feelsalike.com

Movies that feel like Zero Effect (1998)

If you loved Zero Effect, the closest films we have are Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (1994), Murder Mystery (2019) and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022). All three share Zero Effect's witty and playful feel, which is what we rank on before quality. 8 of the 12 picks below are included with a subscription right now on Peacock Premium, YouTube TV and Peacock Premium Plus and others, checked against today's data.

Daryl Zero is a private investigator and—along with his assistant, Steve Arlo—he solves impossible crimes and puzzles. Although Daryl's a master investigator, he doesn't know what to do with himself when he's not working; he has no social skills, writes bad music and drives Steve crazy.

🍅 66% Rotten Tomatoes6.9 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Jake Kasdanwittyplayfulgrittytwisty

Not on subscription streaming right now. Rent or buy below.

When is Zero Effect streaming? →

If Zero Effect hit the spot, these will too

Looking for the series itself? Also in this series: The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Ace Ventura: Pet Detective poster
Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
1994 · dir. Tom Shadyac
🍅 48%6.9comedy · crime · mystery

Both built around detective

He's Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. The Ace is on the case to find the Miami Dolphins' missing mascot and quarterback Dan Marino. He goes eyeball to eyeball with a man-eating shark, stakes out the Miami Dolphins and woos and wows the ladies. Whether he's undercover, under fire or underwater, he always gets his man… or beast!

Feels alike?
Murder Mystery poster
Murder Mystery
2019 · dir. Kyle Newacheck
🍅 43%6.1comedy · mystery · crime

Whodunit is the engine of both

The difference: A 2010s film, from a different era of filmmaking

On a long-awaited trip to Europe, a New York City cop and his hairdresser wife scramble to solve a baffling murder aboard a billionaire's yacht.

Feels alike?
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery poster
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
2022 · dir. Rian Johnson
🍅 91%7.1comedy · crime · mystery

Detective sits at the heart of each

The difference: Reviewed even better

World-famous detective Benoit Blanc heads to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery surrounding a tech billionaire and his eclectic crew of friends.

Feels alike?
Knives Out poster
Knives Out
2019 · dir. Rian Johnson
🍅 97%7.9comedy · crime · mystery

The same preoccupation in both: whodunit

When renowned crime novelist Harlan Thrombey is found dead at his estate just after his 85th birthday, the inquisitive and debonair Detective Benoit Blanc is mysteriously enlisted to investigate. From Harlan's dysfunctional family to his devoted staff, Blanc sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind Harlan's untimely death.

Feels alike?
Super Troopers 3 poster
Super Troopers 3
2026 · dir. Jay Chandrasekhar
6.2comedy · crime · mystery

Both land wit and play at once

When Farva's over-the-top Indian engagement to Thorny's sister spirals into chaos, the Super Troopers must navigate Thorny's schemes to break up the relationship, all while trying to bring down a pernicious new drug ring.

Feels alike?
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery poster
🍅 72%7comedy · crime

Comedy with a pulse of grit, in both cases

The difference: None of the twists that defines Zero Effect

As a swinging fashion photographer by day and a groovy British superagent by night, Austin Powers is the '60s' most shagadelic spy. But can he stop megalomaniac Dr. Evil after the bald villain freezes himself and unthaws in the '90s? With the help of sexy sidekick Vanessa Kensington, he just might.

Feels alike?
Game Night poster
Game Night
2018 · dir. John Francis Daley
🍅 85%6.9mystery · comedy · crime

Twisty crime, and it commits to that

Max and Annie's weekly game night gets kicked up a notch when Max's brother Brooks arranges a murder mystery party -- complete with fake thugs and federal agents. So when Brooks gets kidnapped, it's all supposed to be part of the game. As the competitors set out to solve the case, they start to learn that neither the game nor Brooks are what they seem to be. The friends soon find themselves in over their heads as each twist leads to another unexpected turn over the course of one chaotic night.

Feels alike?
The Big Lebowski poster
The Big Lebowski
1998 · dir. Joel Coen
🍅 79%8.1comedy · crime

Both trade on wit more than on being mystery

Jeffrey 'The Dude' Lebowski, a Los Angeles slacker who only wants to bowl and drink White Russians, is mistaken for another Jeffrey Lebowski, a wheelchair-bound millionaire, and finds himself dragged into a strange series of events involving nihilists, adult film producers, ferrets, errant toes, and large sums of money.

Feels alike?
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang poster
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
2005 · dir. Shane Black
🍅 86%7.4comedy · crime · mystery

Playful comedy in both cases

The difference: Plays it as thriller more than Zero Effect does

A petty thief posing as an actor is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation along with his high school dream girl and a detective who's been training him for his upcoming role...

Feels alike?
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels poster
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels
1998 · dir. Guy Ritchie
🍅 75%8.1comedy · crime

Crime built on grit, twice over

A card shark and his unwillingly-enlisted friends need to make a lot of cash quick after losing a sketchy poker match. To do this they decide to pull a heist on a small-time gang who happen to be operating out of the flat next door.

Feels alike?
Snatch poster
Snatch
2000 · dir. Guy Ritchie
🍅 74%8.2crime · comedy

Both trade on wit more than on being mystery

Unscrupulous boxing promoters, violent bookies, a Russian gangster, incompetent amateur robbers, and supposedly Jewish jewellers fight to track down a priceless stolen diamond.

Feels alike?
We're the Millers poster
We're the Millers
2013 · dir. Rawson Marshall Thurber
🍅 48%7comedy · crime

Both trade on play more than on being comedy

A veteran pot dealer creates a fake family as part of his plan to move a huge shipment of weed into the U.S. from Mexico.

Feels alike?

In the mood for more witty?

all witty movies →

The best-reviewed films that share Zero Effect's defining feeling.