The 15 Best Detective Movies Of All Time, Ranked

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Few genres have been as durable over the years as the detective movie. It lends itself to good storytelling by its very nature: there's a mystery that needs solving, and the audience is guided through the various suspects, clues, and motives by a smart and clever investigator. Whether it's Philip Marlowe, Hercule Poirot, or Benoit Blanc, viewers delight in watching someone put the pieces together, and the very best detective films both surprise us and challenge us to figure things out on our own. The best of the best welcome repeat viewings so that we can better appreciate the twists and turns that lead us to the inevitable conclusion.

The structure of the detective movie is so sturdy that it's proven suitable to a variety of styles and genres, from pitch-black noirs to screwball comedies, from serial killer dramas to action thrillers. There have been so many great entries throughout the decades that narrowing down the highlights to a select few required some investigative work of our own. Like Sherlock Holmes, we've scoured critics' lists, Rotten Tomatoes scores, and fan rankings to come up with a definitive survey. Here are the 15 best detective movies of all time, ranked.

Belgian detective Hercule Poirot (Albert Finney) boards the Orient Express in search of rest and relaxation after successfully solving a case in Istanbul. His trip back home is interrupted when American businessman Samuel Ratchett (Richard Widmark) is murdered in his compartment. Everyone on board is a suspect, and Poirot questions each of them after an avalanche stops the train in its tracks.

Adaptations of Agatha Christie novels are almost as old as cinema itself, and have continued into the 21st century under the auspices of filmmaker Kenneth Branagh. Their twisty plots and large casts of characters feel ready-made for elegant potboilers featuring all-star ensembles. Sidney Lumet's 1974 version is classic entertainment at its best, featuring a who's who of Old Hollywood stars and giants of the British stage. The film earned six Oscar nominations and won the best supporting actress prize for Ingrid Bergman, who plays a Swedish missionary with hidden secrets.

Cast: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Jacqueline Bisset, Sean Connery, Anthony Perkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Richard Widmark, Michael York

Director: Sidney Lumet

Rating: PG

Runtime: 128 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

When mystery writer Harlan Thrombey (Christopher Plummer) is murdered in his home on his 85th birthday, private detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) shows up to solve the crime. Although the police believe it was a suicide, Blanc thinks Thrombey was actually murdered at the hands of one of his family members, who have gathered at his massive estate for a birthday celebration. Turns out Harlan's nurse, Marta (Ana de Armas), accidentally gave him a lethal dose of morphine, but there's more to that than meets the eye.

2019's "Knives Out" was such a popular success that it spawned an ongoing franchise at Netflix, with the second installment, "Glass Onion," premiering in 2022 and the third, "Wake Up Dead Man," arriving in 2025. Rian Johnson's Oscar-nominated screenplay updates Agatha Christie mysteries for the 21st century, filled with sly plot twists and rich supporting characters. Craig is the beating heart of the tale as "the world's greatest detective," who we'll hopefully be enjoying for years to come.

Cast: Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer

Director: Rian Johnson

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 130 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

Detective Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) investigates the murder of advertising executive Laura Hunt (Gene Tierney), who has her face blown off by a shotgun blast in her Manhattan high rise. Everyone is a suspect, including Laura's freeloading fiancee, Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), and her best friend, gossip columnist Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb). As he searches for her killer, McPherson finds himself falling in love with Laura, who comes back to life through flashbacks.

"Laura" was one of the seminal noirs of the 1940s, earning Oscar nominations for best director and best supporting actor (Webb) and winning for its black and white cinematography. As usual, director Otto Preminger sneaks taboo topics into mainstream movies, with McPherson's yearnings for Laura bordering on necrophilia. Yet that gets at something much deeper than mere titillation: McPherson's obsession with his victim stems from a white knight complex that's prevalent in a lot of detective fiction, and is brought to the surface here.

