Movies like Once Upon a Spy (1980)
The best movies like Once Upon a Spy (1980) are Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America (2006), Hierarchy (2025) and Seeking Justice (2011). If Once Upon a Spy hooked you with its action and drama, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedFast Charlie (2023)6.3/10 from 379 votes
- NewestHierarchy (2025)Released 2025
Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America (2006)
An outbreak of avian flu mutates into a virus that becomes transmittable from human to human.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisHierarchy (2025)
In an undisclosed area of Texas after two adoptive brothers become entangled in criminal activity, forced to evade law enforcement and the greedy Russian mafia.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSeeking Justice (2011)
After his wife is assaulted, a husband enlists the services of a vigilante group to help him settle the score.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisJesse Stone: Thin Ice (2009)
Jesse Stone and Captain Healy are shot during an unauthorized stake-out in Boston. Meanwhile, a cryptic letter sent from Paradise leads the mother of a kidnapped child to Stone. Though her son was declared dead, she hopes he will reopen the case.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDesert Dawn (2025)
A newly appointed small-town sheriff and his begrudging deputy get tangled up in a web of lies and corruption involving shady businessmen and the cartel while investigating the murder of a mysterious woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: Innocents Lost (2011)
Jesse investigates the suspicious death of a young friend while the police force deals with the arrogant new police chief who is the son-in-law of a town councilman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLocke & Key (2011)
Three children become the caretakers of a New England mansion that is home to a bevy of secrets and magic.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStone Cold (2005)
Jesse Stone is a former L.A. homicide detective who left behind the big city and an ex-wife to become the police chief of the quiet New England fishing town of Paradise. Stone's old habits die hard as he continues to indulge his two favorite things: Scotch whiskey and women. After a series of murders, the first ever in Paradise, and a high school girl is raped he's forced to face his own demons in order to solve the crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt (2012)
Jesse finds himself struggling to get his job back as the Paradise police chief, and he is forced to rely on his cop intuition to sort through a maze of misleading clues and hidden meanings as he attempts to solve a shocking and horrifying mob-related double homicide.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Sister's Secret (2018)
Twin sisters secretly swap places on their thirtieth birthday. The harmless prank becomes a nightmare when one of them is murdered.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisJesse Stone: Death in Paradise (2006)
When Jesse Stone looks into the murder of a teen-age girl whose body is found floating in a local lake, it brings him up against the Boston mob and into the affluent world of a bestselling writer who exploits troubled teens.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJesse Stone: No Remorse (2010)
Police Chief Jesse Stone, who was suspended by the Paradise, Mass. Town Council, begins moonlighting for his friend, State Homicide Commander Healy, by investigating a series of murders in Boston, leaving Rose and Suitcase to handle a crime spree in Paradise on their own. Jesse pours his energy into his work in an effort to push away his twin demons: booze and women. When his investigation leads to notorious mob boss Gino Fish, Jesse's pursuit becomes hazardous.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHello (2022)
An emotionally unavailable flight attendant meets a potential love interest and later finds out that her "perfect guy" has ulterior motives. As the clock ticks down on New Year's Eve, she must fight to keep her murdered ex-boyfriend's secrets or find herself dead.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Substitute 2: School's Out (1998)
When teacher Randall Thomasson is killed during a carjacking, an unexpected visitor shows up at his funeral - his estranged brother, Karl Thomasson. An ex-Green Beret turned mercenary, Karl signs on as a new substitute teacher in order to investigate Randall's murder.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Neighbor in the Window (2020)
A suburban wife finds herself and the security of her family threatened by another seemingly friendly neighborhood mom.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDr. Strange (1978)
A psychiatrist becomes the new Sorcerer Supreme of the Earth in order to battle an evil Sorceress from the past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Quiller Memorandum (1966)
After two British Secret Intelligence Service agents are murdered at the hands of a cryptic neo-Nazi group known as Phoenix, the suave agent Quiller is sent to Berlin to investigate.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisAurora Teagarden Mysteries: Haunted By Murder (2022)
A murder investigation is reignited in a house that is considered haunted by the Lawrenceton locals and where years ago Aurora and Sally, as teenagers, discovered a body.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Bramble House Christmas (2017)
While settling his father’s estate, Finn Conrad becomes suspicious as to why the man left a nurse $100,000. His dad knew her for less than two months before he died. Just before Christmas, Finn wants what to reclaim what he considers his family’s money, going undercover to investigate the bed and breakfast the nurse has recently taken over. When Finn meets Willa, he discovers she’s not a conniving gold digger at all, but a woman in need who put the money to good use. When she discovers his true identity, will it keep Willa from ever trusting him again?
