After a thorough investigation through all this streaming service's seediest back alleys,
we're now ready to present our findings. Which of these hidden gem mystery films will be
your new favorite? Any good detective will tell you that it's always the one you least
expect.
Director Paul Feig is best known for loose improv-driven comedies like Bridesmaids and
2016's Ghostbusters. That's why you might be surprised to learn that, in 2018, he broke
from his informal style for the most meticulously crafted film of his career. If you missed
A Simple Favor when it was in theaters, check it out. It might be his best work yet.
Anna Kendrick plays lonely single mom Stephanie Smothers. Her best friend Emily, played by
Blake Lively, seems to have it all: a lucrative job, a loving husband, and above all confidence.
One day, Emily asks Stephanie for "a simple favor," to look after her son for a few hours
while she deals with a work crisis. Stephanie agrees, and then Emily goes missing. After
the police finally give up the search, Stephanie decides to take the investigation into her
own hands. We don't want to ruin any of the later plot twists, so let's just say that,
as Stephanie digs deeper, she discovers another side to her friend that she kept hidden from
the rest of the world.
Well-written and well-acted, A Simple Favor is what would happen if Gone Girl was also
allowed to be funny sometimes, and this wonderful gem of a movie is definitely worth a watch.
Set during the Japanese occupation of Korea, The Handmaiden tells the story of a Korean
servant named Sook-hee who is hired by a rich Japanese heiress named Hideko. What Hideko
doesn't know is that her new handmaiden has a secret: Sook-hee is actually a skilled thief,
the partner of a con artist with the pseudonym "Count Fujiwara." The Count plans to seduce
Hideko and steal her fortune, and it's Sook-hee's job to befriend the lady, then persuade her
to marry Fujiwara when the proper moment comes. But as Sook-hee gets to know her mistress
better, she starts to have doubts about the Count's dastardly plan.
And that's just the first half hour. From there, things get really wild. We won't spoil
anything, but let's just say that Count Fujiwara has been hiding certain facts from Sook-hee
about the nature of his plan, and Hideko herself also has her fair share of dark secrets.
Sometimes, mystery films lose a bit of their spark after the first time you see them. The
Handmaiden is such a beautifully constructed and intelligently written film that it just
gets better every time you watch it. This multifaceted masterpiece alternates between
thrilling, terrifying, sensual, and hilarious, but no matter how many twists and turns the
story takes, it always remains deeply human.
Many of the movies we're discussing here are classics of the mystery genre. If you're looking
for a more recent movie, how about one that was released in March 2020, direct to Amazon
Prime?
Blow the Man Down opens in the small town of Easter Cove, where straitlaced sisters
Priscilla and Mary Beth are attending their mother's funeral. After the ceremony, Mary
Beth visits a bar to drown her sorrows, and while there she meets a handsome stranger.
This man, however, isn't everything he seems, and their encounter ends with Mary Beth accidentally
implicated in a terrible crime. She calls her sister for guidance, and Priscilla agrees
to help erase the evidence of what Mary Beth has done.
As the two sisters work to keep their own secret hidden, they end up discovering the
secrets of some of their neighbors, uncovering a dark criminal underbelly of their sleepy
hometown. They soon find themselves surrounded by an array of deadly enemies, and perhaps
also some new unlikely allies.
There's so much to love about Blow the Man Down. It's beautifully shot and smartly written,
but perhaps best of all is the acting. If you're somewhat underwhelmed by the film's
sluggish first act, stick with it. Blow the Man Down really digs into high gear about
half an hour in, and it's one hell of a ride from there to the finish.
"Lord help us. Think she's on her way to church?"
If you've seen a David Lynch movie before, you know that simply summarizing the plots
of his films doesn't do them justice. That being said, let's talk about Blue Velvet.
While walking home one day, lovably square college student Jeffrey Beaumont finds a severed
human ear lying in a vacant lot.
"Yes, that's a human ear alright."
He immediately hands it over to the police, but he isn't able to stop thinking about how
it got there, and starts investigating the mystery alongside his friend Sandy Williams,
the daughter of a police detective.
Jeffrey decides to sneak into the apartment of a woman believed to be connected to the
case, and once inside...let's just say that he discovers he's been living on the precipice
of a vast darkness, and now he's tumbled headfirst over the edge into a cruel and disturbing
world that he might never be able to fully return from.
Like all of Lynch's films, Blue Velvet is surreal, funny, and darkly mesmerizing. It's
also, at times, intensely disturbing. If you're not willing to sit through that, we encourage
you to do what Jeffrey should have done: leave this particular severed ear of a film lying
on the ground and proceed on with your life as if you never found it.
The Conversation tells the story of Harry Caul, a private security expert who lives
a life of isolation, deliberately avoiding developing close relationships with the people
in his life for fear of his own security. Although Caul is frequently hired to record
the conversations of strangers, he tries not to pay attention to the subject matter or
think about the way his work could be used to hurt people.
