The concept of a mystery focused on a closed circle of suspects goes way back — like, all the way back to Victorian novelist Wilkie Collins — and has been a continual source of innovation within crime fiction. The closed-space mystery creates a pliable backdrop against which the smallest details become clues. In the 2019 film, Knives Out, all of the conventions of the murder mystery are executed flawlessly as detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) pieces together the very puzzling circumstances of the death of a wealthy mystery author who was found dead the morning after his birthday party.
Each family member that was present at the party is a suspect, making every dysfunctional aspect of every relationship a liability. While you’re waiting for the third installment in the franchise, check out these other mysteries. From classics to neo-noir to satirical takes on the detective, each of these pieces brings its own flavor of crime-solving entertainment.
Knives Out
Release Date November 27, 2019
Director Rian Johnson
Runtime 130 minutes
10 ‘Fletch’ (1985)
Directed by Michael Ritchie
Fletch injects a comedic twist into the classic whodunit, with SNL alum Chevy Chase front and center. In it, Irwin “Fletch” Fletcher, a resourceful reporter with a sharp tongue and a talent for disappearing in plain sight poses undercover to investigate a suspected drug operation. However, he soon finds himself entangled in a far more complex web of deceit.
Fletch isn’t the typical detective story thanks to the healthy dose of humor thrown in by Chase’s iconic portrayal of Fletch. Chase seamlessly blends comedic timing with detective skills, creating a character that’s as funny as he is resourceful. The film follows Fletch as he goes undercover, encountering a web of lies and hidden agendas, similar to the complex mysteries unraveled in Knives Out. However, Fletch keeps things light with witty dialogue, hilarious disguises, and laugh-out-loud situations. Viewers who love the film can watch its underrated sequel Fletch Lives and the recent reboot released in 2022.
Fletch
Release Date May 31, 1985
Director Michael Ritchie
Cast Chevy Chase , Joe Don Baker , Dana Wheeler-Nicholson , Richard Libertini , Tim Matheson , M. Emmet Walsh
Runtime 98
9 ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ (2011)
Directed by David Fincher
Image via 20th Century Studios
A wealthy family harbors a chilling secret in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the second film adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s acclaimed novel directed by David Fincher. When journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) is hired by Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer) to investigate the 40-year-old disappearance of his niece Harriet, he teams up with the enigmatic hacker Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara). Together, they embark on a dangerous journey while uncovering a series of violent crimes and dark secrets that have plagued the Vanger family for generations.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Knives Out share a genre-bending approach, combining intricate plots with a thrilling tone. Just like in Knives Out, every seemingly insignificant clue in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo leads deeper into the mystery, with every revelation shocking the audience. Both The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Knives Out also have headstrong female protagonists who are fiercely resilient while still vulnerable.
8 ‘Brick’ (2005)
Directed by Rian Johnson
Image via Focus Features
When it comes to finding a film like Knives Out, it’s perhaps most simple and satisfying to track Rian Johnson’s fingerprints on other projects. Over a decade before sneaking the voice of Joseph Gordon-Levitt into Knives Out, he cast Levitt as the leading sleuth in a high school neo-noir called Brick.
In it, a social outcast has to plunge himself into the complicated politics of the various cliques in order to solve his ex-girlfriend’s murder, a woman who he still loves and who — in one of her last known actions on earth — called him for help. Brick is a fascinating look at the power struggles at play in the teenage drug economy. The dialogue, sewn together with Johnson’s characteristic wit, is the driving force of this brooding mystery.
Brick
Release Date April 7, 2006
Actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Noah Fleiss, Matt O’Leary, Noah Segan, Meagan Good, Emilie de Ravin, Richard Roundtree, Lukas Haas
Director Rian Johnson
Run Time 110 minutes
Watch on Amazon Prime
7 ‘Dial M for Murder’ (1954)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
As far as closed-room mysteries featuring writers as characters go, you can’t beat the Alfred Hitchcock classic Dial M for Murder. When Tony Wendice (Ray Milland) plans to kill his wife (Grace Kelly), he thinks it will be simple. He’s discovered that she’s having an affair and uses the opportunity to create blackmail notes that will set up a deadly scenario.
When his plan falls apart, his wife’s lover, Robert Cummings, uses his very specific skill set as a crime fiction writer to piece together what actually happened. Like Knives Out, Dial M for Murder is hyper-focused on specific details, the actions and motives of each character set up like the prompt to a riddle, and also like Knives Out, it delivers a tightly woven thread of suspense.
Rent on Apple TV
6 ‘Clue’ (1985)
Directed by Jonathan Lynn
Image via Paramount Pictures
Not every board game can be adapted into a watchable film, but that’s certainly the case with Clue. For those who have played the game, the premise of the movie is familiar: a group of iconic characters with aliases such as Miss Scarlett (Lesley Ann Warren), Mrs. Peacock (Eileen Brennan) and Prof. Plum (Christopher Lloyd), are invited to a dinner party by Mr. Boddy (Lee Ving) only to discover that each guest is being blackmailed by their host. When Mr. Boddy turns up dead in the middle of the dinner party, everyone is a suspect. Building off a premise already embedded in the cultural zeitgeist, Clue draws attention to the self-referential nature of the murder mystery. Viewers remember these characters because they have moved them as pieces across the board of this movie’s plot. Rather than making the process less enticing, using well-worn narrative structures makes for a very compelling narrative. Like Knives Out, Clue relies on an ensemble cast to provide punch, comedic relief, and all the classic trimmings of a satisfying whodunit.
