Movies like The Scent of Fear (1959)
The best movies like The Scent of Fear (1959) are The November Man (2014), RED 2 (2013) and North by Northwest (1959). If The Scent of Fear hooked you, these 20 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
The Scent of Fear
Quick picks
- Highest ratedNorth by Northwest (1959)8.0/10 from 4,736 votes
- NewestZip Wire (2026)Released 2026
The November Man (2014)
An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRED 2 (2013)
Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisNorth by Northwest (1959)
Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisThe Amateur (2025)
After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisKnight and Day (2010)
A fugitive couple goes on a glamorous and sometimes deadly adventure where nothing and no one – even themselves – are what they seem. Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the globe, with their survival ultimately hinging on the battle of truth vs. trust.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTelefon (1977)
Nicolai Dalchimski, a mad KGB agent steals a notebook full of names of "sleeping" undercover KGB agents sent to the U.S. in the 1950's. These agents got their assignments under hypnosis, so they can't remember their missions until they're told a line of a Robert Frost poem. Dalchimski flees to the U.S. and starts phoning these agents who perform sabotage acts against military targets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJourney into Fear (1943)
An American ballistics expert in Turkey finds himself targeted by Nazi agents. Safe passage home by ship is arranged for him, but he soon discovers that his pursuers are also on board.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisJackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail bondsman — to keep the money for herself.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisShadow in the Cloud (2021)
A WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisThe Kremlin Letter (1970)
After an unauthorized letter suggesting U.S. support for a Russian attack on China is sent to Moscow, a former naval officer and his team go undercover to retrieve it. Their plans are disrupted when a cunning politician raids their hideout.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
SnoozefestMovies like thisAmerican Assassin (2017)
Following the murder of his fiancée, Mitch Rapp trains under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley. The pair then is enlisted to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on military and civilian targets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGotcha! (1985)
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Pelican Brief (1993)
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Gray Man (2022)
When a shadowy CIA agent uncovers damning agency secrets, he's hunted across the globe by a sociopathic rogue operative who's put a bounty on his head.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFigures in a Landscape (1970)
Two escaped convicts are on the run in an unnamed Latin American country. But everywhere they go, they are followed and hounded by a menacing black helicopter.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPassenger 57 (1992)
Airline security specialist John Cutter, finally returning to the job after his wife's death, finds himself stuck on a flight being hijacked by notorious terrorist Charles Rane. Unfortunately for the terrorists, they're also stuck with him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShining Through (1992)
Spirited New Yorker Linda Voss goes to work for international lawyer and secret Office of Strategic Services operative Ed Leland just before World War II. As they fall in love, the United States enters the fight against Hitler, and Linda volunteers to work for Ed spying undercover behind Nazi lines. Assigned to uncover information about a German bomb, Linda also has personal motives to fulfill: discovering the fate of her Jewish family members in Berlin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFuze (2025)
An unexploded WWII bomb is discovered on a busy construction site in the centre of London. Chaos ensues as the military and police begin a mass evacuation against a ticking clock.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like thisZip Wire (2026)
When her ground-breaking pharmaceutical discovery is stolen and partner murdered, researcher Amy must face her fear of heights to escape nefarious attackers, with the only path to salvation being a treacherous aerial runway. To outsmart the mysterious hostiles, she has to summon every ounce of courage to protect the world-changing scientific discovery — and herself — before it's too late.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers
Worth the HypeMovies like this
Like The Scent of Fear and something else?
Blend two favourites and we’ll find the films in between.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Scent of Fear?
The closest matches to The Scent of Fear are The November Man (2014), RED 2 (2013) and North by Northwest (1959). Below are 17 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Scent of Fear?
Start with The November Man (2014), the closest match to The Scent of Fear.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Scent of Fear?
North by Northwest (1959), rated 8.0/10 by 4,736 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Scent of Fear?
Zip Wire (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there English movies like The Scent of Fear?
Yes: The November Man (2014), RED 2 (2013) and North by Northwest (1959).
How are movies similar to The Scent of Fear chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Scent of Fear, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.