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268 films

Mystery

The mystery asks a question and makes the audience work for the answer. Born from the detective novel, it appears on screen in country-house whodunits, hard-boiled private-eye stories and the Italian giallo, and later in puzzle films that play with memory and identity. The pleasure lies in clues planted fairly and a solution that feels both surprising and inevitable.

Where
Britain, the United States, Italy, France, Japan
When
From the 1920s onward
Key figures
Alfred Hitchcock, Agatha Christie adaptations, Billy Wilder, Akira Kurosawa, Dario Argento, Christopher Nolan
Landmark films
Rashomon (1950), Laura (1944), Chinatown (1974), Memento (2000)
Legacy
Turned storytelling itself into a puzzle the viewer solves

What to look for

  • Clues hidden in plain sight
  • Unreliable witnesses and shifting accounts
  • A closed circle of suspects
  • Red herrings and false resolutions
  • A final reveal that reorders earlier scenes

Directors with the most films in this genre

Alfred Hitchcock21 filmsDario Argento9 filmsBrian De Palma7 filmsDavid Fincher5 filmsDavid Lynch5 filmsAsghar Farhadi4 filmsChristopher Nolan4 filmsClaude Chabrol4 filmsDenis Villeneuve4 filmsFritz Lang4 filmsJacques Rivette4 filmsJoseph L. Mankiewicz4 filmsMario Bava4 filmsSteven Soderbergh4 filmsAnurag Kashyap3 filmsBahram Beyzaie3 filmsBernardo Bertolucci3 filmsHenri-Georges Clouzot3 filmsIngmar Bergman3 filmsJordan Peele3 filmsNicolas Roeg3 filmsPark Chan-wook3 filmsPaul Leni3 filmsPedro Almodóvar3 films
See all 155 directors
Robert Altman3 filmsRoman Polanski3 filmsWes Craven3 filmsAkira Kurosawa2 filmsAlan J. Pakula2 filmsAtom Egoyan2 filmsBille August2 filmsBong Joon-ho2 filmsBruno Dumont2 filmsCarol Reed2 filmsCosta-Gavras2 filmsDavid Cronenberg2 filmsFernando Meirelles2 filmsFrancesco Rosi2 filmsFrancis Ford Coppola2 filmsGiuseppe Tornatore2 filmsHirokazu Kore-eda2 filmsJulio Medem2 filmsKrzysztof Kieślowski2 filmsKunle Afolayan2 filmsLouis Feuillade2 filmsMichael Haneke2 filmsMichelangelo Antonioni2 filmsOrson Welles2 filmsRobert Wiene2 filmsSpike Lee2 filmsStephen Daldry2 filmsTakashi Miike2 filmsThe Dardenne Brothers2 filmsTod Browning2 filmsVishal Bhardwaj2 filmsWim Wenders2 filmsAgnieszka Holland1 filmAlain Resnais1 filmAlan Parker1 filmAlejandro Jodorowsky1 filmAlexander Sokurov1 filmAli Abbasi1 filmAlice Rohrwacher1 filmAndrea Arnold1 filmAndrei Tarkovsky1 filmAndré Cayatte1 filmApichatpong Weerasethakul1 filmArnaud Desplechin1 filmBen Affleck1 filmBilly Wilder1 filmBob Rafelson1 filmBéla Tarr1 filmChristian Petzold1 filmDanis Tanović1 filmDarren Aronofsky1 filmDavid Hare1 filmDavid Lean1 filmDino Risi1 filmDušan Makavejev1 filmElio Petri1 filmEmin Alper1 filmErnst Lubitsch1 filmFatih Akin1 filmFerzan Özpetek1 filmFrançois Truffaut1 filmGeorge Cukor1 filmGuillermo del Toro1 filmGuy Maddin1 filmGuy Ritchie1 filmHenri Colpi1 filmHiroshi Teshigahara1 filmIldikó Enyedi1 filmJacques Becker1 filmJafar Panahi1 filmJames Whale1 filmJan Švankmajer1 filmJane Campion1 filmJean Delannoy1 filmJean-Pierre Bekolo1 filmJean-Pierre Jeunet1 filmJim Jarmusch1 filmJoachim Trier1 filmJohn Carpenter1 filmJohnnie To1 filmJoseph Losey1 filmJulien Duvivier1 filmJustine Triet1 filmKim Ki-duk1 filmKleber Mendonça Filho1 filmLars von Trier1 filmLau Lauritzen Jr.1 filmLee Chang-dong1 filmLeo McCarey1 filmLuchino Visconti1 filmLucrecia Martel1 filmLynne Ramsay1 filmMarcel Carné1 filmMasaki Kobayashi1 filmMati Diop1 filmMilčo Mančevski1 filmMohsen Makhmalbaf1 filmNicholas Ray1 filmOlivier Assayas1 filmPablo Larraín1 filmPaul Greengrass1 filmPaweł Pawlikowski1 filmPeter Greenaway1 filmPeter Weir1 filmPier Paolo Pasolini1 filmPowell & Pressburger1 filmQuentin Tarantino1 filmRamin Matin1 filmRené Clair1 filmRené Clément1 filmRobert Siodmak1 filmRobert Zemeckis1 filmSamuel Fuller1 filmSeijun Suzuki1 filmSerdar Akar1 filmShohei Imamura1 filmSidney Lumet1 filmStanley Kubrick1 filmStanley Kwan1 filmTayfun Pirselimoğlu1 filmTobe Hooper1 filmTodd Haynes1 filmVictor Fleming1 filmVíctor Erice1 filmWalter Salles1 filmWerner Herzog1 filmWerner Schroeter1 filmXavier Dolan1 filmYorgos Lanthimos1 filmYoussef Chahine1 filmÖmer Kavur1 film

