Yahoo Lifestyle50 Best Spy Movies That’ll Keep You on the Edge of Your Seat
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The Courier (2020)
Not all British spy movies are about James Bond. Benedict Cumberbatch, Rachel Brosnahan, and more favorites star in this historical drama about a British businessman who’s recruited by both M16 and the CIA to deliver secret messages to an agent in Russia during the Cold War. The tense espionage story, based on true events, will have you hooked until the end.
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The Bourne Identity (2002)
Matt Damon is the titular character, Jason Bourne, in this first installment of the popular Bourne franchise. Based on Robert Ludlum’s novel of the same name, the movie is about a man (Bourne) who has experienced extreme memory loss and slowly begins to realize that he is a highly trained operative. As expected, a lot of action ensues.
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The Bourne Supremacy (2004)
Two years later, we meet Jason Bourne again in his journey as a former CIA assassin suffering from amnesia. Except in this sequel, he is framed for a mission that went sideways. Because of this, he’s forced to return to his specialty of being an incredibly skilled assassin.
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Enemy of the State (1998)
Will Smith brings the action with this political thriller. Picture this: You’re a lawyer who accidentally obtains a tape of a murder and ends up being chased by secret agents. Yeah, that’s exactly what Smith’s character, Robert Clayton Dean, has to deal with this film. Not exactly the best situation to find yourself in….
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Bridge of Spies (2015)
Any movie that combines Tom Hanks’s star power with Steven Spielberg’s directing is destined to be a success. This Cold War–era movie tells the true story of American lawyer James B. Donovan (Hanks), who defended Soviet KGB spy Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) in court. Because of this, he ends up working with the CIA to exchange the spy for a captured American pilot.
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Skyfall (2012)
Bond, James Bond. The famous British spy comes back in Skyfall, the 23rd movie (yes, you read that correctly) in the long-running franchise, and Daniel Craig’s take on the character is one of the best. Bond’s allegiance is tested after the head of MI6 (a.k.a. his boss) has to deal with the consequences of her past actions coming to light.
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Duplicity (2009)
With Duplicity, you get one of the best espionage movies and a romance. The movie shows what happens when two agents and rival spies find themselves attracted to each other. Julia Roberts and Clive Owen’s chemistry boils over in the story of an MI6 agent (Owen) and a CIA officer (Roberts) who try to do their jobs despite their complicated romantic history.
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Argo (2012)
There’s a reason this drama won best picture at the 85th Academy Awards. Ben Affleck starred in and directed this true story of a CIA agent who goes undercover as a Hollywood producer in order to rescue six American diplomats in Tehran during the 1979 Itanian hostage crisis.
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Sneakers (1992)
Good spy movies are often associated with tense drama, but they can be funny too. Case in point: Sneakers, the 1992 comedy with an all-star cast of Sidney Poitier, Robert Redford, Ben Kingsley, River Phoenix, and Dan Aykroyd. The film, about a group of hackers who become involved in a government scheme, weaves intrigue in with its easy-breezy tone.
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Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
The nearly decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was widely reported at the time. But it’s an entirely different experience to watch the events that led up to his 2011 capture and death displayed onscreen. Jessica Chastain stars as the fictional CIA intelligence operative behind the operation.
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Mission: Impossible (1996)
Movies like Mission: Impossible are why this genre is so popular. The first of seven movies—and there’s an eighth on the way!—introduces us to Tom Cruise’s famous character Ethan Hunt, an American agent suspected of being disloyal. Ethan sets out to clear his name by finding the spy who is responsible for his tainted reputation…without the help of his organization.
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Mission: Impossible — Fallout (2018)
As we mentioned, there are several Mission: Impossible films you can check out. But arguably the best sequel is 2018’s Fallout, which adds Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby to the cast. The action scenes are bigger, the stakes are higher, and Henry Cavill and Tom Cruise have surprising chemistry as opposing agents.
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North by Northwest (1959)
This Alfred Hitchcock–directed romantic thriller follows a New York advertising exec (Cary Grant) who goes on the run after being mistaken for a government agent by a group of foreign spies. Fun fact: The movie was the inspiration behind the name of the popular Texas festival South by Southwest.
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Spies in Disguise (2019)
While most of the movies on this list are not kid-friendly fare, Spies in Disguise is something that all ages can enjoy. Lance Sterling (Will Smith) is a secret agent who, oops, gets turned into a pigeon by a young scientist (Tom Holland). Naturally, they must work together to save the day.
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Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Imagine walking into your office only to find that all of your coworkers have been killed. Robert Redford (Turner) has to face exactly that in this 1970s film. After he realizes CIA higher-ups are behind the murders, he has no one left to trust and is forced to figure out how to survive even though there’s a hit man trying to kill him.
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Spy Game (2001)
As you’ll see on this list, Robert Redford and Brad Pitt are both in a lot of spy movies. It works for them! In Spy Game, they portray retiring CIA agent Nathan Muir (Redford) and his protégé, Tom Bishop (Pitt). Nathan must get back in the game in order to save Tom, who gets captured in China and charged with espionage.
