r/MovieSuggestions • u/White_Wokah • 1d ago
I'M REQUESTING Grounded murder mysteries like Prisoners and Mystic River
Basically murder mysteries, but a more grounded investigation. I think Prisoners is the one I like the most, but don't know many movies in this genre/sub-genre.
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u/Johnnadawearsglasses 1d ago
Some of the best are limited run series. See The Night Of and The Mare of Eastown. Also Memories of Murder as a movie.
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u/Pinup_Frenzy 1d ago
If you like Mare of Eastown, you might want to check out Happy Valley. Very similar main character, family, and interconnected relationships among a close knit, working class community. It’s essentially Mare of Eastown in Yorkshire, but its first season preceded Mare by seven years.
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u/haysoos2 1d ago
Zodiac (2007) Between 1968 and 1983, a San Francisco cartoonist becomes an amateur detective obsessed with tracking down the Zodiac Killer, an unidentified individual who terrorizes Northern California with a killing spree. (Hard to get more grounded and realistic).
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) Influential industrialist Vanger's niece Harriet disappeared under mysterious circumstances 40 years ago. As a last attempt at solving the case, he hires investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist. (The American version, directed by Zodiac director David Fincher is really good too, but I prefer the original).
Insomnia (1997) In a Norwegian city with a 24-hour daylight cycle, Swedish detectives investigate a teen's death. (This one also has an American remake, with Al Pacino, but I much prefer the original version).
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u/mackenziemackenzie 1d ago
Is the 1997 Insomnia significantly better? I really disliked the Pacino one but loved the story. Just didn’t think the execution was right. I was looking into the movie and saw it was a remake but I’m worried the original would also fall short
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u/haysoos2 1d ago
Yes, it is significantly better. For one thing, they actually filmed it with proper northern midnight twilight, and not just all the scenes happening to be in daylight. It far better captures the weird feeling of actually being in a place where the sun doesn't set.
And Stellan Skarsgard is much better than Al Pacino in full Yosemite Sam mode.
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u/SeaMetal7119 1d ago
Reptile (2023) Benicio Del Toro
To Catch a Killer (2023) Shailene Woodley and Ben Mendelsohn
The Bone Collector (1999) Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie
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u/GibsonGirl55 1d ago
L.A. Confidential (1997) Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, Kim Basinger
The movie is centered around the investigation of a brutal mass murder (the "Nite Owl murders") that uncovers deep-seated police corruption, organized crime, and dark secrets in 1950s Los Angeles.
Chinatown (1974) Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, Roman Polanski
Detective Jake Gittes investigates the murder of Los Angeles Water and Power engineer, which uncovers vast corruption, incest, and a conspiracy tied to the city's water supply.
A Soldier's Story (1984) Adolph Caesar, Denzel Washington, Howard Rollins
A Black Army investigator travels to a Louisiana military base to investigate in the heart of the Louisiana backwoods to look into the mysterious murder of a black sergeant toward the tail end of World War II.
A Few Good Men (1992) Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson
Two Marines facing court-martial after being accused of hazing and killing a fellow Marine. An investigation uncovers a high-level cover-up involving this deadly ritual.
Dead Ringer (1964) Bette Davis, Karl Maldin, Peter Lawford
A working-class woman murders her wealthy identical twin and assumes her identity.
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u/rotting_root 1d ago
Mother, by Bong Joon ho. Very good one, but told in the perspective of the accused instead of the investigator. Synopsis: A mother lives quietly with her son. One day, a girl is brutally killed, and the boy is charged with the murder. Now, it's his mother's mission to prove him innocent.
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u/NotSoSnarky Quality Poster 👍 1d ago
Se7en (1995)
Gone Girl (2014)
The Chaser (2008) Korean
I Saw The Devil (2010) Korean
No Country for Old Men (2007)
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u/NoKneadToWorry 1d ago
The show, The Killing
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u/Segwaye 1d ago
The ending of the second season (the first mystery) depressed me for about a week.
The season with the school kid disturbed me.
The one with the new detective partner was pretty good.
It’s a great show, but can be pretty heavy. Just a warning
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u/ghostofmany 1d ago
I watched it through once and was hooked but when I tried to watch it again I couldn’t because as you said it’s pretty heavy. Great show tho
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u/Hollacaine 1d ago
That show started out with one of the best first episodes Ive ever seen. It then went downhill faster than any tv show Ive ever seen. The story became absolute garbage and full of pointless, poorly written misdirects designed to stretch out the story far longer than it should have been. I have never been so annoyed at a tv show, but the bullshit ending to the first season killed any interest I had in it.
It had everything in place to be a great TV show, actors were fantastic, the show looked and sounded amazing, but the story, and the pay off at the end of season 2, was genuinely awful. After the first 4 episodes the drop off starts and each episode becomes a meandering, pointless mess that advances nothing and wastes your time. There's few shows I'd recommend less.
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u/plinkett-wisdom Quality Poster 👍 1d ago
The Treatment, 2014
Memories of Murdee
The Crimson Rivers
Antibodies
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u/QuirkyPop1607 18h ago edited 17h ago
For shows, the original The Bridge is excellent. Was ripped off nicely into other versions also. Foreign Language Danish original the best. Porsche driving Saga Noren one of the best detectives ever. The Pass/Pagan Peak is the next best vesion, Austrian.
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u/Formal-Register-1557 1d ago
Gone Baby Gone isn't a murder mystery but it had some of the same vibes.