10 Mysteries That Are Perfect From Start to Finish FSalinks

The mystery genre traces all the way back to Edgar Allan Poe, and talented artists have been expanding upon it since. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle based Sherlock Holmes‘ investigative style of deductive reasoning on the Gothic master’s work, and eventually, the literary medium would influence the world of cinema to create some of the greatest movies ever made. Nowadays, there have been so many takes on the mystery genre that it can take on various forms and styles. It often combines with the police procedural and film noir, but it can also be a thriller, a comedy, or a court drama. So long as the central conflict of the movie consists of characters investigating something while the audience tries to figure it out, too, then it qualifies as a mystery.

The ordinary fare produces a satisfying answer to the puzzle, but following genre conventions to a T doesn’t make a movie perfect; it doesn’t even necessarily make it good. Most, if not all, great movies transcend their genre by emotionally affecting their audiences more than others. The best mystery movies of all time subvert expectations not only in plot but in style, narrative structure, tone, or other ways. Therefore, the perfect mystery holds up an intense, unsettling, and compelling mirror to the human condition that makes its audience keep thinking even after the story ends.

10 ‘Anatomy of a Fall’ (2023)

Directed by Justine Triet

A mystery generally has a heroic protagonist who tries to figure out who did something, but this ambiguous courtroom drama has the accused as the main character. Winner of the 2023 Palme d’Or at Cannes, Anatomy of a Fall sees a writer (Sandra Hüller) tried in a French court for allegedly making her husband fall to his death. Whether or not she ought to be sympathized with or condemned is up to the viewer to decide, as there is plentiful evidence that supports both perspectives.

This heavily immersive movie distinguishes itself by keeping audiences in this ambivalent mindset even after the film is over. While it’s easy to throw in a definitive happy ending in a story like this, Anatomy of a Fall‘s eerie tone ensures that viewers will be no more relieved if she’s found guilty than if she’s found innocent. Along with its intense interrogations, enthralling twists, and fierce look at a dysfunctional marriage, this multilingual movie will go down as one of the greats.

Anatomy of a Fall

Release Date

May 22, 2023

Cast

Sandra Hüller , Swann Arlaud , Antoine Reinartz , Samuel Theis

Runtime

151 Minutes

Writers

Justine Triet , Arthur Harari

9 ‘Chinatown’ (1974)

Directed by Roman Polanski

Featuring one of the best screenplays ever written, Chinatown is about private investigator Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson), who gets hired to find out how a man got set up and drowned in a nearby water facility. It may take place in the ’40s, but it has the color and style of a ’70s neo-noir. It makes the California landscape pop, but this doesn’t make the gradually more dangerous case at its center any less intimidating or mysterious.

Faye Dunaway and John Huston (who usually worked as a director and was no stranger to a good noir) put in career-best performances for a film that delves into darker and darker territory. Chinatown is about power, greed, and the immoral depths to which a human being can sink. Considered a classic since its release, Chinatown is a mystery-thriller that is expertly told and pays off with an ending so devastating that it cemented its final line as one of the most famous ever put on screen.

Chinatown

Release Date

June 20, 1974

Runtime

130 minutes

Writers

Robert Towne , Roman Polanski

8 ‘All the President’s Men’ (1976)

Directed by Alan J. Pakula

One of the greatest political thrillers of all time, All the President’s Men is also very much a mystery. Based on the book by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman respectively play them as they gradually uncover the truth behind the breaking-and-entering of the Democratic National Committee headquarters. An ode to journalism and the power of the press, this film demonstrates the hard work, courage, and perseverance that goes into getting to the bottom of a culturally significant event.

Even its original viewers knew how this movie about the Watergate scandal would end, and yet they were enraptured by its incredible craft anyway. Likewise, people nowadays can understand what it might have been like for Woodward and Bernstein as they made revelation after revelation about the political corruption in Washington, D.C. Along with the iconic character Deep Throat (Hal Holbrook), All the President’s Men stands as one of the most significant movies about American politics by far.

