Movies Like Surprise Detective

If you liked Surprise Detective (2025), a crime and mystery movie directed by Bailey Haydon-Leger, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The Limits of Control (2009)
★ 6/10Also crime and mystery
A mysterious stranger works outside the law and keeps his objectives hidden, trusting no one. While his demeanor is paradoxically focused and dreamlike all at once, he embarks on a journey that not only takes him…
2
Thirteen at Dinner (1985)
★ 5.9/10Also crime and mystery
Actress Jane Wilkinson wants a divorce, but her husband, Lord Edgware, refuses. She convinces Hercule Poirot to use his famed tact and logic to make her case. Lord Edgware turns up murdered, a well-placed knife wound…
3
The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
★ 6.1/10Also mystery and crime
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
4
The Seven-Ups (1973)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and mystery
A tough detective who is part of an elite New York City unit is trying to find out who killed his partner, but uncovers a plot to kidnap mobsters for money.
5
The Thin Man Goes Home (1944)
★ 7.1/10Also mystery
Hoping for a peaceful visit with his parents in the small town of Sycamore Springs, Nick Charles and his wife Nora soon find themselves surrounded by old rivalries, family tensions, and a mysterious murder. Nick’s…
6
All the Devils Are Here (2025)
★ 6.2/10Also crime and mystery
After a heist, four criminals lay low in a remote safehouse, waiting for orders. As paranoia builds, one thing becomes clear — the real threat may not be outside, but among them.
7
Shadow of the Thin Man (1941)
★ 7/10Also crime and mystery
While attending a major horse race with their young son, Nick Jr., Nick and Nora Charles witnesse a shocking murder from the crowded grandstand. What first appears to be an isolated killing soon leads to a maze of…
8
Limbo (2023)
★ 6.1/10Also crime and mystery
Travis, a jaded detective, arrives in the remote outback town of Limbo to investigate the cold case murder of local Indigenous girl Charlotte Hayes 20 years ago. As truths about the murder begin to unfold, the…
9
The Interview (1998)
★ 6.8/10Also crime and mystery
A duel between a suspected murderer and a detective pressed by people who want results. But whose skin is really wanted?
10
Breathless (2012)
★ 5.9/10Also mystery and crime
Lorna is a strong-willed Texas woman who’s had enough of her untrustworthy husband Dale’s criminal acts and lack of husbandry. Fed up, she enlists the help of her old friend, Tiny, to help her figure out what to do…
11
Killer Heat (2024)
★ 5.8/10Also crime
An expat PI is hired to investigate a suspicious death in Crete, Greece, where jealousies run deep amongst the victim's powerful family.
12
The International (2009)
★ 6.3/10Also crime and mystery
An interpol agent and an attorney are determined to bring one of the world's most powerful banks to justice. Uncovering money laundering, arms trading, and conspiracy to destabilize world governments, their…
13
Song of the Thin Man (1947)
★ 6.7/10Also crime and mystery
While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in…
14
Body Cam (2020)
★ 6.2/10Also mystery
As a police officer investigates the gruesome murder of her colleague, she discovers that a mysterious supernatural force is behind it.
15
The Blue Gardenia (1953)
★ 6.5/10Also crime and mystery
Upon waking up to the news that the man she’d gone on a date with the previous night has been murdered, a young woman with only a faint memory of the night’s events begins to suspect that she murdered him while…
16
Inside Man (2023)
★ 6.2/10Also crime
Based on true events. A disgraced police detective seeking redemption goes undercover to expose a violent crime syndicate. But as he sinks deeper into the mob, the price for absolution may be higher than he can afford.
17
Cult Killer (2024)
★ 6.4/10Also mystery and crime
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
18
I Am All Girls (2021)
★ 6.5/10Also mystery and crime
A special crimes investigator forms an unlikely bond with a serial killer to bring down a global child sex trafficking syndicate.
19
Trap House (2025)
★ 6.6/10Also crime
An undercover DEA agent and his partner embark on a game of cat and mouse with an audacious, and surprising group of thieves – their own rebellious teenagers, who have begun robbing from a dangerous cartel, using their…
20
The Rookie (1990)
★ 5.9/10Also crime
Veteran cop Nick Pulovski is used to playing musical partners; many of the partners he's had in the past have died on the job, and often as a result of Nick's risky tactics. But the rookie who's been assigned to help…