The best mystery crime movies of 2025; From “Secret Agent” to “Knife 3”

The crime genre has never gone out of fashion in the history of cinema; Therefore, it is not surprising that the year 2025 was spent brilliantly for it. The best crime movies of 2025 are not very similar, but almost all of them are of high quality. From sequels that aren’t meant to be fun and add something to their universe, to remakes that take a fresh look at classic stories instead of repeating the past. In addition to these, we also had some non-adapted works that are worth watching.

The crime films of 2025 are going in different directions. Some of them are character-driven and others rely on black comedy elements, but all of them work best in the “storytelling” department and keep us with them until the end. These works also remind us that the crime genre is still alive and flexible, and it seems impossible to get tired of watching these mysterious and exciting works.

The best crime movies of 2025 that you must see

10- Highest to lowest (Highest 2 Lowest)

• Director: Spike Lee
• Actors: Denzel Washington, Ilfensh Hadera, Jeffrey Wright, Ice Spice, Ice Rocky, Dean Winters
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 5.5 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 83 out of 100

Remaking one of the best crime films in the history of cinema, when Akira Kurosawa’s “Heaven and Hell” is involved, is risky and even daring in itself. Now, if you leave this remake to Spike Lee (a filmmaker known above all for his signature, worldview, and personal tone), it’s obvious that we’re faced with a completely different work. Fortunately, Lee and Alan Fox (screenwriter) treat the classic 1963 masterpiece of Japanese cinema, which was a police drama and a careful dissection of the social class structure, with the utmost care and respect.

The story revolves around a major music producer named David King (Denzel Washington), who liquidates his stock portfolio and puts all his wealth in the middle to take full control of the company he helped create. Meanwhile, she receives a call from someone who claims to have kidnapped her son Terry. But the terrible news of Terry’s kidnapping comes from a mistaken identity: the criminal has accidentally kidnapped Terry’s best friend and David’s stepson, the son of his driver and family friend, Paul (Jeffrey Wright). Now David must decide whether to pay for Kyle’s (Elias Wright) release. Meanwhile, public reaction also plays an important role in his decision. No one wants to be seen as someone who bought a company with the same fortune that could have saved the life of an innocent teenager.

You’d be hard-pressed to find two better actors than Washington and Wright for these roles, and Washington and Lee’s reunion (their fifth film together) allows them to expand on their decades-long legacy. The basic similarities between Kurosawa’s version and Lee’s can’t be ignored (both are loosely based on Ed McBain’s The King’s Blood), but Lee departs from the source material to a great extent. “Highest to Lowest” even tries to be a comedy or melodrama at times.

The film is more about what crime exposes than the crime itself: the struggle between commerce and passion, the pressure to make decisions at critical moments, and the age-old question of what price success comes at. Spike Lee’s movie is not comparable to “Heaven and Hell”, but it is worth watching for exactly that reason. This is not an American remake, it is a personal and modern adaptation that tells its story in a new structure without compromising a classic masterpiece.

9- The Mastermind

• Director: Kelly Rijkaard
• Actors: Josh O’Connor, Alana Haim, Hope Davis, Bill Camp, John Magaro, Gabby Hoffman, Renzi Feliz, Amanda Plummer
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 6.3 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 90 out of 100

In Kelly Rijkaard’s new film, there is no mention of the usual excitement and rhythm of heist cinema. “Thinking Brain” moves forward with a dry humor, a calm narrative and a scrutinizing look; An approach that can seem boring to a part of the general audience. But these features made the critics fall in love with the film and praise it.

Adventures happen around JB (Josh O’Connor); An ordinary, unemployed, family man who thinks his way out of life’s dead end is a “relatively simple” art theft. He’s not a professional thief, he doesn’t even seem very smart; More like someone who has seen too many movies and now thinks they can recreate them in the real world. The story takes place in the 1970s, and JB, with his obsession and false confidence, is planning his first major robbery of a local museum in Massachusetts; A plan that looks perfect on paper, but in practice is on the verge of collapse from the very first moment.

