Mystery film in the context of "Mystic River (film)"

Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as drama or gangster film, but also include comedy, and, in turn, is divided into many sub-genres, such as mystery, suspense, or noir.

Screenwriter and scholar Eric R. Williams identified crime film as one of eleven super-genres in his Screenwriters Taxonomy, claiming that all feature-length narrative films can be classified by these super-genres.  The other ten super-genres are action, fantasy, horror, romance, science fiction, slice of life, sports, thriller, war and western. Williams identifies drama in a broader category called "film type", mystery and suspense as "macro-genres", and film noir as a "screenwriter's pathway" explaining that these categories are additive rather than exclusionary. Chinatown would be an example of a film that is a drama (film type) crime film (super-genre) that is also a noir (pathway) mystery (macro-genre).

The Dry is a 2020 Australian mystery drama thriller film directed by Robert Connolly, from a screenplay by Connolly and Harry Cripps, and is based on the 2016 book of the same name by Jane Harper. The film stars Eric Bana, Genevieve O'Reilly, Keir O'Donnell and John Polson.

The film had its premiere in Melbourne on 11 December 2020, before Roadshow Films released the film in Australia on 1 January 2021, and received positive reviews from critics. IFC Films released the film in the United States on 21 May 2021.

Flightplan is a 2005 mystery psychological thriller film directed by Robert Schwentke from a screenplay written by Peter A. Dowling and Billy Ray. It stars Jodie Foster as Kyle Pratt, a recently widowed American aircraft engineer living in Berlin, who flies back to the U.S. with her daughter and her husband's body. She loses her daughter during the flight and must struggle to find her while proving her sanity at the same time. It also features Peter Sarsgaard, Erika Christensen, Kate Beahan, Greta Scacchi, Sean Bean, and Matt Bomer in his film debut.

Distributed by Touchstone Pictures and released theatrically on September 23, 2005, the film received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the direction, performances of the cast (particularly Foster's), and the thriller elements of the film but criticized the screenplay. It was also a major commercial success, grossing over $223 million worldwide against a $55 million budget, and received two nominations at the 32nd Saturn Awards; Best Action or Adventure Film, and Best Actress (for Foster).

Rear Window is a 1954 American mystery psychological thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock and written by John Michael Hayes, based on Cornell Woolrich's 1942 short story "It Had to Be Murder". Originally released by Paramount Pictures, the film stars James Stewart, Grace Kelly, Wendell Corey, Thelma Ritter, and Raymond Burr. It was screened at the 1954 Venice Film Festival in competition for the Golden Lion.

Rear Window is shot almost entirely from within one room and from the point-of-view outside the window. The film was made with a budget of $1 million ($11.7 million in 2024), and grossed $27 million during its initial release ($316 million in 2024).

The Lady Vanishes is a 1938 British mystery thriller film directed by Alfred Hitchcock, starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave. Written by Sidney Gilliat and Frank Launder, based on the 1936 novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White, the film is about an English tourist travelling by train in continental Europe who discovers that her elderly travelling companion seems to have disappeared from the train. After her fellow passengers deny ever having seen the elderly lady, the young woman is helped by a young musicologist, the two proceeding to search the train for clues to the old lady's disappearance.

The Lady Vanishes was filmed at the Gainsborough Studios in Islington, London. Hitchcock caught Hollywood's attention with the film and moved to Hollywood soon after its release. Although the director's three previous efforts had done poorly at the box office, The Lady Vanishes was widely successful, and confirmed American producer David O. Selznick's belief that Hitchcock indeed had a future in Hollywood cinema.

The Black Dahlia is a 2006 American neo-noir mystery film directed by Brian De Palma and written by Josh Friedman, based on the 1987 novel of the same name by James Ellroy. The film stars Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson, Aaron Eckhart, and Hilary Swank. Inspired by the widely sensationalized murder of Elizabeth Short, its plot follows two LAPD detectives investigating the case, leading them through a series of shocking discoveries.

The rights to the novel were optioned by De Palma in 1997, with David Fincher originally attached to direct. De Palma was ultimately hired after Fincher dropped out to direct Zodiac instead. Principal photography began in Sofia in April 2005, with additional photography in Los Angeles.

The Illusionist is a 2006 American romantic mystery film written and directed by Neil Burger and starring Edward Norton, Paul Giamatti, and Jessica Biel. Based loosely on Steven Millhauser's short story "Eisenheim the Illusionist", it tells the story of Eisenheim, a magician in turn-of-the-century Vienna, who reunites with his childhood love, a woman far above his social standing. It also depicts a fictionalized version of the Mayerling incident.

It premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and opened the 2006 Seattle International Film Festival; it was distributed in limited release to theaters on August 18, 2006 and expanded nationwide on September 1. It was a critical and commercial success.

The Player is a 1992 American satirical black comedy mystery film directed by Robert Altman and written by Michael Tolkin, based on his 1988 novel. The film stars Tim Robbins, Greta Scacchi, Fred Ward, Whoopi Goldberg, Peter Gallagher, Brion James and Cynthia Stevenson, and is the story of a Hollywood film studio executive who kills an aspiring screenwriter he believes is sending him death threats.

The Player has many film references and Hollywood in-jokes, with 65 celebrities making cameo appearances in the film. Altman once stated that the film "is a very mild satire," offending no one. The film received three nominations at the 65th Academy Awards: Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing. The film also won two Golden Globes, Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical and Best Actor – Comedy or Musical for Robbins.