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A Most Wanted Man (2014)
During the war on terror, a young man (Grigoriy Dobrygin) arrives in Hamburg, Germany, claiming an inheritance. He’s suspected of ties to Chechen terrorists, but agent Günther Bachmann (Phillip Seymour Hoffman, in one of his last roles before his death) believes the man is innocent.
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Lust, Caution (2007)
Director Ang Lee helmed this film from the 1979 novella by Eileen Chang, which is loosely based on real events during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai in the late 1930s and early ’40s. It’s a beautifully shot film but definitely not safe for work: The movie’s sex scenes earned it an NC-17 rating in the United States when it was released.
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Allied (2016)
Remember when we said you’d see a lot of Brad Pitt on this list? In this spy drama, Pitt and Marion Cotillard play an intelligence officer and a French resistance fighter who fall in love and attempt to live a more domestic life. Just one problem: Cotillard’s character may or may not be a secret German spy.
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Casino Royale (2006)
This is the first movie in which Daniel Craig played the famed James Bond. In it he receives his first mission as 007: defeat a banker funding terrorists. He’s just received his license to kill and is ready to take on the enemy by beating him in a high-stakes poker game at Casino Royale in Montenegro.
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Burn After Reading (2008)
One thing that no spy wants is for their sensitive information to wind up in the wrong hands. Especially when the person who finds the information wants to sell it. That’s the premise of this dark comedy starring Brad Pitt (yes, him again!), Frances McDormand, and George Clooney. Hilarity ensues as the situation continues to escalate.
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D.E.B.S. (2004)
D.E.B.S. was not a hit at the box office or with critics when it came out in 2004, but it has since gained a cult following for its fun and unique story about a group of young female spies in training called—you guessed it—D.E.B.S. (the acronym stands for discipline, energy, beauty, and strength).
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Atomic Blonde (2017)
Leave it to Charlize Theron to get the job done. There aren’t enough female spy movies out there, but if anyone ever tries to tell you that’s not concerning, just point them to the incredible Atomic Blonde. Theron’s character, Lorraine Broughton, is an undercover elite MI6 agent who is sent to Germany during the Cold War to find a missing list of double agents. During her journey, she has to use her lethal skills to complete the mission.
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Charlie Wilson’s War (2007)
Why is it that some of the most unbelievable movies about the CIA are based on real life? In this unlikely tale based on a true story, Philip Seymour Hoffman appears alongside Tom Hanks, Amy Adams, and Julia Roberts. Hanks leads as Texas congressman Charlie Wilson, who formed an allegiance with Texas socialite Joanne Herring (Roberts) and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos (Hoffman) to raise funds for Afghan freedom fighters in their war against the Soviet Union.
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Safe House (2012)
Ryan Reynolds plays a CIA agent with his first mission: overseeing a safe house in Cape Town. Denzel Washington is a veteran operative who is accused of going rogue and taken to the safe house for questioning. As you can imagine, a lot of drama, thrills, and chaos follows.
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Hanna (2011)
Saoirse Ronan stars in the title role about a teenager who was raised by her dad, an ex-CIA agent, to be a soldier. With her strength and lowered sense of fear, she becomes the perfect assassin. But then a murderous intelligence agent arrives looking to hunt her down.
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The Good Shepherd (2006)
Matt Damon again tests his talents at playing a spy in this Robert De Niro flick. In this one, Damon stars as Edward Wilson, one of the founding members of the CIA. Throughout the semibiographical film, we get to see the birth of the agency through Edward’s eyes.
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Die Another Day (2002)
This is the fourth and final film in which Pierce Brosnan starred as M16 agent James Bond, but what we really need to talk about is Halle Berry’s famous appearance in that orange bikini. As NSA agent Jinx Johnson, she was a revelation and held her own against 007.
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Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Colin Firth and Taron Egerton star in Kingsman: The Secret Service, the first in the franchise about a top-secret spy organization that recruits a promising kid (Egerton) into its training program while battling an emerging threat. The action-comedy sets up its sequels that follow the organization’s global missions.
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Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
We told you there were Kingsman sequels. The Golden Circle finds Eggsy (Taron Egerton) enlisting the help of the Statesman, a.k.a. his American spy counterparts, after a drug cartel holds the world hostage. Look out for a very entertaining cameo from Elton John.
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Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986)
Did you know that Jumpin’ Jack Flash was the late great Penny Marshall’s directorial debut? Whoopi Goldberg stars as Terry Doolittle, a well-liked computer operator at a New York City bank. Everything is normal until one night she receives a mysterious message from a man claiming to be a British intelligence officer being chased by the KGB and gets embroiled in the case.
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The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Another spy movie set during the Cold War! In this one, CIA agent Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) join forces to stop a mysterious criminal organization trying to gain more nuclear weapons. The two spies must learn to put aside their differences in order to achieve their mission.
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Munich (2005)
Is it possible for the good guy to end up on the wrong side? That’s a question that plagues Eric Bana’s character, Avner Kaufman, in this historical thriller. After eight members of the terrorist group Black September murder 11 Israeli athletes and their coach at the 1972 Olympics, the Israeli government sends Avner to retaliate. But as the number of kills increases, Bana’s character begins to wonder whether his actions are truly for the greater good.