The difference between “Thinking Brain” and other heist films is that there are no criminal geniuses, stylish montages and perfect execution of the plan. Rijkaard consciously approaches the clumsy aspect of crime; Where every wrong decision, like dominoes, leads to the next wrong decision. With every attempt to control the situation, JB only sinks himself deeper into the mire, and this gradual descent is both funny and painful at the same time.

The comedy of the film also comes from the stubborn insistence of the main character to do something right that is basically out of his control. If you find it funny to see Josh O’Connor struggling with a ladder for ten minutes, sweating, doing math, and then it collapses on his head, you’ll probably enjoy The Thinking Brain. But if you’re expecting the heist to play out like other crime movies, smart and flashy, you’ll be disappointed.

“Thinking Brain” is one of the most different crime films of the year and has a different concern; A look at the fantasy of ordinary people, and the dreams that we are not supposed to achieve in the real world. With his quiet filmmaking style, Kelly Rijkaard creates a human and memorable portrait from the heart of a failed robbery. However, we reiterate that the film is highly subjective and cannot satisfy everyone.

8- Roofman

• Director: Understanding Cianference
• Actors: Channing Tatum, Kirsten Dunst, Ben Mendelsohn, Peter Dinklage, Uzo Aduba, Juno Temple, Emory Coen, Kate Stanfield
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 87 out of 100

If you hear the story of “The Man on the Roof”, your first reaction is probably laughter or disbelief. Everything looks like a stupid slapstick comedy; A film that is supposed to account for the absurdity of the situation. But the biggest surprise of Derek Cianference’s production is that it decides to ditch the joke for the most part. This film, based on reality, tells the story of Jeffrey Manchester (Channing Tatum); A man who broke through the roof, robbed dozens of McDonald’s branches and stayed hidden in a store for months.

“The Man on the Roof” instead of highlighting the ridiculous dimensions of the story, turns it into a window to look at human helplessness in difficult situations. Jeffrey, an ex-army ranger and helpless father, is neither villain nor hero; It’s just someone whose usual ways have been closed and now he has reached decisions that seem strange and even funny from the outside. His thefts from McDonald’s may be criminal, but in reality they are a sign of a dead end; A man’s efforts to stay afloat.

The part about escaping from a federal prison and living undercover in a toy store for six months might be weird, but it’s understandable. The story could have gone for excitement or exaggeration, but the film pauses and focuses on the character’s loneliness, fear and small hopes. The strength of “The Man on the Roof” is the intimacy that slowly imposes itself. The film never lets the absurdity of its central idea neutralize its message. On the contrary, it builds a bridge to human relationships from this absurdity, to bonds that form even in the most irrational situations and keep people alive.

Channing Tatum has given one of the best performances of his career here. The film knows how to use her innate charm, innocence and vulnerability to create a multi-layered and believable character. The Man on the Roof is one of the best crime movies of 2025, and once again it reminds us that even the weirdest stories can be effective if told right.

7- The Accountant 2

• Director: Gavin O’Connor
• Actors: Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Daniela Pineda, J. who Simmons, Daniela Pineda, Andrew Howard, Robert Morgan
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 6.6 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 75 out of 100

We live in the age of “Legacy Sequels”; An era when film studios exhume every franchise in order to draw the audience to the cinema to make money from people’s sense of nostalgia. However, there is not much to criticize about The Accountant 2, it aims to entertain and it achieves that.

The first part, which was released in 2016, was an entertaining action. Yes, it wasn’t a masterpiece, but it had the potential to continue its story and universe, even though it didn’t feel the need for a sequel. The story of “The Accountant 2” is told eight years after the events of the first film. Marybeth (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) is now head of the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Unit and learns that Raymond King (JK Simmons), who became a private investigator after leaving the Department, has died.

He leaves a message on his arm for Marybeth to call Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) and ask for help solving a case he’s been working on (a family that disappeared eight years ago). Due to the complexity of the case, Christian enlists the help of his long-estranged brother, Braxton (Jon Bernthal); This cooperation leads them into the world of drug cartels, child trafficking and rival assassins.

