Movies like The Armchair Detective (1951)
The best movies like The Armchair Detective (1951) are I Wake Up Screaming (1941), Too Late (2016) and The Mirror Crack'd (1980). If The Armchair Detective hooked you with its mystery, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Armchair Detective
Quick picks
- Highest ratedBlue Velvet (1986)7.6/10 from 4,043 votes
- NewestCult Killer (2024)Released 2024
I Wake Up Screaming (1941)
A young promoter is accused of the murder of Vicky Lynn, a young actress he "discovered" as a waitress while out with ex-actor Robin Ray and gossip columnist Larry Evans.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisToo Late (2016)
Private investigator Mel Sampson is tasked with tracking down the whereabouts of a missing woman from his own past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Mirror Crack'd (1980)
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
To the Los Angeles elite, Ford Fairlane is known as "Mr. Rock 'n' Roll Detective." This loudmouthed ladies' man serves an exclusive rock star clientele, who depend on his keen eye and smug discretion. So when a heavy-metal musician dies mid-concert, Fairlane is on the case before the lights come up. But things turn shocking when radio personality Johnny Crunch hires Fairlane to find a missing groupie mere hours before he is electrocuted live on air.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSong of the Thin Man (1947)
While attending a glamorous jazz cruise on New York’s East River, Nick and Nora Charles witness the fatal shooting of a wealthy patron. When suspicion falls on a young bandleader and his musicians, the couple steps in to clear their friends and uncover the real killer. Their investigation leads through a lively world of jazz clubs, radio personalities, high society, and backstage rivalries, where almost everyone has a secret and the next clue may be hidden in the music.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Late Show (1977)
An over-the-hill gumshoe in Los Angeles seeks to avenge the killing of an old pal, another detective who was involved in a case concerning a murdered broad, stolen stamps, a nickel-plated handgun, a cheating dolly, and a kidnapped pussycat.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRighteous Kill (2008)
Two veteran New York City detectives work to identify the possible connection between a recent murder and a case they believe they solved years ago; is there a serial killer on the loose, and did they perhaps put the wrong person behind bars?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Interview (1998)
A duel between a suspected murderer and a detective pressed by people who want results. But whose skin is really wanted?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNight Train to Lisbon (2013)
Raimund Gregorius, having saved a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, stumbles upon a mesmerizing book by a Portuguese author, which compels him to suddenly abandon the boring life he has led for years and to embark on an enthralling adventure. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of a puzzle that involves political and emotional intrigue and the highest possible stakes. His voyage is one that transcends time and space, delving into the realms of history, medicine and love, all in search of true meaning to his life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: Murder, With Love (2016)
Former prosecutor-turned-therapist Hailey Dean is a powerhouse, Mensa bright, and acutely observant. During a tragic week, one of her patients loses her parents to separate fatal accidents along with millions of dollars that has seemingly vanished into thin air. When the police begin to question Hailey's patient, shes knows she is innocent. But who is the culprit?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFramed for Murder: A Fixer Upper Mystery (2017)
In the small resort town of Lighthouse Cove, everyone knows that the best man for the job is a woman. And that woman is Shannon Hughes, owner of a construction company and an expert in Victorian home restoration and renovation. Through her renovations she will find clues to uncover the house’s secret past and in turn become an unlikely sleuth to help crack these unsolved mysteries
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAmerican Gigolo (1980)
Julian makes a lucrative living as an escort to older women in the Los Angeles area. He begins a relationship with Michelle, a local politician's wife, without expecting any pay. One of his clients is murdered and Detective Sunday begins pumping him for details on his different clients, something he is reluctant to do considering the nature of his work. Julian begins to suspect he's being framed. Meanwhile Michelle begins to fall in love with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHailey Dean Mysteries: A Prescription for Murder (2019)
Psychologist and former prosecutor Hailey Dean aids her friend Detective Garland Fincher in investigating a rapidly growing string of murders at Atlanta Memorial Hospital when Fincher’s girlfriend Dr. Meghan Phillips is named a suspect in the first killing. As the list of suspects grows with each new victim’s death, Hailey’s keen investigative skills, her uncanny ability to read people, and her passion for justice lead her through a labyrinth of clues that eventually point to the killer. But when she gets too close to the truth, Hailey becomes the killer’s next target for murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisFarewell, My Lovely (1975)