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True Lies (1994)
So many aspects of this movie make it an entertaining watch. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a spy whose family thinks he is a salesman with lots of business trips. So when he discovers that his wife (Jamie Lee Curtis) is considering having an affair with a man (Bill Paxton) pretending to be a spy, he tries to win her over again—all while trying to stop a group of international terrorists led by Tia Carrere.
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M. Butterfly (1993)
A French diplomat (Jeremy Irons) assigned to Beijing falls in love with an opera performer (John Lone) who is tasked with spying on him for the government. There’s more to the story than that, but we’ll refrain from giving away too many spoilers.
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Salt (2010)
What’s interesting about this movie is that it was originally written for a male protagonist, with Tom Cruise attached to the project. The script was later rewritten specifically for Angelina Jolie, and we think it’s better for it. Jolie plays a CIA agent who goes on the run after she’s accused of being a double agent. The film received rave reviews for Jolie’s acting and grossed almost $300 million at the box office.
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Snowden (2016)
Most spy movies are about protecting classified documents. That’s not the case in this biographical film about Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who leaked information about the NSA’s illegal mass surveillance. This drama starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt follows the events surrounding the breach of national security that had global consequences.
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The Sum of All Fears (2002)
Ben Affleck stars as CIA analyst Jack Ryan in this spy thriller based on Tom Clancy’s 1991 novel of the same name. Morgan Freeman appears as William Cabot, director of the agency, who works with Ryan to try to stop a plot to start a nuclear war.
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Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
You know things are serious when you’re forced out of retirement to handle a mission. During the Cold War, a veteran (Gary Oldman) works to uncover a Soviet agent within MI6. The film is based on the novel of the same name and also stars Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Tom Hardy.
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The Conversation (1974)
This mystery follows a slightly paranoid and extremely secretive surveillance expert who begins to believe that the couple he’s been spying on might be in danger. He takes things into his own hands to do everything he can to figure out whether the couple will or won’t be murdered.
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RED (2010)
Based on the comic books of the same name, this first film of a series is a comedic take on the story of retired CIA agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), whose life is threatened by assassins and a former black-ops agent. The acronym RED is used to describe Frank because he is retired and extremely dangerous.
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Shining Through (1992)
During World War II, an American woman of Irish and Jewish-German descent, played by Melanie Griffith, agrees to go undercover in Nazi Germany in order to uncover information regarding a German bomb. The stakes are high, and made even higher when another agent betrays her.
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Spy Kids (2001)
People of all ages love this family movie about a brother and sister (Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara) who become involved in their parents’ espionage. Director Robert Rodriguez called the film “Willy Wonka meets James Bond,” to give you an idea of the tone.
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Spy (2015)
Directed by Bridesmaids auteur Paul Feig, Spy stars Melissa McCarthy as a desk-bound CIA employee who becomes a field agent. Jude Law, Rose Byrne, Jason Statham, Bobby Cannavale, and Allison Janney round out the cast in this hilarious action comedy.
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The 355 (2021)
Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong'o, Penelope Cruz, and Fan Bingbing, and Diane Kruger are a group of international spies who must work together to save the world. Cool—but what does “355” stand for? The title is a nod to the real-life Agent 355, the codename of a female Patriot in the American Revolutionary War and one of the country's first spies.
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Black Widow (2021)
You don't have to be a huge Marvel fan to appreciate this standalone film centered around Natasha Romanoff, better known as Black Widow. The movie has all the explosions, fight scenes, and intrigue you'd expect from an action flick starring a former S.H.I.E.L.D agent while also delivering heartwarming themes about sisterhood and found family.
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The Gray Man (2022)
The Gray Man is one of the most expensive movies ever made by Netflix, and it shows. The cast is stacked with actors like Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Regé-Jean Page, Alfre Woodard, and Billy Bob Thorton. The Russo brothers—as in, the guys behind Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Avengers: Endgame—direct. And the plot takes the movie's hero Six, an assassin on the run after he discovers compromising details about his CIA handler, everywhere from Bangkok to Prague to Croatia. It's one of this year's best summer movies, full stop.
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Red Notice (2021)
There are a lot of spy movies on Netflix, but few are as fun as this film about an FBI agent (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) who teams up with a notorious art thief (Ryan Reynolds) in order to catch an even more notorious art thief (Gal Gadot). What follows is an entertaining, if somewhat predictable, heist movie made charming by Johnson and Reynolds' banter.
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TENET (2020)
A CIA agent learns how to manipulate time in order to prevent future attacks in this sci-fi thriller written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Warning: You probably won't understand what's going on for the majority of the movie. Just go with it. You'll be satisfied by the end.
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No Time to Die (2020)
This James Bond film marks Daniel Craig's last as 007, and many argue it's his best. It certainly doesn't hurt that the script was co-written by Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Also great: Ana de Armas, who is so memorable as a CIA agent that people have been calling for her to take over the franchise next.
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Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to watch Atomic Blonde.
Originally Appeared on Glamour