Clue
Release Date December 13, 1985
Director Jonathan Lynn
Runtime 94 minutes
5 ‘Murder by Death’ (1976)
Directed by Robert Moore
Image via Columbia Pictures
For all its drama and intrigue, one of the defining characteristics of Knives Out is the way that it blends humor and satirical takes on the mystery form with its surprising innovations. If some of you were taken by the film’s funnier moments, you’re sure to love the 1976 comedy Murder by Death, which also combines funny scenes with plenty of mystery and intrigue.
In this flick, five private eyes are invited to a dinner party hosted by Lionel Twain (Truman Capote) in order to solve an unsolvable murder, with the winner receiving a million dollars. Events take a turn for the worse — and the wacky — as each detective learns the true cost of dining with an eccentric, aloof mystery lover. Featuring memorable performances by Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, and Elsa Lanchester, this quirky film is a great moment of brevity in the genre.
Rent on Apple TV
4 ‘Rope’ (1948)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Image via Warner Bros.
Tension, tension, tension. Another one of Hitchcock’s best movies, Rope features some of the same lavish displays of wealth as Knives Out, while further highlighting a kind of amoral edge that comes from privileged idleness. In Rope, two young men (John Dall and Farley Granger) decide to act upon a philosophical exercise they first heard from their old teacher (James Stewart).
To prove their superiority and to display the act of murder as a kind of art form, they strangle one of their friends and place his body in a wooden chest before hosting a dinner party to which they invite, among others, the victim’s father and the teacher who first inspired their plan. Suspense builds in both Rope and Knives Out, but the films generate intrigue in different ways, as Rope builds tension with the knowledge that the killers live dangerously close to being discovered. This slow-burning thriller doesn’t hinge on any missing facts — from the beginning, the who, what, when, and where are all established — but it’s astonishing how much tension remains inside a puzzle that appears to be solved.
Rope (1948)
Release Date September 25, 1948
Cast James Stewart , John Dall , Farley Granger , Dick Hogan , Edith Evanson , Cedric Hardwicke
Runtime 80 Minutes
3 ‘A Simple Favor’ (2018)
Directed by Paul Feig
Image via Lionsgate
Another film that will appeal to those who liked Knives Out for its comedic flair, A Simple Favor is unique in the mystery genre in that the story centers around women. Oftentimes, women present themselves in noir and crime narratives as femme fatales or sidekicks. Here, both the missing person and the main figure driving the search are women. Stephanie (Anna Kendrick), a single mother vlogger, investigates the disappearance of her friend Emily (Blake Lively).
Full of plot twists and noir sensibilities, the film also features performances by Henry Golding, Andrew Rannells, Linda Cardellini, Rupert Friend, and Jean Smart. Similar to the way Knives Out plays upon the power dynamics between the wealthy and the working class, A Simple Favor breaks down the mirages of success from a distinctly feminine perspective.
A Simple Favor
Release Date August 29, 2018
Director Paul Feig
Cast Anna Kendrick , Ian Ho , Joshua Satine , Glenda Braganza , Andy Rannells , Kelly McCormack
Runtime 119
2 ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ (1939)
Directed by Sidney Lanfield
Sometimes it pays to trace your favorite contemporary films and stories back to some of their sources, and that’s definitely the case with The Hound of the Baskervilles. In this Sherlock Holmes tale, Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. Watson (Nigel Bruce) are enlisted to help with solving a family curse. Everyone in the Baskerville family who goes to the region of Devonshire is murdered by a monstrous hound.
Tasked with protecting the final heir (Richard Greene), who is set to arrive at the estate, Holmes is quick to dismiss the concept of the curse, sending Watson ahead of him before finally coming out to assist in solving the mystery. Playing on similar aesthetic forms as Knives Out, Hound of the Baskervilles radiates a complicated kind of nostalgia and remains one of the best of the Sherlock Holmes film adaptations.
Rent on Amazon
1 ‘The Brothers Bloom’ (2008)
Directed by Rian Johnson
If you still haven’t gotten your Rian Johnson fill after Knives Out and Brick, fear not, there’s still The Brothers Bloom. The titular brothers (Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo) have spent most of their lives as con artists. After being orphaned, cons became their way of not only getting money and resources but also of forming friendships and romantic connections.
When the weight of living a life based on a lie starts to weigh on one of the brothers, the other convinces him to do one final trick. This last one brings about some hiccups, including real love placed into a container that had only ever held misdirection. The movie and Knives Out showcase the power of dialogue to entertain, with The Brothers Bloom infusing its story with playful banter and lighthearted comedic moments, reflecting the charming personalities of the con artists. Through the smoke and mirrors of it all, this film is a fascinating portrayal of brotherhood, fabrication, and the kind of twisty plot devices Johnson is known for.
Watch on Tubi
NEXT: The Best Mystery Movies of All Time, Ranked According to IMDb