5 Best Mystery Movies Of 2026 (So Far)

Did you always love playing "Clue" (or "Cluedo," as it's called in some countries) as a kid and figuring out the murderer? Were you obsessed with Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books? Are you uncannily good at figuring out the culprit any time you watch or read a murder mystery? This is the list for you, then — because it's our list of 2026's best mystery movies so far.

Before we get into this list, though, it's important to note that a handful of these picks are ... somewhat unconventional takes on the classic mystery genre. ("Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery," Rian Johnson's third in a series of wonderfully straightforward yet incredibly twisted murder mysteries, sadly released at the end of 2025 and is thus not eligible for this list.) You'll find an alien movie that's really about the nature of humanity, a twisted story about a pop star and a dressmaker, and a murder mystery solved by a flock of sheep, just to name a few ... and you'll also find multiple Anne Hathaway movies, come to think of it. (2026 really is the year of Hathaway, huh?) Also, a housekeeping note: these are in alphabetical order, not ranked, and the list will be updated as more great murder mysteries release. Now — onto the list of 2026's best mystery movies so far.

At the beginning of Steven Spielberg's deeply fun and thoughtful summer blockbuster "Disclosure Day," we see cybersecurity whistleblower Dr. Daniel Kellner (Josh O'Connor) narrowly evade forces led by tech CEO Noah Scanlon (Colin Firth) and, alongside his girlfriend Jane Blankenship (Eve Hewson), steal what appears to be a vitally important device. Initially, this sequence seems more or less unconnected to the story of Margaret Fairchild (Emily Blunt), an on-air meterologist who works for an NBC affiliate in Kansas City who starts experiencing, uh, very strange symptoms. During a live broadcast, she starts speaking in clicks and other unidentifiable noises before outright collapsing; while in the hospital with her boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell), she narrowly escapes before agents from Noah's sinister company, Wardex, can kidnap her while they pose as FBI agents.

As it turns out, Margaret and Daniel are both at the center of a vast conspiracy, built from the ground up by the United States government and Wardex, to cover up evidence of alien life. Not only are these two organizations hiding the mere existence of aliens from the population at large, but they're also responsible for decades of physical abuse committed against said aliens. As Margaret and Daniel work to reveal, or "disclose," the very existence of extraterrestrial life, they also make some crucial and shocking discoveries about themselves and their role in this mystery. "Disclosure Day" is at once a thrilling mystery that guides the audience carefully as it unravels and a referendum on human nature ... and our ability to bulldoze nearly anything in our path.

Considering that writer and director David Robert Mitchell is also responsible for the incredibly original and delightful horror original "It Follows," it shouldn't come as a surprise that he made one of the best mystery movies of 2026. What is surprising is that it's ... a summer blockbuster about dinosaurs. At the beginning of Mitchell's deliciously bizarre film "The End of Oak Street," we learn that the Platt family — dad Greg (Ewan McGregor), mom Denise (Anne Hathaway), daughter Audrey (Maisy Stella), son Brian (Christian Convery), and dog Starbuck — is in a strange spot, with Greg and Denise often at odds in a way that the kids definitely notice. As Greg works as a pizza delivery driver to make ends meet after being let go from his job and Denise harbors secret dreams of becoming a successful novelist, the Platt family's life, while fraught, seems pretty normal until one night ... when a weird storm magically turns the entire neighborhood into a prehistoric jungle filled with extremely hungry and bloodthirsty dinosaurs.

None of the marketing for "The End of Oak Street," respectfully, betrayed how gruesome this movie  would be ... but beyond all the blood and gore (and there's a lot), this is also, at its heart, a mystery that both the audience and characters have to solve. Though many of the elements of "The End of Oak Street" remain shrouded in, well, mystery even as the credits roll, that's what makes it so great — you're left wondering about how all of this truly worked long after you leave the movie theater.

When Na Hong-jin's 2026 thriller "Hope" premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, it was met with near-universal acclaim, easily landing it on a list of the year's top thrillers. Na, who wrote and directed "Hope," assembled an international cast — which includes South Korean stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, and Jung Ho-yeon alongside American actors Michael Fassbender, Taylor Russell, Cameron Britton, and Alicia Vikander. So what is "Hope" about, and what truly makes it an exceptional thriller this year?

"Hope," like some of the other picks on this list, is a monster movie at heart. After Ko Bum-seok (Hwang), a police chief in a town called Hope Harbor near the demilitarized zone that separates North and South Korea, starts finding cows killed under increasingly bizarre circumstances, he starts to worry that something serious will affect Hope Harbor, a place largely occupied by elderly people. Unfortunately for Bum-seok and his allies, including a rookie cop named Im Sung-ae (Jung), this monster is extraordinarily powerful, and it begins to wreak terrifying havoc on Hope Harbor. "Hope" has so many twists and turns that, throughout its lengthy run time, you might find yourself overwhelmed ... but that seems to be Na's intention, and by the time the film wraps up its wholly original and frankly terrifying mystery, you'll be shaken to your core in the best way possible.

Known for genre-bending films like "The Green Knight," "The Old Man and the Gun," and "A Ghost Story," David Lowery is one of our most exciting independent filmmakers ... and his 2026 movie "Mother Mary" is truly no exception. As the titular pop star Mother Mary, played by Anne Hathaway, attempts to mount a cultural comeback with a massive performance — even as she reels from an on-stage incident that left her reputation in shambles — she's unsure about the costumes provided, and she decides to reunite with an old friend to get a custom piece to wear. That friend, the reclusive designer Sam Anselm (Michaela Coel), shares a complicated past with Mary ... because years before the story begins, the two were lovers.

"Mother Mary" is ... a lot of things contained into one movie. It's a psychosexual drama about two exes who still share affection for one another despite years of estrangement. It's a story about artistic revelations and reinvention. It's a horror-thriller about ghosts that represent that aforementioned estrangement and divide. It is also a phenomenal thriller ably steered by Hathaway and Coel, two magnetic performers at the top of their game in this particular project, and it is, without question, one of the best mystery movies that released in 2026.

"The Sheep Detectives" isn't just one of the best mystery movies of 2026 — it's one of the best movies released this year without a doubt. Directed by Kyle Balda and, inexplicably, written by "Chernobyl" and "The Last of Us" showrunner Craig Mazin, "The Sheep Detectives" stars Hugh Jackman as George Hardy, a shepherd who lives in a remote cabin outside of the sleepy English village of Denbrook. Every evening, George reads murder mystery novels to his loyal flock of sheep, and unbeknownst to George and basically everybody else, the sheep hang on his every word ... because they fully understand English. Not only that, but the sheep love and adore George, a kind and generous man who gives his all to the flock, making it particularly heartbreaking when George is found dead on his property.

Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) takes it upon herself to become the leader of the herd as they try to use their knowledge of mystery novels to figure out who killed their beloved shepherd, and she's joined by allies like Sebastian (Bryan Cranston), Cloud (Regina Hall), Mopple (Chris O'Dowd), and Zora (Bella Ramsey), just to name a few. With a human cast that includes Nicholas Galitzine, Nicholas Braun, Molly Gordon, Hong Chau, and living legend Emma Thompson and an unexpectedly profound and emotionally resonant story about grappling with grief — the sheep discover the truth about death and have to fully understand the concept!!! — and you'll also manage to laugh along the way. "The Sheep Detectives" is truly fantastic; if you haven't watched it yet, what are you waiting for?