The best Pepe Serna’s mystery movies

An unlikely Hollywood hooker helps a detective set a trap for a mutilator pimp.

In the first feature-length animated movie based on the Hanna-Barbera series, Jonny Quest fans get to meet the women behind the adventurous men. Joining scientist Benton Quest, his plucky son Jonny, bodyguard Race Bannon and Jonny's young pal Hadji are Benton's biologist wife Rachel, Race's ex-wife Jade and young 12-year-old Jessie, who harbors a big secret. Throughout, Team Quest battles the evil schemes of modern-day alchemist Dr. Zin, who has cloned himself and created an army of mutant reptiles in the Peruvian rain forest. The clash there results in a tragedy that changes Jonny's life forever - and later leads to a worldwide pursuit of Zin that includes examining rare Leonardo da Vinci documents in Paris, exploring the Roman catacombs and a final confrontation in the Australian outback.

A stranger in the increasingly strange city of San Francisco, Japanese crime novelist Aki is unsure of precisely what role she has to play in a real-life murder mystery involving ambiguous MacGuffins and amorphous identities. Unfolding in lonely places such as bookshops and hotel bars, Dave Boyle's moody thriller uncovers exhilarating new takes on genre conventions. Consequently, it's an alluring l'homme fatal who supplies Aki with the breadcrumb trail of clues that entices her into a labyrinthine plot of sinister dealings. In turn, the aging sheriff (veteran character actor Pepe Serna, fantastic in a rare leading role), who should rightfully be riding to her rescue, proves to be equally out of his depth. The game is afoot, the chase is exhilarating and the stakes are perilously high in this inspired neo-noir.