Cast: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson

Director: Otto Preminger

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 88 minutes

Where to watch: Apple TV

In 1986, detectives Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho) and Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung) investigate a series of gruesome murders of young women in a small South Korean town. As it becomes increasingly clear that they're dealing with the country's first serial killer, the two take increasingly extreme measures to force a confession out of their suspects. Yet the bodies keep piling up, and their investigation goes nowhere.

2003's "Memories of Murder" received renewed attention in the U.S. following director Bong Joon Ho's Oscar victories for "Parasite," and is now widely considered to be one of Bong's best movies. With his second feature, he displays his ability to balance tones and use genre as a Trojan horse to explore social issues. In this case, it's the thin line between cops and criminals, and the toll evil takes upon your soul when you try to defeat it.

Cast: Song Kang-ho, Kim Sang-kyung, Kim Roi-ha, Song Jae-ho, Park Hae-il

Director: Bong Joon Ho

Rating: NR

Runtime: 131 minutes

Where to watch: Tubi 

As he nears retirement, Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) investigates a series of bizarre murders with his new partner, the young and brash David Mills (Brad Pitt). It soon becomes apparent that the killer is basing his murders on the seven deadly sins, and each is grislier than the last. Their investigation leads them to John Doe (Kevin Spacey), a brilliant psychopath who has big plans for his final act. 

David Fincher's breakthrough 1995 movie was notorious for its gore (you only see the aftermath, not the actual killings themselves), which almost undermines what's so great about it. Set in a nameless city besieged by violence, "Seven" adopts the aesthetic of classic Hollywood noir through an MTV lens, turning our worst nightmares into realities. The infamous final moments serve as a metaphor for its broader theme, which is that the world is a cruel, unforgiving place that will eventually destroy us.

Cast: Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, Kevin Spacey

Director: David Fincher

Rating: R

Runtime: 127 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

When he father mysteriously disappears before her wedding, Dorothy Wynant (Maureen O'Sullivan) enlists the help of retired detective Nick Charles (William Powell), who's visiting New York with his socialite wife, Nora (Myrna Loy). Although he's left detective work behind for a life of leisure, he takes the case at the insistence of his wife, who wants a little excitement. She gets more than she bargained for when the missing persons investigation turns into a murder mystery.

1934's "The Thin Man" was so successful that is spawned a franchise, with five sequels released between 1936 and 1947. In between solving crimes, Nick and Nora drink enough alcohol to beach a whale, engage in witty banter, and play with their loyal terrier, Asta. Great as the sequels are, there's no topping the original, which brought a screwball sensibility to the mystery genre. So great was its appeal that it earned four Oscar nominations, for best picture, director, actor, and screenplay.

Cast: William Powell, Myrna Loy, Maureen O'Sullivan, Nat Pendleton, Minna Gombell

Director: W. S. Van Dyke

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 91 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

As the Zodiac Killer terrorizes San Francisco throughout the 1960s and 1970s, newspaper cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) becomes obsessed with catching him by deciphering the cryptic messages he mails to the San Francisco Chronicle. His colleague, crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), launches his own investigation as police inspectors Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards) chase down every lead they can find. Yet even the most promising roads lead nowhere.

Director David Fincher goes to great lengths to recreate many of the particulars of the true story, which he had vivid memories of, having grown up in Marin County during the Zodiac's reign of terror. Considering the killer was never actually caught, you'd think any film about it would be unsatisfactory, yet that couldn't be further from the case here. Taking its inspiration from '70s paranoid thrillers, 2007's "Zodiac" creates a palpable sense of unease that's all the more unsettling because there is no resolution, and evil continues to exist.

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox

Director: David Fincher

Rating: R

Runtime: 157 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

Private detective Philip Marlowe (Elliott Gould) immediately regrets giving his friend, Terry Lennox (Jim Bouton), a ride to Mexico. Upon returning to Los Angeles, he's arrested by the police, who suspect he's knowingly helped Terry leave the country after killing his wife. Marlowe is let off the hook after Terry commits suicide in Tijuana, after which he's hired by a beautiful blonde, Eileen Wade (Nina van Pallandt), to find her missing husband, Roger (Sterling Hayden), ensnaring him further in Terry's mess.

