GREAT WHODUNNIT MURDER MYSTERIES
- 1 day ago
- 10 min read
A mystery film, at its core, revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. Someone gets murdered, something terrible happens, and the whole movie is about figuring out who did it and why.
You’ve got a detective (sometimes a brilliant professional, sometimes a scrappy private investigator, sometimes just a nosy amateur sleuth) and they go through the classic motions: inspecting clues, interrogating suspects, decoding motives, and finally unveiling the killer in that grand, satisfying finale.
That’s the structure. That’s the DNA of a whodunnit. And honestly? It never gets old.
History-wise, whodunnits go all the way back to early cinema. Sherlock Holmes was basically the movie star detective before movie stars even existed.
And once Holmes hit the screen in the early 1900s, you had a whole parade of Holmes-ish characters show up: Boston Blackie, The Lone Wolf, Nick Carter... entire series of films built around solving crimes.
Then the 1930s hit, and Hollywood just exploded with mystery series. Nick and Nora Charles. Perry Mason. Nancy Drew. Torchy Blane. Charlie Chan. Mr. Moto.
Every studio had a detective on standby, ready to run through clues and suspects for a brisk 70 minutes.
A lot of these movies were adapted from novels, but by the time the 1940s rolled in, tons of them were coming from radio dramas and comic strips. And honestly, most of them were B-movies (quick, cheap, pulpy, and totally fun) with actors who were on the downslope of their careers but still had swagger.
Meanwhile, the bigger studios started pumping out more “serious” mystery movies that blended into film noir. Laura, Murder, My Sweet, The Big Sleep, The Maltese Falcon... the line between mystery and noir was basically transparent.
By the 1950s the classic mystery series dried up, but then the 1960s and ’70s brought these gorgeous, lush adaptations of Golden Age puzzle mysteries, like Murder on the Orient Express, Death on the Nile, The Alphabet Murders.
Then the whodunnit kind of drifted again until the 2010s, when suddenly people rediscovered how much fun these movies can be.
Kenneth Branagh brought back Poirot with big mustaches, bigger budgets, but terrible execution. Rian Johnson gave us Knives Out, which brought the classic drawing-room mystery back into the mainstream in a way nobody saw coming.
Even comedies and parodies (stuff like Murder Mystery on Netflix) became massive hits. And now here we are, in 2024/2025, still eating them up.
And honestly? I get it. Because it seems like everybody loves a good whodunnit murder mystery. They’re a blast when they’re done well.
And in honor of the latest Knives Out entry, Wake Up Dead Man, I thought it’d be fun to put together a list of some of my favorite murder mystery whodunnits of all time.
You know the classic setup: a murder happens in some palatial mansion or remote island or creepy old house. A detective arrives to question the suspects, and there are always suspects, each with their own motive and personality quirks.
The detective (or sometimes a clever outsider or a pompous author or a stiff authoritative figure) interviews everyone, observes everything, and then in the final scene gathers all the suspects into one room.
This is where you get the big speech, the flashbacks, the reenactments, the clever twisting of clues, the misdirection... and then BAM, the killer is revealed. It’s formulaic, yes, but the formula works. It’s been working for over 100 years.
Now, some of these movies don’t work. Some are dumb. Some make absolutely zero logical sense. Sometimes the motivations are ridiculous or the clues are nonsense. But when a whodunnit does work (when the script is tight, when the clues are fair, when the cast is having a blast, and when the reveal actually surprises you) there’s nothing like it.
It’s one of the great movie-going pleasures: sitting there with a crowd, guessing, theorizing, whispering, “I bet it’s the maid,” or “No way, it’s the cousin,” and then either feeling smug when you nail it or delighted when you get blindsided.
I know people who are absolute machines at solving these things. I come from a family of them. I’ve watched movies with people who figure out the killer 20 minutes in, and they’re usually right. Me? I’m not great at solving them. I don’t always pick out who the murderer is.
But I don’t care. I just love watching them. And what I respond to most are the characters (the scheming, the lying, the backstabbing) and especially the detective. I love watching a good detective work a room.
Albert Finney as Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express is still one of my favorite performances ever. Peter Ustinov? Just spectacular. This genre gives great actors the chance to play big, fun, outrageous roles.
Now, some clarifications about the list I’ve put together: I didn’t include the Philip Marlowe films. No Big Sleep here, no Farewell, My Lovely, no noir detective stuff. Those movies are brilliant, but they’re not traditional “gather everybody in a room and point to the killer” whodunnits.
