Best Mystery Movies of 1997

1.

L.A. Confidential

6.6

8.3/10

Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.

2.

The Game

6.4

7.8/10

In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nearly a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.

3.

Gattaca

6.3

7.8/10

In a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics, humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. Young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet is determined to infiltrate the GATTACA space program.

4.

Lost Highway

6.2

7.6/10

A tormented jazz musician finds himself lost in an enigmatic story involving murder, surveillance, gangsters, doppelgangers, and an impossible transformation inside a prison cell.

5.

The Devil's Advocate

6.1

7.5/10

A hotshot lawyer gets more than he bargained for when he learns his new boss is Lucifer himself.

6.

Cube

5.8

7.2/10

Seven strangers are taken out of their daily lives and placed mysteriously in a deadly cube where they all agree they must find their way out.

7.

Event Horizon

5.4

6.7/10

In 2047 a group of astronauts are sent to investigate and salvage the starship 'Event Horizon' which disappeared mysteriously 7 years before on its maiden voyage. With its return, the crew of the 'Lewis and Clark' discovers the real truth behind the disappearance of the 'Event Horizon' – and something even more terrifying.

8.

Amistad

5.2

7.3/10

In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are then held prisoner in Connecticut, and their release becomes the subject of heated debate. Freed slave Theodore Joadson wants Cinque and the others exonerated and recruits property lawyer Roger Baldwin to help his case. Eventually, John Quincy Adams also becomes an ally.

9.

Absolute Power

5.0

6.7/10

A master thief coincidentally is robbing a house where a murder—in which the President of The United States is involved—occurs in front of his eyes. He is forced to run, while holding evidence that could convict the President.

10.

Conspiracy Theory

4.9

6.7/10

A man obsessed with conspiracy theories becomes a target after one of his theories turns out to be true. Unfortunately, in order to save himself, he has to figure out which theory it is.

11.

Kiss the Girls

4.8

6.6/10

Forensic psychologist Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

12.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

4.8

6.6/10

A visiting city reporter's assignment suddenly revolves around the murder trial of a local millionaire, whom he befriends.

13.

I Know What You Did Last Summer

4.7

5.7/10

As they celebrate their high school graduation, four friends are involved in a hit-and-run accident when their car hits and apparently kills a pedestrian on an isolated roadway. They dispose of the body and vow to keep the incident a secret, a year later somebody starts sending them letters bearing the warning "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

14.

Murder at 1600

4.4

6.1/10

A secretary is found dead in a White House bathroom during an international crisis, and Detective Harlan Regis is in charge of the investigation. Despite resistance from the Secret Service, Regis partners with agent Nina Chance. As political tensions rise, they learn that the crime could be part of an elaborate cover-up. Framed as traitors, the pair, plus Regis' partner, break into the White House in order to expose the true culprit.

15.

The Relic

4.4

5.7/10

A homicide detective and an anthropologist try to destroy a South American lizard-like god, who's on a people eating rampage in a Chicago museum.

16.

Switchback

4.0

6.4/10

FBI agent Dennis Quaid tries to catch a serial killer who kidnapped his son.

17.

Smilla's Sense of Snow

4.0

6.4/10

Smilla Jaspersen, half Danish, half Greenlander, attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland. Scenes from the film were shot in Copenhagen and western Greenland. The film was entered into the 47th Berlin International Film Festival, where director Bille August was nominated for the Golden Bear.

18.

FairyTale: A True Story

3.5

6.5/10

Two children in 1917 take a photograph, believed by some to be the first scientific evidence of the existence of fairies. Based on a true story

19.

Deceiver

3.5

6.7/10

The gruesome death of a prostitute brings suspicion on one of her clients, James Wayland, a brilliant, self-destructive and epileptic heir to a textile fortune. So detectives Braxton and Kennesaw take Wayland in for questioning, thinking they can break the man. But despite his troubles, Wayland is a master of manipulation, and during the interrogation, he begins to turn the tables on the investigators, forcing them to reveal their own sinister sides.