Often combined with

Drama Crime Thriller Horror Romance Comedy

Top 100 rated films

  1. Harakiri 1962 · Masaki Kobayashi · IMDb 8.6
  2. Se7en 1995 · David Fincher · IMDb 8.6
  3. Psycho 1960 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 8.5
  4. The Prestige 2006 · Christopher Nolan · IMDb 8.5
  5. Apocalypse Now 1979 · Francis Ford Coppola · IMDb 8.4
  6. High and Low 1963 · Akira Kurosawa · IMDb 8.4
  7. Memento 2000 · Christopher Nolan · IMDb 8.4
  8. Rear Window 1954 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 8.4
  9. Witness for the Prosecution 1957 · Billy Wilder · IMDb 8.4
  10. Incendies 2010 · Denis Villeneuve · IMDb 8.3
  11. M 1931 · Fritz Lang · IMDb 8.3
  12. Oldboy 2003 · Park Chan-wook · IMDb 8.3
  13. Citizen Kane 1941 · Orson Welles · IMDb 8.2
  14. Prisoners 2013 · Denis Villeneuve · IMDb 8.2
  15. The Thing 1982 · John Carpenter · IMDb 8.2
  16. Vertigo 1958 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 8.2
  17. Chinatown 1974 · Roman Polanski · IMDb 8.1
  18. Dial M for Murder 1954 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 8.1
  19. Gone Girl 2014 · David Fincher · IMDb 8.1
  20. Memories of Murder 2003 · Bong Joon-ho · IMDb 8.1
  21. Rashomon 1950 · Akira Kurosawa · IMDb 8.1
  22. The Third Man 1949 · Carol Reed · IMDb 8.1
  23. Blade Runner 2049 2017 · Denis Villeneuve · IMDb 8.0
  24. Rebecca 1940 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 8.0
  25. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari 1920 · Robert Wiene · IMDb 8.0
  26. Three Colours: Red 1994 · Krzysztof Kieślowski · IMDb 8.0
  27. About Elly 2009 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.9
  28. Arrival 2016 · Denis Villeneuve · IMDb 7.9
  29. In a Lonely Place 1950 · Nicholas Ray · IMDb 7.9
  30. Mulholland Drive 2001 · David Lynch · IMDb 7.9
  31. Notorious 1946 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 7.9
  32. Rope 1948 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 7.9
  33. Sleuth 1972 · Joseph L. Mankiewicz · IMDb 7.9
  34. Solaris 1972 · Andrei Tarkovsky · IMDb 7.9
  35. Talk to Her 2002 · Pedro Almodóvar · IMDb 7.9
  36. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse 1933 · Fritz Lang · IMDb 7.9
  37. Werckmeister Harmonies 2000 · Béla Tarr · IMDb 7.9
  38. Dr. Mabuse the Gambler 1922 · Fritz Lang · IMDb 7.8
  39. El Sur 1983 · Víctor Erice · IMDb 7.8
  40. Gaslight 1944 · George Cukor · IMDb 7.8
  41. Get Out 2017 · Jordan Peele · IMDb 7.8
  42. Great Expectations 1946 · David Lean · IMDb 7.8
  43. Le Corbeau 1943 · Henri-Georges Clouzot · IMDb 7.8
  44. Mississippi Burning 1988 · Alan Parker · IMDb 7.8
  45. Monster 2023 · Hirokazu Kore-eda · IMDb 7.8
  46. The Ballad of Narayama 1983 · Shohei Imamura · IMDb 7.8
  47. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo 2011 · David Fincher · IMDb 7.8
  48. The Hateful Eight 2015 · Quentin Tarantino · IMDb 7.8
