30 Best Mystery Movies Of All Time!

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There are thousands of exclusive content available on Netflix that makes it one of the most loved streaming platforms across the world. Sometimes all you need is to chill out at home in your private space, and Netflix can add up the fun. Though there are different categories like comedy, romance, adventure, and more available on Netflix but the best collection out there is from the mystery selection.

If you are looking for one of the best mystery movies of all time, then the list below will help you out in finding the best possible selection of this genre.

1. Training Day

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Director: Antoine Fuqua

Writer: David Ayer

Cast: Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Scott Glenn, Cliff Curtis, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg

If you appreciate acting skills, this movie is a must-watch for you. The lead actor Denzel Washington won the best actor in the Oscars, and we guess that is enough to showcase the acting skills exhibited in the movie. The movie is based on the first day at work of a cop with his partner who explains to him how things work in his world. 

In addition to the best mystery movies, you can also watch Best Action Adventure Movies in Australia.


2. The Clovehitch Killer

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Director: Duncan Skiles

Writer: Christopher Ford

Cast: Dylan McDermott, Charlie Plummer, Samantha Mathis, Madisen Beaty

This movie is certainly one of the darkest mystery movies seen on the screens. A child in this movie discovers some clues which indicate that his father might be a murderer, and things turn real saucy as the mystery unfolds. The movie is rated among the best murder mystery movies on Netflix. 

Recommended: Best Halloween Movies to watch in Australia


3. Shutter Island

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Director: Martin Scorsese

Writer: Laeta Kalogridis

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley

The movie is a magnificent piece of art and probably among the best works of Leonardo DiCaprio. Shutter Island is based on an isolated piece of land where high-graded, mentally challenged prisoners are held. A mysterious incident takes place, and Leonardo DiCaprio, along with his partner, visit to investigate the case. The story starts on this plot but ends on a very different and unimaginable one. This piece of art is DiCaprio’s one of the best mystery movies of all time.

Also see : Best Crime Thriller Movies for Australia


4. Chinatown

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Director: Roman Polanski

Writer: Robert Towne

Cast: Jack Nicholson and Faye Dunaway

Back from the 1980’s Robert Towne’s Chinatown has never been left out of the list of best classic mystery movies on Netflix. The movie is all about the supreme class and has a brilliant screenplay. It is based on the LA corruption and has lots of twists and turns.

must see : Best Action Thriller Movies


5. The Da Vinci Code

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Director: Ron Howard

Writer: Akiva Goldsman

Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina

The movie is based on the famous Dan Brown novel of the same name. It is a mystery movie with two different plots. The primary plot is about a mysterious murder, and the secondary plot deals with a series of events that reveals some of the deepest secrets of the Universe. 


6. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

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Director: David Fincher

Writer: Steven Zaillian

Cast: Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer

It won’t be wrong to say that the title fits the entire content and mystery seen in the movie. It involves a series of murders connected with the disappearance of a girl 40 years ago. The crime mystery involves a conspiracy within a wealthy family. Undoubtedly it stands out as the best mystery movie of all time.


7. The Pelican Brief

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Director: Alan J. Pakula

Writer: John Grisham(book), Alan J. Pakula(screenplay)

Cast: Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, Sam Shepard

This movie is a treat for legal drama lovers. In this movie, Julia Roberts plays a law student who creates a theory on why two reputed supreme court judges got murdered. Her life gets more and more complicated as the movie progresses. Do check this movie out to understand the intriguing theories made by this student. 

If you love to see crime movies than we have another list for you : Best Crime Movies


8. The Guest

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Director: Adam Wingard

Writer: Simon Barrett

Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Leland Orse,r Sheila Kelley, Brendan Meyer, Lance Reddick

The Guest is a piece of beauty and tops the list when it comes to the best mystery movies of all time. As the movie title suggests, the story revolves around a guest who appears at the doorstep of the family, claiming to be a friend of their dead son. The mystery begins after his appearance as a series of murders happen. But if you think that the guest is obviously the killer, you are in for a treat as the movie is anything but simple. 