Transplanting the action from the 1940s to the 1970s isn't the only liberty Robert Altman takes with Raymond Chandler's novel. 1973's "The Long Goodbye" takes a more laid-back, comical approach to the detective genre, adopting the groovy vibes of the sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll generation and presenting a private eye who'd rather be chilling out than solving crimes. It's hard to imagine "The Big Lebowski" or "Inherent Vice" without "The Long Goodbye" paving the way.

Cast: Elliott Gould, Nina van Pallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell

Director: Robert Altman

Rating: R

Runtime: 112 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

Narcotics detectives Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle (Gene Hackman) and Buddy "Cloudy" Russo (Roy Scheider) catch wind of a huge shipment of heroin making its way into New York City from France. Popeye's investigation leads him to Alain Charnier (Fernando Rey), aka "Frog One," who he relentlessly pursues at the risk of his own safety. His pursuit even endangers the safety of New Yorkers during a hair-raising car chase, as Popeye tries to catch a suspect who has taken control of an elevated train.

Taking its inspiration from a true story, 1971's "The French Connection" adopts a documentary approach, with a gritty, shot-on-the-streets realism that makes its action feel even more kinetic. Like his protagonist, director William Friedkin famously went to great lengths to achieve this, particularly in the famous car chase sequence, which necessitated a little lawbreaking to achieve. The film won five Oscars, including best picture, director, and actor, and remains the gold standard for cop dramas.

Cast: Gene Hackman, Fernando Rey, Roy Scheider, Tony Lo Bianco

Director: William Friedkin

Rating: R

Runtime: 104 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

LA private eye Philip Marlowe (Humphrey Bogart) is hired by the wealthy General Sternwood (Charles Waldron) to settle some gambling debts racked up by his daughter, Carmen (Martha Vickers). Carmen's older sister, Vivian (Lauren Bacall), suspects Marlowe has been hired to find the missing Sean Regan. As his investigation continues, Marlowe finds himself fighting for his life as those closest to the Sternwoods keep getting killed.

As legend has it, production on 1946's "The Big Sleep" ground to a halt when director Howard Hawks couldn't figure out whether the Sternwoods' chauffeur, Owen Taylor, was murdered or killed himself. Hawks telegrammed novelist Raymond Chandler, who admittedly didn't know either. Like the best noirs, "The Big Sleep" is a triumph of atmosphere, sexual intrigue, and witty repartee as opposed to plot construction. It particularly benefits from the chemistry between Bogart and Bacall, who fell in love on the set of Hawks' "To Have and Have Not" and became one of Hollywood's most famous couples.

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Martha Vickers, Dorothy Malone

Director: Howard Hawks

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 114 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

In 1950s Los Angeles, a trio of policemen investigate a brutal mass murder at a downtown coffee shop. Detective Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) tries to use the case to move up the ranks and escape the shadow of his father, a slain detective; Officer Bud White (Russell Crowe) looks to avenge his partner, who was killed in the massacre; and Detective Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) sees a chance for redemption after years of corrupt behavior. Yet the deeper their investigation goes, the more danger they encounter.

Director Curtis Hanson and co-writer Brian Helgeland won an Oscar for their screenplay for "L.A. Confidential," which does a remarkable job of condensing James Ellroy's sprawling novel into a concise drama filled with excitement and intrigue. A meticulous recreation of Los Angeles circa 1953, the 1997 film infuses old Hollywood noir with new Hollywood sex and violence. Like "Chinatown" before it, it both honors the detective genre while reinvigorating it.

