Sort by Popularity - Most Popular Movies and TV Shows tagged with keyword "private-investigator"
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51. The Imposter (2012)
R | 99 min | Documentary, Biography, Crime
A documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for 3 years.
Director: Bart Layton | Stars: Adam O'Brian, Nicholas Barclay, Carey Gibson, Bryan Gibson
Votes: 50,477 | Gross: $0.89M
52. The Great Gatsby (1974)
PG | 144 min | Drama, Romance
A Midwesterner becomes fascinated with his nouveau riche neighbor, who obsesses over his lost love.
Director: Jack Clayton | Stars: Robert Redford, Mia Farrow, Bruce Dern, Karen Black
Votes: 26,869 | Gross: $6.74M
53. The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)
R | 121 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Samantha Caine lives in a small town with her daughter. Eight years ago she emerged, two months pregnant, from a nearby river with no memory of her past or who she is. However, she's getting closer to finding out about her past.
Director: Renny Harlin | Stars: Geena Davis, Samuel L. Jackson, Yvonne Zima, Craig Bierko
Votes: 85,708 | Gross: $33.33M
54. Unknown (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Mystery, Thriller
When a man awakens from a coma only to discover that someone has taken on his identity, he teams up with a young woman to prove who he is.
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra | Stars: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn
Votes: 269,410 | Gross: $63.69M
55. Greta (2018)
R | 98 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A young woman befriends a lonely widow who's harboring a dark and deadly agenda toward her.
Director: Neil Jordan | Stars: Isabelle Huppert, Chloë Grace Moretz, Maika Monroe, Jane Perry
Votes: 38,106 | Gross: $10.52M
56. Remington Steele (1982–1987)
TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
The cases of a female private detective partnered with a former thief who assumes the role of a fictitious detective in the business.
Stars: Stephanie Zimbalist, Pierce Brosnan, Doris Roberts, James Read
Votes: 9,985
57. The Big Sleep (1946)
Passed | 114 min | Crime, Film-Noir, Mystery
Private detective Philip Marlowe is hired by a wealthy family. Before the complex case is over, he's seen murder, blackmail and what might be love.
Director: Howard Hawks | Stars: Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, John Ridgely, Martha Vickers
Votes: 90,556 | Gross: $6.54M
58. Dark Places (2015)
R | 113 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Libby Day was only eight years old when her family was brutally murdered in their rural Kansas farmhouse. Almost thirty years later, she reluctantly agrees to revisit the crime and uncovers the wrenching truths that led up to that tragic night.
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner | Stars: Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Christina Hendricks, Chloë Grace Moretz
Votes: 47,809
59. Last Looks (I) (2021)
R | 110 min | Action, Comedy, Mystery
A disgraced ex-cop seeks solace by moving to the woods, but his quiet life comes to an end when a private eye recruits him to investigate a murder.
Director: Tim Kirkby | Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Mel Gibson, Lucy Fry, Rupert Friend
Votes: 11,994
60. Sinister 2 (2015)
R | 97 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
A young mother and her twin sons move into a rural house that's marked for death.
Director: Ciarán Foy | Stars: James Ransone, Shannyn Sossamon, Robert Daniel Sloan, Dartanian Sloan
Votes: 60,626 | Gross: $27.74M
61. Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)
R | 95 min | Horror, Mystery, Thriller
When her adoptive father disappears, Sharon Da Silva is drawn into a strange and terrifying alternate reality that holds answers to the horrific nightmares that have plagued her since childhood.
Director: M.J. Bassett | Stars: Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Sean Bean, Carrie-Anne Moss
Votes: 66,743 | Gross: $17.53M
62. Magpie Murders (2022– )
TV-14 | 45 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Editor Susan Ryeland gets drawn into a web of intrigue and murder when she receives Alan Conway's unfinished manuscript of an Atticus Pünd mystery.
Stars: Conleth Hill, Lesley Manville, Tim McMullan, Ian Lloyd Anderson
Votes: 6,995
63. Odd Thomas (2013)
PG-13 | 97 min | Comedy, Fantasy, Horror
In a California desert town, a short-order cook with clairvoyant abilities encounters a mysterious man with a link to dark, threatening forces.
