● Trending in the US
MOVIEPIQ · MYSTERY · CURATED LIST

Best Mystery Movies When You’re Bored From The 80S And 90S That Will Make You Think For Days

These mystery picks were hand-selected for when you need something actually worth watching, not pulled from a popularity chart. Every pick is chosen for emotional and situational fit, not streaming popularity or critic scores.

The best mystery movies when youre bored from the 80s and 90s that will make you think for days. Includes The Secret of NIMH, Three Colors: White, Contact an...

When nothing sounds good and you've scrolled through everything twice, the answer is usually a film you wouldn't normally reach for. Try something from this list.

The 80s and 90s remain a goldmine. Films that were commercially dismissed on release and now considered essential.

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

The Secret of NIMH movie poster
1
1982 · ★★★½☆ 7.5/10

A widowed field mouse must move her family -- including an ailing son -- to escape a farmer's plow. Aided by a crow and a pack of superintelligent, escaped lab rats, the brave mother struggles to transplant her home to firmer ground.

Three Colors: White movie poster
2
1994 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

Polish immigrant Karol Karol finds himself out of a marriage, a job and a country when his French wife, Dominique, divorces him after six months due to his impotence. Forced to leave France after losing the business they jointly owned, Karol enlists fellow Polish expatriate Mikołaj to smuggle him back to their homeland.

Contact movie poster
3
1997 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

A radio astronomer receives the first extraterrestrial radio signal ever picked up on Earth. As the world powers scramble to decipher the message and decide upon a course of action, she must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and reality.

The Vanishing movie poster
4
1988 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

Rex and Saskia, a young couple in love, are on vacation when they stop at a busy service station. Saskia is abducted in broad daylight and three years pass with no answers or closure surrounding her disappearance. Rex has nearly given up all hope when he suddenly begins receiving letters from her abductor.

Scream movie poster
5
1996 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game.

A great mystery never cheats. These films play fair - which makes it all the more impressive when they still manage to surprise you.

Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me movie poster
6
1992 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

In the questionable town of Deer Meadow, Washington, FBI Agent Desmond inexplicably disappears while hunting for the man who murdered a teen girl. The killer is never apprehended, and, after experiencing dark visions and supernatural encounters, Agent Dale Cooper chillingly predicts that the culprit will claim another life. Meanwhile, in the more cozy town of Twin Peaks, hedonistic beauty Laura Palmer hangs with lowlifes and seems destined for a grisly fate.

Jacob's Ladder movie poster
7
1990 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.

Blow Out movie poster
8
1981 · ★★★½☆ 7.4/10

While recording sound effects for a slasher flick, Jack Terry stumbles upon a real-life horror: a car careening off a bridge and into a river. Jack jumps into the water and fishes out Sally from the car, but the other passenger is already dead - a governor intending to run for president. As Jack does some investigating of his tapes, and starts a perilous romance with Sally, he enters a tangled web of conspiracy that might leave him dead.

Dark City movie poster
9
1998 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.

Glengarry Glen Ross movie poster
10
1992 · ★★★½☆ 7.3/10

Times are tough at Premiere Properties. Shelley "the machine" Levene and Dave Moss are veteran salesmen, but only Ricky Roma is on a hot streak. The new Glengarry sales leads could turn everything around, but the front office is holding them back until these "losers" prove themselves. Then someone decides to take matters into his own hands, stealing the Glengarry leads and leaving everyone wondering who did it.

A film that makes you think for days has done something rare: it's trusted you to do the work. These films trust you.

Great mystery cinema changes how you watch everything else. You start looking for the clues in every story.

From the Blog

READ Movies With Plot Twists Worth Rewinding
READ Movies When You're Bored & Tired
READ Movies to Watch When Bored

You Might Also Like

ENERGY Mystery Movies when Nothing Feels Right
MINDSTATE Mystery Movies overstimulated Brain
GENRE Animation Movies when Youre Bored
DEEPER Cant Sleep 3am
EDITORIAL Movies With Plot Twists Worth Rewinding
Tell us one film you love - we'll find your next one.TRY IT