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito

Director: Curtis Hanson

Rating: R

Runtime: 138 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is asked to interview Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant yet psychopathic psychiatrist who used to kill and eat his patients. In speaking with Lecter, Starling hopes to create a criminal profile that can help her catch Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), a serial killer who's been kidnapping and skinning young women. Yet the longer their conversations continue, the deeper Lecter burrows into her psyche.

1991's "The Silence of the Lambs" is one of only three films to win the top five prizes at the Oscars (best picture, director, actor, actress, and screenplay), which is pretty remarkable given its genre. But "The Silence of the Lambs" is not merely a horror film; it's an unsettling examination of evil's presence within ourselves. When Starling meets Lecter, she finds not a monster, but a cultured, sensitive individual capable of committing unspeakable crimes. That we find ourselves liking him interrogates our own obsessions with true crime.

Cast: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine

Director: Jonathan Demme

Rating: R

Runtime: 118 minutes

Where to watch: Max

Detective John "Scottie" Ferguson (James Stewart) retires from the police force after his fear of heights leads to his partner's death. His old friend, Gavin Elster (Tom Helmore), asks him to follow his wife, Madeleine (Kim Novak), who's been behaving strangely. Scottie falls in love with Madeleine, and when she plunges to her death from atop a church tower, he finds himself obsessed with another woman, Judy Barton (Novak), who looks eerily like her.

Something of a flop upon its release in 1958, "Vertigo" is now widely hailed as Alfred Hitchcock's masterpiece and a movie that all film fans need to watch. In 2012, it was named the greatest film of all time in Sight and Sound's decennial poll, remaining in second place in 2022. It finds the Master of Suspense at the height of his powers, and is also the most personal examination of his obsessions and predilections. The mystery is a MacGuffin for Hitchcock's true intention, which is examining the manipulative measures a director takes to create their perfect femme fatale.

Cast: James Stewart, Kim Novak, Barbara Bel Geddes, Tom Helmore, Henry Jones

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Rating: PG

Runtime: 128 minutes

Where to watch: Netflix

Private eye Sam Spade's (Humphrey Bogart) life gets thrown into turmoil the moment Ruth Wonderly (Mary Astor) walks into his office claiming she's looking for her missing sister. Turns out that's all a lie, and Spade has actually found himself in search of a priceless statuette known as the Maltese Falcon. "Ruth" — whose actual name is Brigid O'Shaughnessy — is one of many nefarious characters in search of the bejeweled figure, which Sam dubs "the stuff that dreams are made of."

John Huston's 1941 directorial debut was actually the third adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel, and not only did it finally get the story right, but it practically invented film noir. All of the tenets are here: the world-weary private eye, the seductive femme fatale, the murderer's row of character actors adding eccentric color to the black and white drama. Cloaked in shadows and steeped in darkness, "The Maltese Falcon" truly is the stuff that cinematic dreams are made of.

Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor, Gladys George, Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet

Director: John Huston

Rating: Approved

Runtime: 100 minutes

Where to watch: Prime Video

In 1930s Los Angeles, private detective J. J. "Jake" Gittes (Jack Nicholson) is hired by a woman he believes to be Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to spy on her husband, Hollis (Darrell Zwerling), the chief engineer at the city's Department of Water and Power. What Jake thinks is just a routine infidelity investigation turns out to be a tangled web of murder, corruption, and incest at the hands of Evelyn's father, Noah Cross (John Huston). It all culminates on the streets of Chinatown, where, Jack says, the incentive is to do as little as possible.

Robert Towne's script for 1974's "Chinatown," which won an Oscar, has frequently been hailed as one of the greatest ever written, and for good reason: it's literate, intricate, and devastating. Taking the structure of classic pulp detective fiction, it links the violation of California's farmland with the violation of a young woman, indicting the powerful men who do both simply because they can. The film's final line — "Forget it, Jake, it's Chinatown" — has become a motto for everyone who realizes the world is too evil to save, so why even try?

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, Burt Young, John Huston

Director: Roman Polanski

Rating: R

Runtime: 130 minutes

Where to watch: Paramount+