The Best Mystery Movies on Netflix Attempt to Uncover the Unknown (2024)

If Daniel Craig played the southern detective Benoit Blanc for the rest of his career, I think most of us would be OK with that. Rian Johnson’s follow-up to Knives Out deftly navigates the mystery genre with great laughs and genuine surprises—even if you consider yourself an amateur detective.

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Missing is an exceptional thriller, thanks in part to its “screenlife” framing—which means that the movie takes place from the perspective of its character’s computer and phone screen. In the film, June—played by Storm Reid—has to use all digital means at her disposal to try to find her mother, who disappeared after going on a week-long vacation in Colombia.

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If you can’t stand any other TV detective besides Idris Elba’s unstable (but brilliant) John Luther, check out the sequel to the BBC series. The film sees Luther on the run from the Serious Crimes Unit after he’s prosecuted for the corrupt and illegal acts he committed as a police officer. Luther has to break out of prison to track down the serial killer David Robey, who is played exceptionally well by Andy Serkis.

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If you’re in the mood for a zany mystery, Shane Black’s buddy comedy The Nice Guys absolutely fits the bill. It captures the spirit of the ‘70s and ‘80s action comedies that preceded it. Plus, as the writer of Lethal Weapon, Shane Black knows a thing or two about the genre. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe complement each other perfectly as a private eye and enforcer who become entangled in a Los Angeles conspiracy—which is entered around the disappearance of a young environmentalist.

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As Sherlock Holmes’s younger sister, Enola, Millie Bobby Brown breathes tons of life into a well-trodden character. The mystery? On Enola’s 16th birthday, her mother vanishes. The positive reception to Enola Holmes also spurred a sequel in 2022, which was just as well-received.

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This crime drama from Dune director Denis Villeneuve is about as dark as it gets, showcasing one of Hugh Jackman’s best performances on screen or stage. In Prisoners, two daughters of the Dover and Birch family go missing when the families are celebrating Thanksgiving. Eventually, Jackman’s character grows dissatisfied with the police’s investigation, and the mystery ensues.

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This psychological period film stars Florence Pugh, who plays a nurse sent to investigate a “fasting girl”—who has become famous in her small Irish town for supposedly living for months without eating. Above all, this atmospheric and philosophical Netflix Original sees Pugh deliver one of the best performances of her incredibly strong career.

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In this gothic supernatural horror film, a young woman is assigned to take care of an elderly man in Massachusetts whose health is rapidly declining. However, she quickly learns that they might not be alone in the house.

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Jeffrey Wright stars as a wolf expert and writer who is called to a remote Alaskan village to investigate the recent disappearances of three young children. While residents suspect that the children were taken by wolves, the expert quickly realizes that there might be more than what meets the eye.

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Directed by acclaimed documentarian Liz Garbus and featuring performances from Amy Ryan, Thomasin McKenzie, and Lola Kirke among others, Lost Girls tells the true story of one activist’s pursuit to bring justice to the unsolved string of murders against sex workers on Long Island.

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