Director: Stephen Sommers | Stars: Anton Yelchin, Ashley Sommers, Leonor Varela, Matthew Page
Votes: 57,475
64. Shaft (1971)
R | 100 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A crime lord hires black private eye, John Shaft, to find and retrieve his kidnapped daughter.
Director: Gordon Parks | Stars: Richard Roundtree, Moses Gunn, Charles Cioffi, Christopher St. John
Votes: 21,043 | Gross: $16.69M
65. Klute (1971)
R | 114 min | Crime, Mystery, Thriller
A small-town detective searching for a missing man has only one lead: a connection with a New York prostitute.
Director: Alan J. Pakula | Stars: Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Charles Cioffi, Roy Scheider
Votes: 29,646 | Gross: $17.44M
66. Secret Window (2004)
PG-13 | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
A successful writer in the midst of a painful divorce is stalked at his remote lake house by a would-be scribe who accuses him of plagiarism.
Director: David Koepp | Stars: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro, Timothy Hutton
Votes: 209,620 | Gross: $48.02M
67. Harper (1966)
Not Rated | 121 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Cool private investigator Lew Harper is hired by a wealthy California matron to locate her kidnapped husband.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Paul Newman, Lauren Bacall, Julie Harris, Arthur Hill
Votes: 10,919
68. Crooked House (2017)
PG-13 | 115 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
In Agatha Christie's most twisted tale, a spy-turned-private-detective is lured by his former lover to catch her grandfather's murderer before Scotland Yard exposes dark family secrets.
Director: Gilles Paquet-Brenner | Stars: Max Irons, Stefanie Martini, Glenn Close, Honor Kneafsey
Votes: 27,566
69. The Golden Child (1986)
PG-13 | 94 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A private detective specializing in missing children is charged with the task of finding a special child whom dark forces want to eliminate.
Director: Michael Ritchie | Stars: Eddie Murphy, J.L. Reate, Charles Dance, Charlotte Lewis
Votes: 59,414 | Gross: $79.82M
70. Stumptown (2019–2020)
TV-14 | 44 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A sharp-witted Marine veteran becomes a private investigator in Portland, Oregon, where she takes care of her brother who has Down syndrome.
Stars: Cobie Smulders, Jake Johnson, Tantoo Cardinal, Cole Sibus
Votes: 13,077
71. The Dresden Files (2007–2008)
TV-14 | 582 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
Harry Dresden is a wizard, the only one listed in the Chicago phone book. He's got a handle on the crimes that can't be solved by anyone else. Paranormal? No problem. Dresden deals in all matters of supernatural threats.
Stars: Paul Blackthorne, Valerie Cruz, Terrence Mann, Raoul Bhaneja
Votes: 11,455
72. Simon & Simon (1981–1989)
TV-PG | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Two brothers of disparate tastes and manners run a private detective agency.
Stars: Jameson Parker, Gerald McRaney, Mary Carver, Tim Reid
Votes: 6,112
73. Shaft (2019)
R | 111 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
JJ Shaft, a cyber security expert with a degree from MIT, enlists his family's help to uncover the truth behind his best friend's untimely death.
Director: Tim Story | Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Jessie T. Usher, Richard Roundtree, Regina Hall
Votes: 58,774 | Gross: $21.36M
74. Omen IV: The Awakening (1991 TV Movie)
Unrated | 97 min | Horror
Two attorneys adopt a mysterious orphan girl as their daughter, unaware she is the new Antichrist, next in line to Damien Thorn.
Directors: Jorge Montesi, Dominique Othenin-Girard | Stars: Faye Grant, Michael Woods, Michael Lerner, Madison Mason
Votes: 7,759
75. Cape Fear (1962)
Passed | 106 min | Drama, Thriller
A lawyer's family is stalked by a man he once helped put in jail.
Director: J. Lee Thompson | Stars: Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Polly Bergen, Lori Martin
Votes: 31,899
76. Synchronic (2019)
R | 102 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
Two New Orleans paramedics' lives are ripped apart after they encounter a series of horrific deaths linked to a designer drug with bizarre, otherworldly effects.
