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Mystery movies don’t always play by the rules, and that’s exactly why we love them. From screenlife suspense to animated crime-solving, surreal nightmares, reverse storytelling, and even a board-game whodunit, these films twist the genre in wildly inventive ways. Join us as we count down some of the most unconventional mystery movies ever made!
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00:00I know when Rodney Hollingshead was murdered, and I know who the real killer was.
00:05No more. Go on.
00:07The mystery will be solved when I read the ending tomorrow.
00:10Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at movies that take an unconventional approach to the mystery genre.
00:17Don't worry, we'll keep any spoilers to a minimum.
00:20So this wolf, he was dressed as your grandmother?
00:23Yes.
00:24I'm your grandma, and you bought that?
00:27No, not really.
00:30Number 10. Searching.
00:31Let's take a picture. One. You say cheese. Okay, one, two, three.
00:38Of all the screen life films that have come out in the past several years,
00:42Anish Chaganti's Searching is arguably the most effective.
00:45While the desktop drama can come off as gimmicky in other films, it's a feat of visual storytelling here.
00:51The approach also demonstrates how the internet has seen a rise in amateur sleuths who sometimes notice more than the
00:56authorities.
00:57Has anyone even considered the possibility that it was an absolute stranger? Some sick perv?
01:04Piecing together clues through social media and archive videos. The screenplay is clever as well, full of twists and turns
01:11that add up without feeling forced.
01:13From the moment she volunteered to lead it to the way she handled the investigation and really dealt with the
01:18media, I mean...
01:19Hang on, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, did you say volunteered?
01:25Sorry?
01:26You said she volunteered. No, I was led to believe that she was assigned to the case, right? She was
01:33assigned.
01:34At the center is possibly a career best performance from John Cho as a father who has already lost one
01:39of the most important people in his life and can't bear to lose another.
01:43She would come to you in the middle of the night and you would give her weed and do God
01:46knows what else?
01:47That's it. We get high and talk, I swear.
01:53Number 9. Zootopia.
01:55Audiences were not only surprised to find how timely this animated feature was, but also that it told an engaging
02:01mystery.
02:02Find my Emmett. Bring him home to me and my babies, please.
02:07Possessing an ambiance reminiscent of Chinatown, the buddy cop dynamic and central theme of prejudice called to mind in the
02:13heat of the night as well.
02:14Everyone comes to Zootopia thinking they can be anything they want.
02:18Well, you can't. You can only be what you are.
02:22Sly fox. Dumb bunny.
02:24I am not a dumb bunny.
02:27Right.
02:28The main difference is that our crime-solving duo is a bunny and a fox, although they're more fleshed out
02:33than you'd expect.
02:34The same can be said about the world of Zootopia, which has more shades of gray than your average Disney
02:39film.
02:39Even the most pure-hearted character can be more narrow-minded than they thought,
02:43while the criminal mastermind can have identifiable motivations behind their actions.
02:47We found out what's happening.
02:49Someone's darting predators with a serum.
02:51That's what's making them go savage.
02:52I'm so proud of you, Judy.
02:54You did just a super job.
02:56Thank you, ma'am.
03:01How did you know where to find us?
03:03I'll go ahead and I'll take that case now.
03:05Like the mystery, there's more to these animals than meets the eye.
03:09I really am just a dumb bunny.
03:12Don't worry, Carrots.
03:14I'll let you race it.
03:15Number 8.
03:16Charade
03:19Madame Charles Lampert?
03:22Yes?
03:23I'm Inspector Edouard Grandpierre of the Police Judiciaire.
03:26With a pairing like Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn, you might expect Charade to be a romantic screwball comedy.
03:32It is, but it's also a Hitchcockian thriller.
03:35Charles was mixed up in something terrible.
03:37What am I going to do?
03:39At its center is a mystery involving murder, deceit, and missing money.
03:44It's impressive just how well Charade balances all of these tones.
03:47The leads have genuine chemistry, and the humor is sharply timed.
03:51Don't you know it's impolite to leave someone holding the phone?
03:55What happened?
03:57Oh, I met a man with sharp nails.
04:02Scobie?
04:04I left him hanging around the American Express.
04:07In a heartbeat, though, it can go from light-hearted escapism to nail-biting suspense,
04:12making the audience feel the stakes as the characters find themselves in life-threatening situations.
04:17Set against an elegant Paris backdrop, Stanley Donan's film is as exciting as it is sweeping.
04:22As the title suggests, it's a guessing game that threads the needle between playful and intense.
04:28He killed them all.
04:29Are you sure?
04:31Yes, I'm sure.
04:33Tex wrote the word dial before he died.
04:39He's the murderer, I tell you.
04:41Number 7.
04:42Batman, Mask of the Phantasm
04:44Batman is a detective on par with Sherlock Holmes, although many of his theatrical features forget this.
04:50Even the Batman films that lean more into his detective roots don't always have mysteries that keep us guessing.
