30 Best Detective Movies Of All Time

Whenever we are talking about detective movies, then suddenly a case study comes in our mind, which can hook us in its suspense. Sometimes the process of the investigations is very exciting that doesn’t allow us to drop even a single shot. Each and every shot come up with a major twist that can totally change the story of the whole movie and force you to think about the next step of the character.

 

Best Detective Movies

1. The Silence Of The Lambs

 

Year: 1991

IMDB Rating: 8.6

Stars:  Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Lawrence A. Bonney

Plot Summary: This detective thriller movie revolves around a young F.B.I. cadet and a killer. F.B.I. cadet and accept the help of an imprisoned and manipulative headhunter killer to discover another serial killer, a nut who strips his victims.

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2. The Fugitive

 

 

Year: 1993

IMDB Rating: 7.8

Stars: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Julianne Moore

Plot Summary: The story is revolving around Dr Richard Kimble, he is wrongly blamed for killing his wife and the U.S. police led manhunt nationwide for him. Therefore, while being targeted he decides to find the real killer. This is one of the best detective movies.

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3. The Usual Suspects

 

Year: 1993

IMDB Rating: 7.8

Stars: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Sela Ward, Julianne Moore

Plot Summary: This is the story of five people who were arrested by police but when police got to know they are innocent then they released them. Afterwards, they want revenge which leads up to a horrific gun battle on a boat.

 

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4. Se7en

 

 

Year: 1995

IMDB Rating: 8.6

Stars: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Spacey

Plot Summary:  This detective thriller movie is all about two detectives, named Rookie, and a Veteran. Both desperately investigate a serial killer, who defends himself by saying that his crimes are punishments for the world to ignore the seven deadly sins. One of the good detective movies.

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5. Fargo

 

Year: 1996

IMDB Rating: 8.1

Stars:  William H. Macy, Frances McDormand, Steve Buscemi

Plot Summary: This detective thriller movie moves around a man who worked in his father-in-law’s firm but to minimize his financial crises, he kidnapped his wife and demand money from his rich father-in-law.

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6.  L.A. Confidential

Year: 1997

IMDB Rating: 8.2

Stars:   Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce

Plot Summary: This is one of the best investigation movies. It’s a story about corruption that increases in the 1950s. In Los Angeles, three policemen – one strait-laced, one rude, and one shabby – examine a series of killings with their brand of justice.

 

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7. Memento

 

Year: 2000

IMDB Rating: 8.4

Stars:   Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano

Plot Summary: It’s a story of a man who has short-term memory loss. His wife was murdered and now, he wants to hunt down his wife’s murderer through the little snippets he remembers.

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8. Mulholland Drive

Year: 2001

IMDB Rating: 8.0

Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux

Plot Summary: This detective thriller movie is a story of two women. One is having black hair who meets an accident. After that she suffers from half memory loss and wanders to the street of Los Angeles, then she met with another woman who is moving toward the city to became the star. They both decide to resolve the mystery of Rita’s true identity.

 

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9. Ocean’s Eleven

Year: 2001

IMDB Rating: 7.7

Stars:  George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts

Plot Summary: This story is all about robbery. There is a character named Danny Ocean, who with his ten associates plans to rob three Las Vegas clubs simultaneously.

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10. Mystic River

 

 

 

Year: 2003

IMDB Rating: 7.9

Stars: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon

Plot Summary: The story revolves around three men, who were childhood friends. Life of three gets destroyed when one of them suffers from a family tragedy. This is the best investigation movie that you ever watched.

 

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11. Memories Of Murder

 

 

Year: 2003

IMDB Rating: 8.1

Stars:  Kang-ho Song, Sang-Kyung Kim, Roe-ha Kim

Plot Summary: This crime-solving movie is a story of a small Korean area. In 1986 many young girls found assaulted and killed by an anonymous criminal. So two detectives struggle to resolve the case.

 

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12. Saw

Year: 2004

IMDB Rating: 7.6

Stars:   Cary Elwes, Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover

Plot Summary: Two guests, who wake up in a room with no memory of how they got there, soon find they are victims in a dangerous game performed by a famous serial killer.

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13. The Departed

 

 

Year: 2006

IMDB Rating: 8.5

Stars:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson

Plot Summary:  This crime action movie involves an undercover agent and a spy. Both constantly attempt to gain access to an Irish gang to acquire secret information.

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14. Gone Baby Gone

 

Year: 2007

IMDB Rating: 7.6

Stars:  Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris, Casey Affleck

Plot Summary: Two Boston city detectives examine a little girl’s kidnapping case, which eventually turns into a crossroads both professionally and individually.

 

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15. Zodiac

 

 

 

Year: 2007

IMDB Rating: 7.7

Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo

Plot Summary: This detective thriller movie is a story of the late 1960s/early 1970s. There is a San Francisco cartoonist who becomes an amateur detective. He wants to hunt down the zodiac killer, he is an unknown person who threatens Northern California with a murder spree.

