When sleep won't come, the worst thing to watch is something forgettable. You need a film absorbing enough to quiet a busy mind — but not so disturbing it keeps you awake for different reasons.
The 2010s were defined by a wave of filmmakers who understood that the best genre films work on multiple levels simultaneously. reward patient viewers with revelations that reframe everything that came before.
The best mystery films do something no other genre can: they make you a detective without leaving your seat.
A detective investigates the death of a wealthy novelist after his entire family becomes suspects.
A cartoonist becomes obsessed with catching the Zodiac Killer, a serial murderer who taunted police with cryptic messages.
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.
A journalist is aided by a young female hacker in his investigation of the disappearance of a wealthy patriarch's niece.
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.
Two stage magicians engage in a bitter rivalry in which they try to expose each other's tricks.
In 1954, a U.S. Marshal investigates the disappearance of a murderer who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane.
A father takes matters into his own hands after his daughter and her friend go missing and the suspect is released.
When the daughter of one of three childhood friends is murdered, the friends are brought back together and one becomes a suspect.
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 twist only works if the film has earned it. These films plant their revelations early, play fair, and still manage to blindside you.
Few things are more satisfying than a mystery that respects your intelligence, plants its clues fairly, and still manages to surprise you.