04:56Well, Bruce, here goes.
04:59Let's blow this pop stick.
05:06On your stomachs.
05:07Arms spread.
05:08Who's this clown?
05:09You heard me.
05:10Yeah, you heard him, boys.
05:12Batman, Mask of the Phantasm still stands out with its layered mystery,
05:16as Bruce Wayne tracks down a mysterious foe targeting Gotham's criminals.
05:20Beyond the Phantasm's true identity, the question that haunts Batman the most is what might have been.
05:25As the past and present collide, so does the future that never was.
05:30Alfred, what's wrong?
05:31This just arrived, sir.
05:42Left with dad.
05:44For 1993 in particular, there wasn't an American animated feature or superhero movie quite like this one.
05:52Mixing film noir, tragic romance, and a mystery that treated its audience like adults.
05:58Vengeance blackens the soul, Bruce.
06:01I always feared you would become that which you fought against.
06:05You walk the edge of that abyss every night.
06:07But you haven't fallen in, and I thank heaven for that.
06:11Number 6.
06:12Knives Out.
06:13I read a tweet about a New Yorker article about you.
06:16The last of the gentleman's sleuths?
06:18You solved that case with the tennis champ?
06:22You're famous!
06:23At first glance, Knives Out seems like it'll be a traditional whodunit with its colorful cast of potential suspects.
06:30While you can certainly sense the impact of mystery writers like Agatha Christie,
06:34writer-director Ryan Johnson quickly establishes that we're playing a very different game.
06:38At 11.30, and left at midnight, think very carefully, and with as much detail as possible,
06:48tell us what happened in that half hour.
06:56Right off the bat, the film gives away what one would expect to be its biggest twist,
07:00revealing how it happened in great detail.
07:03Since the film isn't even halfway over,
07:05the real mystery is trying to figure out where the story can go from here.
07:09At the same time, there's still a whodunit going on in the background,
07:13although only Detective Benoit Blanc seems aware that there's more to the story than we realize.
07:17You're a pack of vultures at the feast, knives out, beaks bloody.
07:23Well, you're not getting bailed out.
07:26Not this time.
07:28Ms. Cabrera has decided, definitively, not to renounce the inheritance.
07:33Number 5. Sleuth
07:35Tell me, do you agree that the detective story is the normal recreation of noble minds?
07:42The less you know about this film going in, the better.
07:44We suppose that's the case for any mystery movie.
07:47Even if you look up the full cast list for Sleuth, though, it'll hint at crucial details.
07:52What we can say without spoiling anything is that Lawrence Olivier and Michael Caine
07:56deserved their Oscar nominations for their performances in this adaptation of the Tony-winning play.
08:01There is no such animal as Inspector Plotter outside your detective stories.
08:06It'll probably be some sharp-eyed bloke who knows his job down to the last detail.
08:10You can bet your buck dollar on that.
08:12We'd say that Sleuth is like a game of cat and mouse,
08:15but we constantly shift between who's the predator and who's the prey.
08:18By the end, they're almost interchangeable in a battle of wits
08:22where both men may be too clever for their own good.
08:25I know! It's a pair of shoes!
08:27In this case, one lady's left black shoe, size 6.
08:32The other, I need hardly add, is on Taya's foot.
08:36It has all the hallmarks of a classic mystery, yet it's unlike any other.
08:41Number 4. Clue.
08:43You wouldn't expect a movie based on a board game to be as witty, thrilling, and creative as Clue is.
08:49That's one of the reasons it's such an unconventional mystery.
08:52Good evening. Good evening. I don't know if...
08:54Yes, indeed, sir. You are expected colonel.
08:56May I take your coat? It is Colonel Mustard, isn't it?
08:59No, that's not my name. My name is Colonel.
09:02But tonight, you may well feel obliged to my employer for the use of an alias.
09:07What makes it especially unique is the ending, or endings.
09:11All three are now on home media.
09:13For the select few lucky enough to catch Clue when it hit theaters in 1985,
09:17you'd have to buy multiple tickets to see every outcome.
09:21It would have been worth it.
09:22It was her employer, Miss Garland.
09:24That's a lie.
09:25Is it?
09:27You used her the way you always used her.
09:29You killed a motorist when we split up to search the house.
09:32How could I have known about the secret passage?
09:34Easy. Yvette told you.
09:36The film as a whole is such a hoot that it demands repeat viewings.
09:40Every actor in the A-list ensemble is at the top of their game, especially Tim Curry.
09:59Even with so many characters and deadly weapons in the air,
10:02Clue masterfully pulls off its juggling act.
10:04There was only one shot that got the chandelier.
10:06That's 1 plus 2 plus 1 plus 1.
10:08Even if you were right, that would be 1 plus 1 plus 2 plus 1, not 1 plus 2 plus
10:111 plus 1.
10:12Number 3.
10:13Memento.
10:14Memento is a film that simply shouldn't work.