“The Accountant 2” could have been much better, but despite its glaring flaws like the lack of creativity, the controversial portrayal of autism, and the weak main plot, it’s still worth watching. Even if you think there was no need to make this sequel, you will gradually understand why Ben Affleck and Gwynne O’Connor were interested in returning to this world. As long as Affleck and Jon Bernthal continue to play in these roles and considering the relatively good commercial performance of the film, it is not a bad thing to make a third part, provided that the story is closer to the atmosphere of the first version.

6- Caught Stealing

• Director: Darren Aronofsky
• Actors: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoe Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber, Vincent Dan Afrio, Griffin Dunn, Bad Bunny, Carol Kane
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 6.9 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 85 out of 100

“Pinching” is a standard and well-made film. It might even be Aronofsky’s easiest film to watch, because he never takes any risks and takes the safest possible route. This movie is supposed to be popcorn, not challenging. Yes, we love Aronofsky for those films that were reckless; Works like “Elegy for a Dream”. “Machgiri” is not of that genre and it is not among his best works, but if you are not strict, it is one of the interesting crime films of 2025.

The protagonist of the story, Hank (Austin Butler), is a young man whose life seems to have stopped in the middle of the road. An accident in his youth took everything from him; His bright future in baseball, his self-confidence and even his passion for life. Now his only hobby is to listen to the matches of his favorite team on the radio. He is not a troublemaker, he doesn’t look for sidelines either. But just by agreeing to take care of his neighbor’s cat, Ross (Matt Smith) suddenly finds himself in the middle of dangerous and unexpected events.

If there’s one thing Aronofsky has always known, it’s getting the actors right. “Pinching” is not an exception to this rule. We do not see any weak acting in the film. Everyone plays carefully and controlled, and it is clear that the director knows how to bring out the real power of his actors. The film itself may not be very important in Aronofsky’s career, but in terms of acting, his signature is worth it.

The atmosphere and scene design of the movie is also brilliant. Aronofsky did not recreate the 90s superficially, but each scene is full of detailed details. Even the music of the film is designed in a way that throws you directly into the tense yet energetic atmosphere of those years. This auteur filmmaker does not abandon his familiar visual signatures and his close-ups attract your attention. However, however, the main problem is that the film doesn’t do anything new. There is nothing wrong with a filmmaker entering a familiar genre, accepting its rules and creating a work based on formulas, but when Darren Aronofsky’s name is mentioned, expectations are naturally higher.

5- Bugonia

• Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
• Actors: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.4 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 88 out of 100

Bogonia may not be Yorgos Lanthimos’s strangest film, but it is his most influential critique of the mechanisms of the contemporary world. The story begins with a crazy decision. Two cousins, Teddy (Jesse Plemons) and Don (Aidan Delbis), decide to kidnap Michelle Fuller (Emma Stone), CEO of a large pharmaceutical company. But not for money or personal revenge. Because Teddy is sure that this woman is an alien who has come to destroy the earth. So they imprison him and shave his hair and try to force him to contact the mothership and prepare the conditions for the aliens to leave the planet. so strange so scary

At first glance, it all looks like a big joke. An idea that fits more into a satirical movie than a serious work. But right from where the tortures start and the arguments rise. From one point on, the film stops laughing; He wants to torture you. A situation that could have been a simple hostage story turns into an intellectual battlefield; A place where people die not with their fists, but with their beliefs.

One side of the story is Teddy’s paranoid mind; A mind full of conspiracies and “truths” that only special people know about. On the other side, Michelle Fuller is standing; The symbol of modern power, capitalism, technocracy and management that measures everything with numbers, graphs and productivity. These two worlds not only do not meet, but also do not understand the language at all. Lanthimus does not run away here, nor does he go to the sidelines. He puts the current crisis in front of our eyes as it is and asks: What will happen to us when everyone is imprisoned in his own little world and only believes his own words to be true? A world where dialogue is dead and ideologies are like a wall between people. Lanthimus does not write prescriptions as usual; It just forces us to look into the darkness.

The constant pessimism of Lanthimus can be seen in “Bogonia”. We are on the side of a world that is being destroyed under the pressure of power, inequality, economic collapse, environmental crisis and cultural erosion. But the scary thing is that the movie is not a metaphor; Right now, right here. The bitterness of the film comes from here. From being real. “Bogonia” is not a movie that will make you feel better after seeing it; It is a mirror that we don’t like to look in.

