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Who doesn’t love a good murder mystery? I know I do. I love a good thriller book (in fact, there are a whole bunch that should get their own adaptations), I love trying to find the culprit behind a heinous crime, and I love twists, turns, and red herrings. I also love a murder mystery movie if I’m parked on my couch in front of my TV, and like literally millions of other people, I have an Amazon Prime subscription. So if I want to actually take advantage of said streaming subscription and want to watch a murder mystery movie, what am I picking?
Some housekeeping, to start. None of these films, save for one, were distributed by Amazon or its acquisition MGM Studios, so please be aware that streaming rights change all the time and that movies could end up yanked unceremoniously from the server. Also, while there were plenty by-the-book, paint-by-numbers murder mysteries streaming on Amazon (some of which were made in house), do you see the word “best” in our headline? Yeah. While some of these might not be the most traditional murder mystery entries you’ve ever seen, I’m here to argue that they definitely fit the bill — and they’ll keep you guessing all the way through. Now that that’s out of the way, here are five of the very best murder mystery thriller movies you can stream on Prime Video. (Keep in mind that you may have to sit through some ads, depending on your subscription tier.)
The Illusionist
Yari Film Group Releasing/Freestyle ReleasingDirected by Neil Burger, who adapted the narrative from the 1990 short story “Eisenheim the Illusionist” by Steven Millhauser, who in turn based it partially on the infamous Austrian Mayerling incident, “The Illusionist” hit theaters in 2006. Unfortunately for Burger and this legitimately good movie, “The Prestige” also came out that year and is also an intriguing suspense movie about magicians. As a society, it seems like we’ve collectively decided to remember “The Prestige” and forget about “The Illusionist.” Frankly, I’d like to right that wrong! As you may have guessed, “The Illusionist” focuses on Eisenheim the Illusionist (Edward Norton), whose real name is Eduard Abramovich and who falls in love with a highborn duchess as a young man. 15 years go by and the two lovers are separated, meeting secretly while Eisenheim builds his reputation as a confounding magician … only for the duchess, Sophie (Jessica Biel) to reveal to Eisenheim that she’s engaged to marry the Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell), a nasty man with a reputation for treating women terribly.
This is where the murder mystery aspect kicks in, and it’s fun. When Sophie appears to die at the Mayerling hunting lodge right after attempting to end her engagement, Eisenheim switches the format of his shows and begins summoning the spirits of the dead to try and solve the murder, horrifying and shocking his audiences. I absolutely won’t spoil all the twists and turns of “The Illusionist” here, but if you’ve only seen “The Prestige,” you should absolutely watch its twin flame film on Prime Video.
Death on the Nile (1978)
EMI DistributorsA new version of “Death on the Nile” with Kenneth Branagh in the director’s chair and in front of the camera as Agatha Christie’s intrepid detective Hercule Poirot came out in 2022, but if you want to see a truly great adaptation of one of Christie’s twistiest murder mysteries, you’ll want to check out the 1978 adaptation of “Death on the Nile.” Based, of course, on Christie’s world-famous 1937 novel of the same name, “Death on the Nile” plonks Poirot — played in this film by Peter Ustinov — in Egypt, where heiress Linnet Ridgway (Lois Chiles) plans to marry Simon Doyle (Simon MacCorkindale). There are a few problems right off the bat, though. First of all, before his engagement to Linnet, Simon was hired as her estate manager for her massive English home … and Simon was also previously engaged to Linnet’s close friend Jackie de Bellefort (Mia Farrow).
Not only is Jackie openly stalking the bride and groom, but there are plenty of reasons for a traveling Poirot to take an interest in the festivities and plenty of suspects aboard the Nile paddle steamer with the newly married Doyles. And when Linnet turns up dead, Poirot must find the killer. With an ensemble cast that includes luminaries like Dame Maggie Smith, Jane Birkin, Bette Davis, and Angela Lansbury, the 1978 version of “Death on the Nile” is a stone-cold classic, and it’s streaming on Prime Video.
