Some of the best mystery movies end on an ambiguous note, and this is especially powerful if they are based on real-life cases. While a grand finale that reveals the culprit can be immensely satisfying in the moment, many of the best mystery movies end without a clear resolution. No answer is ever as engaging as a good puzzle, and unsolved mysteries can stay with audiences for much longer.
Movies based on true-crime stories usually offer audiences more to chew on, and they can do their own research long after the credits roll. It’s also interesting to see how filmmakers approach open-ended mysteries, when audiences are so accustomed to having all the answers. Movies can bring real-life criminal cases to life unlike any documentary, pulling audiences into a perplexing mystery.
Related 10 Best Mystery Movie Franchises, Ranked
Mystery is one of the most popular genres in film, which is why it often spawns lengthy franchises — but which ones are the best to watch?
10 Zodiac (2007)
David Fincher Makes His Audience Just As Obsessed With An Unsolved Case As He Is
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Director David Fincher Release Date March 2, 2007 Cast Robert Downey Jr. , Jake Gyllenhaal , Anthony Edwards , Mark Ruffalo , Brian Cox
David Fincher’s crime dramas have often mined into the dark depths of criminal psychology, but Zodiac places the audience into the shoes of the investigators. Jake Gyllenhaal plays a cartoonist who becomes obsessed with uncovering the true identity of the Zodiac killer in San Francisco. Although the case took place in the 1960s, Zodiac‘s approach to citizen sleuthing feels surprisingly modern.
It isn’t just about solving the mystery; it’s also about the intense obsession of a good puzzle.
Just like in real life, the identity of the killer is never revealed in Zodiac, although the investigation does point toward one suspect in particular. However, Zodiac leaves things open to interpretation, and there is just as much evidence discounting Arthur Leigh Allen. Zodiac is a captivating kind of whodunnit. It isn’t just about solving the mystery; it’s also about the intense obsession of a good puzzle. It’s easy to become just as transfixed with the mystery as the characters are.
9 The Black Dahlia (2006)
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Director Brian De Palma Release Date September 15, 2006 Cast Josh Hartnett , Scarlett Johansson , Aaron Eckhart , Hilary Swank , Mia Kirshner , Mike Starr
The Black Dahlia is based on the famous unsolved murder of Elizabeth Short in 1947. Short was given the nickname “Black Dahlia” by sensationalist tabloid newspapers, who were drawn to the gruesome nature of her murder. Her body was found in a park in Los Angeles after being severely mutilated and drained of blood. Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia follows two police officers attempting to solve the case.
De Palma’s movie suggests a possible solution, with Short’s death being tied to her role in a pornographic film.
In real life, the Black Dahlia case remains unsolved, although the LAPD has considered over 150 suspects. De Palma’s movie suggests a possible solution, with Short’s death being tied to her role in a pornographic film. There’s no evidence to suggest that Short ever took on this kind of work, so The Black Dahlia is no more than pure speculation, told in the same style as the film noir movies of the era.
8 The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)
Most Of The Slasher Movie’s Gory Details Are Taken From Real Life
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The Town That Dreaded Sundown is recognized as one of the first slasher movies, released two years before John Carpenter’s Halloween. The movie tells the story of the real-life series of murders which took place in and around the town of Texarkana, Texas in 1946. The Texarkana Moonlight Murders, as they came to be known, were never solved, although the Phantom killed five people and injured three others.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown
stays faithful to the facts of the case, although there isn’t any need to add in extraneous details to make the murders seem any more horrific.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown stays faithful to the facts of the case, although there isn’t any need to add in extraneous details to make the murders seem any more horrific. Many iconic slasher villains seem to draw directly from the Phantom, with his shapeless mask and his slow, deliberate pace. The Town That Dreaded Sundown ends with a meta twist, as the Phantom attends the premiere of the movie, highlighting the fact that he could still be running free.
7 Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)
Martin McDonagh Transforms A Real-Life Case Into His Own Story
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Director Martin McDonagh Release Date November 10, 2017 Cast Clarke Peters , Caleb Landry Jones , Abbie Cornish , Željko Ivanek , Sam Rockwell , Peter Dinklage , Lucas Hedges , Frances McDormand , John Hawkes , Woody Harrelson , Samara Weaving
Martin McDonagh’s darkly comic masterpiece Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri stars Frances McDormand in Oscar-winning form as a grieving mother who pressures the local police department for failing to solve her daughter’s murder. Although her actions cause a stir in her town, she ends up without any clarity about who is responsible. She finds one suspect, but he is ruled out by both DNA and an airtight alibi.
Martin McDonagh’s darkly comic masterpiece
Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri
stars Frances McDormand in Oscar-winning form.
Three Billboards ends with the mother and one of the police officers teaming up to drive across the country to confront their only suspect. They know he isn’t culpable for her daughter’s murder, but they have strong enough evidence to believe he has killed another anonymous woman. Three Billboards is loosely based on a true story, but McDonagh makes a lot of changes to the Kathy Page case.
6 Without A Paddle (2004)
Without A Paddle Is A Comic Fantasy About Solving A Famous Mystery
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Director Steven Brill Release Date August 20, 2004 Cast Matthew Price , Andrew Hampton , Jarred Rumbold , Carl Snell , Antony Starr , Dax Shepard
Without a Paddle is a raunchy comedy about three friends who go looking for hidden treasure in the woods. Although their story is entirely fictional, the treasure they go looking for is linked to a real-life case which has attracted endless speculation ever since 1971. A man known by the alias D.B. Cooper hijacked a flight from Portland to Seattle and parachuted off into the night with $200,000 in cash.
Although D.B. Cooper was never caught and his real identity has remained unknown for over 50 years, amateur sleuths have put forward their own solutions.
