🔒 Top 10 Locked-Room Mystery Movies: Stories, Reviews, and Ratings

Locked-room mysteries baffle audiences with crimes committed under seemingly impossible circumstances. These films challenge logic, focus on puzzles, and keep you guessing until the final reveal. Here are ten of the best locked-room mystery movies—each with a summary, review, and IMDb rating.

1. The Last of Sheila (1973)

   Director: Herbert Ross
   Starring: James Coburn, Dyan Cannon, Raquel Welch

   Plot: A Hollywood mogul invites guests on a yacht for a sinister game, leading to a real-life murder in a confined, ever-watchful setting.

   Review: Witty, twist-filled, and full of mind games—one of the genre’s cleverest puzzles.

   IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

2. Exam (2009)

   Director: Stuart Hazeldine
   Starring: Adar Beck, Gemma Chan, Nathalie Cox

   Plot: Eight candidates are locked in a room and given a cryptic test. As time runs out, paranoia and desperation take hold.

   Review: Taut, psychological, and inventive—a chamber piece of mounting tension.

   IMDb Rating: 6.8/10

3. Cube (1997)

   Director: Vincenzo Natali
   Starring: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint

   Plot: Strangers awaken in a series of deadly, interconnected cubes, racing to solve puzzles to survive.

   Review: Bleak, ingenious, and claustrophobic—a cult classic for puzzle lovers.

   IMDb Rating: 7.1/10

4. Identity (2003)

   Director: James Mangold
   Starring: John Cusack, Ray Liotta, Amanda Peet

   Plot: Ten strangers stranded at a motel are murdered one by one, each death more impossible than the last.

   Review: Atmospheric, twisty, and endlessly suspenseful—an unforgettable psychological puzzle.

   IMDb Rating: 7.3/10

5. Gosford Park (2001)

   Director: Robert Altman
   Starring: Maggie Smith, Ryan Phillippe, Michael Gambon

   Plot: An English manor gathering turns deadly, with everyone a suspect. Upstairs and downstairs intrigue complicates the search for the killer.

   Review: Witty, layered, and meticulously plotted—Altman’s film is an elegant homage to Agatha Christie.

   IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

6. Clue (1985)

   Director: Jonathan Lynn
   Starring: Eileen Brennan, Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn

   Plot: Based on the board game, six strangers are summoned to a mansion, where murder and mayhem follow with hilarious results.

   Review: Fast, funny, and endlessly rewatchable—Clue is a comic spin on the locked-room genre.

   IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

7. The Hateful Eight (2015)

   Director: Quentin Tarantino
   Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh

   Plot: Stranded by a blizzard, bounty hunters and outlaws are trapped in a remote cabin—secrets, betrayals, and violence erupt.

   Review: Dark, violent, and dialogue-driven—Tarantino’s Western is a stylish twist on classic mysteries.

   IMDb Rating: 7.8/10

8. And Then There Were None (1945)

   Director: René Clair
   Starring: Barry Fitzgerald, Walter Huston

   Plot: Ten strangers lured to an island are killed off one by one in this adaptation of Agatha Christie’s most famous novel.

   Review: Suspenseful, iconic, and endlessly copied—the template for locked-room mysteries.

   IMDb Rating: 7.4/10

9. Death on the Nile (1978)

   Director: John Guillermin
   Starring: Peter Ustinov, Mia Farrow, Bette Davis

   Plot: Hercule Poirot investigates a murder on a luxury steamer, with everyone aboard a suspect.

   Review: Gorgeous scenery, sharp dialogue, and classic Christie plotting—Poirot at his best.

   IMDb Rating: 7.2/10

10. Oldboy (2003)

    Director: Park Chan-wook
    Starring: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung

    Plot: A man held captive for 15 years is suddenly released, unraveling a tangled mystery of revenge and shocking secrets.

    Review: Dark, twisted, and boldly original—Oldboy is an unforgettable cinematic puzzle.

    IMDb Rating: 8.4/10

Honorable Mentions: The Invitation, Murder on the Orient Express, The Others, Sleuth, Shutter Island