Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery continues the adventures of private investigator Benoit Blanc as he endeavors to solve the twistiest mystery in his storied career. Rian Johnson’s Knives Out films are beloved for their subversion of common murder-mystery tropes, adopting everyone’s favorite part of the genre while reinventing enough elements to feel fresh and new with each installment. Now, the third and possibly final entry of the franchise comes to Netflix this week.
Ahead of Wake Up Dead Man, there are plenty of other great murder-mystery movies to whet viewers’ appetites. While some play the tropes of the genre straight, others follow Knives Out‘s example to reinvent mystery movies as a whole. Each of these mysteries are well worth a watch ahead of Rian Johnson’s highly anticipated sequel.
Clue: The Movie Turns a Board Game Into Campy Fun
Based on the classic board game of the same name, Clue: The Movie unfurls a nefarious plot, several colorful suspects, and a twisty mystery, all confined to a mysterious mansion. Keeping in lock-step with the game, the guests become the investigators when one of them is suddenly murdered. One must be the killer–and it’s up to them to figure out who.
Clue is celebrating its fortieth birthday this year, just in time for Peacock’s upcoming television series of the same name. All these decades later, Clue remains iconic, in part because of its innovative storytelling. The film includes multiple endings, depending on which version someone watches, enhancing the mystery in a way that few films have ever done successfully.
Memories of a Murder Is a Haunting Take on a Real-Life Story
From acclaimed director Bong Joon Ho, Memories of a Murder is a 2003 South Korean film based on the real-life killings of Lee Choon-jae in the late 1980s. The film follows a team of detectives as they investigate a string of violent murders, growing more anxious to catch the serial killer as his body count rises. Things get darker and darker as their investigation falters, forcing the detectives to grapple with the possibility that they may never find the killer.
Memories of a Murder is one of the greatest detective films of all time. While other entries in the genre have fun with their premise, Bong Joon Ho’s masterpiece instead grapples with the horrific truth of real-life murders. The film’s final shot will haunt viewers for years, especially when they begin to learn about the real case, which went unsolved for decades.
Memento Is a Very Different Kind of Mystery Movie
Memento may be one of Christopher Nolan’s best films, even if it isn’t the most well-known. The 2000 film stars Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby, a man with a rare mental condition that leaves him incapable of forming new memories. To demonstrate his struggle to audiences, Nolan tells Memento‘s story in reverse, beginning at the end and working backward in segments intercut with brief flashbacks. To complicate matters further, Shelby works to track down the people responsible for his wife’s murder, beginning again each time his memory resets anew.
Memento is exactly the kind of complicated thriller viewers have come to expect from Christopher Nolan, whose affinity for playing with sequence and time is now infamous. However complicated the film may seem, Memento is a must-watch for anyone who enjoys mysteries. Unlike most entries in the genre, Memento begins with the end, showing its audience exactly who Shelby is tracking down. The mystery then becomes more about why the murder occurred and how Shelby tracks down the killer–and there are plenty of twists along the way.
Se7en Is a Masterpiece From the Great David Fincher
From acclaimed director David Lynch, Se7en is a crime thriller starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt as a pair of detectives investigating a series of violent murders. As the body toll rises, the detectives theorize that their murderer is selecting his victims based on which of the “Seven Deadly Sins” he believes they best represent. Working together, they do their best to catch the serial killer before he strikes again.
With a captivating presence and career-best performances from its lead cast, Se7en is still one of the greatest mystery movies of the 1990s. The film is still iconic today, particularly for its haunting ending that will live rent-free in viewers’ heads long after the credits roll. Fans of Se7en should also check out the 2015 film Solace, which serves as a spiritual successor to David Lynch’s masterpiece.
The Hound of the Baskervilles Is an Iconic Sherlock Holmes Story
Few individuals have contributed more to the mystery genre than Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The author created Sherlock Holmes, the undisputed most iconic fictional detective of all time, and penned some of the greatest mystery stories ever written. Among the most popular is The Hound of the Baskervilles, which received multiple adaptations over the years.
One of the best adaptations of The Hound of the Baskervilles came in 1959, pairing up longtime friends Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee as Sherlock Holmes and Henry Baskerville, respectively. The classic film is still one of the best Sherlock Holmes adaptations of all time, and deserves more credit for inspiring many elements of the murder-mystery genre to this day.
