12 Mystery Movies Like Knives Out That Will Keep You Guessing

Rian Johnson’s Knives Out proved the whodunit isn’t dead. It just needed a mansion full of terrible rich people and Daniel Craig in a ridiculous accent. If you loved watching Benoit Blanc unravel the Thrombey family’s secrets, these twelve mysteries will keep you guessing.

1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022)

The obvious first choice. Craig returns as Blanc, this time investigating a murder among tech billionaires on a private Greek island. The satire is sharper, Edward Norton is perfect as a Musk-like disruptor, and the central twist is deliciously mean.

2. Gone Girl (2014)

David Fincher adapts Gillian Flynn’s novel about a missing wife and her very suspicious husband. Ben Affleck plays “guy everyone thinks is guilty” perfectly, and Rosamund Pike earned her Oscar nomination. The less you know going in, the better.

3. The Prestige (2006)

Christopher Nolan’s tale of rival magicians is structured like the perfect magic trick. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman try to destroy each other while you try to figure out how they’re pulling it off. The final reveal recontextualizes everything.

4. Se7en (1995)

Before Fincher made Gone Girl, he made this grimy serial killer procedural. Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman hunt a killer using the seven deadly sins as his template. The ending still hits like a truck thirty years later.

5. Zodiac (2007)

Another Fincher mystery, but this one refuses to give you the satisfaction of a solved case. Jake Gyllenhaal becomes obsessed with the Zodiac killer while the investigation drags on for decades. It’s about the compulsion to find answers, even when there aren’t any.

6. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling needs Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter to catch another serial killer. The cat-and-mouse conversations between them remain the template for every psychological thriller since. Hopkins won an Oscar for about 20 minutes of screen time.

7. Prisoners (2013)

Hugh Jackman’s daughter goes missing on Thanksgiving. The police investigation stalls. He decides to take matters into his own hands. Denis Villeneuve directs this moral nightmare where everyone’s guilt becomes uncertain. It’s a two-and-a-half hour anxiety attack.

8. Memento (2000)

Christopher Nolan’s breakthrough tells its story backwards. Guy Pearce hunts his wife’s killer while suffering from short-term memory loss. The structure isn’t a gimmick. It puts you in his confused headspace perfectly.

9. The Usual Suspects (1995)

Five criminals meet in a police lineup and plan a heist. Kevin Spacey’s verbal Kint narrates what happened, and you spend the whole film trying to figure out who the mysterious Keyser Soze really is. The ending is one of cinema’s great mic drops.

10. No Country for Old Men (2007)

The Coen Brothers adapted Cormac McCarthy’s novel about a drug deal gone wrong and the unstoppable killer hunting the money. Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh is nightmare fuel. The mystery isn’t whodunit. It’s whether anyone can survive him.

11. Oldboy (2003)

Park Chan-wook’s revenge thriller traps a man in a hotel room for 15 years, then releases him to figure out why. The mystery unravels through incredible set pieces and a hammer fight you’ll never forget. The final reveal is devastating.

12. The Departed (2006)

Scorsese’s Boston crime epic features an undercover cop in the mob and a mole in the police. Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Matt Damon circle each other while we know more than any of them. Who will get caught first?

The Art of the Misdirect

What makes Knives Out special isn’t just the twist. It’s how Johnson makes you complicit in your own misdirection. Every film on this list understands that a great mystery isn’t about fooling the audience. It’s about giving them enough clues to feel smart while still pulling the rug out.

Start with Glass Onion if you want more Blanc. Go to Gone Girl if you want something meaner. Try The Prestige if you want something that rewards multiple viewings.

For more twisty films, check out our thriller collection.