The murder mystery is a time-honored story with a list of fascinatingly consistent elements. While films about learning the circumstances behind someone's untimely death are everywhere, the more familiar and formulaic whodunnit is having a moment right now. What is it about the modern audience that brings classic tales of murder and mystery back to the screen?
The old murder mystery format was largely created by the legendary Agatha Christie. It's appropriate that big-budget direct adaptations of her work would make up much of this new movement. The format has evolved in many ways, but there's something special about the draw of the classic parlor room scene.
Knives Out and its upcoming sequel The Glass Onion are classic whodunnits with additional elements of social commentary. See How They Run is a meta exploration of the structure of the whodunnit set around a production of an Agatha Christie play that evolves into a classic whodunnit. Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile are modern adaptations of Agatha Christie's classic Poirot novels with Kenneth Branagh in the lead role. Bodies Bodies Bodies is a gen-z satire and dark comedy in the mold of a locked-room mystery without a detective to know what's going on. Murder Mystery is an adaptation/parody of Orient Expressstarring Adam Sandler that inexplicably warranted an upcoming sequel. All of these films play within the age-old format and came out within the last five years. It's safe to say that the whodunnit movement is in full swing.
The overwhelming majority of these films are partially or entirely comedic. The whodunnit format simply doesn't fit Silence of the Lambs. From the snarky satirical edge of Knives Out to the full-on broad slapstick of Murder Mystery. Arguably, the new rise of the whodunnit genre is occurring alongside a resurgence of noir detective films. The Little Things, Blade Runner: 2049, Reminiscence, and even The Batman feel like modern updates of The Maltese Falcon in the same way that Knives Out is a modern And Then There Were None. The two subgenres represent sides of a spectrum, demonstrating that gruesome murder can be a part of a silly comedy and a grim crime thriller. These twin phenomenon point to a combination of nostalgia, novelty, and fascination with the more visceral elements of both genres.
One could argue that the murder mystery never went away, it just migrated to a smaller screen. Police procedurals and detective shows borrow quite a bit from Agatha Christie. There's always a show based on Sherlock Holmes for fans to enjoy, and Arthur Conan Doyle's work is often just as influential. TV detectives might not be as showy as Hercule Poirot, but they often get to walk a roomful of witnesses through the crime with the same flare. There are several thousand hour-long mysteries available on any given streaming service. Arguably, the omnipresence of detective drama on TV made it pointless to pursue on the big screen. People had every potential flavor of a murder mystery on every available TV network. However, when audiences are used to getting something one way, adding cinematic budgets and big-name stars back into the formula is enough to shake it up. People never stopped loving this stuff, so it was up to the big directors to innovate the format.
Beyond TV mysteries, the fervor for murder is always sated by a constant stream of true crime content. It's hard to believe how popular real-life murder shows are in the modern age. One would think, with the never-ending flow of new real events, on-screen violence would hold little appeal. The lurid tabloid tales that make up Investigation Discovery's entire program catalog could keep a fan satisfied forever, and there's no shortage of glossy serial killer documentaries. It would seem, however, that the true crime boom hasn't weakened the whodunnit. Instead, true crime creates a level of safety in the world of the murder mystery. A real murder can invoke a strong response, but a fictional one could be more malleable. True crime ensures that the audience will not be turned off, no matter how gruesome the murder is. The whodunnit allows the true crime fan to get their fix in a way that means something more.
Right now is clearly the perfect moment for the whodunnit boom, and the concept is showing no sign of slowing down. Fans will be able to enjoy more brilliant detectives, more sketchy witnesses, and more parlor room confessions. Tons of new talent will likely find their voice by putting spins on this unique genre. The ongoing state of media weighs novelty very heavily, anything with new stories and new characters is more likely to break through now than ever. Murder mysteries are a great subgenre that allows endless creativity while still speaking to the fans with a reliable formula.