The Invisible Man
Universal PicturesLet me give you a quick peek behind the curtain when it comes to this list. While I was trying to figure out which movies to include, my editor suggested that the 2020 adaptation of “The Invisible Man” — the one helmed by Leigh Whannell and, of course, based on the 1897 novel by H.G. Wells — skews more “horror” than “murder mystery.” While that’s not not true, here’s my rebuttal: The main character of this version of “The Invisible Man,” Cecilia Kass (Elisabeth Moss), is falsely accused of several murders and must uncover the truth, which is that the murderer is invisible. So there! We’ve got a murder mystery on our hands, folks!
When we first meet Moss’ Cecilia, she’s trapped in an abusive marriage to tech genius Adrian Griffin (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), who has, unbeknownst to basically everybody, developed a technologically brilliant suit that can turn the wearer invisible. Cecilia manages to escape Adrian’s fortress-like house with the help of her sister Emily (Harriet Dyer), but it’s a close call, and as Cecilia attempts to build a life without Adrian, strange things start happening. First, Adrian turns up dead of an apparent suicide and leaves a small fortune to Cecilia, but then, emails start sending from her account without her knowledge, medication is mysteriously found in Cecilia’s system, and most disturbingly, Emily is killed in the middle of a busy restaurant … and Cecilia is found holding the knife.
You can probably guess where that’s all going, but “The Invisible Man” is still a worthy, thrilling ride from beginning to end. Go watch it on Prime Video and then let me know if it’s a murder mystery. (It is.)
Drop
Universal PicturesI’ll always make room for a super high-concept, delightfully unhinged thriller on a list of this nature, and because M. Night Shyamalan’s Josh Harnett showcase “Trap” isn’t a murder mystery, I went with another movie with a brief, snappy title: “Drop.” Led by “The White Lotus” and “The Bold Type” star Meghann Fahy, Christopher Landon’s delightfully over-the-top “Drop” opens as Fahy’s widowed single mom and therapist Violet Gates heads out in Chicago for her first date in years. As Violet’s sister Jen (Violett Beane) takes care of Violet’s young son Toby (Jacob Robinson), Violet heads to a swanky restaurant atop a skyscraper to spend her evening with photographer Henry (Brandon Sklenar). Henry seems nice and normal (and he is very handsome), but before they can even enjoy their meal, Violet starts receiving incredibly frightening text messages from an anonymous number that eventually get scarier when they direct her to kill Henry.
Sklenar is undeniably good as the often confused and potentially evil Henry, but “Drop” is Fahy’s movie, and as she works to uncover the identity of the anonymous texter, we also learn precisely what happened to Violet’s late abusive husband Blake (Michael Shea). “Drop” is a murder mystery, a taut thriller, and just a whole lot of fun — and you can watch it on Prime Video. Maybe put your phone on silent, though.
The Sheep Detectives
Amazon MGM StudiosOne of the most delightful cinematic surprises of 2026 also happens to be an excellent murder mystery, and unlike all of the other choices on this list, “The Sheep Detectives” will hopefully stick around on Amazon Prime because it’s a production of Amazon MGM Studios. Directed by Kyle Balda and, unbelievably, penned by “The Last of Us” and “Chernobyl” scribe Craig Mazin (who wrote this frankly excellent script 10 years before it finally got made into a movie), “The Sheep Detectives” is based on the 2005 novel “Three Bags Full” by Leonie Swann and introduces us to shepherd George Hardy (Hugh Jackman), who enjoys his isolated life living in a trailer in the small English village of Denbrook, where he raises a flock of sheep in a field. Every night, George reads murder mystery novels to his flock, and unbeknownst to him, they understand every word … and his secret favorite sheep Lily (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) always manages to solve the mystery before anyone else.
That’s why the sheep spring into action to solve the mystery when George shockingly turns up dead one morning. While that’s the simplest way to describe “The Sheep Detectives,” this emotionally resonant, deeply funny, and wholly satisfying film is also a meditation on death, grief, and memory that just so happens to feature talking sheep. You absolutely must watch “The Sheep Detectives,” which might just be the best murder mystery of 2026 — and it’s on Prime Video.