4- The Secret Agent

• Director: Kleber Mendonsa Filio
• Actors: Wagner Mora, Udo Kier, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Candido, Thomas Aquino, Gabriel Leon, Tania Maria
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.5 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 98 out of 100

“Secret Agent” tells the story of a man named Marcelo (Wagner Mora); A forty-year-old man who returns to the city of Recife in the 70s to be with his little child again. But while he still hasn’t put down his luggage, he realizes that the city he has returned to is completely different from what he had in mind.

Kleber Mendonza Filio’s latest work is like a compilation of several different films, but strangely it doesn’t fall apart. Humor, suspense, politics, nostalgia, and horror all sit side by side and not only cancel each other out, but keep increasing the pressure on the main character. Marcelo is a man who is full of fatigue, sadness and anxiety. After a few years away, Wagner Mora makes a serious return to Brazilian cinema with this film; An actor who has always been good, but here, Mendonsa Filio makes him a full-fledged star.

Although there are elements of humor in the film, “Secret Agent” is a serious work about one of the darkest periods in Brazilian history; A time when people disappeared, hired killers bargained for a price, and even the most remote cities were not safe from this suffocating atmosphere. The film opens with an unforgettable scene: Marcelo arrives in his yellow Volkswagen at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. He hasn’t gotten off yet when he sees a corpse lying under the burning sun and covered only with a piece of cardboard. He finds out that the man was killed by the night guard of the gas station during a robbery. The police are so busy with other things that they don’t bother visiting. The stench rises and stray dogs roam around the corpse.

But when the two policemen finally show up, they not only ignore the body, but start checking Marcelo’s documents and car. They are looking for materials, weapons or any excuse. Finally, they very easily put their hands forward to “voluntarily help” the police fund. The scenes are familiar, aren’t they?

As the story progresses, the curtains are gradually removed and we learn that Marcelo is actually Armando; A man who fell out with a corrupt federal official named Girotti. The one who cut off the funding of Armando’s university research department and messed up his life. “Secret Agent” is also visually appealing. Mendonsa Filio has tried to revive the mood of the cinema of the 70s. Each frame is full of small and attractive details; Something that would not have been possible without a detailed stage design. “Secret Agent” is undoubtedly one of the best crime films of 2025, and now we have to see what it will do at the Oscars.

3- Wake Up Dead Man

• Director: Ryan Johnson
• Actors: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.4 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 92 out of 100

If we claim that “Knife” is the best modern mystery-crime series, we are not wrong. “Wake Up Dead Man” is not only as high-quality as the previous two releases, but it sets up its murder mystery in an irresistible way. Ryan Johnson proves once again that the secret of the success of this series is not the complexity of the puzzle; It is a method that makes the audience think at the same time and constantly question their assumptions.

In this episode, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) enters a case that is simpler than the previous ones. A mysterious murder that messed up a small town and left the followers of a controversial church in the middle. Blanc is accompanied by a young priest named Judd (Josh O’Connor); The one who is both the assistant detective of the story and the one who raises moral questions. And very soon, it becomes clear that this mystery is not going to be easily solved by the familiar rules of the genre.

The winning card of the “Knife” franchise has always been that each film, beyond entertainment, has its own specific theme and message. If the previous episodes were about family, wealth and modern lies, “Wake Up Dead Man” targets faith; Of course, not in the form of an abstract concept, in the form of a force that can be both savior and a tool of abuse.

Meanwhile, the narrative is cleverly intertwined with Judd’s inner path. Solving the mystery is as much about finding the killer as it is about this young priest coming to peace with his faith and ideals; A personal journey that gives the story emotional weight and takes it beyond a mind game.

Wake Up Dead will appeal to both long-time fans of the genre and audiences looking for more than a simple mystery. This collection is truly impressive, even when you go into “Knife” with high expectations, it still finds new ways to surprise you.

