While films in the mystery and suspense genre are known for featuring exciting plots, elements of surprise, and escalating tension, the stories contained inside of these vary greatly. Some suspense films take place in far-off dystopian worlds in the future while others are based on real events that actually occurred. Still, others fall in-between. We’re here to see how the best movies in the suspense genre stack up now, as determined by Rotten Tomatoes.
The popular review aggregation website has compiled the highest-rated films in this genre onto a list entitled “Top 100 Mystery & Suspense Movies.” The rankings are based on the films' Tomatometer scores, which are created out of the positive and negative reviews of critics. Additionally, factors including the year a movie was released and the number of ratings it received are taken into account.
With that said, it’s time to sleuth out the 10 best mystery and suspense films to hit theaters, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Arrival (2016): 94%
Based on the short story by Ted Chiang, “Story of Your Life,” Arrival sees Linguistic professor Louise Banks and her team trying to figure out the details behind 12 spaceships that settle around Earth.
Though Banks continues to get closer to communicating with the alien creatures, she also gets nearer to the secrets that threaten to tear society apart.
A Quiet Place (2018): 95%
A Quiet Place tells the story of a family living in an apocalyptic world that has become overrun by sounds-sensitive monsters. If a person makes any noise, these creatures will go after them.
While day-to-day life is difficult because of this, things get especially intense as the pregnant mother of the family gets closer to her due date.
Spotlight (2015): 97%
This biographical drama tells of the investigative journalists at The Boston Globe who uncovered the details behind the multiple molestation allegations against priests in 2001.
Though the Spotlight team faces roadblocks including sealed documents and difficult-to-reach sources, they continue to work hard to uncover the secrets held by the Roman Catholic Church.
The Third Man (1949): 99%
In this British film noir, American Holly Martins arrives in postwar Vienna to take a job and stay with his childhood friend, Harry. Upon arrival, however, he finds that Harry died.
Martins decides to scout out the city to find the hidden cause behind his death. While there, he also falls hard for Harry’s former lover.
Get Out (2017): 98%
Get Out follows black photographer Chris on his trip to upstate New York with his white girlfriend, Rose, to meet her family.
While the family is kind to him, he perceives many of their actions to be an attempt to cope with their daughter’s interracial romance. However, as his visit goes on, he starts to uncover a few dark secrets that he must escape.
The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari (1920): 100%
This classic German silent film convincingly blends elements of horror and suspense.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari has two friends, Francis and Alan, encountering the titular hypnotist at a carnival. His somnambulist, Cesare, ends up telling Alan that he will soon die and before the next day has the chance to arrive, this fate becomes true. While the evidence points to Cesare committing the murder, it seems that Calagari himself might have had something to do with the crime.
Citizen Kane (1941): 100%
Citizen Kane is a quasi-biographical film, which follows the life of Charles Foster Kane, a character based on the newspaper bigwigs Willian Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer as well as tycoons Samuel Insull and Harold McCormick.
The film has a reporter attempting to find the meaning of the man’s last words, “Rosebud,” after he ends up passing.
The Irishman (2019): 96%
This epic crime film, adapted from the nonfiction book I Heard You Paint Houses, is the newest film to make the best-suspense-films list.
The Irishman has 1950s truck driver Frank getting tangled up in the crimes of mobster Russel Bufalino. He becomes a critical hitman in the Philadelphia crime scene in a career that spans decades.
Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018): 97%
While every Mission Impossible movie has something to brag about, none is as critically regarded as the sixth installment.
Mission: Impossible — Fallout has Ethan Hunt, the IMG team, and CIA assassin August Walker teaming together to complete massive disaster prevention efforts. A group of terrorists called the Apostles are planning to complete a series of nuclear attacks in the Middle East. Their goal: to find the missing weapons before the Apostles can.
Us (2019): 93%
Finishing off the list as the greatest suspense film of all time is Us.
The horror-suspense movie follows a woman named Adelaide Wilson, who heads back to the beach house that once haunted her alongside her family. Adelaide’s sense of unease begins to increase and soon proves itself to have validity after a group of masked strangers attempts to break-in. These attackers reveal themselves to look like the members of Adelaide’s family, causing the Wilsons to have even bigger reasons to fret.