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFast Charlie (2023)
When his aging mob boss is whacked, Charlie Swift, a loyal friend and hired gun, will stop at nothing to destroy the upcoming crew that took him out.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCity of Fear (1965)
A Canadian reporter gets mixed up in Cold-War politics, romance and espionage in Eastern Europe.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & thriller
The Tuxedo (2002)
Cabbie-turned-chauffeur Jimmy Tong learns there is really only one rule when you work for playboy millionaire Clark Devlin : Never touch Devlin's prized tuxedo. But when Devlin is temporarily put out of commission in an explosive accident, Jimmy puts on the tux and soon discovers that this extraordinary suit may be more black belt than black tie. Paired with a partner as inexperienced as he is, Jimmy becomes an unwitting secret agent.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & action
SnoozefestMovies like thisUnderground (1970)
An American intelligence agent attempts to kidnap a top Nazi general.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & drama
The Spy (1964)
The British Admiralty is worried: several cargo ships carrying troops have mysteriously jumped off Gibraltar. The Admiralty calls in the Intelligence Service to find out the cause of the destruction before new units arrive. Lieutenant Jackson, of the Marine Infantry Regiment stationed in Gibraltar, spends all his duty time in Tangier, where he is attracted by his love of poker and a beautiful dancer, Lola. Despite the objurgations of his general and the tender friendship of Cathie, his general's daughter, he can't stop playing and loses a very large sum one evening.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Max Knight: Ultra Spy (2000)
A master of espionage is hot on the trail of a new kind of computer criminal. Lindsay is a scientist whose latest discovery in energy transformation has the potential to revolutionize the world; it also attracts the attention of Zachary, the leader of a cyber-savvy gang, and Zachary kidnaps Lindsay in order to learn her secrets. Lindsay's sister Ricki soons becomes concerned about her sister's disappearance, and contacts super sleuth Max Knight to find her. As Max searches for Lindsay, he discovers Zachary and his cohorts have strange plans for Lindsay's innovation, which could make it possible for them to leave their bodies and travel wherever they wish through the Internet.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Operation White Shark (1966)
When "The Third Eye" - a criminal organization made up of the world's most vicious killers - kidnaps nuclear scientist Professor Von Kraft, his secret formula for a new atomic weapon that can destroy all human life falls into their evil hands. Making things a tad difficult, however, is that the weapon is located deep beneath the ocean. Nevertheless, the Third Eye plans on experimenting with the device in little more than a week. However, the Secret Service has other ideas and asks "Jerry," their super computer, to locate the best man to stop them: Mark Andrews (RODD DANA), a special forces secret agent who infiltrates the criminal gang under the cover of a robber who just happens to be an expert underwater diver! He also wastes no time romancing all manner of shapely women in the tightest clothes imaginable (when they're wearing more than a modestly placed bed sheet) especially JANINE REYNAUD, the bisexual leader of The Third Eye, who sports a wild wardrobe of very revealing outfits.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller & action
Chamku (2008)
A traumatized child becomes a political activist but agrees to become an assassin upon being captured.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & thriller
Who Are You, Mr. Sorge? (1961)
French docu-drama which chronicles the chain of events that lead to the hanging of German-journalist Richard Sorge, who was executed in 1944 after he was found supplying classified information to the Russians.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
The Legend of Zorro (2005)
Despite trying to keep his swashbuckling to a minimum, a threat to California's pending statehood causes the adventure-loving Don Alejandro de la Vega and his wife, Elena, to take action.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSecret Agent Super Dragon (1966)
A series of murders in Michigan lead an American secret agent to Amsterdam, where he uncovers a plot to imperil the world with a potent new drug.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Like Once Upon a Spy and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Once Upon a Spy?
The closest matches to Once Upon a Spy are Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America (2006), Hierarchy (2025) and Seeking Justice (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Once Upon a Spy?
Start with Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America (2006), the closest match to Once Upon a Spy.
What is the highest-rated movie like Once Upon a Spy?
Fast Charlie (2023), rated 6.3/10 by 379 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Once Upon a Spy?
Hierarchy (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like Once Upon a Spy?
Yes: Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America (2006), Hierarchy (2025) and Seeking Justice (2011).
How are movies similar to Once Upon a Spy chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Once Upon a Spy, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.