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead | Stars: Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dornan, Katie Aselton, Ally Ioannides
Votes: 40,239
77. City Hunter (2018)
91 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Nicky Larson, the best private investigator in the business, is called for a high-risk mission: to recover the perfume of Cupid, a perfume that would make irresistible the one who uses it.
Director: Philippe Lacheau | Stars: Philippe Lacheau, Élodie Fontan, Tarek Boudali, Julien Arruti
Votes: 5,565
78. Until the End of the World (1991)
R | 158 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In 1999, Claire Tourneur's life is forever changed after she survives a car crash. She rescues Sam and travels the world with him. Writer Eugene Fitzpatrick follows and writes their story as a method of recording dreams is being developed.
Director: Wim Wenders | Stars: William Hurt, Solveig Dommartin, Pietro Falcone, Enzo Turrin
Votes: 11,347 | Gross: $0.75M
79. Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid (1982)
PG | 88 min | Comedy, Crime, Mystery
Film noir parody with a detective uncovering a sinister plot. Characters from classic noir films appear as scenes from various movies interjected into the story.
Director: Carl Reiner | Stars: Steve Martin, Rachel Ward, Alan Ladd, Carl Reiner
Votes: 23,776 | Gross: $18.20M
80. Vega$ (1978–1981)
60 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Dan Tanna is a private investigator in the gambling town of Las Vegas, Nevada. Vegas can be seedy or glamorous, depending on your point of view.
Stars: Robert Urich, Bart Braverman, Phyllis Davis, Greg Morris
Votes: 2,248
81. Broken City (2013)
R | 109 min | Action, Crime, Drama
In a city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed by its most powerful figure: Mayor Nicholas Hostetler.
Director: Allen Hughes | Stars: Mark Wahlberg, Russell Crowe, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Jeffrey Wright
Votes: 83,401 | Gross: $19.70M
82. Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)
R | 127 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
With personal crises and age weighing in on them, LAPD officers Riggs and Murtaugh must contend with deadly Chinese triads that are trying to free their former leaders out of prison and onto American soil.
Director: Richard Donner | Stars: Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo
Votes: 172,307 | Gross: $130.44M
83. Peter Gunn (1958–1961)
TV-14 | 30 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Peter Gunn is a private detective with a knack for finding trouble. His cases often mean he runs into the shadiest characters, most vicious thugs and the most powerful crime bosses. Cool and resourceful, he always gets the guilty party.
Stars: Craig Stevens, Herschel Bernardi, Lola Albright, Bill Chadney
Votes: 1,657
84. One for the Money (2012)
PG-13 | 91 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Unemployed and newly-divorced Stephanie Plum lands a job at her cousin's bail-bond business, where her first assignment puts her on the trail of a wanted local cop from her romantic past.
Director: Julie Anne Robinson | Stars: Katherine Heigl, Jason O'Mara, Daniel Sunjata, John Leguizamo
Votes: 44,126 | Gross: $26.41M
85. Tony Rome (1967)
Not Rated | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Tough Miami P.I., Tony Rome's hired by a millionaire to find jewelry stolen from his daughter. In the search, he has several encounters with local hoods as well as the Miami's police.
Director: Gordon Douglas | Stars: Frank Sinatra, Jill St. John, Richard Conte, Gena Rowlands
Votes: 3,235
86. The Ultimate Gift (2006)
PG | 114 min | Drama, Family, Romance
A deceased billionaire leaves his spoiled adult grandson a series of odd tasks to perform in order to receive "the ultimate gift," with the resentful grandson having no idea what that might be.
Director: Michael O. Sajbel | Stars: Drew Fuller, James Garner, Abigail Breslin, Bill Cobbs
Votes: 20,446 | Gross: $3.44M
87. Alone in the Dark (2005)
R | 96 min | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
A detective of the paranormal slowly unravels mysterious events with deadly results.
Director: Uwe Boll | Stars: Christian Slater, Tara Reid, Stephen Dorff, Frank C. Turner
Votes: 47,015 | Gross: $5.18M
88. Wander (I) (2020)
R | 94 min | Thriller
After getting hired to probe a suspicious death in the small town of Wander, a mentally unstable private investigator becomes convinced the case is linked to the same 'conspiracy cover up' that caused the death of his daughter.
