24 Best Mystery Movies to Watch (Page 2)

Staff & contributors

Feeling investigative? If you’re not sure which movie to go for, allow us to clue you in. From detective stories and whodunnits to suspenseful dramas, here are the best mystery-themed movies and shows to stream now.

Vague statement alert: Burning is not a movie that you “get”; it’s a movie you experience. Based on a short story by Murakami, it’s dark and bleak in a way that comes out more in the atmosphere of the movie rather than what happens in the story. Working in the capital Seoul, a young guy from a poor town near the North Korean border runs into a girl from his village. As he starts falling for her, she makes an unlikely acquaintance with one of Seoul’s wealthy youth (played by Korean-American actor Steven Yeun, pictured above.) This new character is mysterious in a way that’s all-too-common in South Korea: young people who have access to money no one knows where it came from, and who are difficult to predict or go against. Two worlds clash, poor and rich, in a movie that’s really three movies combined into one - a character-study, a romance, and a revenge thriller.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Ah-in Yoo, Ban Hye-ra, Cha Mi-Kyung, ChoI Seung-ho, Jang Won-hyung, Jeon Jong-seo, Jeon Seok-chan, Jeong Da-yi, Jong-seo Jun, Jun Jong-seo, Kim Shin-rock, Kim Shin-rok, Kim Sin-rock, Kim Soo-kyung, Lee Bong-ryeon, Lee Joong-ok, Lee Soo-jeong, Min Bok-gi, Moon Sung-keun, Ok Ja-yeon, Song Duk-ho, Soo-Kyung Kim, Steven Yeun, Yoo Ah-in

Director: Chang-dong Lee, Lee Chang-dong

Rating: Not Rated

In rural Korea a policeman starts to investigate peculiar and violent events that most of the people in his village attribute to the arrival of a new Japanese resident. As the occurrences keep multiplying, and different perspectives in the film are shown, you start to lose touch with reality in the face of what can only be described as genius film-making. As critic Jada Yuan puts it, the film operates on a level “that makes most American cinema seem clunky and unimaginative”. For this reason, and while The Wailing is a true horror flick with a great premise, it’s also more than just that: it boosts a mind-boggling, interesting plot that will have you thinking about it long after the credits roll. Protip: grab the person next to you and make them watch this movie with you so you can have someone to discuss it with after!

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Actor: Bae Yong-geun, Cho Han-cheul, Chun Woo-hee, Do-won Kwak, Han-Cheol Jo, Heo Jin, Hur Jin, Hwang Jung-min, Hwang Suk-jung, Jang So-yeon, Jeon Bae-soo, Jeong-min Hwang, Jo Han-chul, Jo Yeon-hee, Jun Kunimura, Jung-min Hwang, Kim Do-yoon, Kim Hwan-hee, Kim Ki-chun, Kwak Do-won, Lee Jung-eun, Lee Seon-hee, Lee Yong-nyeo, Moon Chang-gil, Park Sung-yeon, So-yeon Jang, Son Kang-gook, Sung-yeon Park, Woo-hee Chun, Yoo Soon-woong, 赵汉哲

Director: Hong-jin Na, Na Hong-jin

Rating: Not Rated, TV-MA

Three kids from a poor neighborhood win scholarships to the best high-school in Spain and later find themselves at the center of a murder. There is a lot that comes to the surface from the working-class kids clashing with the wealthy. Themes of money, power, religion, and even sexuality make this show so compelling that I never felt like I needed a murder to keep watching.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery

Actor: Álvaro de Juana, Álvaro Rico, André Lamoglia, Aron Piper, Carla Díaz, Carmen Arrufat, Claudia Salas, Danna Paola, Diego Martín, Ester Exposito, Georgina Amorós, Georgina Amorós, Itzan Escamilla, Jaime Lorente, Jorge López, Jorge López, Manu Ríos, Maria Pedraza, Martina Cariddi, Miguel Bernardeau, Miguel Herran, Mina El Hammani, Omar Ayuso, Valentina Zenere

Rating: TV-MA

A woman loses her phone on her way back to her countryside childhood home. Once there, she connects an old landline in hopes of finding her lost mobile, only to start receiving weird calls that seem to be from 20 years ago.

