25 memorable whodunits to watch after A Haunting In Venice—and where to find them

In this Academy Award-winning film, legendary director Robert Altman (known for his big ensembles and balancing of multiple storylines) makes the perfect pairing with writer Julian Fellowes (creator of every TV period drama you’ve loved from Downton Abbey to The Gilded Age). Together, they tell the upstairs-downstairs story of an old English estate where the owner is suddenly murdered. Emotionally deeper, less focused on plot mechanics, and much more class-conscious than your typical whodunit, brings out the social satire so ingrained in the genre, with not a single bad performance in sight.Gosford Park is available for rental via , , , and .

Instead of a cozy and picturesque English village, takes us to a downtrodden motel alongside a highway, where a group of strangers finds themselves trapped one night by a storm. As it goes in these stories, they start getting killed off one by one. But what is it that ties them all together? Or rather … who? With a cast that includes John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet, and Alfred Molina, the film is more of a psychological thriller that uses a whodunit premise to delve deep into the mind of a killer. Sometimes, quite literally.Identity is available for rental via , , , and .

After helming one of the most controversial modern movies with The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson’s next film was a small passion project that may have single-handedly revived the whodunit genre. Knives Out follows detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) as he investigates the mysterious death of a family patriarch. With the combination of an A-list ensemble, clever and tight storytelling, and an evident love for the genre, it’s no surprise that the movie became a worldwide sensation and spawned a sequel. We hope there’s many more to come.Knives Out is available to stream on , and for subscribers, and for rental via , , , and .

There have been many iconic detectives in the history of the genre. So what would happen if they were all forced to solve a murder together? In this comedy written by Neil Simon, a group of detectives that parody the likes of Hercule Poirot, Miss Marple, Nick and Nora Charles (discussed more below), and The Maltese Falcon’s Sam Spade are forced to come together to get out of a remote castle alive. The film spoofs classic tropes like hidden passageways, identity reveals, and the roles of the staff. The opening credits alone (drawn by Charles Addams) are worth the price of that rental.Murder By Death is available for rental via , , , and .

Perhaps the quintessential Agatha Christie murder mystery, encapsulates everything that makes a good whodunit: a group of people trapped together in an exotic place, a victim that secretly connects them all, and a quirky detective gathering them to explain the motives in the final act. Sydney Lumet’s Oscar-winning 1974 take on the film remains a masterclass on how to shoot an ensemble and deliver heavy exposition, while Kenneth Branagh’s 2017 version kicked off the current whodunit renaissance. Its solution (no spoilers) is also one of the most iconic of the genre.Murder On The Orient Express (1974) is available to stream on , and for rental via , , , and .Murder On The Orient Express (2017) is available to stream on , and to subscribers, and for rental via , , , and .

Whodunits and historical fiction don’t tend to go hand in hand, but maybe that’s why The Name Of The Rose (based on Umberto Eco’s best-selling novel of the same name) stands out . Set in 14th Century Northern Italy, the film follows a rebellious friar (Sean Connery) as he investigates a series of mysterious deaths in an isolated abbey. Blending elements of classic mysteries like Sherlock Holmes with biblical and religious studies, the film is a delightful and deceptively intellectual puzzle box.The Name Of The Rose is available to stream on , and , and for rental via and Vudu.

There’s a natural connection between board games and whodunits. In both, a sense of quiet cleverness is needed to outsmart the circumstances, as well as the knowledge that you should never trust others, and that it can get really personal really fast. In 2019’s , a new bride (Samara Weaving) spends a weekend at the estate of her new husband’s family, who are magnates of a board game empire. She soon realizes they have very particular traditions, and that she needs to outsmart them in order to get out alive. Blending the gears of a whodunit perfectly with horror, the film is smart, witty, and relentless.Ready Or Not is available to stream on , and to subscribers, and for rental via and .

Many of Hitchcock’s films could have potentially made this list. After all, no one portrayed the tension and fear of being chased on screen like he did. In his one-take wonder , two college friends commit a seemingly perfect crime and host a dinner to celebrate, when a reporter starts asking questions. The tension lies not in who did it (after all, that’s revealed in the opening), but rather in why they did it and whether they’ll get caught. The first in Hitchcock’s filmography to be shot in color, the story develops in real-time, with not a second given to the audience to breathe.Rope is available for rental via , , and .