Director: April Mullen | Stars: Aaron Eckhart, Tommy Lee Jones, Katheryn Winnick, Heather Graham
Votes: 9,730
89. The Dark Corner (1946)
Passed | 99 min | Crime, Drama, Film-Noir
A secretary tries to help her boss who's been framed for murder.
Director: Henry Hathaway | Stars: Lucille Ball, Clifton Webb, William Bendix, Mark Stevens
Votes: 5,211
90. Bored to Death (2009–2011)
TV-MA | 28 min | Comedy, Crime, Drama
A well-meaning but struggling writer decides to lead a sort of double life by pretending to be a private detective using the methods he read about in old detective novels.
Stars: Jason Schwartzman, Zach Galifianakis, Ted Danson, Heather Burns
Votes: 34,626
91. Flawless (2007)
PG-13 | 108 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
In 1960s London, an elderly janitor convinces a glass-ceiling constrained executive to help him steal a handful of diamonds from their employer, the London Diamond Corporation.
Director: Michael Radford | Stars: Demi Moore, Michael Caine, Lambert Wilson, Nathaniel Parker
Votes: 26,358 | Gross: $1.20M
92. The Two Jakes (1990)
R | 137 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
The sequel to Chinatown (1974) finds J.J. "Jake" Gittes investigating adultery and murder, and the money that comes from oil.
Director: Jack Nicholson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Harvey Keitel, Meg Tilly, Madeleine Stowe
Votes: 15,503 | Gross: $10.01M
93. Devil's Knot (2013)
Not Rated | 114 min | Biography, Crime, Drama
The savage murders of three young children sparks a controversial trial of three teenagers accused of killing the kids as part of a Satanic ritual.
Director: Atom Egoyan | Stars: Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon, Alessandro Nivola, James Hamrick
Votes: 23,863
94. The Valet (2022)
PG-13 | 124 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
A movie star enlists a parking valet at a Beverly Hills restaurant to pose as her lover to cover for her relationship with a married man.
Director: Richard Wong | Stars: Eugenio Derbez, Samara Weaving, Max Greenfield, Betsy Brandt
Votes: 16,026
95. Blood Ties (2007)
TV-14 | 43 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Vicki Nelson, a former homicide detective turned private investigator, and Henry Fitzroy, a 470-year-old vampire, form a unique team solving cases and dealing with the supernatural world.
Stars: Christina Cox, Dylan Neal, Kyle Schmid, Gina Holden
Votes: 7,080
96. Hawaiian Eye (1959–1963)
60 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
The cases of Hawaiian Eye Private Investigations and the two handsome, slick, tough-guy detectives who ran the firm, Thomas Jefferson Lopaka, or Tom for short, and Tracy Steele, a Korean War veteran and former city police detective.
Stars: Poncie Ponce, Connie Stevens, Douglas Mossman, Robert Conrad
Votes: 688
97. The Happytime Murders (2018)
R | 91 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
When the puppet cast of a '90s children's TV show begin to get murdered one by one, a disgraced LAPD detective-turned-private eye puppet takes on the case.
Director: Brian Henson | Stars: Melissa McCarthy, Elizabeth Banks, Maya Rudolph, Leslie David Baker
Votes: 30,387 | Gross: $20.71M
98. Shattered (1991)
R | 98 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
After a horrific car wreck leaves him an amnesiac, a man slowly begins to unravel his shocking past.
Director: Wolfgang Petersen | Stars: Tom Berenger, Bob Hoskins, Greta Scacchi, Joanne Whalley
Votes: 11,416 | Gross: $11.51M
99. Riptide (1984–1986)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Crime, Drama
The cases of a private investigations agency run by two Vietnam War veterans and their computer geek friend from high school, armed with toughness, their own helicopter, and the third's technical ability.
Stars: Perry King, Joe Penny, Thom Bray, Jack Ging
Votes: 3,191
100. Angela Black (2021)
TV-14 | 298 min | Drama
Trapped in a relationship she cannot escape, Angela is approached out of the blue by Ed, a private investigator, who spills her husband's darkest secrets.
Stars: Joanne Froggatt, Michiel Huisman, Samuel Adewunmi, Seth Stokes
Votes: 3,857