders to solve. Like the original, the movie balances zippy pacing and entertainingly over-the-top characters with some wildly on-point social satire. The supporting cast collects the entire A-list, while two cameos mark the final screen performances of Steven Sondheim and Angela Lansbury. The second sequel, Wake Up Dead Man, arrives in December. Stream Glass Onion.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)
A brisk, chilling, and effective gothic mystery, I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House stars Ruth Wilson as a live-in nurse who comes to believe that the creaky old house, where she works for a retired horror writer (Paula Prentiss), is haunted. This one’s less concerned with immediate shocks and scares than with getting under your skin—what is going on in this creepy house? Director Osgood Perkins has had a run of effectively creepy chillers in a variety of styles, including, most recently, Longlegs and The Monkey. Stream I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House.
Lost Girls (2020)
Based on the harrowing real-life Gilgo Beach serial killings, Lost Girls stars Amy Ryan as Mari Gilbert, who pressured Long Island police to dig deeper following what was initially seen as the accidental death of her daughter. The case remains unsolved, as we’re informed at the movie’s outset, but the focus here is on Gilbert herself, and on the reluctance on the part of the police to dig deeper, even when bodies begin to accumulate. It’s an impressive dramatic feature debut for documentary filmmaker Liz Garbus. Stream Lost Girls.
Murder Mystery (2019)
Re-teaming Just Go With It co-stars, Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler play married couple Audrey and Nick Spitz—he’s an NYPD cop and she’s a hairdresser, but, as you might quickly suspect, she’s at least as good as him at detection when the bodies start to drop. The middle-class couple is traveling Europe when they meet up with a billionaire (Luke Evans) who invites them to come hang out on his yacht. Which sounds great until the guy’s uncle (the late, great Terence Stamp) turns up dead, and Audrey and Nick are accused. What else but to find the real killer from among a wildly eclectic and eccentric group of suspects? Stream Murder Mystery.
The Woman in the Window (2021)
With cues taken from Hitchcock’s Rear Window, this particular window-based mystery thriller stars Amy Adams as Dr. Anna Fox, a child psychologist who’s also deeply agoraphobic, spending almost all of her time alone in her Manhattan brownstone following a separation from her husband. If you’ve guessed that she spends a bit of time spying on the neighbors, you’d be very right and if you’ve further guessed that she sees what she’s pretty sure is a murder (involving Gary Oldman and Jennifer Jason Leigh)—you’re in the right place. Things get extra twisty when the neighbor guy shows up with an entirely new wife (Julianne Moore), and, of course, Dr. Fox comes to fear for her own safety. Just what the hell is going on across the street? Joe Wright (Atonement) directs. Stream The Woman in the Window.
The Wonder (2022)
This particularly isn’t a question of murder, but one of faith. Florence Pugh gives an extraordinary performance as Lib Wright, an English nurse sent to an Irish village in the wake of the Great Famine. Young Anna O’Donnell is has been fasting, according to her family, for eight months without any sign of ill-health. Lib, still mourning the death of her young daughter, is tasked with figuring out the truth of the situation, one which ultimately places her in the middle of increasingly disturbing family secrets. Stream The Wonder.
The Chalk Line (2022)
Many of these mysteries are light, funny, even cozy—none of which is true of The Chalk Line, a mystery that only grows more deeply disturbing as it proceeds. The Spanish thriller involves a mysterious girl found in the middle of the road, with no identification and, apparently, no ability to speak nor any other way to reveal her own identity. A couple takes in the girl to foster, trying to integrate her into their family while working to solve the mystery of her past. Stream The Chalk Line.
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
This sci-fi/mystery mash-up starts in the future world of 2024 (the movie came out in 2019, which honestly feels like a lifetime ago at this point) before taking us back to 1988 and introducing us to police officer Thomas Lockhart (Boyd Holbrook) and his partner Maddox (Bokeem Woodbine) as they investigate the inexplicable deaths of several people who hemorrhage unexpectedly. They get a lead on the perpetrator, a woman (Cleopatra Coleman) who seems to know an awful lot about the future. A decade later, an apparent copycat turns up, and our detectives been to realize that there’s much weirder stuff going on than they’d thought. Stream In the Shadow of the Moon.
They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
Another sci-fi mystery, though not nearly as heavy as In the Shadow of the Moon, this genre mashup stars John Boyega as Fontaine, a drug dealer in a world just this side of our own (with some Blaxsploitation influence in look and style). Following a showdown with one-time Pimp of the Year Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine is shot dead before waking up in his own bed—with nothing, seemingly, having changed. Teaming up with Slick Charles and sex worker Yo Yo (Teyonah Parris), he leads the three of them into an unlikely web of scientific conspiracy to figure out just what the hell is going on (the title will certainly give you a clue). Stream They Cloned Tyrone.
Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019)
A mystery set in and around Niagara Falls, Disappearance at Clifton Hill stars Tuppence Middleton as Abby, a young woman who returns home to take ownership of a family-owned hotel in the tourist area that she’s inherited. She’s hoping to save the family business, but coming home has also reawakened memories of a kidnapping that she’s pretty sure she witnessed in the area as a child. Or she might just be entirely unhinged, which we quickly begin to suspect. Niagara Falls, Ontario, in life and in the movie, is an unsettling blend of kitschy tourist trap and insular small town, a vibe that the film captures perfectly, in part by surrounding Abby with a cast of eccentric characters (including a podcaster played by David Cronenberg). That off-kilter tone carries the movie forward to a few unexpected twists in the final act. Stream Disappearance at Clifton Hill.