10:16It's largely told in reverse order, which is already like playing with fire.
10:21Discount in.
10:24Natalie.
10:28My car.
10:31Teddy.
10:32Being a film that starts at the end and concludes at the beginning,
10:36we know what fate certain characters will ultimately meet.
10:39Yet unraveling how they got to this point is a compelling mystery in and of itself.
10:52The more that's peeled back, the more the plot thickens.
10:56Just when it appears the pieces are all coming together, we get to the finale.
11:00Or, we guess the opening, which makes us reconsider everything we just watched.
11:05For many film buffs, this is the moment that confirmed Christopher Nolan is in a league of his own,
11:10making a tangled web of storytelling flow naturally.
11:13You tell everybody about Sammy.
11:15Everybody will listen.
11:17Remember Sammy Jenkins?
11:18Remember Sammy Jenkins?
11:19Great story.
11:20Gets better every time you tell it.
11:22Number 2.
11:23Psycho.
11:23I almost had an accident last night from sleepiness, so I decided to pull over.
11:29You slept here all night?
11:31Yes.
11:32As I said, I couldn't keep my eyes open.
11:34There are plenty of motels in this area.
11:36This is the film that broke every rule and rewrote them in the process.
11:40Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho doesn't even start as a mystery, per se.
11:44Initially, the film is about a woman on the run.
11:46Once Marion Crane meets Norman Bates, Psycho shifts gears as we slowly realize that much
11:51of what seemed so important in the first act is actually inconsequential.
11:55Why don't you go away?
11:58To a private island like you?
12:04No.
12:06Not like me.
12:07Whether or not the film's most iconic scene has already been spoiled for you,
12:11it's just one of numerous curveballs that Hitchcock throws.
12:23There's still so much left to uncover,
12:24as we contemplate what exactly is going on at the Bates Motel.
12:28What ensues didn't just redefine the murder mystery,
12:31but also how cinematic stories could be told.
12:34His mother was a clinging, demanding woman.
12:39And for years, the two of them lived as if there was no one else in the world.
12:44Then she met a man.
12:46Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
12:50Weapons.
12:51From the opening, you know you're in store for something twisted.
12:54But how twisted?
12:55The night before, at 2.17 in the morning,
12:59every other kid woke up,
13:02got out of bed,
13:05walked downstairs,
13:08opened the front door,
13:10walked across the front yard,
13:12and into the dark.
13:13A simple favor.
13:15Stylishly balancing soap opera and dark satire.
13:18I want to know your secret, tell me.
13:22My dad died when I was a senior in high school.
13:27And this boy showed up to the funeral.
13:31His name was Chris.
13:33And I guess he was the spitting image of my father, 30 years younger.
13:38Who framed Roger Rabbit?
13:40The real mystery is how the technical wizardry on screen was executed.
13:43Does a condemned have anything to say before his sentence is carried out?
13:48Oh, yeah.
13:49I can't.
13:55Dolores.
13:56Urban.
13:57I'm making a double.
13:58Fine time for a drink, Eddie.
14:00Maybe you'd like a bowl of pretzels to go with it.
14:02Long legs.
14:03Not the Silence of the Lambs retread you anticipated.
14:06It's funny.
14:10The day you decided to go into law enforcement,
14:14you were...
14:1620.
14:20We had such a big laugh about it.
14:23Witness for the prosecution.
14:24A courtroom mystery that doesn't end with the verdict.
14:27On the night of October the 14th, last, between 9.30 and 10, Mrs. French was murdered.
14:35Medical testimony will be introduced to prove
14:37the death was caused by a blow from a blunt and heavy instrument.
14:49Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's album Balance.
14:53Classical music reimagined as rock, hard rock, and metal.
14:56Check out the full track and album below.
15:12Number 1.
15:14Mulholland Drive.
15:15What are you doing?
15:16We don't stop here.
15:23We don't stop here.
15:29Get out of the car.
15:31Few filmmakers were more unconventional than David Lynch.
15:35Mulholland Drive is his masterpiece of surrealism.
15:38While the entire film is draped in a dreamlike ambiance,
15:41it can be broken into two parts that are quite different.
15:44There's sometimes a buggy.
15:47How many drivers does a buggy have?
15:50One.
15:52So let's just say I'm driving this buggy.
15:55And if you fix your attitude, you can ride along.
15:59The first almost plays like a traditional film noir,
16:02as multiple mysteries are introduced.
16:04Just as it seems Lynch may pull back the curtain,
16:06he raises more questions for us to wrap our brains around.
16:09By the credits, the true mystery is what exactly we've just watched.
16:13Many have their theories,
16:15but the lack of clear-cut answers is what makes Mulholland Drive one of a kind.
16:19You won't understand at first, or possibly ever.
16:21If you take a step back, though,
16:23you'll recognize the beautiful madness on display.
16:26What's it open?
16:35What are some other unconventional mystery movies?
16:37Let us know in the comments.
16:44Let us know in the comments.
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