7 ‘Psycho’ (1960)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

One of Alfred Hitchcock‘s greatest achievements, Psycho has been a cinematic giant for well over 60 years. Based on Robert Bloch‘s novel of the same name, the movie starts with Marion (Janet Leigh) robbing the bank she works in and going on the run. Things take a dark turn at the Bates Motel during the famous shower scene, which cloaks the killer in darkness and would go on to get parodied to death in countless movies and shows.

This is a top-shelf psychological study of a man (Anthony Perkins) whose relationship with his mother seems troubling at best. It’s compelling how this mystery-thriller avoids the structure of having one main character investigate a crime throughout, letting a few different characters carry the story instead. This is one of Alfred Hitchcock‘s final masterpieces, providing a twist that demonstrates how the master of suspense wasn’t done yet.

Psycho

Release Date

June 22, 1960

Cast

Anthony Perkins , Vera Miles , John Gavin , Martin Balsam , John McIntire , Simon Oakland

Runtime

109 minutes

Writers

Joseph Stefano , Robert Bloch

6 ‘L’avventura’ (1960)

Directed by Michelangelo Antonioni

One of Michelangelo Antonioni‘s greatest works, L’avventura is one of the strangest mysteries around. A woman (Lea Massari) goes missing during a swim, launching an extended search by her lover Sandro (Gabriele Ferzetti) and best friend Claudia (Monica Vitti). Sandro comes on to Claudia suspiciously soon, but eventually, she returns his advances and gains a profound emotional conflict. There is a mesmerizing scene in which Claudia finds herself surrounded by men, highlighting her inner guilt, the male gaze, and countless other interpretations.

It’s all about the atmosphere, a group of wealthy people wandering through empty spaces. The landscape throughout is absolutely gorgeous (especially in the beginning), yet it highlights the characters’ quiet dissatisfaction and loneliness. This unorthodox mystery invites the viewer into the world of its characters without giving closure, so anyone who wants a short and simple narrative that resolves itself easily will be disappointed. Like life, L’Avventura seems to suggest there are never simple answers, perhaps because there shouldn’t be.

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5 ‘Vertigo’ (1958)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Vertigo has one of the best classic movie posters ever made, an orange and white swirl that foreshadows this movie’s focus on appearances and how they can mess with one’s head. Former detective John “Scottie” Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) is tasked with keeping tabs on a friend’s wife, which leads to a dark plot in which his extreme fear of heights comes into play. It’s one of Stewart’s best performances, helping the audience understand the degree of his obsession with someone he blames himself for losing.

This masterpiece’s twist leads to a fascinating character arc for a woman (Kim Novak) who is willing to change her appearance for the man she loves. Vertigo‘s mood has a hypnotic quality that doesn’t let up, beautifully uplifting a mystery that revolves around someone Scottie only knew from afar. Along with the acting and direction, this complicated mystery-thriller-romance is just as absorbing today as it was in the ’50s.

Vertigo

Release Date

May 28, 1958

Cast

James Stewart , Kim Novak , Barbara Bel Geddes , Tom Helmore , Henry Jones , Raymond Bailey

Runtime

128 mins

Writers

Alec Coppel , Samuel A. Taylor , Pierre Boileau , Thomas Narcejac , Maxwell Anderson

4 ‘M’ (1931)

Directed by Fritz Lang

Often cited as the first police procedural, M comes from the German expressionist mastermind behind Metropolis. Working in a very different genre here, Fritz Lang somehow constructed a film that has aged so stunningly over 90 years later that it feels just as (if not more) compelling than most other classic mysteries produced in the decades since its debut. Believe it or not, M was also Lang’s first talkie. It seems all that time crafting stories that required deliberate movements and visuals paid dividends once he ventured into the realm of sound.

