Movies like Spec Ops (2020)
The best movies like Spec Ops (2020) are Welcome to Sudden Death (2020), Beast (2026) and Mexicali (2026). If Spec Ops 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 ratedBeast (2026)7.5/10 from 227 votes
- NewestBeast (2026)Released 2026
Welcome to Sudden Death (2020)
Jesse Freeman is a former special forces officer and explosives expert now working a regular job as a security guard in a state-of-the-art basketball arena. Trouble erupts when a tech-savvy cadre of terrorists kidnap the team's owner and Jesse's daughter during opening night. Facing a ticking clock and impossible odds, it's up to Jesse to not only save them but also a full house of fans in this highly charged action thriller.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisBeast (2026)
MMA legend Patton James, now a commercial fisherman, is pulled back into the cage when his brother is in danger. Reuniting with his old coach Sammy, he commits to one final fight in one championship against the brutal champion Xavier Grau.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMexicali (2026)
A former special forces contractor is forced out of retirement as an avocado farmer in Mexico when local gangsters try to force him and his family off their farm.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisEmbattled (2020)
The eldest son of a ruthlessly tough MMA champion must fight his way out of the abusive cycle his father has continued.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like this44 Minutes: The North Hollywood Shoot-Out (2003)
After a failed bank robbery, two heavily armed men hold the Los Angeles Police Department at bay for 44 minutes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Enforcer (2022)
A noir thriller set in Miami, the film follows an enforcer who discovers his femme fatale boss has branched out into cyber sex trafficking, putting a young runaway he’s befriended at risk. He sacrifices everything to save the young girl from the deadly organization he’s spent his life building.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOnly the Strong (1993)
Former Green Beret Louis Stevens returns to his hometown of Miami after completing military service in Brazil, only to learn that his old high school has become a haven for gangs and drug dealers. After Stevens uses his capoeira skills to kick several drug dealers off of the school property, Kerrigan, one of Stevens' old teachers, sees the impact that Stevens has on the students. Kerrigan gives him the task of teaching Capoeira to a handful of the worst at-risk students at the school.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDirt (2018)
In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHunting Season (2025)
When a reclusive survivalist and his daughter rescue a mysterious, wounded woman from a river, they become entangled in a deadly web of violence and revenge, forcing them to confront a brutal criminal to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisBlack Site (2022)
A group of officers based in a labyrinthine top-secret prison must fight for their lives against Hatchet, a brilliant and infamous high-value detainee. When he escapes, his mysterious and deadly agenda has far reaching and dire consequences.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisLet's Get Harry (1986)
Harry Burck has been kidnapped by South American terrorists, and when the US Government refuses to intervene, Harry's friends decide to take matters into their own hands!
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Marine 3: Homefront (2013)
A Marine must do whatever it takes to save his kidnapped sister and stop a terrorist attack masterminded by a radical militia group.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPoint Blank (2019)
A nurse is forced to spring a wounded murder suspect from the hospital when the man’s brother kidnaps his pregnant wife and wants to make a trade.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisStowaway (2022)
A tenacious party girl fights to survive after three thieves commandeer her luxury yacht. Unable to escape and trapped on the yacht at high seas, the prey becomes the hunter as she turns the tables on the intruders and takes matters into her own hands.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe System (2022)
When a young soldier, newly returned from war, gets caught up in a drug bust, he is recruited by the authorities to go undercover in a notoriously dangerous prison in order to figure out what is really going on.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisInterceptor (2022)
A U.S. Army Captain uses her years of tactical training to save humanity from sixteen nuclear missiles launched at the U.S. as a violent attack threatens her remote missile interceptor station.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe 355 (2022)
A group of top female agents from American, British, Chinese, Colombian, and German government agencies are drawn together to try and stop an organization from acquiring a deadly weapon to send the world into chaos.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTrigger Point (2021)
Nicolas Shaw is a retired U.S. special operative who becomes part of an elite 'invisible' team that quietly takes out the worst villains around the world.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSniper: The Last Stand (2025)
To stop an arms dealer from unleashing a deadly superweapon, Ace sniper Brandon Beckett and Agent Zero are deployed to Costa Verde to lead a group of elite soldiers against an unrelenting militia. Taking an untested sniper under his wing, Beckett faces his newest challenge: giving orders instead of receiving them. With both time and ammo running low in a race to save humanity, the team must overcome all odds just to survive.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSpectral (2016)
A special-ops team is dispatched to fight supernatural beings that have taken over a European city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPast Never Dies (2024)
Special Agent Kanen must follow the target of his latest case -- but what happens when the target has connections to his mysterious past?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Prayers for the Innocent (TBA)
A special ops raid rescues trafficked women, but the mastermind escapes. Five years later, he’s built a ruthless global empire — forcing the only team that ever came close back into a war they thought was over.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Escaping Tel Aviv (2009)
A seemingly ordinary life is shattered when a woman uncovers a hidden truth about her husband, plunging her into a high-stakes international conflict. As loyalties blur and danger escalates, an Egyptian intelligence officer is tasked with a critical mission where failure is not an option.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRE:BORN (2016)
A former special forces operative struggling to contain the destructive impulses of his past goes on a rampage against a squad of ruthless assassins.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisStorm Trooper (1998)
The latest product of the Tannis Corporation is a cyborg. Designed to be the ultimate cop, Stark refuses to be treated as an experiment and escapes in search of a new life. He stumbles across the house of Grace, an abused woman who has just murdered her husband. As an army converges on Grace's house, she must decide once and for all which side of the law she's on.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Sniper: Special Ops (2016)
A Special Ops military Force, led by expert sniper Sergeant Jake Chandler, are sent to a remote Afghan village to extract an American congressman being held by the Taliban.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe President's Man (2000)
To many, Joshua McCord is a charismatic Asian studies professor. To the President of the United States, he's America's greatest secret weapon; a covert operative charged with only the most sensitive and dangerous missions.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisRaid on Entebbe (1976)
Based on a true operation by Israeli commandos. An Air France flight is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The airplane landed in Uganda. The terrorists released some passengers, keeping 94 Jews and 12 air crew hostage. The Israeli government would not negotiate. A rescue plan was devised, and less than 100 commandos were flown across Africa to rescue the passengers in surprisingly successful operation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisA Good Man (2014)
After an illustrious special ops career ends in disaster, Alexander goes off the grid and attempts to lead a quiet life as a handyman at an apartment complex. But when one of his tenants and her family fall under the thumb of a Russian gangster, Alexander is dragged into an all-out war between rival Chinese and Russian gangs; forcing him to not only defend the family, but bringing him face to face with an old foe, and giving him one more chance to reconcile his past.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like thisEnd Game (2006)
Secret Service agent Alex Thomas is detailed with protecting the president of the United States but, at a public appearance, everything went wrong and the president is assassinated. Wracked with guilt, he blames himself for his team's failure. Meanwhile, seasoned journalist Kate Crawford comes to believe there's a massive conspiracy afoot and convinces Alex of it. Together they unravel a treacherous web of lies as they try to unlock the truth behind the conspiracy amid the deadly threat of shadowy assassins and ex-special ops enforcers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
SnoozefestMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Spec Ops?
The closest matches to Spec Ops are Welcome to Sudden Death (2020), Beast (2026) and Mexicali (2026). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Spec Ops?
Start with Welcome to Sudden Death (2020), the closest match to Spec Ops.
What is the highest-rated movie like Spec Ops?
Beast (2026), rated 7.5/10 by 227 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Spec Ops?
Beast (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
How are movies similar to Spec Ops chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Spec Ops, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.