MOVIEPIQ · MYSTERY · CURATED LIST

Best Mystery Movies After A Breakup That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity

The best mystery movies after a breakup that will restore your faith in humanity. A hand-curated list of mystery films for Moviepiq.

After a breakup, the wrong film makes everything worse. The right one doesn't fix anything — but it reminds you that other people have survived worse, and come out the other side.

The best mystery films do something no other genre can: they make you a detective without leaving your seat.

Knives Out movie poster
1
2019 · ★★★½☆ 7.9/10

A detective investigates the death of a wealthy novelist after his entire family becomes suspects.

Zodiac movie poster
2
2007 · ★★★½☆ 7.7/10

A cartoonist becomes obsessed with catching the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who taunted police with cryptic messages.

Gone Girl movie poster
3
2014 · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected he may not be innocent.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie poster
4
2011 · ★★★½☆ 7.8/10

A journalist is aided by a young female hacker in his investigation of the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch's niece.

Memento movie poster
5
2000 · ★★★★☆ 8.4/10

A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer using a system of notes and photographs.

What separates a good mystery from a great one is the quality of its misdirection. Every film in this list earns its twists — nothing feels cheap, nothing feels random.

The Prestige movie poster
6
2006 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

Two stage magicians engage in a bitter rivalry in which they try to expose each other's tricks.

Shutter Island movie poster
7
2010 · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

In 1954, a U.S. Marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderer who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.

Prisoners movie poster
8
2013 · ★★★★☆ 8.1/10

A father takes matters into his own hands after his daughter and her friend go missing and the suspect is released.

Mystic River movie poster
9
2003 · ★★★½☆ 7.9/10

When the daughter of one of three childhood friends is murdered, the friends are brought back together and one becomes a suspect.

The Usual Suspects movie poster
10
1995 · ★★★★½ 8.5/10

A sole survivor tells of the twisty events leading up to a horrific gun battle on a boat, which begin when five criminals meet at a seemingly random police lineup.

There are films that remind you, without sentimentality, that people are capable of extraordinary things. These are some of them.

Few things are more satisfying than a mystery that respects your intelligence, plants its clues fairly, and still manages to surprise you.