Same goes for the Sherlock Holmes films, none of the classic Holmes movies made this list either. And a lot of movies technically fall under the murder mystery umbrella (Zodiac, Hail Caesar, Seven, even Fargo) but they’re not structured as classic puzzle whodunnits. I focused specifically on the “Golden Age–style” approach: a murder, a set of suspects, an investigator, and a big reveal.
So yes, this list leans heavily into Agatha Christie land. Because nobody (absolutely nobody) did it better than Christie. Her stories are funny, clever, intricate, and full of life, and when adapted well, they’re unbeatable.
These are 20 films that, for me, define the joy of the whodunnit. They’re clever, surprising, sometimes silly, always fun, and they scratch that itch of wanting to be both entertained and outsmarted.
TOP 20 WHODUNNIT MURDER MYSTERIES (in order of preference):
My absolute favorite whodunnit of all time, and for me, the gold standard for the entire genre. Sidney Lumet directing an all-star cast at the absolute height of their powers? Yeah, sign me up. This movie is lush, funny, beautifully staged, and perfectly acted.
Albert Finney gives my favorite on-screen Hercule Poirot performance ever, with that big mustache, the fussy energy, the brilliant delivery. I could watch him interrogate suspects forever.
The pace is wonderfully old-fashioned, the train is glamorous, and the ending... one of the great reveals of all time. It’s a puzzle, it’s a morality play, it’s a class commentary, and it’s a masterclass in staging the “gather everybody and explain the murder” finale. Absolutely perfect.
Peter Ustinov steps in as Poirot, and he’s a completely different flavor than Finney (sly, mischievous, twinkly-eyed) but I love him. This is another classic Christie setup: rich people behaving badly on a boat until someone gets shot in the head.
The cast is ridiculous: Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Mia Farrow, David Niven, George Kennedy. Every one of them is having a blast. The setting is gorgeous, the mystery is tight, and the tone is a little lighter and more humorous than Orient Express. Ustinov is a delight, and Lansbury steals the movie in like three scenes. A terrific, old-school whodunnit.
One of the most underrated screenplays ever written. Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins (yes, that Sondheim and that Perkins) cooked up this wicked, twisty game of secrets and guilt.
It’s essentially a whodunnit about a bunch of awful Hollywood people on a yacht who are forced to play a dangerous scavenger-hunt-style mystery game. And because it’s Sondheim, the script is layered, clever, filled with clues, and loaded with that sharp, theatrical wit. It’s funny, catty, nasty, and unpredictable. One of those movies where even the setup feels like a twist.
Dario Argento’s debut film and one of the best giallos ever made. Look, giallos are technically whodunnits with more leather gloves, eye-shadow, and stabbing, and that’s exactly why I love them. This one’s a stylish, operatic nightmare with incredible camera work and a genuinely clever mystery at its core.
It’s got that Italian horror flavor: weird dubbing, bizarre supporting characters, gorgeous women in danger, and a killer with a traumatic backstory. The reveal is great, but honestly, the real joy is the atmosphere. Argento grabbed the genre by the throat with this one.
A modern, twisty, Tarantino-esque whodunnit-noir hybrid that I adore. An ensemble of strangers trapped in a creepy hotel on the California/Nevada border with secrets spilling out all over the place. This movie is stylish as hell (the production design is insane) and it’s completely unpredictable.
Jeff Bridges gives one of his best late-career performances, Dakota Johnson is extraordinary, and Chris Hemsworth shows up shirtless and psychotic, which… works. Drew Goddard channels Agatha Christie, film noir, and 70s conspiracy thrillers, and the mix is delicious.
I know, I know... it’s not a “classic” drawing-room whodunnit, but the entire movie is structured around solving a murder. And it’s just too damn good not to include.
Clint Eastwood directs the hell out of this thing. Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, they all deliver powerhouse performances. The Boston atmosphere is thick and grimy, the mystery is tragic and disturbing, and the final reveal packs an emotional punch you rarely see in whodunnits. It may not have the Christie structure, but it’s a devastating mystery.
This is honestly one of the best mystery films of the 2000s, and one of the funniest movies ever made. Edgar Wright takes the “rural village with dark secrets” whodunnit and turns it into a hyper-stylized action-comedy masterpiece.
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are incredible, the cast of weird villagers is hilarious, and the mystery is actually really well constructed. The final reveal of the conspirators is outrageous, ridiculous, and perfect. “The greater good!” A whodunnit spoof that works as both comedy and mystery.
This movie deserved so much more attention. Jon Hamm absolutely nails the role of Fletch, he is smartass, charming, effortlessly funny. Greg Mottola directs a breezy murder mystery that plays like a modern-day 70s detective comedy.
