Streaming services are great, but subscriptions are not free. Netflix costs money, as does Disney+ and 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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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.
When she reunites with that man in Paris and discovers that her 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.
Lake Mungo (2008)
A faux-documentary, Lake Mungo tells the story of one family’s reckoning after their daughter dies in a suspicious drowning. The family eventually brings in a parapsychologist, and together they learn about the double life their daughter led and all the ways she still haunts them today. Lake Mungo is a ghost story, but one that features a number of twists and turns as the family at the movie’s center attempts to determine whether they’re actually being haunted or simply being taken in by their own grief.
You can watch Lake Mungo 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.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
One of the great detective movies ever made, The Silence of the Lambs follows a young FBI agent who is tasked with finding a serial killer. To achieve this mission, she seeks guidance from a psychiatrist named Hannibal Lecter who is also a serial killer, and their tense conversations make up the movie’s backbone.
Anthony Hopkins (The Father) and Jodie Foster (True Detective: Night Country) both won Oscars for their superb performances in this film, but the movie is riveting from front to back as Foster’s Clarice Sterling races to prevent a killer known as Buffalo Bill from taking any more victims.
You can watch The Silence of the Lambs on Tubi.
The Fugitive (1993)
A mystery movie that is also a man-on-the-run movie, The Fugitive tells the story of a doctor who is forced to go on the lam after he’s arrested for his wife’s murder. In order to prove his innocence, Harrison Ford’s Richard Kimble has to uncover the reasons his wife was murdered, all while he contends with a U.S. Marshal who is determined to bring him in whether he’s guilty or not.
Ford and Tommy Lee Jones are both at the peak of their powers here, and the movie makes great use of its Chicago locales. The Fugitive is one of the few action movies to be nominated for Best Picture, and after watching it, you can understand why.
You can watch The Fugitive on Tubi.
Knives Out (2019)
A murder mystery in the old-fashioned sense, Knives Out tells the story of a detective who is hired to investigate the murder of a wealthy patriarch as his various heirs all maneuver for his fortune.
Directed and written by Rian Johnson, Knives Out tells an impressively intricate story that culminates in a deeply satisfying conclusion that will leave you wanting to rewatch it, even though you now understand exactly what happened. There’s a reason Daniel Craig’s Benoit Blanc has become a franchise in and of himself, and it’s because this first installment is so good.
You can watch Knives Out on Tubi.
JFK (1991)
A thrilling chronicle of the investigation in John F. Kennedy’s assassination, JFK is riveting even if you’re not sure whether to buy what it’s selling. The movie follows a New Orleans district attorney who slowly finds himself more and more fascinated with the intricate details of the murder, and becomes convinced that the government played some role in the death of the president. Part of the power of JFK comes from the way the conspiracy seems to be almost never-ending, and the movie is completely watchable even when you aren’t sure you’re even following the story its characters are telling.
You can watch JFK on Tubi.
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.
Winter’s Bone (2010)
Winter’s Bone is a mystery movie with very practical, grounded stakes. When a teenage girl discovers that her father put the family home up as collateral for his bail money and then skipped out on his court date, she has to find him to avoid losing her home.
As she journeys deeper into the heart of the criminal underbelly of the Ozarks, she discovers just how brutal that world can be, and just how strong she’ll have to be to find the answers she needs. Featuring a star-making performance from Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone is a quiet, gutting drama.
You can watch Winter’s Bone 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.