The Batman Blends the Superhero and Murder-Mystery Genres
For viewers looking for a detective story with more action, they can do no better than Matt Reeves’s 2022 superhero flick, The Batman. The DC Elseworlds project leans more heavily into Batman’s detective roots, as he investigates a series of murders perpetrated by the mysterious Riddler. As Gotham City teeters on the brink of catastrophe, Batman follows the Riddler’s clues to uncover a widespread conspiracy that threatens everyone he loves.
The Batman perfectly meshes the superhero and mystery genres to deliver one of the most unique DC films in decades. The 2022 film appeals even to audiences to aren’t fond of Hollywood’s modern superhero craze, choosing instead to focus on a more realistic storyline in the vein of detective noir stories. The Batman: Part II will hopefully feature even more detective work from Robert Pattinson’s hero when it finally hits theaters in 2027.
Enola Holmes Offers a Different Take on the Sherlock Holmes Mythos
Enola Holmes is a Netflix original film featuring Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown as the titular younger sister of Sherlock Holmes, played by Man of Steel‘s Henry Cavill. The film follows a young Enola as she embarks on an adventure to solve the mysterious disappearance of her mother. Along the way, she stumbles into a much larger conspiracy than she’d bargained for.
Anyone who loves the classic Sherlock Holmes stories will also enjoy this different take on the detective’s world, this time shown through the eyes of his adoring younger sister. Millie Bobby Brown is electric in the lead role, carrying much of the film on her shoulders in what may be the young actress’s best performance to date. The film received a sequel in 2022, and a third entry is currently in the works.
Mystic River Is an All-Time Great Mystery Film
From director Clint Eastwood, Mystic River is the gripping tale of a father who does everything in his power to find the person responsible for murdering his daughter. Against the wishes of the lead detective on the case, Jimmy Markum goes on the warpath to get to the bottom of his daughter’s murder, discovering that people close to him were involved in her death.
Mystic River is one of the greatest mystery films of the early 2000s, featuring a terrific pairing between Sean Penn, who plays Jimmy, and Kevin Bacon, who plays the lead detective investigating the case. The film went on to win multiple Academy Awards and is still hailed as one of the best mystery movies of all time.
Murder on the Orient Express Adapts the Greatest Mystery Novel of All Time
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express may be one of the greatest mystery novels of all time. The 1934 novel follows iconic detective Hercule Poirot, whose trip aboard the Orient Express turns dour when fellow passenger, notorious gangster Edward Ratchett, is violently murdered.
The story has been adapted for the big screen numerous times, most recently in Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 film, which stars an epic ensemble cast that includes Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Michelle Pfeiffer, Penelope Cruz, Willem Dafoe, and more.
Murder on the Orient Express is the epitome of a perfect mystery, even if some hardcore Agatha Christie fans have issues with the latest adaptation. Viewers who haven’t yet had the ending spoiled for them will certainly be shocked by the movie’s closing sequence, as Poirot finally puts the pieces together to discover a most unusual murder. The film also spawned two sequels, Death on the Nile and A Haunting in Venice, both based on other Christie novels.
The First Two Knives Out Movies Are Endlessly Rewatchable
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Ahead of Wake Up Dead Man, the first two Knives Out movies are an excellent choice of murder-mystery movies to stream. Knives Out introduces Daniel Craig’s detective, Benoit Blanc, who must investigate the strange death of Harlan Thrombey, the patriarch of a wealthy family.
The sequel, Glass Onion, takes Blanc on another adventure, this time at the invitation of a wealthy celebrity who manufactures a murder-mystery dinner on his private island—only for the game to suddenly become frighteningly real.
Although each Knives Out film is a standalone story, watching the first two ahead of Wake Up Dead Man will get audiences in the right frame of mind for the sequel, settling into director Rian Johnson’s eccentric storytelling sensibilities and Daniel Craig’s “Kentucky-fried accent.” Knives Out breaks the rules of the mystery genre in all the best ways, subverting tropes and reframing what the audience thinks it knows. There truly are no better murder-mystery movies in modern Hollywood.