Last updated March 2024
On the prowl for phenomenal Best Mystery Movies 2018 to watch now? We compiled 30 spectacular, must-see Best Mystery Movies 2018 backed by outstanding reviews from IMDB and our own discerning users. Dive right into these universally beloved titles handpicked for broad appeal across all audiences. Help fellow fans uncover hidden gems by voting for your personal favorites. We value your contributions showcasing elite titles!
Raatchasan (2018)
Plot Summary:
A serial killer is murdering school girls, and a newbie cop has to track him down before the victim count increases
Duration: 170 min
IMDB Rating: 8.3/10
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: India
Plot tags: serial killer, police, spy, life & death, intrigue, hate, murder, psycho, investigation, secret service, murder mystery, entertainment, plot twist, innovation, rookie, police investigation, child kidnapping, school, teacher, schoolgirl, interrogation, rich and poor, fashion, child abduction, tamil
Andhadhun (2018)
Plot Summary:
A series of mysterious events changes the life of a blind pianist who now must report a crime that was actually never witnessed by him
Duration: 139 min
IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
IMDB Votes: 100000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: India
Plot tags: blind man, musician, blindness, pianist, murder, affair, evidence, love and romance, murder witness, witnessing a crime, blindness and impaired vision, plot twist, dark humor, murder investigation, deception, murder mystery, witness, loss of eyesight, musician's life, visual impairment, characters in danger, blind character, whodunit, heist, investigation
Searching (2018)
Plot Summary:
After his 16-year-old daughter goes missing, a desperate father breaks into her laptop to look for clues to find her. A thriller that unfolds entirely on computer screens
Duration: 102 min
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
IMDB Votes: 177000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Russia
Plot tags: missing person, father daughter relationship, found footage, social media, missing child, internet, disappearance, mysterious disappearance, search and rescue, instagram, facebook, missing daughter, loneliness, missing girl, parents and children, presumed dead, police detective, police, determination, teenager, father, plot twist, cyberspace, teenage life, single parent
Burning (2018)
Plot Summary:
Deliveryman Jongsu is out on a job when he runs into Haemi, a girl who once lived in his neighborhood. She asks if he'd mind looking after her cat while she's away on a trip to Africa. On her return she introduces to Jongsu an enigmatic young man named Ben, who she met during her trip. And one day Ben tells Jongsu about his most unusual hobby
Duration: 148 min
IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB Votes: 74000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: South Korea, Japan
Plot tags: class differences, metaphor, suspicion, stalking, arson, anger, aspiring writer, rural setting, childhood friend, tragic love, asian, fire, nudity, trial, slow burn, sex scene, childhood memory, parasite, disappearance, lawyer, missing person, male nudity, serial killer, twists and turns, revenge
Happy as Lazzaro (2018)
Plot Summary:
The tale of a meeting between Lazzaro, a young peasant so good that he is often mistaken for simple-minded, and Tancredi, a young nobleman cursed by his imagination. Life in their isolated pastoral village Inviolata is dominated by the terrible Marchesa Alfonsina de Luna, the queen of cigarettes. A loyal bond is sealed when Tancredi asks Lazzaro to help him orchestrate his own kidnapping
Duration: 128 min
IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Country: Italy, Switzerland, France, Germany
Plot tags: magic realism, wolf, poverty, missing person, debt, peasant, rich and poor, blood, teenager, saint, lgbt teen, lsd, beauty, humanity, woman, open ending, social injustice, young adult, cathartic, village, friendship, abandoned house, falling from height, ransom demand, fake kidnapping
Mirage (2018)
Plot Summary:
On November 9, 1989 (the same day that Wall of Berlin falls), Nico is a 12 years old boy passionate to videotape himself playing guitar, being care lovely by her single mother María. This same night, when starts a 72-hours storm, Nico watches a violent scene through the window in the house of his neighbor Ángel Prieto. Moving to the house, he discovers Hilda Weiss, Prieto's wife, dead in the house. Running from Prieto, Nico is run over by a car, dying in the crash. 25 years later, November 9, 2014, Vera Roy is a woman who divides her time between her work as nurse in the hospital and the family with her husband David Ortiz and her little daughter Gloria. To celebrate their moving to a new house in the suburb, they invite her friend and former boyfriend Aitor Medina and his mother Clara, where Vera learns that she and David are in Nico's house and that after Nico's death, Ángel Prieto was arrested and he committed suicide three months later in prison. This night after the dinner, Vera
Duration: 128 min
IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
IMDB Votes: 63000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Spain
Plot tags: parallel universe, time travel, time paradox, time, uncover truth, plot twist, disappearance, female protagonist, husband wife relationship, fantasy world, investigation, alternate timeline, butterfly effect, alternate universe, psychology, time loop, supernatural, parallel world, puzzle, mind game, affair, crime scene, european, police, unrequited love