It is considered one of the best and most influential slasher horror movies of the modern era, but it is easy to forget that Scream is also a whodunit at its core. Even among all the blood and guts, the central mystery of practically every film in the series is the same: who among a small group of suspects is behind the Ghostface mask. There’s Sidney (Neve Campbell), Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale (Courteney Cox), the detectives trying to outsmart the killer; and the friends and family you can’t really trust. It’s purely a detective story, just with a little more frights.Scream is available to stream on and , and for rental via , , , and .

This film came and went without much notice, but it is a must-watch for devoted whodunit lovers, especially Agatha Christie fans. In the 1950s West End, a film director (Adrien Brody) is murdered after being hired to direct the adaptation of Christie’s hit play The Mousetrap. Two inspectors (Sam Rockwell and a brilliantly funny Saoirse Ronan) are put on the case, which slowly devolves into a meta-mystery about putting on a murder mystery. Filled with Easter eggs and meta-commentary about Christie’s work, it’s a whodunit distinctly by and for people who love them.See How They Run is available to stream on and , and for rental via , , and .

No list would be complete without the world’s most famous detective. Sherlock Holmes is the literary character that has been portrayed the most times in film and television (over 250 times!), so there’s plenty of media to choose from. However, 2009’s took the iconic detective’s usually grounded cases and turned them into an action-packed epic about a serial killer that seemingly comes back from the dead. With Robert Downey Jr. in the title role and Jude Law as his faithful companion Dr. Watson, this movie proved that the smartest, most intuitive detective in literature could also be cool as hell.Sherlock Holmes is available for rental via , , and .

The second entry in this list where Michael Caine stars in a two-character piece engaging in a battle of wits with another man. In , a young man gets a strange proposal from his ex-lover’s husband. In the 1978 version (the final work of director Joseph L. Mankiewicz), Caine stars alongside acting legend Sir Laurence Olivier. In the 2007 remake (directed by whodunit aficionado Kenneth Branagh), Caine assumes the older role, with Jude Law taking over the younger part. With only two characters in both films, the story is a hotplate of tension, exploding monologues, and intricate plot twists.Sleuth (1972) is unfortunately not available to stream or rent digitally at the time, but there are copies of the DVD available for purchase at Amazon.Sleuth (2007) is available to stream on , and for rental via , , , and .

If Evil Under the Sun was the stylistic inspiration for Glass Onion, The Last Of Sheila was definitely its narrative muse. Written by the Mad Libs collaboration of the Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins (who were in a relationship at the time), the film follows a Hollywood producer who invites former collaborators for a weekend getaway in his yacht. With ulterior motives, of course. Based on Sondheim’s real life scavenger hunts that he made his friends do on vacation, the film features his signature use of word play, reevaluation of facts, and (not so) underlying queer subtext. An absolute classic.The Last Of Sheila is available for rental via , , and .

Before cementing her place in the whodunit canon as Jessica Fletcher in Murder, She Wrote, Angela Lansbury starred in this 1980 adaptation of the Agatha Christie classic as Miss Marple, the neighborhood gossip with surprisingly good detective skills. This film takes her to the set of a movie that’s shooting in her quaint village, and the lead actress (Elizabeth Taylor) who believes she’s the target of a killer. Starring the likes of Kim Novak, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, and Geraldine Chaplin, the film is a camp classic simply because of the pure cattiness that comes out of every actress’ mouth.The Mirror Crack’d is available to stream on and BritBox, and for rental via , , , and .

The oldest movie in the list, is a pre-Code murder mystery comedy that showcases just how risky early Hollywood movies tended to get. Starring Myra Loy and William Powell as Nick and Nora Charles, an amateur detective couple investigating the involvement of a man in a murder case, the film stands out because of the palpable chemistry and charisma of the leads, and the fast-paced, witty dialogue of the script. The film was so successful that it spawned five sequels, and cemented Nick and Nora as two of the most beloved detectives in film.The Thin Man is for rental via , , , and .

is a lot of things: an homage to film noir, a love letter and satire of the Hollywood system, and a groundbreaking technical achievement. But, in the end, it’s all about the title: who framed Roger Rabbit? At the center is the search of private eye Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) to find the person responsible for not only framing the titular character, but for a killing spree of toons across town. It may be less classically structured than other mysteries on the list, and influenced by many other genres. But it’s that blend of styles that makes the film the gem it is.Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is available to stream on , and for rental via , , , and .