With Wake up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery now on Netflix—just in time to give us the perfect movie to stick on when we’re sick of talking to our relatives—the time-honoured ‘Whodunit’ is once again cinema’s most talked about genre.
This is the third instalment in Rian Johnson’s Knives Out universe, a franchise that has singlehandedly brought the daytime-TV-coded crime staple hurtling back into fashion, one piece of perfectly calibrated knitwear at a time. All of which begs the question: Once the crimes of Dead Man are solved, which gruesome case files should you be opening next?
Before we get started on our list of the 10 Best ‘Whodunits’, it’s important to set some boundaries. First of all, this is not a catch-all ‘murder mystery’ list, so don’t expect to see classics like Zodiac or Memories of Murder. As perfect as those movies are, we are sticking to the format here—meaning a group of distinct and eccentric characters, rounded up in a single location with a crime to solve and plenty of twists and turns along the way.
Secondly, the same goes for those Raymond Chandler-inspired movies like Johnson’s earlier film Brick or Who Framed Roger Rabbit—I mean, sure, they make us wonder “who” has done “it”, but they’re just not the same. In any case, read on to discover more and use the guide below to find out where to stream them.
1. Knives Out (2019)
Let’s start with the high watermark of the current revival. Upon release in 2019, Johnson’s Knives Out was immediately heralded as a gripping and hilarious banger—certainly enough that Netflix felt compelled to fork out almost half a billion USD for the pleasure of the next two sequels. This deal has now given us both Glass Onion (just okay?) and Wake Up Dead Man (a clear return to form).
The first Knives Out, however, remains the gold standard—a wonderfully knotty mystery that keeps you guessing till the very end. And like any great ‘Whodunit’, it boasts a cast that will keep you glued to the screen—including Ana de Armas (No Time to Die), Chris Evans (Captain America: Civil War) and even the late, great Cristopher Plummer (The Sound of Music).
2. A Haunting in Venice (2023)
Given Johnson’s success with Knives Out, you’d think that the new wave of ‘Whodunits’ all came after it—but to give it its due, Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express (released in 2017) kind of got there first. That movie was nothing special, to be honest, nor was the Gal Gadot-starring sequel, Death of the Nile, but with the trilogy-making A Haunting in Venice, Branagh finally found the right mixture of intrigue and camp.
This is the one where Branagh’s Poirot is pulled out of retirement for one last job, and Michelle Yeoh plays a psychic medium—so if you like seeing Yeoh doing weird stuff like this, you’re probably gonna like it.
3. Rear Window (1954)
A quick glance at Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window—a movie about an injured writer who starts to believe he’s seen a terrible crime through one of his neighbour’s windows—might not suggest a straight up ‘Whodunit’, but just look at how Hitch sets it up: the crime is elusive, the suspects are each a specific ‘type’, and the surroundings—that incredible set in particular—give the movie the typical ‘Whodunit’ feel of a tabletop board game.
This is one to check out if you’re a fan of Hitchcock’s movies from that period, especially Vertigo and North by Northwest.
4. Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
Naturally, Agatha Christie—the patron saint of the genre—is very well represented on this list, and if you’re a fan of what Branagh has been up to with the author’s work, I’d highly recommend going back to check out this classic from 1974.
The production could hardly be glitzier—directed by Sidney Lumet (12 Angry Men), this incarnation of Murder on the Orient Express stars Albert Finney (Erin Brockovich) as Poirot in a cast that features Lauren Bacall, Sean Connery, Vanessa Redgrave and Ingrid Bergman, who won her third Oscar for the role.
5. Gosford Park (2001)
After directing Nashville and The Player, Robert Altman had basically become synonymous with a new kind of ensemble drama. With that in mind, his decision to write and direct Gosford Park—a classic ‘Whodunit’ If ever there was one—makes all kinds of sense.
Like a good game of Cluedo, all the pieces are very much in place here: the cavernous mansion, the outsider detective, and a classic roster of suspects—everyone from the ruthless matriarch to the ruthless social climber is present and accounted for. If you’re looking for a classy comp to Knives Out—i.e. a murder mystery that leans into all the genre’s most delicious tropes—look no further.
6. Clue (1985)
While we’re on the topic of Cluedo, this movie literally took its name from the board game—at least the one it’s known by in North America. For comparison, if Gosford Park is Knives Out’s classier cousin, Jonathan Lynn’s riotously self-aware movie Clue leans more into the genre’s potential for comedy.
Based directly on the board game, this one stars wonderful character actors like Cristopher Lloyd and Eileen Brennan alongside the great Tim Curry—so if you’re a fan of him in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, you will want to see it.
7. The Hateful Eight (2015)
With its mood, setting and score, The Hateful Eight is naturally best known as Tarantino’s Western—but it’s also the director’s ‘Whodunit’. We get the lone night, the single location, the eccentric character types, the gradually unravelling mystery and the twists and turns—all well-worn staples of the genre.
This is naturally one to check out if you like Tarantino’s style, but also if you’re fond of snowy Westerns like McCabe and Mrs Miller.
8. Witness for the Prosecution (1958)
One of the less well-known Christie adaptations on our list comes courtesy of the legendary director Billy Wilder, who, along with making legendary comedies like The Apartment and Some Like It Hot, also helped establish film noir with classics like Double Indemnity.
We might be testing the limits of the ‘Whodunit’ definition with this story of a man accused of murdering a wealthy widow, but Witness for the Prosecution, a film that won Best Picture in 1958, is well worth checking out. If you like the classics and appreciate courtroom dramas like 12 Angry Men, be sure to do just that
9. Death on the Nile (1978)
Branagh might not have nailed this Christie classic in 2022, but John Guillermin’s 1978 version of Death on the Nile is well worth seeking out. Filmed on location in Egypt, the Towering Inferno director managed to round up a cast featuring Bette Davis, Angela Lansbury, Jane Birkin, Mia Farrow, David Niven and Maggie Smith, with Peter Ustinov in the Poirot role.
This is definitely one for the Murder, She Wrote fans out there, or for anyone who appreciates Bette Davis (All About Eve) at her sardonic. I mean, just check out this poster.
10. The Last of Sheila (1973)
We’ll end our list, perhaps fittingly, with The Last of Sheila —a movie that was written by the unlikely duo of Anthony Perkins (Psycho) and Stephen Sondheim (West Side Story). This 1973 ‘Whodunit’ takes place on a luxury yacht, where a movie producer attempts to work out who amongst his fellow passengers is responsible for the death of his wife.
This might not be the best known of the movies on our list, but the casting—it features Raquel Welch (One Million Years B.C.) and James Coburn (The Magnificent Seven) alongside a young Ian McShane (John Wick)—is just as tasty.