9. Nocturnal Animals

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Director: Tom Ford

Writer: Tom Ford

Cast: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon

A brilliant treat for both the mind and the eyes. The screenplay seems simple, but it is actually one of the most complicated ones ever seen. The plot revolves around a woman reading a novel written by her to her second husband. Soon, the audience connects the dots between different points in the story, making it a complete mystery. 


10. I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House

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Director: Osgood Perkins

Writer: Osgood Perkins

Cast: Ruth Wilson, Bob Balaban, Lucy Boynton, Paula Prentiss

The plot focuses on a live-in nurse and a horror-story author who struggles with life on screen. Soon the nurse discovers various mysteries and scary secrets about the house and the man. 


11. Gerald’s Game

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Director: Mike Flanagan

Writer: Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard

Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood

The movie starts with an intimate scene wherein a woman is handcuffed on the bed. Her husband accidentally gets in trouble and dies horrifically. The woman tries, but she can’t do anything to save her man. Being handcuffed and starved, soon she starts hearing voices and seeing visions.


12. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore 

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Director: Macon Blair

Writer: Macon Blair

Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, David Yow, Jane Levy, and Devon Graye

A woman who’s already suffering in her life is robbed, and this time, she’s determined to take revenge. Teamed up with her neighbour, both of those set on a journey of revenge and more but soon realized they have taken on a much bigger issue than it looked. 


13. Nightcrawler

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Director: Dan Gilroy

Writer: Dan Gilroy

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton

Nightcrawler is a movie one cannot miss out on from the selection of best classic mystery movies on Netflix.  A freelance photographer works hard and shoots some photos that are proof of a big crime that happened in LA. The story gets complicated with time as the photo reaches the wrong hands. 


14. The Invisible Guest

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Director: Oriol Paulo

Writer: Oriol Paulo

Cast: Mario Casas, Ana Wagener, José Coronado, Bárbara Lennie

A big businessman was accused of murdering a lady who was found dead beside him on the bed. The man denies the charges, but all the indications prove that he is the one guilty. Or is he? Was there someone else, someone invisible in the house the night the incident happened? Watch this thriller to know the answers. 


15. Uncut Gems

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Director: Josh and Benny Safdie

Writer: Josh and Benny Safdie

Cast: Adam Sandler, Lakeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Eric Bogosian

If you are looking for Adam Sandler’s best performance in his entire career, then this is the movie you need to see. He plays a gambler and also a jeweler in the movie. There are many scenes in the movie showing why he’s so popular in the acting industry. 


16. Lost Girls

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Director: Liz Garbus

Writer: Michael Werwie

Cast: Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie, Lola Kirke, Oona Laurence Dean 

A great murder mystery and also among the best murder mystery movies on Netflix involving a lot of controversial topics of society. The movie has a story of a woman who is trying to find answers about the murder of her daughter, who was a sex worker.


17. Freaks

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Director: Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.

Writer: Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein.

Cast: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern ,Grace Park ,Amanda Crew,Lexy Kolker

The movie focuses on a seven-year-old girl who has been kept by her father in a home far from the real world since she was born. A stranger offers her the choice to go out, but she notices the dangers out there that are worse than her isolated captivity.  


18. Velvet Buzzsaw

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Director: Dan Gilroy

Writer: Dan Gilroy

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo Toni, Collette Zawe 

Art should never be compromised for any other thing in the world, and this mystery movie is all about that. Many great pieces of art are discovered in the movie plot, all of which come from unknown artists. But when art was used for greed, supernatural powers came to act.


19. The Manchurian Candidate

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Director: John Frankenheimer

Writer: The Manchurian Candidate by Richard Condon

Cast: Frank Sinatra, Laurence Harvey, Janet Leigh, Angela Lansbury, Henry Silva, James Gregory

Raymond Shaw saves his people from the gulf war and then establishes his political position in society. He becomes a hero, and everyone praises him but is he getting the correct credit. Has he done anything worth praising?

Continuity to war movies you can also see Best World War 2 Movies.


