Streaming services are great, but subscriptions are not free. Netflix costs money, as does Disney+ and almost every other streaming service out there. And sometimes, you might be looking for a movie that you can watch without any strings attached.
If you’re looking for great, free mystery movies that will keep you engaged from the second they start, then we’ve got you covered. We’ve pulled together a list of some great free mystery movies that you can enjoy without worrying that someone’s going to charge you for the pleasure of watching them.
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Zodiac (2007)
Zodiac, a David Fincher movie about obsession, tells the story of the men whose lives were undone by the Zodiac killings in the 1970s. Although there is a mystery at the movie’s center (Who is the Zodiac?), the movie is really about the way a person’s obsessions can define them.
Anchored by three brilliant performances from Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, and Jake Gyllenhaal, Zodiac is riveting from front to back, in part because the mystery is never solved. What matters most is the mystery itself and the people tangled in its web.
You can watch Zodiac on PlutoTV.
Memento (2001)
Director Christopher Nolan‘s calling card movie is a neo-noir with an incredibly inventive twist. Its central character has short-term memory loss, and we follow him as he moves both forward and backward in time, resetting his memory at every juncture along the way until the two stories meet in the middle.
Featuring one of the best performances of Guy Pearce’s career, Memento is riveting precisely because it’s so mind-bending. It also signaled the obsession with time that would define much of Nolan’s career.
You can watch Memento on Tubi.
Memories of Murder (2003)
Before he became a major breakout with Parasite, Bong Joon-ho (Mickey 17) directed Memories of Murder, which may be the best serial killer movie ever made. Adapted from the true story of South Korea’s first-ever serial killer, the film follows the bumbling local detectives assigned to the case, and the big city cop who joins them in their investigation.
As they work toward identifying a potential suspect, they begin to realize the gravity of the evil they’re dealing with and must work against the clock to stop this killer before they strike again.
You can watch Memories of Murder on Tubi.
No Way Out (1987)
Starring Yellowstone‘s Kevin Costner at the height of his powers, No Way Out sees the actor playing a young Navy lieutenant who has a brief, but passionate affair with a woman. When she winds up dead, he realizes that he might be investigated for his role in her murder.
Costner and Sean Young are both terrific, but as you might expect, Gene Hackman walks away with the movie.
You can watch No Way Out on Tubi.
In the Heat of the Night (1967)
A great detective yarn that doubles as a surprisingly current meditation on race, In the Heat of the Night follows a Black detective from Philadelphia who teams up with a local police chief to investigate a murder in a small Georgia town. The racism of this police chief courses under the entire film, and the uneasy alliance the two men form is deeply complicated.
Sidney Poitier has never been better than he is as Virgil Tibbs, and In the Heat of the Night is brilliant in part because it understands that there are many ways a person can be racist, and some are subtler than others. This movie won Best Picture in 1968, and it remains as relevant in 2025 as it was back then.
You can watch In the Heat of the Night on Tubi.
Charade (1963)
A classic mystery caper, Charade has so much plotting in it that it can be hard to get your arms around it. The film follows Audrey Hepburn as a woman who falls for a man while on a skiing vacation. And he’s not just any man; he’s Cary Grant! Can you blame her?
When she reunites with that man in Paris and discovers that her estranged husband has been murdered, she learns that her husband hid a vast fortune somewhere following World War II. As allegiances shift, the race to find the missing money continues to unfold, and hilarity ensues.
You can watch Charade on Tubi.
The Lost City of Z (2016)
A mystery movie of a totally different kind, The Lost City of Z tells the true story of Percy Fawcett, a 20th-century explorer who made groundbreaking discoveries in the Amazon. As he continues venturing out into the vast wilderness of the Amazon, he becomes obsessed with the idea that the natives living in the Amazon once had a vast civilization.
Starring Charlie Hunnam as Fawcett, an explorer addicted to the thrill of the unknown, The Lost City of Z is a sprawling epic about one man who believes he can solve an ancient riddle, and is willing to die trying.
You can watch The Lost City of Z on FreeVee.
Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko might not, on its face, seem like a mystery movie. Underneath, though, the movie is filled with questions that it will eventually answer. Donnie’s belief that the apocalypse is imminent, and the plane that crash lands in his bedroom all create the image of a world in which the real has blended with the imagined.
Part of the reason the movie has become a classic in the decades since its release is that it slowly begins to solidify what’s real and what isn’t, even as it doesn’t resolve every mystery it presents over the course of its running time.
You can watch Donnie Darko on Tubi.
12 Angry Men (1957)
12 Angry Men is set almost entirely in a single room, and nevertheless feels like one of the more cinematic movies ever made. The film focuses on a jury as they deliberate over a single murder case. While most of the jurors are initially convinced that the man on trial is guilty, a single juror begins to sway others that there’s more to this case than meets the eye.
Featuring a number of legendary actors, including Henry Fonda in the lead role, 12 Angry Men still holds up all these years about the ways that our identities shape how we interpret even the facts in front of our nose.
You can watch 12 Angry Men on Tubi.
House of Games (1987)
A foundational movie for anyone who wants to know why you should never fall in love with a con man. House of Games follows a psychiatrist who becomes ensconced in a world of cons and games she doesn’t fully grasp.
As she comes to appreciate just how big the cons her new love interest runs actually are, she begins to wonder whether she might be one of his marks or whether it’s ever possible to fully trust someone who lies for a living. Written and directed by David Mamet, House of Games is zippy and fun with just enough pathos to make the whole thing feel credible.
You can watch House of Games on PlutoTV.
A Few Good Men (1992)
Telling the story of a military lawyer tasked with defending two U.S. Marines charged with killing one of their fellow soldiers at Guantanamo Bay, A Few Good Men is a fascinating, hugely dramatic look at all the things the military does that we might not approve of.
Featuring incredible performances from Jack Nicholson and Tom Cruise, the movie manages to turn its court case into the unwinding of a genuine conspiracy, one that climaxes with one of the more famous scenes in the history of movies. There might not be a detective in this one, but that doesn’t make the story at its center any less mysterious.
You can watch A Few Good Men on PlutoTV.
To Live and Die in L.A. (1985)
A movie that, frankly, still feels a little ahead of its time, To Live and Die in L.A. tells the story of a Secret Service agent who becomes obsessed with revenge after a master counterfeiter kills his partner.
As he investigates the culprit, his methods become more unhinged until finally we’re left wondering whether anyone in this story is worth rooting for. Featuring some of the best direction of William Friedkin’s career, To Live and Die in L.A. is an undersung classic that’s now 40 years old.
You can watch To Live and Die in L.A. on Tubi.