 

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16. Changeling

 

Year: 2008

IMDB Rating: 7.7

Stars:  Angelina Jolie, Colm Feore, Amy Ryan

Plot Summary: This is a story of a mother who didn’t find his son when she back home after work then she calls L.A.P.D. to investigate after 5 months they find a boy but she claims that he is not her son.

 

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17. Taken

Year: 2008

IMDB Rating: 7.8

Stars:   Liam Neeson, Maggie Grace, Famke Janssen

Plot Summary: Its a story of a retired CIA agent, who tours across Europe and believes in his old skills to save his daughter, who has been kidnapped while on a trip to Paris.

 

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18. The Secret In Their Eyes

Year: 2009

IMDB Rating: 8.2

Stars:  Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago

Plot Summary: In this crime-solving movie a retired legal counsellor prints a novel. Expecting to find a conclusion for one of his earlier unsolved murder cases. Also, for his unreciprocated love with his superior.

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19. Sherlock Holmes

 

Year: 2009

IMDB Rating: 7.6

Stars:   Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams

Plot Summary: Detective Sherlock Holmes and his strong associate Watson involved in a clash of wittiness and power with a nemesis whose plan is to threaten all of England.

 

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20. Shutter Island

 

Year: 2010

IMDB Rating: 8.1

Stars:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Emily Mortimer, Mark Ruffalo

Plot Summary: This crime-solving movie is the story of 1954. Where U.S. cops examine the escape of a murderer but they found that the murderer is left from a hospital. One of the cops also reveals an unexpected truth about the place.

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21. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

Year: 2011

IMDB Rating: 7.8

Stars:  Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer

Plot Summary: The story revolves around a journalist Mikael Blomkvist. He is helped in his search for a woman who has been missing form forty years by Lisbeth Salander, a young computer hacker.

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22. Sherlock Holmes: A Game Of Shadows

Year: 2011

IMDB Rating: 7.5

Stars:   Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Jared Harris

Plot Summary: Detective Sherlock Holmes is on the way of finding criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty, who is taking out a series of random scandals over Europe.

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23. The Body

 

Year: 2012

IMDB Rating: 7.6

Stars:   Jose Coronado, Hugo Silva, Belén Rueda

Plot Summary: In this detective movie the dead body of a girl goes missing from the morgue. Then a detective hunts for the dead body and tries to solve the mystery.

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24. The Imposter

 

Year: 2012

IMDB Rating: 7.5

Stars:  Adam O’Brian, Nicholas Barclay, Carey Gibson

Plot Summary: The movie focuses on a young man, who is a con artist and lives in Spain. He tricked a Texas family into believing that he is their 16-year-old boy who has been missing form the last 3 years.

 

 

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25. Prisoners

 

Year: 2013

IMDB Rating: 8.1

Stars:  Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis

Plot Summary: This best detective movies start with Keller Dover’s daughter. Girl and her friend go missing. Therefore Keller Dover takes matters into his own hands. Police track multiple leads and the pressure mounts.

 

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26. Gone Girl

 

 

Year: 2014

IMDB Rating: 8.1

Stars:  Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris

Plot Summary: This crime-solving movie starts with the wife’s disappearance. That topic has heightened the focus of an intensive media circus. A man notices the attention aimed at him when it’s assumed that he may not be innocent.

 

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27. The Invisible Guest

 

 

Year: 2016

IMDB Rating: 8.1

Stars:  Mario Casas, Ana Wagener, Jose Coronado

Plot Summary: A successful entrepreneur looked in a room with the dead body of his lover. So to find out what was happened and to defend himself, he hires a lawyer. Over the sessions of one night, they work together and come up with a strong argument.

 

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28. Wind River

 

 

Year: 2017

IMDB Rating: 7.7

Stars: Kelsey Asbille, Jeremy Renner, Julia Jones

Plot Summary: In the movie, an expert detective supports an FBI agent. They both examine the death of a young woman on a Wyoming Native American reservation.

 

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29. Searching

 

Year: 2018

IMDB Rating: 7.6

Stars: John Cho, Debra Messing, Joseph Lee

Plot Summary: In the story, a 16-year-old girl goes missing. When her father gets to know about that, he starts an investigation and looks into her laptop to look for evidence to find her.

 

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30. Knives Out

 

Year: 2019

IMDB Rating: 7.9

Stars: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas

Plot Summary: It is a story of a family that is very weird and unusual. One day the police find the death of the chef in the family. Now, this detective movie is revolving around the investigation of the chef’s death.

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We hope these detective thriller movies keep you guys engaged throughout the length of the film. And also force you to solve the mystery alongside in the situation.