Here are the best mystery movies on Netflix

Everyone loves a mystery, or so the saying goes. In terms of movies, the mystery genre continues to be a popular one for filmmakers to explore. On Netflix, there are a number of films in that genre, but what are the current best mystery movies on Netflix? We will attempt to find the best ones to stream, but will you be able to solve the mystery before the people in the film do? 

While you’re here, check out our picks for the best thriller movies on Netflix, which also have mystery elements. You can sign up for Netflix at the link below:

Best mystery movies on Netflix

The Woman in the Window

Amy Adams has the lead role in this 2021 Netflix-exclusive movie. She plays a lonely woman who lives in a brownstone in New York City. She befriends a woman, played by Julianne Moore, who lives directly across the street. However, Adams’ character then views from her window what appears to be Moore being murdered in her home. When she calls the police to report the crime, that’s when this film goes on a series of twists and turns that you will not see coming. It’s one of the best mystery movies on Netflix.

The Nice Guys

This mystery-comedy from 2016 didn’t get a lot of love at the box office when it was first released but has since gained a following. Set in Los Angeles in the 1970s, the film stars Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling as two rumpled private detectives. They team up to try to find a reportedly dead porn star who may not be really dead. The film is not only funny, but the mystery is sound, and the production design and visuals of 70s LA are perfect. 

Spenser Confidential

Based loosely on the Spenser mystery novels by Robert B. Parker, this 2020 Netflix-exclusive movie stars Mark Wahlberg in the title role. Spenser is a former Boston police officer who goes to jail for assaulting a fellow officer who he suspected murdered a friend of his. When he gets out of jail, he vows to find out what really happened all those years ago and discovers some deep corruption in the police department and elsewhere in the city. Spenser gets help from his friend, played by Alan Arkin, and his friend’s roommate Hawk, played terrifically by Winston Duke.

Enola Holmes

Millie Bobbie Brown is best known for playing Eleven in the Netflix series Stranger Things. However, she’s creating a nice little franchise of her own in this 2020 Netflix-exclusive movie. She plays the title character, the previously unknown teenage sister of the famed 19th-century detective Sherlock Holmes (played here by Henry Cavill). This film is perfect for the entire family to enjoy, as Enola uses her own considerable talents to solve a mystery of her own. You can also stream the just-released sequel, Enola Holmes 2, on Netflix.

The Guilty

In this 2021 Netflix-exclusive film, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man working the phones at a 911 call center. He suddenly gets a call from a woman who claims she’s been abducted and is in a van. The call is cut off before she can reveal more, and that’s when the mystery really starts. Who is this woman, why has she been taken, by whom, and why? Gyllenhaal’s character goes well beyond his status as a 911 emergency employee to try to rescue the woman and solve the mystery of her kidnapping. It’s definitely one of the best mystery movies on Netflix.

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

We have seen reinventions of Sherlock Holmes before, but none quite as major as the version in this 2009 movie. Robert Downey Jr. solves mysteries with his keen conversation and deduction, but in this film, we learn he’s also a major fighter and action junkie as well, rather than the contemplative character we have seen in the original stories. This movie also ups the stakes as Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson (Jude Law) have to stop a plot to take over all of England. You can check out the 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, on Netflix as well.

In The Shadow of the Moon

Would you like some sci-fi mixed with your mystery movies on Netflix? This 2019 film does that very well. In Philadelphia in 1988, a number of people are murdered by a mysterious serial killer who has a very different way of killing the victims. A police officer becomes obsessed with this case, but the trail then seems to go cold. Nine years later, more deaths by the same method are made, and the officer becomes convinced that the killer is, in fact, a time traveler. Needless to say, this is a very different type of murder mystery movie.

The Good Nurse

This recent 2022 Netflix-exclusive movie is based on a true story.  Jessica Chastain plays a nurse in a New Jersey hospital. She suspects that several patients who die unexpectedly might have been murdered by another nurse, played by Eddie Redmayne. The film goes into how Chastain’s character becomes convinced that Redmayne’s character was responsible and works with the local police to try to get him to confess to the murders.

Lost Girls

Amy Ryan stars in this 2020 Netflix original film, which again is based on a true story. She plays Mari Gilbert, a woman who is looking for her missing daughter in Long Island. She is relentless in her efforts to find her. As it turns out, the case is bigger than she first thought, as the police find that the murders of several female sex workers are all the work of one person, who is eventually discovered to be the infamous Long Island serial killer.

Murder Mystery

Here’s a comedy movie called, well, Murder Mystery, so it pretty much has to be on our list. Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston played a couple on vacation in Europe. They meet up with a billionaire, who takes a liking to them and invites them to go to a party on his yacht. At the party, one of the guests is found dead, and now the couple has been accused of murder by the local authorities. Can Sandler and Aniston clear their names and also find out who really murdered the guest?

Best mystery movies on Netflix: honorable mentions

Here are a few more great Netflix mystery films that didn’t make our top list:

• State of Play — An assistant of a US Congressman is found dead, and a journalist wants to find out who and why in the 2009 adaptation of a UK TV series.
• The Vanished — A family goes on vacation, but soon their daughter disappears, and the mother and father try to find their child in this 2020 film.
• In for a Murder — This Poland-based 2021 film has a regular mom, who’s also a fan of crime stories, trying to solve a murder in her hometown.
• Brazen — This 2022 Netflix film sees a mystery writer trying to solve the murder of her own sister.
• Rebecca — This is a new 2020 version of the classic film, about a young woman who meets, and then marries a man with a mysterious past.

That’s our list of the best mystery movies on Netflix. We will update this article when films are added and taken down from the service.