The Purity of Vengeance (2018)
Plot Summary:
In an older apartment in Copenhagen, some craftsmen make a scary discovery: behind a fake wall they find three mummified bodies sitting around a dining table with a free space ready. Carl Mørck and Assad from Department Q now have to find out who the mummies are and for whom the fourth place is intended. They soon discover that the previous inhabitants of the apartment trace back to an infamous women's hospital at Sprogø island, where attempts at forced sterilization were a regular part of the daily lives of the women who were brought to the hospital. The horror at the hospital is an overdue chapter in the history of Denmark, but there are people who say that the experiments are still up in our time. Carl and Assad start a race with time to prevent new murders and assaults
Duration: 119 min
IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Denmark, Germany
Plot tags: investigation, danger, murder, medical experiment, partner, undercover, mockery, murder mystery, nordic, conspiracy, whodunit, teenager, police officer, vengeance, nypd, control, female nudity, abused woman, cold case, revenge, island, young woman, sex scene, murder investigation, sexual abuse
Hereditary (2018)
Plot Summary:
After their reclusive grandmother passes away, the Graham family begins to unravel cryptic and increasingly terrifying secrets about their ancestry. The more they discover, the more they find themselves trying to outrun the sinister fate they seem to have inherited
Duration: 127 min
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
IMDB Votes: 364000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: fear, supernatural horror, ghost, dysfunctional family, demon, seance, grief, supernatural, evil spirit, possession, secret society, funeral, death, ritual, attic, mother daughter relationship, car accident, husband wife relationship, trauma, terror, guilt, family tragedy, traumatic experience, dead body, satanism
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)
Plot Summary:
An anthology film weaving together the stories of six individuals in the old West at the end of the Civil War
Duration: 133 min
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
IMDB Votes: 163000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Musical, Mystery, Romance, Western
Country: USA
Plot tags: old west, dog, cowboy, native american, arizona desert, new mexico desert, murder, violence, trapper, multiple storylines, wild west, bounty hunter, shooting, prostitute, gambling, magical, dark humor, civil war, hippie, past, gunslinger, lsd, parents, vigilante, mission
The Tale (2018)
Plot Summary:
An investigation into one woman’s memory as she‘s forced to re-examine her first sexual relationship and the stories we tell ourselves in order to survive
Duration: 114 min
IMDB Rating: 7.2/10
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Plot tags: childhood sexual abuse, investigation, mother daughter relationship, pedophile, first sexual experience, sexual abuse, loss of virginity, forced sex, child rape, 13 year old, woman, older man younger woman relationship, coach, abuse, sexualized violence, teenage girl, manipulation, college professor, trauma, virginity, feminist, rape, memory, horse, teenager
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)
Plot Summary:
Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe's El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past in 1969. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption... before everything goes to hell. A young concierge greets the strangers: a down-on-his-luck priest, a singer, an impressionable Southern girl and her older sister, a vacuum cleaner salesman, and a charismatic cult leader
Duration: 141 min
IMDB Rating: 7.1/10
IMDB Votes: 161000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: hotel, motel, survival, psychopath, surveillance, dishonesty, criminal, kidnapping, dark secret, ruse, danger, death, disorder, betrayal, gunfight, fear, hotel room, cult leader, multiple perspectives, deception, organized crime, hippie, redemption, secret, violence
The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion (2018)
Plot Summary:
Ja-yoon is a high school student who struggles with memory loss after she endured some unknown trauma during her childhood. While trying to uncover the truth, she is unwittingly dragged into a world of crime and finds herself on a journey that will awaken many secrets hidden deep within
Duration: 125 min
IMDB Rating: 7.1/10
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: audition, fight, amnesia, survival, violence, human experiment, doctor, family relations, life is a bitch, runaway, professor, society, danger, adaptation, teenager, parents and children, brutality, showbiz, escapades, superhero, martial arts, revenge, macabre, witchcraft, mission
Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)
Plot Summary:
In 1984, a young programmer begins to question reality as he adapts a dark fantasy novel into a video game. A mind-bending tale with multiple endings
Duration: 90 min
IMDB Rating: 7.1/10
IMDB Votes: 135000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Plot tags: computer, alternate reality, programmer, video game, free will, time travel, twists and turns, psychology, male protagonist, mind, repeated scene, cyberpunk, technology, computer game, conspiracy, hacker, plot twist, behavior control, distopia, time loop, psycho, mental disorder, writers, experiment, underground
Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
Plot Summary:
FBI agent Matt Graver teams up with operative Alejandro Gillick to prevent Mexican drug cartels from smuggling terrorists across the U.S. border
Duration: 122 min
IMDB Rating: 7.1/10
IMDB Votes: 162000
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Plot tags: cartel, black ops, terrorist, cia, drug cartel, u.s. mexico border, cia agent, organized crime, mission, kidnapping, military, brutality, commando raid, rescue, corruption, warrior, drug, terrorism, agent, deception, federal agent, commando unit, spy, war on drugs, dea
Border (2018)
Plot Summary:
When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind
Duration: 110 min
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: Sweden, Denmark
Plot tags: customs officer, father daughter relationship, troll, border guard, sadistic psychopath, sexuality, norse mythology, baby, forest, sex scene, supernatural horror, child molestation, folk horror, child abuse, human becomes animal, female warrior, body horror, deformity, animal cruelty, extreme, nordic, psychology, childhood trauma, human animal relationship, experiment
Tully (2018)
Plot Summary:
Marlo, a mother of three including a newborn, is gifted a night nanny by her brother. Hesitant to the extravagance at first, Marlo comes to form a bond with the thoughtful, surprising, and sometimes challenging nanny named Tully
Duration: 95 min
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery
Country: USA, Canada
Plot tags: motherhood, family relations, depression, nanny, female protagonist, mother, plot twist, baby, autism, marriage, parents and children, baby girl, sister in law, newborn baby, split personality, twists and turns, postpartum depression, hallucination, pregnancy, parent child relationship, threesome, brother sister relationship, mental breakdown, party, bare breasts
Everybody Knows (2018)
Plot Summary:
Laura, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns to her hometown outside Madrid with her Argentinian husband and children. However, the trip is upset by unexpected events that bring secrets into the open
Duration: 133 min
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Spain, France, Italy, Argentina, Germany
Plot tags: kidnapping, ransom demand, wedding, family secret, ex-lover, investigation, deception, lie, mother daughter relationship, husband wife relationship, sister sister relationship, mission, expose, multiple suspects, intrigue, getting home, dark past, tragic event, evil plot, wine, mafia, hunting, past, parenthood, nude photography
Annihilation (2018)
Plot Summary:
A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply
Duration: 115 min
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
IMDB Votes: 353000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Plot tags: female protagonist, creature, dna, mutation, scientist, expedition, research, genetic mutation, terror, biologist, transformation, mission, psychologist, genetics, professor, secret mission, scientific experiment, macabre, survival, supernatural, beast, cosmic horror, science, blood, survivor
A Simple Favor (2018)
Plot Summary:
Mommy vlogger Stephanie joins her best friend Emily's husband, Sean, to investigate her sudden disappearance from their small town
Duration: 117 min
IMDB Rating: 6.8/10
IMDB Votes: 159000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Plot tags: missing person, ruse, investigation, deception, murder, murder investigation, blackmail, female friendship, dark past, missing woman, small town, death, life insurance, murder by drowning, mother, secret, police investigation, missing friend, police detective, lesbian love, skinny dipping, female nudity, arson, secret past, single mother
Freaks (2018)
Plot Summary:
Kept locked inside the house by her father, 7-year-old Chloe lives in fear and fascination of the outside world, where Abnormals create a constant threat - or so she believes. When a mysterious stranger offers her a glimpse of what's really happening outside, Chloe soon finds that while the truth isn't so simple, the danger is very real
Duration: 105 min
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
IMDB Votes: 39000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Plot tags: father daughter relationship, super powers, mind control, grandfather granddaughter relationship, overprotective father, escape, superpower, neighbor, invisibility, isolation, new world, secret passageway, threat, mutant, little girl, young girl, dystopia, superhero, teenager, virus, revenge, distopia, time travel, women, space and aliens
Summer of 84 (2018)
Plot Summary:
Summer is usually a time for fun and games, but some teens get much more danger than they bargained for after beginning to suspect their neighbor is a serial murderer
Duration: 105 min
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada
Plot tags: serial killer, group of friends, friendship, murder suspect, psychopath, neighbor, murder, private investigation, basement, murder mystery, child killer, cop, surveillance, teenage boy, psycho killer, child protagonist, home invasion, friendship between teens, suspicion, serial child killer, teenager, four friends, suburbs, paranoia, coming of age
Suspiria (2018)
Plot Summary:
A young ballet dancer travels to a prestigious dance academy in Europe, only to discover it is a front for something far more sinister and supernatural amidst a series of increasingly grisly murders
Duration: 152 min
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
IMDB Votes: 89000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy, USA
