Mystery movies on Amazon Prime Video

The labyrinth of plots in well-crafted mystery movies takes the viewer on an immersive journey, with enigmatic clues and a detective’s instincts that make you either sigh in frustration or applaud their wit.

Multiple themes are usually at play, and the sign of a good mystery movie is the deep dive they make you do on cinephile Reddit threads to discover easter eggs, callbacks, and other finer details. 

From survival mystery thrillers in which the ‘do or die’ element is at an all-time high to a detective’s struggle to get to the bottom of a complex case, the layers of mystery and suspense will keep you hooked. If that’s the vibe you want for your next movie night, here are five mystery movies on Amazon Prime Video that you should not miss out on:

Ek Hasina Thi (2004)

A woman seeking revenge against a man who took her love to be her weakness is a trope that will never go out of style. When done well, it can send chills down your spine. This mystery movie from the 2000s does precisely that.

When Sarika (Urmila Matondkar), a young and independent adult in Mumbai, runs into Karan (Saif Ali Khan), his charm takes over, and they eventually start living together.

However, things take a turn when Karan frames her for his friend’s crime, and she’s given a prison sentence of seven years with hard labour.

Once she realises what went down, her transformation and need for revenge are limitless. No longer a timid woman, Sarika painstakingly builds a prison escape plan and a series of traps that need to end with Karan being tortured like she was while in jail.

If Karan (Saif Ali Khan) from Hum Tum (2004) epitomises the soft-boy persona, Karan in Ek Hasina Thi embodies a cunning wolf who will do anything to save himself.

Both Khan and Matondkar give us thrilling performances as two individuals trying to destroy each other. Sriram Raghavan made his directorial debut with this film, and it may have sown the seeds for the other gripping mystery movies in his filmography, such as Johnny Gaddaar (2007) and, more recently, Merry Christmas (2024).

Prisoners (2013)

A mystery movie with a star-studded ensemble cast, a stunning plot, and a balance of violence and emotion — this film has to be on this list. When two kids get abducted during a Thanksgiving celebration, Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is on the case. However, while he’s still investigating the fathers of the abducted kids, Keller (Hugh Jackman) and Franklin (Terrence Howard) take matters into their own hands by trapping the prime suspect, Alex (Paul Dano).

Prisoners has a rich and gritty narrative that goes way beyond two abductions. The story unfolds slowly, but that’s because multiple threads start seemingly independently but are all woven together in the end through a well-constructed plot.

The soundtrack adds to the dread, and by the time you reach the end of the film, you are so locked in that the relief takes time to set in. It’s one of the best mystery movies on Amazon Prime Video, hands down.

NH10 (2015)

Anushka Sharma’s foray into production had to be hard-hitting, and this gritty mystery movie on Amazon Prime Video, which was her production house’s first project, can easily be considered one of the best survival/mystery movies in Indian cinema.

When a romantic weekend getaway turns into the stuff of nightmares, Meera (Anushka Sharma) and Arjun (Neil Bhoopalam) have no choice but to keep fighting, even if it means limping through the dark forests on the outskirts of Delhi.

NH10 shows us the reality of subverting the bystander effect, that is, the psychological notion that individuals in a crowd are less likely to help the victim when they witness a crime. When Meera and Arjun witness a girl being mishandled at a dhaba on the way to their resort, Arjun steps in, not knowing that he is interfering in the lives of a shady set of people.

The film completes this circle by highlighting the prevalence of the bystander effect. Meera and Arjun go on a harrowing journey where the only ones helping them are themselves. 

NH10 is brutal, frightening and not for the faint-hearted, but you will root for Meera until the end as she takes on an entire village, one person at a time, to survive until the sun’s out. 

The Wailing (2016)

Small-town murder mysteries have an unparalleled allure. This South Korean mystery movie is no different. Jong-Goo (Kwak Do-won), a police officer, is tasked with investigating strange killings that have terrified the residents of a village named Goksung.

A peculiar infection seems to be causing these deaths. When he starts suspecting a Japanese man (Juni Kunimura) who lives in a secluded part of the hills, he unravels a web of clues that takes him down a dangerous rabbit hole. The stakes shoot up when he finds his little daughter’s belongings in the stranger’s house, even though she is safe and not infected yet.

This bone-chilling mystery movie on Amazon Prime Video will stay with you long after the end credits roll. To be able to terrify you while also building a strong and detailed plot with minimal jumpscares is no mean feat.

With every rewatch, you will pick up on minor details that only enrich the narrative. When the mystery is on the brink of being solved, the only question you will have is, “At what cost?”

Anatomy of a Fall (2024)

Anatomy of a Fall is a French legal drama that had a great run at the Oscars. The mystery unfolds through court proceedings, where Sandra (Sandra Hüller) has been accused of the murder of her husband, Samuel (Samuel Theis). Their visually impaired son Daniel (Milo Machado-Graner) found him dead outside their home.

The question is whether she killed him or he died by suicide.

This film highlights an inquisitorial system of legal proceedings, with an intense scrutiny on Sandra and Samuel’s marriage, and the gender roles within it.

The mystery of his murder is underlined with an uncomfortable tension, presenting numerous different possibilities behind Samuel’s death that leave you guessing. There’s plenty to unpack, regardless of which theory sounds more plausible. As a viewer, you get to be a part of the unravelling mystery and come to your own conclusion.