A great murder mystery is hard to come by. Often, the best is a confluence of events, plot, and character depth with a talented director behind the lens bringing each frame to life. Ensembles are popular, bringing on an onslaught of suspects, but it can also be the journey of one person to save their soul. Agatha Christie said, “Crime is terribly revealing. Try and vary your methods as you will, your tastes, your habits, your attitude of mind, and your soul are revealed by your actions”.
The best of these films reveal something dark and sinister about ourselves. The biggest question is always the “why?” What could drive someone to murder? The best murder mysteries devise these situations and unearth a blanket of perversity, revenge, and curiosity. Whether it be the hard-boiled detective, a regular Joe entangled in events beyond his understanding, or friends trying to wrong a right, these are the best murder mystery movies of the 21st Century, so far.
Updated on September 24th, 2023, by Federico Furzan:This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
18Mystic River (2003)
Adapted from Dennis Lehane’s novel — whose works almost exclusively take place in Boston —Mystic Riveris a tragic, fatalistic look at three lifelong friends intersecting at a deep and brutal crossroads. Directed by Clint Eastwood, whose elemental and patient touch immerses us in the small Boston neighborhoods.
Kevin Bacon, Sean Penn, and Tim Robbins play the three friends whose lives are seemingly marred when Penn’s daughter is murdered. As Penn pulls the most punches in a hammy, electric performance, Eastwood offers no catharsis with his formal restraint. Through trial by error, Penn uses his influence to turn vigilante.Mystic Riverwon both Penn and Robbins Oscars for their harrowing performances.
17Out of Time (2003)
The always-in-command Denzel Washington takes the center frame in the wildly hypnotic, wrong-man murder mysteryOut of Time. Reminiscent of classic steamy thrillers with a slight Alfred Hitchcock panache where someone is forced to cover up and protect their innocence.
Carl Franklin directs the sweaty, humid atmosphere of a small Floridian town with all the nasty tension to ratchet up the ludicrous story. Set up by his mistress to steal money, Washington gets entangled with the wrong woman and seemingly becomes the straw man in a life insurance scam. Going to great lengths to clear his name as police chief, he gets caught up in all the twisted plot corridors that could see him lose his freedom forever.
16The Nice Guys (2016)
Nice Guys Gosling Crowe
Shane Black’s action comedyThe Nice Guysis a vastly underrated murder mystery featuring two great leads in a film that doesn’t exactly pull any punches. The premise is pretty simple as it tells the story of an investigator and a private enforcer in the ’70s who decide to look for a teenage girl’s killer.
Weirdly, the film has a place for a comedy tone that, thanks to a great script, works smoothly to deliver a great story that wouldn’t work without the charisma of Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe in one of their finest performances. The film was critically hailed and confirmed Shane Black’s different storytelling abilities.
A very underrated thriller written and directed by Drew Goddard,Bad Times at the El Royaletells the story of six strangers who arrive at a strange hotel called El Royale. Each of them has a story to tell, but this doesn’t compare to what the hotel hides beyond its walls (and its floors).
A great neo-noir film that not many people saw when it was released because it doesn’t follow rules, it’s not a familiar IP, and it dared to go somewhere dark in the third act. It features a fantastic cast ensemble consisting of Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Jon Hamm, Lewis Pullman, and Chris Hemsworth among many others. Trust us when we say you will not guess where this one goes.
14Wind River (2017)
Taylor Sheridan sure knows how to write films. But in 2017, he tried again at directing (he directed his first film in 2011, but he doesn’t consider it to be worth mentioning) withWind River, a snowy thriller featuring a great cast: Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Gil Birmingham, and Jon Bernthal.
Wind Rivertells the story of two special agents coming from different backgrounds who investigate a murder in a tense-filled territory. An Indian reservation in Wyoming where corporations have slowly entered and now dominate. If there’s a film that’s worth going back a few years and digging around, this is the one.
Related:The 10 Saddest Deaths in Thriller Movies
13Identity (2003)
In 2003, James Mangold directedIdentity, a thriller that’s anything but highbrow, and features a great story about ten strangers trapped during a night storm in a shady motel where people start getting killed.
Surely, it sounds like a regular murder mystery featuring people trying to investigate who could be the culprit, but in Identity there’s a reason for the coincidence, and that reason lies in a subplot about a deranged killer being evaluated to see if he can be tried as a sane man. The “solution” will cause some anger in some viewers, but no one can say this isn’t a thrilling movie experience from the early 2000s featuring a fantastic cast.
12The Gift (2000)
Sam Raimi directing a film written by Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson? Yes, please.The Giftis also known as the film that features Keanu Reeves as a very bad and violent dude, something that’s hard to find in his career.
The Gifttells the story of a small-town fortune-teller called Annie (Cate Blanchett in one of the best roles of her career) who gets treated as a pariah by most people in town. But then, the girlfriend of the school’s principal disappears, and Annie sees her body in one of her visions. Everything points to the obvious, but Annie knows better than to point without the evidence she pulls from her psychic abilities.
11The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
David Fincher takes the deep pulp and mystery ofThe Girl with the Dragon Tattooand puts his cold and technical but sleek look on the sprawling epic. Daniel Craig plays Mikael in his first fit of cold case detective work as a journalist dedicated to exposing extreme right-wingers.
He teams up with an elite hacker — the revelatory Rooney Mara — who leads them down a dangerous path solving a murder that occurred 40 years ago. Fincher keeps the tension airtight as the grim, cold, unforgiving nature of violence that permeates the wealthy family under investigation surmounts to bloody hell.TheGirl with the Dragon Tattootakes time to get to its conclusion but does so in classic Fincher fashion.
10Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Shane Black takes the title of his movieKiss Kiss Bang Bangfrom an essay written by famed film critic Pauline Kael when describing the noir genre. Essentially boiling down the old detective films of the ’40s to the bare essentials and giving them a fresh face, Black transports us to Los Angeles.
Taking the usual band of suspects and shuffling them around to deliver a murder mystery as a meta-commentary on the genre and the studio system itself. Pairing Robert Downey Jr., as a petty thief turned actor, with Val Kilmer was a match made in heaven. Michelle Monaghan plays the femme fatale with all the gusto and toughness she would bring to later roles. Black fills the film with his hilarious, side-talking banter and random acts of violence as slapstick comedy.
9Shutter Island (2010)
When Martin Scorsese approaches a genre film, he does so with the passion, knowledge, and history of an artist who has dedicated his life to understanding how the machinations of film can be applied and manipulated to whatever genre he’s tackling. When makingShutter Island, Scorsese saw the opportunity to open up his toolbox of camera tricks and storytelling devices.
Diving fully into B-movie territory, Scorsese tells the murder mystery and disappearance of a patient on a rain-covered island with a psychological twist. Leonardo DiCaprio plays manic and paranoid Teddy Daniels, a US Marshall in over his head. As the mystery unfolds, Scorsese sounds us with wild stylistic flourishes and flashbacks that haunt Daniel’s character. With a twist for the ages,Shutter Islandis as fun as it is devastating.
