While summer is the time for fun in the sun, sometimes you just need to escape the heat. What better way to do that than with a bit of intrigue?
A movie will give you a quick dose of excitement, but a series will keep you entertained for days. We're here to help you pick your poison.
Whether you want to plan a movie night in the backyard or stay cool during the next heat wave, here are 10 mystery and thriller movies and television shows to keep you cool all summer long.
New Mystery and Thriller Movies
Wicked Little Letters
Based on an actual scandal from the 1920s, a small town becomes outraged as anonymous, foul-mouthed letters are sent to the residents.
Young Edith Swan (Olivia Colman) suspects her neighbor, Rose Gooding (Jessie Buckley). Rose is known for her love of profanity, but things aren’t adding up for the town’s women.
The more they investigate, the more they believe Rose is innocent. Of course, proving that is another matter entirely.
Longlegs
Set in the 1990s, rookie FBI agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) is assigned to investigate the Satanic serial killer known as Longlegs (Nicolas Cage). As Harker goes deeper into following the occult clues, she stumbles onto an alarming personal connection to the killer.
Now, she’s in a race against time to stop another family murder.
It releases July 12th, 2024.
Blink Twice
Meeting tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) is a dream for cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie). Getting invited to join him and his friends for a lavish vacation on his private island is even better.
Then things start to go wrong. It becomes clear that if Frida wants to leave the island alive, she has to figure out what’s really happening—and fast.
It releases August 23, 2024.
New Mystery and Thriller Series
Eric
An unexpected psychological thriller released at the end of May, Eric is a genre-bending story that is far more disturbing than whimsical.
Vincent (Benedict Cumberbatch) is an unhappy puppeteer in 1980s New York City. But when his son, Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe) goes missing, Vincent becomes convinced that the only person that can help him is a seven-foot-tall puppet named Eric.
Presumed Innocent
Based on the 1987 novel by Scott Turow, Presumed Innocent follows a Chicago prosecutor accused of murdering one of his colleagues. Jake Gyllenhaal and Ruth Negga give electric performances as a couple desperate to keep their family together, and Gyllenhaal’s rivalry with Peter Sarsgaard is thrilling to watch.
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Another highly anticipated adaptation, this time from the popular YA novel of the same name by Holly Jackson.
When a local schoolgirl is killed, Pippa “Pip” Fitz-Amobi (Emma Myers) decides the investigation isn’t nearly good enough. She could use an Extended Project Qualification, or an EPQ, so she takes things into her own hands and sets out to solve the case.
It releases July 1st, 2024.
Sunny
Rashida Jones brings this dark comedic mystery to life.
Suzie (Jones) is an American woman living in Japan when her husband and son disappear in a mysterious plane crash. Her life is suddenly turned upside down, but she finds strange hope—and help—when her husband’s electronics company sends her the robot Sunny.
As their odd friendship deepens, they discover the dark truth of what happened to her family, throwing Suzie into dangerous new world.
It releases July 10th, 2024.
Emperor of Ocean Park
If you’re looking for a suspenseful thriller set in the complicated world of politics, the dark academia of the Ivy Leagues, and the beaches of Martha’s Vineyard, look no further.
Based on the book by the same name, Emperor of Ocean Park follows law professor Talcott Garland (Grantham Coleman) after his father dies of a heart attack. That was devastating, but when a journalist (Tiffany Mack) believes something else is at play, Garland’s world gets very complicated.
It releases July 14th, 2024.
Lady in the Lake
Maddie Schwartz (Natalie Portman) was bored as a housewife. So, she ditches her husband and moves to Baltimore to pursue a new career as an investigative journalist.
As Maddie works to investigate the disappearance of a young girl, Cleo Johnson (Moses Ingram) struggles to provide for her family. Their lives intersect when Maddie finds Cleo’s body in the fountain of the city park lake, and Maddie become determined to solve the murder no matter what.
It releases July 19th, 2024.
Only Murders in the Building
Everyone’s favorite podcasters are back.
The trio (Selena Gomez, Martin Short, Steve Martin) are reeling from the shocking murder at the end of season three. Their investigation takes them to Los Angeles only to rush back to New York when new information rises.
Meryl Streep, Michael Cyril Creighton, and Da’Vine Joy Randoplh will return, and Eugene Levy, Eva Longoria, Zach Galifianakis, Molly Shannon, Melissa McCarthy, Richard Kind, and Kumail Nanjiani will join this star-studded cast.
Season 4 releases August 27th, 2024.
