5 Best Mystery Movies of the 21st Century, Ranked

Few genres are as reliably entertaining as a great mystery. From old-fashioned whodunits to more unconventional puzzles, mystery films have remained a cinematic staple, with the 21st century producing some especially memorable examples. Here, we rank five of the best mystery movies released since 2000.

The boundaries between mystery, thriller, crime drama, and related genres can be difficult to define, and reasonable viewers may draw those lines in different places. For this ranking, the mystery must be central to the story — the characters and the audience should be focused primarily on identifying a culprit or making sense of a complicated web of clues. Movies such as “Oldboy” and “Fight Club” contain mysteries, but their primary identities lie elsewhere.

There are far too many worthy titles to fit into a complete honorable-mentions list, though Kenneth Branagh’s recent Hercule Poirot movies deserve particular recognition. Each offers an appealing mix of drama, theatrical charm, and star-powered ensemble fun. None made the final ranking, but the films helped restore the traditional murder mystery to prominence on the big screen. Interestingly, the five selections come from only three directors, with two filmmakers appearing more than once.

With those ground rules established, here is the ranking.

No filmmaker has done more to reinvigorate the classic whodunnit in the 21st century than Rian Johnson, and his 2022 follow-up “Glass Onion” is not the last of his movies to appear on this list. The sequel to 2019’s hugely successful Netflix mystery “Knives Out” once again features Daniel Craig as the irresistibly eccentric Benoit Blanc. This time, the detective travels to the private island of tech mogul Miles Bron (Edward Norton), where a murder mystery weekend involving Blanc and a circle of wealthy socialites takes a deadly turn. He must then sort through a maze of rivalries and motives to expose the killer.

“Glass Onion” never generated quite the same cultural explosion as its predecessor, but Johnson’s command of the genre remains evident in every frame. The characters combine familiar whodunnit types with pointed commentary on modern society and the excesses of the 21st-century elite. The result is bright, witty, unpredictable, and consistently entertaining, with Janelle Monáe delivering a particularly outstanding performance.

Johnson has now gone three for three with his “Knives Out” mysteries, each of which ranks among the genre’s finest recent offerings. The original film has a slight edge over “Glass Onion,” however — and we’ll get to it soon.

David Fincher is widely regarded as one of contemporary cinema’s great thriller directors. Although his filmography often leans toward horror, crime, or psychological suspense rather than traditional mystery, he has repeatedly demonstrated a remarkable talent for the form. “Gone Girl” is a prime example: a dark, gripping examination of resentment, revenge, and desire built around a deceptively straightforward disappearance.

When Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) vanishes, attention quickly turns to her husband, Nick (Ben Affleck). The ensuing investigation exposes layers of deceit, infidelity, and emotional manipulation, suggesting that both sides of the marriage may be hiding something. As the film moves between timelines, it gradually reveals competing versions of the couple’s history and the circumstances surrounding Amy’s disappearance.

Nonlinear storytelling was hardly new to mystery cinema when “Gone Girl” arrived in 2014, but Fincher executes the structure with such control and polish that it feels freshly engineered. Rosamund Pike’s ferocious performance is equally essential, announcing her as a major star. Among the movies ranked here, this is arguably the least dependent on the mystery itself, yet the disappearance provides the perfect lens through which to examine an appalling, mesmerizing marriage. “Gone Girl” is ultimately about love, betrayal, and the damage people inflict on those they once claimed to cherish — but it remains one of the finest mystery films of the past 26 years.

The second David Fincher movie on this list takes the bronze medal and remains one of the director’s most underappreciated films. “Zodiac” is less frequently discussed than “Fight Club” or “Seven” and performed less impressively at the box office than “Gone Girl.” Released in 2007, it received no Academy Award nominations, likely in part because of its late arrival during awards season. Given its cast — Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Brian Cox — and Fincher’s reputation, that complete lack of recognition still feels surprising.

Inspired by the real investigation into the Zodiac Killer, the film was built on extensive research. Fincher, screenwriter James Vanderbilt, and the wider production team examined original police files and even spoke again with people connected to the murders. The result is a meticulous portrait of the case and the psychological toll it took on investigators and members of the media. Most importantly, “Zodiac” embraces an ambiguous conclusion that reflects the real case’s unresolved status — a quality shared by many of history’s most haunting mysteries.

Some viewers could reasonably argue that “Zodiac” is the greatest mystery movie ever made because its true subject is not simply the identity of the killer, but the nature of a mystery that may never be solved. That approach is more contemplative than the genre’s traditional “the butler did it” pleasures, making third place a fitting compromise.

For anyone seeking a classic murder mystery, it is difficult to surpass “Knives Out.” Cleverly plotted, briskly paced, and loaded with outstanding performances, Rian Johnson’s film is the modern whodunnit at its most polished. Daniel Craig’s first appearance as Benoit Blanc helped him move beyond the shadow of James Bond, while Ana de Armas gives Marta Cabrera a warmth and emotional depth that anchor the story. Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, and Michael Shannon are equally memorable in sharply crafted supporting roles. Still, the ensemble is only one part of what makes “Knives Out” such a triumph.

Johnson treats the movie as both a playful tribute to the genre and a clever reinvention of it, never allowing the meta commentary to overwhelm the mystery. Without spoiling the film for newcomers, one of its greatest pleasures is the way it appears to reveal the solution early, only to complicate that answer through a series of increasingly satisfying reversals. Small details gain new significance on repeat viewings, adding another layer of enjoyment to an already outstanding ensemble mystery.

Beyond its elegant narrative machinery, the film has plenty to say about class and cash as they pertain to the social order — a theme that would continue to resonate through the “Knives Out” sequels. For the most traditional mystery viewers, this could have easily held the number-one spot, but we went with something a bit older for the gold medal.

It feels blasphemous to say, given his modern superstardom, but Christopher Nolan may well have made his greatest film in 2000. “Memento” is the ultimate mystery movie. The film itself is a mystery the audience must uncover, about a character trying to solve a mystery as he struggles against a mental condition that turns every moment of his life into its own small mystery. Psychologically, it’s a story about the gnawing sensation of leaving something unsolved, as well as the often insufficient satisfaction of finally finding the answer. By the end of “Memento,” the mystery itself evolves into something different entirely.

So many of the cinematic signatures that would become Nolan’s calling cards are here: the nonlinear narrative, black-and-white sections, the repetition of language and scene, the long-con sub plot, and so on. And those all work pretty well in his later, bigger films, but they are especially affecting here, in a film with essentially three characters, shot in three or four locations.

The limitations are the strength of “Memento.” Guy Pearce is a powerhouse as Leonard, a man so traumatized by the murder of his wife that his brain has ceased to form new memories, forcing him to tattoo the clues of his murder investigation on his own skin in order to find the killer. Carrie-Anne Moss and Joe Pantoliano are similarly excellent in the two main supporting roles, and Nolan smashes this small handful of players together in the most interesting of ways, making a mystery film that’s both riveting on the first watch and incredible on every subsequent visit.