2- No Other Choice

• Director: Park Chan Wook
• Actors: Lee Byung-hoon, Son Ye-jin, Park Hye-sun, Lee Seung-min, Yeom Hae-ran, Cha Seung-won
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 7.6 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 97 out of 100

Park Chan-wook’s new film is what we expect from him: cool, critical, bitter and funny. The film has a gentle start, but very soon it peels off and turns into something else; A story about family breakdown, lost masculinity, breadwinner crisis and a calm but disturbing picture of society. The film is an adaptation of the novel “Axe” written by Donald E. Westlake; The book was adapted once before and Park dedicated his film to the same version.

It all starts in a seemingly perfect house. Yoo Man-soo (Lee Byung-hoon) is the man of the house; He stands by the barbecue with a calm smile and grills eel. The eels given to him by the new American owners of the paper mill – where Man-soo worked for many years. His wife, children and dogs look at him with admiration. But this gift has a bitter taste. These eels are actually part of his dismissal rights. New managers have come to retrench and Man-soo is one of the victims. He is hurt, crushed, but he doesn’t even know how to understand or talk about this failure. All he wants to do is find a new job in the paper industry before his quarterly salary runs out so he can look like a “man” in front of his family again.

But such a thing is impossible until an evil thought comes to his mind. He prints a fake job ad in a paper industry magazine and very cleverly explains that the company does not accept any online applications; Everything must be sent on paper and by post. No digital rejection. No fingerprints. The applicants, naive and unsuspecting, send their personal information and Man-soo decides to kill them one by one to create a job vacancy for himself.

At first glance, the film looks like a dark comedy about serial killers, but Park, as usual, changes the game. Man-soo’s plans don’t go as expected. It even stops very soon. It is as if the story suddenly decides to go to more important places. We gradually understand that the house that Man-soo is on the verge of losing due to late payments is his childhood home; A place tied to a deep spiritual wound and his relationship with his father.

The short stories are not unimportant here either. Miri, Man-soo’s wife, works in a dental office. Thinking that the dentist’s eye is following his wife, Man-soo develops a mental toothache, but escapes treatment. On the other hand, their son is accused of stealing a mobile phone from a neighbor’s shop. And all the while, elements of black comedy are always present in the background. But what do all these images and incidents mean? Perhaps some final and surprising views of the high-tech paper production process, along with environmental degradation, point to a grim truth: mechanization, algorithms, and systems have overtaken humans. Man has now become an insignificant tool.

1- One Battle After Another

• Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
• Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, Tiana Taylor, Chase Infiniti, Alana Haim, Wood Harris
• Rating of IMDb users to the movie: 8.3 out of 10
• Rotten Tomatoes rating for the movie: 95 out of 100

Battle After Battle is not only one of the best crime action movies of 2025, but also a major cinematic achievement. The story revolves around a revolutionary leftist group that wants to fight against a racist and autocratic system. Anderson specifically focuses on a few specific characters; Bob Ferguson (Leonardo DiCaprio), a man who has buried his real name for years; Perfidia Beverly Hills (Tiana Taylor), a woman who turns from a freedom fighter to a trafficker and is on the run; and Willa (Chase Infiniti), their 16-year-old daughter, who must pay for her parents’ choices.

This is Anderson’s most political film, and he speaks his mind. On paper, the story is about Bob’s frantic quest to find his daughter Willa, but this personal pursuit takes place in a world where politics dictates everything. From the words and positions of the characters to the definition of a character like Lockjaw (Sean Penn) of “serving the homeland”, which apparently means removing activists, arresting immigrants and suffocating the opposition.

The movie doesn’t want to say, “Watch out, this might be the future.” No; This is the world we live in right now. It is all too familiar to see the scenes of protests, illegal detentions or the terrible conditions in which migrants are held. From a technical point of view, the film is not perfect. The frames are meticulously arranged, the editing is precise, and the dialogue is spot on. Don’t forget the final chase sequence, which is epic.

Of course, this does not guarantee that the movie will be everyone’s favorite. If you are not interested in the cinema of Paul Thomas Anderson, you might get bored and some people will not cope with the political aspects of the film. Still, Battle After Battle is a bold film. Anderson makes no attempt to hide his views on today’s world; A world full of anger, despair and cruelty.

Source: collider