Private eye Philip Marlowe is hired by ex-con Moose Malloy to find his girlfriend, a former lounge dancer. While also investigating the murder of a client and the theft of a jade necklace, Marlowe becomes entangled with seductress Helen Grayle and discovers a web of dark secrets that are better left hidden.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBody Cam (2020)
As a police officer investigates the gruesome murder of her colleague, she discovers that a mysterious supernatural force is behind it.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisInherent Vice (2014)
In Los Angeles at the turn of the 1970s, drug-fueled detective Larry "Doc" Sportello investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisMy Favorite Brunette (1947)
Ronnie Jackson is a lowly baby photographer who secretly fantasizes about being a private detective. When a lovely baroness actually mistakes him for one and asks him to help locate her missing husband, Baron Montay, Ronnie finds himself agreeing. Several days later he is on death row whiling away the hours until his execution by recounting to a group of reporters the bizarre tale of how he ended up there.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFlypaper (2011)
A man caught in the middle of two simultaneous robberies at a bank desperately tries to protect the teller with whom he's secretly in love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBlue Velvet (1986)
The discovery of a severed human ear found in a field leads a young man on an investigation related to a beautiful, mysterious nightclub singer and a group of psychopathic criminals who have kidnapped her child.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCult Killer (2024)
A private investigator is forced into a dangerous alliance with a killer in order to uncover a quiet town’s grisly criminal underbelly and clear the name of her mentor, who is implicated in the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLove at Large (1990)
Inept private investigator Harry Dobbs meets vampish new client Miss Dolan, who wants him to follow her abusive lover. But Dobbs sets about tailing a different person entirely – a mysterious character leading a double life. Harry, however, discovers that he himself is being followed by a distaff gumshoe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Romance in Rhythm (1934)
In this British crime drama, a nightclub chorine jilts her old boyfriend, a musician, in favor of a new fiancé. Not long after, her new love is murdered. Although the prime suspect is the musician, he is not the guilty party.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Convicted (1938)
A nightclub dancer and a detective try and catch the gangster who framed her brother.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Cast a Deadly Spell (1991)
In a fantastical 1940s where magic is used by everyone, a hard-boiled detective investigates the theft of a mystical tome.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBack in Circulation (1937)
Morning Express ace reporter 'Timmy' Blake uses her wiles and charms to get the scoop on rival papers, and keep her editor happy. When the Express gets a tip that a wealthy old man was poisoned and 'Timmy' spots the young widow in a nightclub only a day later, she descends on the town where the death took place to dig out the facts. When her reporting results in the arrest of the young widow, 'Timmy' continues to dig, since she isn't quite convinced that the facts she reported cover all the angles.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Charlie Chan at Treasure Island (1939)
Charlie Chan's investigation of a blackmail-induced suicide as a case of murder leads him into a world of magick and mysticism peopled with a stage magician, a phoney spiritualist, and a for-real mind reader.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
M/M (2018)
Wayward Canadian, Matthew, crushed by the isolation of being new to Berlin, turns his sexual desires toward Matthias that spiral into a dark fixation of assumed identity. Soon, this obsessive power struggle between the two, careens toward brutal passion and violence in a bid for dominance.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
American Fetish (2010)
When the son of an alleged killer inherits a "blue movie" that may be the key to solving a 50 year old murder, he finds himself drawn into a forbidden world of sexual obsession. But the closer he gets to the heart of the mystery, the more the past threatens to reach out into the present and reveal terrifying truths that lead him to the brink of madness.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Zoo zéro (1979)
Eva is a singer in a Noah's Ark themed nightclub, where the guests wear animal masks. She is approached by a stranger who claims to know her and to remember her singing Mozart.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
Alibi (1942)
In 1930s France a bar hostess helps a man prove himself innocent of murder.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both mystery
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Armchair Detective?
The closest matches to The Armchair Detective are I Wake Up Screaming (1941), Too Late (2016) and The Mirror Crack'd (1980). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Armchair Detective?
Start with I Wake Up Screaming (1941), the closest match to The Armchair Detective.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Armchair Detective?
Blue Velvet (1986), rated 7.6/10 by 4,043 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Armchair Detective?
Cult Killer (2024) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Armchair Detective?
Yes: I Wake Up Screaming (1941), Too Late (2016) and The Mirror Crack'd (1980).
How are movies similar to The Armchair Detective chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Armchair Detective, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.