Although D.B. Cooper was never caught and his real identity has remained unknown for over 50 years, amateur sleuths have put forward their own solutions. Without a Paddle suggests that he parachuted into a mine shaft, and had to burn half of the cash for warmth. This supports the popular theory that Cooper didn’t survive the jump, although his remains have never been found.
5 The Irishman (2019)
Jimmy Hoffa’s Disappearance Is One Of America’s Great Mysteries
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Director Martin Scorsese Release Date November 27, 2019 Cast Bobby Cannavale , Jack Huston , Joe Pesci , Jesse Plemons , Sebastian Maniscalco , Al Pacino , Kathrine Narducci , Stephen Graham , Ray Romano , Aleksa Palladino , Anna Paquin , Robert De Niro , Harvey Keitel , Jake Hoffman Expand
One of the most popular unsolved mysteries in American history is the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa. The union leader was a hugely influential political figure in the 1960s. Throughout his tenure as president of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Hoffa was plagued by accusations that he held ties to organized crime, and many people believe this had something to do with his disappearance.
Hoffa was plagued by accusations that he held ties to organized crime, and many people believe this had something to do with his disappearance.
Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman tells the story which Charles Brandt lays out in his book, which alleges that Hoffa was killed by Frank Sheeran on the orders of the mafia. Al Pacino delivers a brilliant performance as Hoffa, capturing his big personality right up until his dying day. Although Brandt alleges that Sheeran confessed to him in person, there are many who reject his version of events, and Hoffa’s fate remains a mystery.
4 Loving Vincent (2017)
Some Historians Believe That Vincent Van Gogh Was Murdered
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Director Dorota Kobiela , Hugh Welchman Release Date September 22, 2017 Cast Robert Gulaczyk , Douglas Booth , Jerome Flynn , Saoirse Ronan , Helen McCrory , Chris O’Dowd , John Sessions , Eleanor Tomlinson , Aidan Turner
Vincent van Gogh’s death has been the subject of much debate in the art world. The official verdict is that van Gogh shot himself in the chest before dying two days later, but there are some odd details about the case which suggest that he may have been murdered. His confession that he fired the shot could have been his way of protecting the real culprit, whether they shot him accidentally or on purpose.
Loving Vincent
‘s eye-catching oil painting animation tells the story of one man’s investigation into van Gogh’s death.
Loving Vincent‘s eye-catching oil painting animation tells the story of one man’s investigation into van Gogh’s death. By talking to people who spent time with the artist in his final days, Armand Roulin sees that some things don’t add up. The movie draws on the theory put forward in Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith’s biography Van Gogh: The Life, which focuses on the evidence which suggests van Gogh’s bullet wound must have come from several feet away, and that he was mentally stable in the days before his death.
3 The Bank Job (2008)
Jason Statham’s Heist Thriller Promises The Real Scoop
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Director Roger Donaldson Release Date February 19, 2008 Cast Jason Statham
There aren’t many heist movies which are based on real cases, but the story of the 1971 Baker Street Robbery could be stranger than fiction. The true story behind The Bank Job has plenty of holes in it, and the true purpose of the heist is still somewhat mysterious. Police only ever managed to recover a small amount of the stolen money, and there are some more unanswered questions.
According to the producers of
The Bank Job,
the Jason Statham movie contains some real information about the case which has never been made public before.
According to the producers of The Bank Job, the Jason Statham movie contains some real information about the case which has never been made public before. The Bank Job alleges that the true target of the heist was a collection of compromising photos of Princess Margaret. Theoretically, these photographs could be much more valuable than the cash that was taken in the robbery. Until the British police unseal the documents relating to the case in the year 2071, The Bank Job‘s version of events will likely remain just another theory.
2 Memories Of Murder (2003)
The Case Was Unsolved At The Time
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Director Bong Joon Ho Release Date May 2, 2003 Cast Kang-ho Song , Sang-kyung Kim , Roe-ha Kim , Jae-ho Song , Hie-bong Byeon , Seo-hie Ko
Bong Joon-ho’s crime thriller Memories of Murder is based on a series of rapes and murders that took place in South Korea in the 1980s. A lot of the gruesome details in Memories of Murder are taken from real life, without the need for any embellishment. At the time, the case was unsolved, but South Korean police had a breakthrough years later which led to them identifying the culprit as a man who was already serving a life sentence for another crime.
Memories of Murder
details the obsession and stress that accompanies such a high-profile case, but it also has some dark humor.
Memories of Murder details the obsession and stress that accompanies such a high-profile case, but it also has some dark humor. It satirizes the inefficient nature of South Korean criminal justice system, explaining that many cases are hindered by basic human error. This is a big difference to most western mystery movies, in which the efficacy of law enforcement is rarely called into question.
1 From Hell (2001)
Jack The Ripper Is One Of The Most Famous Unsolved Cases Of All Time
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Director Albert Hughes , Allen Hughes Release Date October 19, 2001 Cast Robbie Coltrane , Ian Holm , Heather Graham , Johnny Depp , Ian Richardson
From Hell is based on one of the most infamous unsolved murder cases of all time, the series of killings which took place in London in the 19th century attributed to “Jack the Ripper”. From Hell is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, and it’s an intriguing blend of fact and fiction. Johnny Depp stars as a Scotland Yard inspector on the trail of Jack the Ripper.
From Hell
is based on the graphic novel by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, and it’s an intriguing blend of fact and fiction.
Frederick Abberline was a real investigator involved in the Jack the Ripper case, but From Hell imagines a lot of conversations and details about his personal life. This typifies the movie’s approach to historical fidelity. One thing that the movie does keep 100% faithful is the fact that the case remains unsolved. From Hell is more interested in the panic that grips London and the media frenzy around the killings than actually suggesting a possible solution.