20. Mystic River

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Director: Clint Eastwood

Writer: Mystic River by Dennis Lehane

Cast: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney

One of the best mystery movies of all time, The Mystic River, is a movie where you are going to see a lot of action with mystery. A policeman investigates a mysterious murder in the movie that happened 25 years ago.


21. The Killing of a Sacred Deer

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Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Writer: Iphigenia at Aulis by Euripides

Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman

This movie is quite different from a normal mystery thriller. The main lead is a cardiac surgeon who meets a man and befriends him. After a few days, the friend tells the man that his family will die soon and all the mystery behind it is amazing to watch. 


22. State of Play

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Director: Kevin Macdonald.

Writer: Paul Abbott

Cast: Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck Rachel, McAdams Robin, Wright Penn, Jason Bateman, Jeff Daniels, Helen Mirren

A congressman’s assistant gets murdered mysteriously, and some of the reporters just can’t get over the incident. They join the forces, and things get really out of control. There are many deep hidden mysteries that are to be discovered.


23. Bird Box

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Director: Eric Heisserer

Writer: Bird Box by Josh Malerman

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Sarah Paulson

Bird Box is an amazing story that grabbed numerous awards. A woman with two kids tries to escape a gigantic creature. Unfortunately, this monster can’t harm until someone sees him, so Sandra Bullock, along with the kids, finds a way out blindfolded. 


24. Unknown

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Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Writer: Oliver Butcher, Stephen Cornwell

Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn, Bruno Ganz, and Frank Langella.

A biochemist goes through a tragic car accident, and after four days, he finds that a mysterious man has taken his identity. Things are quickly going south as he discovers many more bizarre things after the accident. Will he ever get back to the world? Better watch the movie and find out.


25. Apostle

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Director: Gareth Evans

Writer: Gareth Evans

Cast: Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis, Jones Bill, Milner Kristine, Froseth Paul 

A man is seen in the movie struggling hard to get his sister back from the tribal cult. Dan Stevens is seen in lots of action throughout the movie. During his mission to rescue, he learns some weird facts that open up numerous mysteries for him to solve.


26. The Invitation

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Director: Karyn Kusama

Writer: Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi

Cast: Logan Marshall-,Green Tammy, Blanchard Michiel, Huisman Emayatzy Corinealdi L

Group of friends hanging out and having dinner after a long time. But is this dinner party a trap? Was the invitation a proposal for death? You will find answers to these questions in the movie, but to give you a hint, it’s really not just a dinner.


27. Mute

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Director: Duncan Jones

Writer: Michael Robert

Cast: Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux

It is a dark movie with lots of hidden meaning that portrays a horrific future. The protagonist is a mute bartender who is trying to find a girl that he loved. The girl disappeared suddenly way back, and the mystery of her disappearance continues to unravel secrets.


28. Cam

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Director: Daniel Goldhaber

Writer: Daniel Goldhaber, Isa Mazzei 

Cast: Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters, Devin Druid, Imani Hakim, Michael Dempsey

A look-alike camera girl takes over the porn website and uses the identity of the real girl. Why and how did she do it? Find out more about it in this movie. 


29. Berlin Syndrome

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Director: Cate Shortland

Writer: Shaun Grant

Cast: Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt

A young photographer meets a teacher and decides to hang out with him. But the teacher has wicked intentions for her. He keeps the girl captive in an apartment in Berlin as she struggles to find her way out. 


30. Creep

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Director: Patrick Brice

Writer: Mark Duplass

Cast: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice, and Katie Aselton

In this thriller movie, A man clicks on an online ad and calls a photographer to shoot his unborn baby pics. But as the day passes, it gets creepier. 


Parting Words

There are many options on Netflix and other platforms to keep yourself entertained. Still, if you are someone who enjoys a chilling night with some of the best mystery movies of all time thrillers and suspense then this list of movies will definitely keep you occupied for a while.

Joshua Garner

Joshua calls himself nerd+geek who is also passionate about rugby. He enjoys comics, animes, and science fiction. He finds his comfort in writing about suspense, thrillers and science fiction shows and movies.

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