10 Movies Like Knives Out: Whodunits to Match Your Mood

Glass Onion (2022): the obvious next stop for Blanc

Writer-director: Rian Johnson · Key cast: Daniel Craig, Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe

A tech billionaire brings his friends to a private Greek island for a reunion and a murder-mystery game. Blanc joins a group whose public confidence rests on a much less comfortable web of personal dependencies.

The familiar pleasure is the distance between what people say about themselves and what their behavior reveals. The change is in volume: this is a brighter, more conspicuous world of celebrity, influence and ostentatious wealth. Johnson describes it as more of a satire and a mystery farce in Netflix's film guide. Choose it for the detective's return and the ensemble's comic friction; expect a different social circle from the Thrombey family, rather than another inheritance dispute in the same house.

Wake Up Dead Man (2025): Blanc in a darker register

Writer-director: Rian Johnson · Key cast: Daniel Craig, Josh O'Connor, Josh Brolin, Glenn Close

Blanc teams up with a young priest to investigate an apparently impossible crime at a small-town church. The community has a history, a hierarchy and plenty of reasons to resist an outsider's questions.

This is the third Blanc film, already released in 2025. The church setting shifts the social pressure toward faith, authority and belonging, giving the series a more somber atmosphere. It is the most direct choice here if you want another Johnson mystery but would welcome a change from Glass Onion's holiday glare. Leave room for a darker mood alongside the detective's humor. Netflix's official guide confirms the premise and viewing page; avoid the separate ending explainers until afterward.

Clue (1985): let the mansion become a farce

Director: Jonathan Lynn · Key cast: Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn, Eileen Brennan

A group of guests gathers in a mansion, each carrying an alias and a reason to be nervous. A butler attempts to keep the evening organized. The evening has other ideas.

Clue is the pick when the interruptions, accusations and bad behavior matter as much as solving the crime. Its board-game origins provide instantly legible pieces: rooms, weapons, suspects and a house that is increasingly difficult to manage. The comedy is broader than Knives Out's, with Curry's butler at the center of the commotion. Put it on for a lively group watch, especially when nobody wants a solemn procedural. For a restrained investigation or a sympathetic emotional anchor, start elsewhere on this list. Paramount's page identifies the original 1985 film.

See How They Run (2022): a whodunit that knows the stage

Director: Tom George · Key cast: Sam Rockwell, Saoirse Ronan, Adrien Brody, David Oyelowo

A murder interrupts plans to turn a successful West End play into a film in 1950s London. A weary inspector and an enthusiastic young constable investigate a theatrical world whose inhabitants are unusually familiar with murder-mystery conventions.

This is a useful follow-up for viewers who enjoyed the original's affection for the genre. The setting makes suspicion feel like part of show business: people are performing even when they are supposed to be helping the police. Choose it for a lighter detective partnership and the fun of a mystery discussing its own habits. It is a gentler option than the writer-versus-writer games further down the page. Go in for comic company and theatrical detail, rather than expecting Johnson's particular bite about contemporary money. The studio synopsis gives the premise without requiring a recap.

The Last of Sheila (1973): take the party game's rules seriously

Director: Herbert Ross · Writers: Stephen Sondheim, Anthony Perkins · Key cast: James Coburn, Dyan Cannon, James Mason

A film producer invites six friends onto his yacht for a cruise built around a game. His late wife's death hangs over the gathering, and the entertainment soon begins to look like a method of exposing people.

This recommendation has a specific connection to the Blanc films: Johnson identified it as an inspiration for Glass Onion. Both premises organize a social group around a powerful host who controls the invitation and the activity. Choose Sheila if the rules, clues and shifting interpretations are what keep you leaning forward. The holiday setting comes with a harsher social atmosphere than a comfortable evening of detective banter. Give the game your attention, and save detailed cast discussions and plot summaries for afterward.

Gosford Park (2001): follow who gets to speak, and who has to listen

Director: Robert Altman · Writer: Julian Fellowes · Key cast: Maggie Smith, Helen Mirren, Kelly Macdonald

A country-house shooting party brings guests and servants together for a weekend that becomes a murder investigation. The people serving the dinner hear things the people eating it would prefer to keep private.

If the Thrombeys' assumptions about wealth and work interested you more than the mechanics of the crime, make this your first alternative. The household has two overlapping social worlds, and understanding a person's place in them matters. That makes it worth following an exchange even before you know whether it contains a clue.

Allow for an ensemble drama's pace and density. The attraction is the accumulation of relationships, obligations and small acts of condescension, alongside the mystery. It asks for more attention to the room than the rapid comic machinery of Clue. Focus Features confirms the country-house premise and the substantial ensemble.

Murder on the Orient Express (1974): a train full of alibis

Director: Sidney Lumet · Key cast: Albert Finney, Lauren Bacall, Ingrid Bergman, Sean Connery

A train becomes stranded in snow. A passenger has been murdered, and Hercule Poirot must question the people sharing the journey. The setting puts practical limits on the investigation: the relevant people are close by, and their accounts need to fit the same confined space.

Choose this for the formal pleasure of an ensemble mystery: interviews, performances, details and a detective steadily arranging what he has heard. It makes a good next step if Knives Out left you wanting more of the tradition Johnson plays with. Expect a measured, star-filled period film, with less contemporary satire. This entry refers specifically to the 1974 Finney adaptation; check the year when opening a rental listing.

Death on the Nile (1978): a glamorous holiday with nowhere to hide

Director: John Guillermin · Key cast: Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Bette Davis, Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury

Poirot is holidaying on a Nile steamer when an heiress is killed. The travelers' private relationships become his business, and an expensive trip turns into an investigation among people who cannot simply disappear into a crowd.

This is the choice for viewers who like a mystery to offer scenery, costumes and personalities before it closes the trap. Ustinov's Poirot provides the recurring detective, while the passengers supply a new arrangement of motives and grievances. Settle in for a leisurely period mystery; it takes a longer route to its destination than See How They Run. The recommended film is the 1978 production, rather than the later Kenneth Branagh version.

Sleuth (1972): make room for two very large egos

Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz · Writer: Anthony Shaffer · Stars: Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine

A successful mystery writer invites his wife's lover to his country home. Their conversation becomes a contest in which hospitality, class and the pleasure of having an audience are all weapons.

Where Knives Out spreads suspicion across a household, Sleuth concentrates attention on a duel. Its appeal lies in watching men try to control the situation by controlling the story. The mood is more caustic than cozy; pick it for performance and manipulation, rather than a lovable investigator guiding you through the case.

Look for the 1972 Olivier–Caine film. The 2007 adaptation also stars Caine, in a different role, so his name alone is not enough to identify the right version. US digital availability was not confirmed in our viewing check; this may be a disc or library pick for another evening.

Deathtrap (1982): a thriller about wanting a better thriller

Director: Sidney Lumet · Based on: Ira Levin's play · Key cast: Michael Caine, Christopher Reeve, Dyan Cannon

A struggling playwright sees a promising script by a younger writer. Professional envy and the possibility of a comeback turn an ordinary invitation into a very uncomfortable proposition.

The match is the pleasure of watching people think about plots while becoming caught up in one. Caine and Reeve make a useful change from the detective-and-suspects arrangement, with the theatrical setting keeping attention on words, timing and intention. Roger Ebert's contemporary review singled out the performers and witty dialogue; the review itself is best saved for after viewing.

Choose it for dark comedy and a tightly contained encounter. As with Sleuth, the people doing the scheming are the main attraction. Reading a longer synopsis beforehand would spend part of what you came to enjoy.