When a serial killer is making children disappear, an entire city shuts down and works together to try and catch him. As stated before, M is surprisingly immersive for any decade. Practically all police procedurals have been made in its wake, and for good reason. The devastating loss of these kids, the community’s collective need to stop the kidnapper, and the intensity of the climactic chase are deeply felt no matter how many times one rewatches it.

M (1931)

Release Date

May 11, 1931

Cast

Peter Lorre , Ellen Widmann , Inge Landgut , Otto Wernicke , Theodor Loos

Runtime

99 Minutes

Writers

Fritz Lang , Thea von Harbou , Egon Jacobson

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3 ‘Rear Window’ (1954)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Rear Window is a thriller that’s perfect from start to finish, which goes hand-in-hand with its success as a mystery. The audience sees what L.B. Jeffries (Jimmy Stewart again) sees, remaining largely as confined to his room as he is. Thus, the viewer watches a man across the courtyard packing knives into a newspaper at the same time Jeffries does, which makes for lots of storytelling that doesn’t even require dialogue. This is a masterwork of observation; that said, the dialogue is also great.

Grace Kelly has one of her best performances as Jeffries’ brilliant younger lover, Lisa Fremont, who remarks that one woman across the street is “juggling wolves” and charmingly says each part of her full name with each lamp she turns on. Together, these two help convey how everyone’s life is a bit of a mystery, and it’s spellbinding to watch them keep track of Jeffries’ neighbors without straying too far from the suspicious husband at the story’s center. Rear Window is easily one of the best movies about voyeurism, using realistic restrictions to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.

Rear Window

Release Date

September 1, 1954

Cast

James Stewart , Grace Kelly , Wendell Corey , Thelma Ritter , Raymond Burr

Runtime

112 minutes

Writers

John Michael Hayes , Cornell Woolrich

2 ‘Anatomy of a Murder’ (1959)

Directed by Otto Preminger

Starring Jimmy Stewart yet again, Anatomy of a Murder is one of the greatest movies nominated for Best Picture in the 1960s. Based on the novel of the same name by a former Michigan Supreme Court Justice, this movie was already set up to contain a realistic and insightful take on the American justice system. Stewart plays Paul Biegler, who is hired to defend a man who killed a man for allegedly assaulting his wife.

The ambiguity of what actually happened would go on to inspire other courtroom mysteries (including Anatomy of a Fall) over six decades later. As opposed to that film, however, the main character here is not the accused but the man defending the accused. This approach gives viewers a more objective perspective on matters, as their emotional investment in the people directly involved in the case is less likely to cloud their judgment. Yet, neither Biegler nor the prosecution (a phenomenal George C. Scott) can know for sure exactly what happened, leaving the viewer with the idea that certain gaps in our justice system will never be filled.

Anatomy of a Murder

Release Date

July 1, 1959

Cast

James Stewart , Lee Remick , Ben Gazzara , Arthur O’Connell

Runtime

161 minutes

Writers

Wendell Mayes , John D. Voelker

1 ‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)

Directed by David Lynch

If the run-of-the-mill mystery ties everything into a neat little bow, then Mulholland Drive is a ribbon that’s been torn apart and soaked in kerosene. What actually happens is a mystery because it’s impossible to tell just how much every scene should be trusted. Names change, hairstyles change, the story is told way out of chronological order, etc. Laura Harring and Naomi Watts might be playing the same person, or maybe not, but then, which is the real one? What does “real” even mean?

David Lynch‘s surreal magnum opus includes sequences that should be taken with spoonfuls of salt, which can make the initial viewing quite the challenge. No promises that a second viewing will help, but that’s on purpose. Viewers are left with so many potential meanings going through their minds that they will at least understand the narrative is supposed to be either endlessly analyzed or forever felt. This uncompromisingly ambiguous dreamland about the movie business will leave its audience disturbed, confused, thoughtful, slightly less confused, much more confused, and/or very thoughtful (in any order). For these reasons and more, Mulholland Drive is the ultimate mystery.

Mulholland Drive

Release Date

June 6, 2001

Runtime

147 minutes

Writers

David Lynch

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