Tom Hanks' 2006 mystery thriller The Da Vinci Code has been finding renewed popularity with streaming audiences, with the article arguing it outperforms even a globe-trotting adventure franchise like Indiana Jones in current appeal. Directed by Ron Howard and based on Dan Brown's bestselling novel, the film represented a distinctive moment in mid-2000s cinema when dense, adult-oriented mystery thrillers without existing franchise backing could still draw huge audiences, a feat the article suggests only directors like Christopher Nolan manage today.

The story follows Robert Langdon (Hanks), a Harvard symbologist wrongly suspected of murder at the Louvre, who escapes custody with the help of French police cryptologist Sophie Neveu and embarks on a fast-paced puzzle hunt across Paris and London. By deciphering codes hidden within Leonardo da Vinci's artworks, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, the pair uncover the secretive Priory of Sion and an alternative history of Christianity centred on the true nature of the Holy Grail.