It’s light, clever, and sharply written. Hamm is a joy to watch as he breezes through interrogations, irritates cops, and solves a legitimately engaging mystery. A low-key gem that didn’t get the love it deserved.
One of the many adaptations of And Then There Were None, and this one is really solid, it's creepy, atmospheric, and filled with that classic Christie tension.
Ten strangers invited to a remote location, secrets exposed, people getting bumped off one by one, and it’s the purest form of whodunnit there is. The 1965 version is stylish, a little campy, and a whole lot of fun. It’s the kind of movie that makes you want to rewatch it immediately after the reveal.
This is a courtroom thriller, yes, but it’s also a murder mystery with one of the great twist performances of all time. Edward Norton came out of nowhere and delivered this jaw-dropping, chilling performance that still holds up.
Richard Gere is fantastic, the direction is tight, the tension builds beautifully, and when the truth finally comes out… whew. It’s a killer moment. Literally. A great example of a modern whodunnit hiding inside a legal drama.
The original, and still one of the most charmingly sinister Christie adaptations. This movie is all about mood and cleverness. It’s got that old Hollywood charm mixed with the pure suspense of watching strangers get picked off one by one.
The ending is altered from the book, but it still works wonderfully. A classic puzzle mystery with that crisp, clean 1940s pacing that just flies by.
Another Ustinov-as-Poirot mystery, and this one is pure Christie comfort food. Exotic location? Check. A flamboyant murder victim? Check. A cast of eccentric suspects? Check. Great costume design? Check.
Diana Rigg is spectacular, Roddy McDowall is a hoot, and Ustinov floats through the movie with that dry charm of his. Light, fun, and a great sunny vacation murder movie.
Robert Altman takes the upstairs/downstairs British drama and turns it into one of the smartest, most densely layered murder mysteries ever made. The cast is insane (Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Clive Owen, Kristin Scott Thomas) and every character gets a moment.
Julian Fellowes basically used this as the prototype for Downton Abbey, but this is sharper and funnier. The murder happens halfway through the film, almost as an afterthought, and yet it’s a brilliant twist on the genre.
A violent, bloody, snowbound variation on the Christie-style structure. Tarantino essentially made Ten Little Indians (and John Carpenter's The Thing) with cowboys, bounty hunters, and Samuel L. Jackson doing Samuel L. Jackson things.
It’s claustrophobic, tense, talky, and filled with great performances. Walton Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Kurt Russell steal the movie. The whole thing is one big pressure cooker that explodes in the final act.
A Gen Z whodunnit satire that’s way smarter than people gave it credit for. It skewers influencer culture, hookup apps, and rich-kid toxicity while also delivering a legitimately tense mystery.
The cast is terrific, the script is sharp, and the ending (which some people hated) I thought was brilliant. A great modern twist on the genre that proves whodunnits can evolve with the times.
Monks, murder, medieval libraries... this movie is an atmospheric feast. Sean Connery plays a medieval Sherlock Holmes, and Christian Slater is his terrified teenage tagalong.
The setting is one of the most memorable in any mystery film, with fog, candlelight, creepy chanting. It’s equal parts mystery, horror, and historical drama, and the final reveal is both satisfying and eerie.
Pure fun. One of the most quotable comedies ever made, and a brilliant spoof of whodunnits that also works as a whodunnit. Tim Curry is a force of nature, his “recap-the-whole-movie-at-100-miles-per-hour” sequence is a work of genius.
The multiple endings are hilarious, the cast is perfect, and the jokes still land after almost 40 years.
Flames… flames on the side of my face…
Neil Simon’s brilliant parody of detective fiction, featuring spoofs of Miss Marple, Sam Spade, Charlie Chan, Hercule Poirot, and more.
The cast is ridiculous: Peter Sellers, Maggie Smith, Alec Guinness, David Niven, Peter Falk, and they’re all going for the laugh in the biggest, broadest ways. Some jokes haven’t aged well, but the movie is still wickedly funny and a great celebration of the whodunnit genre.
A modern comedy that surprised the hell out of me. It’s a hilarious, fast-paced, clever whodunnit disguised as a date-night movie.
Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams have great chemistry, the supporting cast is terrific, and the twists are genuinely fun. The film also has some of the best comedic staging and camera work in recent years. It’s silly, smart, and way better than it had any right to be.
A great, underrated Miss Marple movie with Angela Lansbury stepping into the role and absolutely nailing it. This one’s got a deliciously old-school Hollywood vibe, with Elizabeth Taylor and Rock Hudson as fading movie stars tangled up in murder and scandal.
It’s campy, it’s charming, and it’s got that comfy Christie energy that makes it endlessly rewatchable.
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