Plot tags: good versus evil, ritual sacrifice, dead woman, witchcraft, paranormal phenomena, mysterious event, telepathy, curse, occult, spiritualism, corporal punishment, abuse of power, witch, murder, mysterious disappearance, macabre, dark secret, coven, broken leg, bloodbath, conspiracy, dance performance, psychotherapist, secret, gore
Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018)
Plot Summary:
In an alternative Victorian Age Gotham City, Batman begins his war on crime while he investigates a new series of murders by Jack the Ripper
Duration: 78 min
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Crime, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: batman, superhero, serial killer, masked vigilante, jack the ripper, gotham city, steampunk, heroes, alternate history, fantasy world, double life, murder investigation, vigilante, police corruption, rich, millionaire, warrior, tough guy, justice, rescue, corruption, multiverse, courage, heroism, fighting crime
Bird Box (2018)
Plot Summary:
A woman and a pair of children are blindfolded and make their way through a post-apocalyptic setting along a river
Duration: 124 min
IMDB Rating: 6.6/10
IMDB Votes: 377000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Plot tags: survival, end of the world, epidemic, post apocalypse, creature, blindness, fear, pursuit, survival horror, suicide, parents and children, characters murdered one by one, dystopia, murder, bird, post apocalyptic, supernatural horror, apocalypse, single mother, river, boyfriend girlfriend conflict, pandemic, supermarket, monster, running
City of Lies (2018)
Plot Summary:
Los Angeles Police Department detective Russell Poole has spent years trying to solve his biggest case -- the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur -- but after two decades, the investigation remains open. Jack Jackson, a reporter desperate to save his reputation and career, is determined to find out why. In search of the truth, the two team up and unravel a growing web of institutional corruption and lies
Duration: 112 min
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Plot tags: true crime, murder investigation, undercover agent, police officer killed, police detective, interview, police corruption, uncover truth, gang, who done it, law enforcement, partner, police station, gangster, ghetto, police, murder, human trafficking, bad cop, urban, judiciary, buddy cop, social commentary, bank robbery, car chase
The Clovehitch Killer (2018)
Plot Summary:
A teenage boy begins to suspect that his wholesome, all-American dad is actually the serial killer terrorizing their small town
Duration: 109 min
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB Votes: 33000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, father son relationship, church, psycho killer, serial murder, dark past, man kills a woman, double life, teenage boy, small town, investigation, youth, death, bad guys win, homicidal maniac, teenager, killer, boy scout, family relations, psychopath, friendship, murder, fear, mysterious villain, sexual identity
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
Plot Summary:
Young and disenchanted Sam meets a mysterious and beautiful woman who's swimming in his building's pool one night. When she suddenly vanishes the next morning, Sam embarks on a surreal quest across Los Angeles to decode the secret behind her disappearance, leading him into the murkiest depths of mystery, scandal and conspiracy
Duration: 139 min
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: obsession, surrealism, swimming pool, conspiracy theory, conspiracy, secret society, dog, parrot, disappearance, missing person, party, male nudity, masturbation, following someone, skunk, secret message, father daughter relationship, seduction, investigation, occult, moral ambiguity, swimming, teenager, underground, alternate reality
Unsane (2018)
Plot Summary:
A woman is involuntarily committed to a mental institution amid uncertainty as to whether her greatest fear is real or delusional
Duration: 98 min
IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: obsession, mental institution, stalking, psychopath, mental illness, maniac, mental patient, murder, stalker, sexual assault, psychiatric ward, fear, loneliness, doctor, facebook, insurance scam, mentally unstable protagonist, psychology, kidnapping, pursuit, mental disorder, rape, mind game, hospital, sexual harassment
Incident in a Ghostland (2018)
Plot Summary:
A mother of two inherits a home from her aunt. On the first night in the new home she is confronted with murderous intruders and fights for her daughters' lives. Sixteen years later the daughters reunite at the house, and that is when things get strange
Duration: 91 min
IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, France
Plot tags: nightmare, home invasion, serial killer, ghost, sister sister relationship, insanity, sisters, female protagonist, danger, paranoid schizophrenia, paranoia, doll, violence, mother daughter relationship, escape, haunted, basement, blood, supernatural horror, torture, paranoid, terror, teenager, macabre, mission
The Commuter (2018)
Plot Summary:
A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him
Duration: 104 min
IMDB Rating: 6.3/10
IMDB Votes: 123000
Genere: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, France, China, Canada
Plot tags: train, conspiracy, train station, fight, police, blood, attempted murder, witness, deception, destruction, cop, train crash, pistol, money, hostage, race against time, runaway train, die hard, telephone call, fbi, train wreck, blood splatter, plot twist, courage, deal