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Best Mystery Movies Alone On A Rainy Night From The 2020S With An Unforgettable Ending

The best mystery movies alone on a rainy night from the 2020s with an unforgettable ending. A hand-curated list of mystery films for Moviepiq.

A rainy night alone is one of the few situations that genuinely calls for a great film. No interruptions, no compromises on what to watch, no one talking over the quiet moments.

Early returns from the 2020s suggest a decade willing to push genre conventions further than ever — these are films made by filmmakers who grew up watching the classics and are now interrogating them.

The best mystery films do something no other genre can: they make you a detective without leaving your seat. Below are ten mystery films that reward patient viewers with revelations that reframe everything that came before.

1
2019 · ★★★★☆ 7.9/10

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

2
2007 · ★★★★☆ 7.7/10

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

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.

4
2011 · ★★★★☆ 7.8/10

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

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.

6
2006 · ★★★★☆ 8.5/10

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

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.

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.

9
2003 · ★★★★☆ 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.

10
1995 · ★★★★☆ 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.

A great ending doesn't just close a story — it recontextualises everything that came before it. The films above earn their final frames.

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