  49. The White Ribbon 2009 · Michael Haneke · IMDb 7.8
  50. Three Colours: Blue 1993 · Krzysztof Kieślowski · IMDb 7.8
  51. 3 Women 1977 · Robert Altman · IMDb 7.7
  52. Blue Velvet 1986 · David Lynch · IMDb 7.7
  53. L'Avventura 1960 · Michelangelo Antonioni · IMDb 7.7
  54. Mother 2009 · Bong Joon-ho · IMDb 7.7
  55. Shadow of a Doubt 1943 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 7.7
  56. State of Siege 1972 · Costa-Gavras · IMDb 7.7
  57. The Best Offer 2013 · Giuseppe Tornatore · IMDb 7.7
  58. The Bourne Supremacy 2004 · Paul Greengrass · IMDb 7.7
  59. The Conversation 1974 · Francis Ford Coppola · IMDb 7.7
  60. The Game 1997 · David Fincher · IMDb 7.7
  61. The Lady Vanishes 1938 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 7.7
  62. The Past 2013 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.7
  63. Zodiac 2007 · David Fincher · IMDb 7.7
  64. A Very Long Engagement 2004 · Jean-Pierre Jeunet · IMDb 7.6
  65. Anatomy of a Fall 2023 · Justine Triet · IMDb 7.6
  66. Fireworks Wednesday 2006 · Asghar Farhadi · IMDb 7.6
  67. Gone Baby Gone 2007 · Ben Affleck · IMDb 7.6
  68. Inside Man 2006 · Spike Lee · IMDb 7.6
  69. Killing Mad Dogs 2001 · Bahram Beyzaie · IMDb 7.6
  70. Last Year at Marienbad 1961 · Alain Resnais · IMDb 7.6
  71. Lost Highway 1997 · David Lynch · IMDb 7.6
  72. Lovers of the Arctic Circle 1998 · Julio Medem · IMDb 7.6
  73. The 39 Steps 1935 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 7.6
  74. The Birds 1963 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 7.6
  75. The Fallen Idol 1948 · Carol Reed · IMDb 7.6
  76. The Man Who Laughs 1928 · Paul Leni · IMDb 7.6
  77. The Mattei Affair 1972 · Francesco Rosi · IMDb 7.6
  78. The Reader 2008 · Stephen Daldry · IMDb 7.6
  79. The Skin I Live In 2011 · Pedro Almodóvar · IMDb 7.6
  80. The Trial 1962 · Orson Welles · IMDb 7.6
  81. Contact 1997 · Robert Zemeckis · IMDb 7.5
  82. Deep Red 1975 · Dario Argento · IMDb 7.5
  83. Eyes Wide Shut 1999 · Stanley Kubrick · IMDb 7.5
  84. Happy as Lazzaro 2018 · Alice Rohrwacher · IMDb 7.5
  85. Hour of the Wolf 1968 · Ingmar Bergman · IMDb 7.5
  86. In the Name of the Italian People 1971 · Dino Risi · IMDb 7.5
  87. Marie-Octobre 1959 · Julien Duvivier · IMDb 7.5
  88. Mr. Klein 1976 · Joseph Losey · IMDb 7.5
  89. On Body and Soul 2017 · Ildikó Enyedi · IMDb 7.5
  90. Ruggles of Red Gap 1935 · Leo McCarey · IMDb 7.5
  91. Scream 1996 · Wes Craven · IMDb 7.5
  92. Sherlock Holmes 2009 · Guy Ritchie · IMDb 7.5
  93. Spellbound 1945 · Alfred Hitchcock · IMDb 7.5
  94. The Choice 1970 · Youssef Chahine · IMDb 7.5
  95. The Son 2002 · The Dardenne Brothers · IMDb 7.5
  96. Blow Out 1981 · Brian De Palma · IMDb 7.4
  97. Blow-Up 1966 · Michelangelo Antonioni · IMDb 7.4
  98. Burning 2018 · Lee Chang-dong · IMDb 7.4
  99. Design for Living 1933 · Ernst Lubitsch · IMDb 7.4
  100. Following 1998 · Christopher Nolan · IMDb 7.4