On the other side of the receiver is a girl who seems to be in danger. The Call is thrilling, sometimes scary, but also brilliantly shot, and its plot is so expertly woven. It’s a proper movie-night movie.

Genre: Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

Actor: EL, Jeon Jong-seo, Jo Kyung-sook, Jun Jong-seo, Kim Min-ha, Kim Sung-ryoung, Kim Sung-ryung, Lee Dong-hwi, Lee El, Lee Joo-young, Moon Chang-gil, Oh Jung-se, Park Ho-san, Park Hyeong-su, Park Hyoung-soo, Park Shin-hye, Ryu Kyung-soo, Song Yo-sep, Um Chae-young

Director: Lee Chung-hyun

Rating: R

A poetic and peculiar movie from Senegal about a girl who is forced to marry a wealthy businessman instead of her love interest. The latter, a poor construction worker, embarks on a risky journey across the sea to Europe. The story takes a supernatural turn thereafter, one that is unlike anything seen before in stories around immigration, but one which makes sense. Still, the excellent acting and the long takes that immerse you in what life is like in Senegal, both in and out of the margins of society, are the reasons to watch here. Atlantics' characters are believable and will capture your interest throughout the usual and unusual parts of the movie. They provide rare insight into narratives that most of us have never been exposed to.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance

Actor: Abdou Balde, Amadou Mbow, Amina Kane, Aminata Kane, Arame Fall Faye, Babacar Sylla, Coumba Dieng, Diankou Sembene, Ibrahima Mbaye, Ibrahima Traore, Mama Sane, Mame Bineta Sane, Mariama Gassama, Mati Diop, Nicole Sougou, Traore

Director: Mati Diop

Rating: TV-14

The Gift is Joel Edgerton's directoral debut, a twisted and smart thriller that sneaks up on you where you least expect it. He also stars in it as Gordo, a friend from the past that enters a new couple's life (played by Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall) and brings a secret that has been hidden for decades. A very "movie" movie, it has enough in it that's original and enough that's not to make for a very enjoyable 100 minutes.

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Adam Lazarre-White, Allison Tolman, Beau Knapp, Busy Philipps, Darren P. Leis, David Denman, David Joseph Craig, Felicity Price, Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton, Katie Aselton, Laura Drake Mancini, Melinda Allen, Mirrah Foulkes, Nash Edgerton, P. J. Byrne, Rebecca Hall, Susan May Pratt, Tim Griffin, Wendell Pierce

Director: Joel Edgerton

Rating: R

This movie is distilled horror. A teenager sleeps with her boyfriend for the first time, after which he tells her that he was the latest recipient of a curse that is transmitted through sexual contact. After she becomes completely paranoid without any manifestations, the curse manifests itself in assassins that kill their way to her. A genuinely creepy film that’s also very smart.

Genre: Horror, Mystery

Actor: Alexyss Spradlin, Bailey Spry, Carollette Phillips, Charles Gertner, Claire Sloma, Daniel Zovatto, Ele Bardha, Heather Fairbanks, Jake Weary, Keir Gilchrist, Kourtney Bell, Leisa Pulido, Lili Sepe, Linda Boston, Loren Bass, Maika Monroe, Mike Lanier, Olivia Luccardi, Rich Vreeland, Ruby Harris, Scott Norman

Director: David Robert Mitchell

Rating: R

Toni Collette, Jessie Buckley, and Jesse Plemons star in this mind-bending drama from Charlie Kaufman, the writer of Being John Malkovich.

The Young Woman, as she is known in the movie, takes a day trip with her boyfriend to his family’s secluded farm in Oklahoma. On the way, she thinks about breaking up with him.

But once there, she meets her boyfriend’s unusual mom (Colette) and everything gets progressively weirder for The Young Woman. The dialogue of the movie is complex and so reference-heavy that it begs either a second viewing or a handful of explanation articles online.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Abby Quinn, Anthony Grasso, Ashlyn Alessi, Colby Minifie, David Thewlis, Dj Nino Carta, Gus Birney, Guy Boyd, Hadley Robinson, Jason Ralph, Jesse Plemons, Jessie Buckley, Oliver Platt, Teddy Coluca, Thomas Hatz, Toni Collette, Unity Phelan

Director: Charlie Kaufman

Rating: PG, R