Outside the small California town of San Benito, the body of a young woman is found in a ditch in the woods.

Despite a few odd clues, homicide detective Cassie Mayweather, played by Sandra Bullock, has little to go on.

Meanwhile, two boys, Richard Haywood (Ryan Gosling) and Justin Pendleton (Michael Pit), attend Jefferson High School and are playing a deadly game of trying to get away with the perfect murder.

Murder By Numbers is a psychological suspense thriller that will keep you guessing.

Richard and Justin are complete opposites. Richard is popular, outgoing and filthy rich because of his parents. Justin is an introvert genius whose parents are divorced.

Yet the two are drawn together with the common idea of committing the perfect murder. After months of strenuous planning, the boys are prepared to put their plan into action. There is just one thing they weren’t prepared for: Cassie.

Bullock’s performance as a homicide detective with a sketchy history was exceptional. As she and her new partner Sam Kennedy (Ben Chaplin) begin to investigate, they follow a trail of clues set out by the boys.

They eventually reach a point where it seems as if the case has wrapped itself up, but Cassie’s instincts tell her otherwise. It soon turns into a game of ‘who will crack first’ as the true story is slowly revealed. The ending definitely has more than a few twists, which keeps it interesting.

The entire movie is one big mind game with a little bit of philosophy and even a moral or two thrown in. The acting was good and the plot was original. The only flaw may be that it was a bit too long and had one too many twists.

Murder By Numbers is based on a true story from 1924. It is rated R for violence. language, a sex scene, and brief drug use.

It opens in theaters everywhere on Friday.