One day, Harry is hired by a mysterious client to record a young couple's conversation as
they walk through a public park. As Caul analyzes the recording, he begins to suspect that he
himself is being followed, and that his conversations are now being bugged.
By some definitions, The Conversation doesn't really qualify as a traditional mystery. Francis
Ford Coppola's tale certainly has a compelling question at the heart of it, but it lacks
many of the other traditional elements of the genre. It's slow, moody, and far more
of a character study than a regular whodunnit. But nonetheless, it's a truly captivating
story, so if you've got a hankering for some moody '70s noir, and we highly recommend checking
it out.
If you like a little horror mixed in with your mystery, you should definitely check
out the beautiful sci-fi thriller Annihilation.
Natalie Portman plays Lena, a biologist and former soldier. One night, her husband, a
soldier named Kane, mysteriously appears in their house with no idea how he got there,
despite the fact that he was allegedly away on a classified assignment. He then collapses,
seemingly ill. Government forces soon arrive on the scene, and they take Lena and Kane
to a government facility.
Once there, Lena is told that they are on the border of an enigmatic region of American
coastline that has been designated "the Shimmer." Inexplicable phenomena have been occurring
in the area, and any soldiers who enter the Shimmer never return except for Lena's husband,
who remains in critical condition. Another team is assembled to explore the Shimmer,
and Lena volunteers to come along. Her team then enters a strange glittering landscape,
where the plants and animals have mutated into new beautiful and deadly alien species.
As they venture deeper into the Shimmer, Lena's team begins to suspect that their own bodies
and minds are starting to change as well.
Despite being a mind-blowingly beautiful and thought-provoking film, Annihilation was a
bit of a box-office dud. But if you missed it in theaters like so many other people,
you can make up for that by checking it out on Amazon Prime.
Though some of these mystery movies are older classics, our next selection is from 2019
though you won't be able to tell by looking at it. The Lighthouse was shot in black and
white, using camera lenses from the 1930s and an almost square aspect ratio that harkens
back to the days before widescreen. If Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson weren't the two
leads, you might really think it was a hundred-year-old film.
Sometime in the 1890s, two men arrive on a remote island: seasoned lighthouse keeper
Thomas Wake and his new apprentice Ephraim Winslow.
"Below, bid our father the sea king rise from the depths full foul in his fury!"
The men have a four-week contract to maintain the island's lighthouse, and apart from each
other, they'll be utterly alone.
"To four weeks."
Ephraim and Thomas try to be friends at first, but continually end up butting heads over
their duties. Ephraim also learns that Thomas' last assistant apparently died after losing
his mind. Over the following weeks, Ephraim himself begins to see inexplicable things
which he keeps hidden from Thomas then a storm hits the island, and everything gets much
worse.
If the captivating script and the dynamite acting weren't enough, both are elevated to
truly memorable heights by The Lighthouse's tremendous cinematography. It's the perfect
choice for a claustrophobic mystery, where you often feel like you're not seeing the
whole picture.
If midway through your mystery binge, all these dour stories about the dark side of
humanity have got you feeling down, why not try lightening the mood a little with this
selection? Based on the classic board game, the 1985 film Clue is equal parts classic
murder mystery and ensemble comedy farce.
Six strangers are gathered together for a dinner party in a swanky New England mansion
by a mysterious man named Mr. Boddy. During dinner, the lights go out; when they come
back on, the six guests find that Boddy has been killed.
"I-I need a drink!"
"Maybe he was poisoned!"
"AHH!"
Before the night is over, this motley crew needs to figure out which one of them is the
culprit before they can escape and kill again.
With a cast consisting of multiple hilarious actors all at the top of their game, Clue
is a truly great comedy, as well as a genuinely solid murder mystery. But above all, it's
just plain fun.
"Well, he's certainly dead now. Why would anyone want to kill him twice?"
"Seems so unnecessary."
"Well, that's what we call overkill."
"That's what we call psychotic."
If you haven't seen it before, do yourself a favor. There's a reason that this little
film became a late-night comedy cult classic.
If you're looking for a classic murder mystery, it doesn't get much more classic than the
1974 film Murder on the Orient Express, an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel by
the same name featuring many of the biggest stars of the '70s.
Having just solved a case, famous detective Hercule Poirot is on his way home, aboard
the train known as the Orient Express. Poirot spends his evening getting to know a collection
of eclectic international passengers.
In the morning, the passengers discover two chilling surprises. The first is that the
train has stopped due to a heavy snowfall blocking the tracks. The second is that an
American businessman named Mr. Ratchett has been murdered in his sleep. Poirot vows to
solve the case, and given that the train can't go anywhere for the time being, he has all
the time he needs to conduct a series of interviews with the various passengers about their potential
motives.
Poirot slowly puts together the pieces of what is most assuredly one of the most absurdly
complex and multi-layered locked room mysteries in the history of detective fiction and one
that we're sure you'll never forget.
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