The Best Mystery Movies Streaming in 2025

A great mystery invites you to play detective, laying out clues fair enough that you could solve the puzzle but clever enough that you probably will not. Streaming platforms have assembled a remarkable collection of whodunits, locked-room puzzles, and noir thrillers that reward close attention and repeat viewings. From classic Agatha Christie adaptations to modern deconstructions of the genre, these are the mystery films worth your time.

How We Selected: We reviewed options using full-season viewing, critical analysis, and production quality assessment. Primary factors were acting performances, narrative quality, production values. We do not accept payment or free products from any brand featured here.

Knives Out (Amazon Prime Video)

Rian Johnson revitalized the whodunit with this ensemble mystery about the death of wealthy crime novelist Harlan Thrombey, played by Christopher Plummer. Daniel Craig’s Southern detective Benoit Blanc investigates while the Thrombey family, played by an all-star cast including Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, and Don Johnson, each reveals their own motive. The film’s masterstroke is revealing the apparent solution early and then systematically dismantling it. Ana de Armas as Marta, the nurse who cannot physically lie without vomiting, provides both the emotional heart and the narrative engine.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (Netflix)

Johnson’s sequel sends Benoit Blanc to a Greek island where tech billionaire Miles Bron, played by Edward Norton, has invited his closest friends for a murder mystery weekend that turns real. The film is sharper and funnier than its predecessor, with Norton perfectly capturing the confident stupidity of a man who mistakes disruption for genius. Janelle Monae delivers a remarkable dual performance, and the film’s structural tricks reveal new information that recontextualizes everything you have watched. The satire of tech industry narcissism is vicious and precise.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Max)

David Fincher’s adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s novel pairs Daniel Craig’s disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist with Rooney Mara’s Lisbeth Salander, a brilliant and traumatized hacker, to investigate a decades-old disappearance on an island owned by a dysfunctional wealthy family. Mara’s performance earned an Oscar nomination and created one of cinema’s most memorable protagonists. Fincher turns the Swedish winter into a character, the cold isolation of the island mirroring the story’s emotional temperature. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s score adds another layer of unease.

Clue (Paramount Plus)

Jonathan Lynn’s 1985 adaptation of the board game should not work as well as it does. Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Christopher Lloyd, and an ensemble of comedic talents play suspects gathered in a mansion where murders keep occurring. The film’s multiple endings, originally shown in different theaters, are all available on streaming, and each rewatch reveals new sight gags and line readings. Curry’s final-act tour de force, racing through the mansion explaining the solution, is one of the greatest comedy performances ever filmed. Madeline Kahn’s “flames on the side of my face” improvisation is legendary.

Zodiac (Paramount Plus)

David Fincher’s procedural about the real Zodiac killer investigation works as both mystery and character study. Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo play three men consumed by the case across decades, and the film shows how the pursuit of an answer can become as destructive as the crimes themselves. The film is nearly three hours long and earns every minute, building tension not through violence but through the accumulating weight of information, dead ends, and obsession. The basement scene is pure dread.

Murder on the Orient Express (Hulu / Max)

Kenneth Branagh directed and starred as Hercule Poirot in this lavish 2017 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s most famous novel. The ensemble includes Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, Judi Dench, Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Daisy Ridley, and the production design recreates the legendary train with gorgeous detail. While long-time Christie fans will know the solution, the film’s pleasure lies in watching Branagh’s Poirot interview each suspect with increasing moral weight as the truth becomes clear.

Se7en (Max)

David Fincher’s dark masterpiece follows Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as detectives hunting a serial killer who stages murders based on the seven deadly sins. The film’s grimy, rain-soaked unnamed city creates an atmosphere of moral rot that makes the investigation feel urgent and dangerous. The final act, built around a box delivered in a remote location, contains one of cinema’s most devastating reveals. The mystery structure gives the film propulsive forward momentum, and Freeman’s weary performance grounds the horror in human empathy.

The Nice Guys (Amazon Prime Video)

Shane Black’s 1977-set buddy mystery pairs Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe as a hapless private eye and a hired enforcer investigating the disappearance of a young woman connected to the auto industry and the adult film business. The film is hilarious, surprisingly complex in its plotting, and features Gosling’s most purely entertaining performance. The mystery deepens into corporate conspiracy, but the real pleasure is watching Gosling and Crowe bounce off each other with impeccable comic timing.

Choosing Your Mystery

For modern whodunits with sharp social commentary, the Knives Out films are unbeatable. For obsessive procedural depth, Zodiac and Se7en deliver Fincher at his finest. For pure entertainment value, Clue and The Nice Guys provide laughs alongside their mysteries. And for classic detective fiction brought to life, Murder on the Orient Express satisfies that specific craving.

For more genre picks, check out our guides to the best thriller movies streaming and the best mystery thriller shows on every platform.