Movies like The Spies (2012)
The best movies like The Spies (2012) are Secretly, Greatly (2013), Commitment (2013) and Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow (2011). If The Spies hooked you with its drama and action, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedMidnight Runners (2017)7.5/10 from 263 votes
- NewestThe World of Love (2025)Released 2025
- In KoreanSecretly, Greatly (2013)Also in Korean
Secretly, Greatly (2013)
Three elite North Korean sleeper agents live under cover for so long that they believe their cover stories are their real identities. They are shocked when they are ordered to kill one another or face death at the hands of an elite hit team.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisCommitment (2013)
The son of a North Korean spy decides to follow in his father's footsteps to protect his little sister.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDetective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow (2011)
In 1782, King Jeong-jo of Joseon asks detective K to investigate a series of murders related to a case of corruption within the government.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRemember (2022)
Pil-ju, an Alzheimer's patient in his 80s, who lost all his family during the Japanese colonial era, and devotes his lifelong revenge before his memories disappear, and a young man in his 20s who helps him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisGoing by the Book (2007)
The chief of Sampo City Police Office, Seung-u, organizes a simulation of a bank robbery, but a by-the-book cop gets too caught up in the role playing in which the simulation doesn't go the way he had anticipated.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Con Artists (2014)
A wily safecracker is forced to help a mob boss pull off a $150 million heist, but smells a double-cross in the works.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
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 · both action & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPart-Time Spy (2017)
A desperate 35 year-old Young-sil is more than ready for full time job. And finally she gets a call from National security department as an intern. But her joy lasts no long, soon asked to leave. Accidently she discovers a secret about her boss and she suggest a deal of full time job to help him; secret spy.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisDecibel (2022)
A former Naval officer with a dark past must face off against an insurgent with a sound sensitive bomb.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCrying Fist (2005)
Tae-sik, a troubled middle aged man and Sang-hwan, a troubled youth will meet in the ring with their respective mission. To change their life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisOut Live (2000)
A sweeping, epic tale of a martial arts warrior who attempts to defy a kingdom to be with his love.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe World of Love (2025)
Jooin, a 17-year-old student confused by love, unleashes chaos with some words spoken in a moment of anger. Anonymous notes questioning her actions begin to arrive, altering her quiet life.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisMidnight Runners (2017)
Two apathetic police academy recruits who become best buddies through the tough training together witness a woman being abducted right before their very eyes. As they were taught in the academy, they quickly report the incident to the police, but the police are in no hurry to jump on the case. So the duo decide to take the matter into their own hands and rescue the woman.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisTwenty (2015)
A story about three friends who just turned twenty; an age where you can do whatever you want, love whoever you want with opportunities abroad.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisDon't Think Twice (2016)
An improv group deals with several crises, including the loss of their lease and one member hitting the big time.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFighter in the Wind (2004)
An account of karate competitor Choi Yeung-Eui who went to Japan after World War II to become a fighter pilot but found a very different path instead. He changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama and went across the country, defeating martial artists one after another. This film concentrates on the period when he is still young, and developing his famous karate style, Kyokushin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisThe Warriors Gate (2016)
After a mysterious chest opens a gateway through time, teen gamer Jack is transported to an ancient empire terrorized by a cruel barbarian king. Jack will need all of his gaming skills as he battles to defeat the barbarian, protect a beautiful princess, and somehow find his way back home.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Organization (1971)
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a company's corporate headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSubUrbia (1997)
A group of suburban teenagers try to support each other through the difficult task of becoming adults.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both comedy & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSix Pack (1982)
Stopping briefly in a small Texas town, an itinerant race car driver finds that his stock car, on a trailer behind his motor home, has just been quickly and expertly stripped. He chases down the miscreants, who turn out to be six orphan children. He has no recourse to the law, for the corrupt local sheriff takes most of the proceeds of their thievery in exchange for not putting them in an orphanage. They are charming rogues who are in turn charmed by him. Disliking their arrangement with the sheriff, they stow away with him, and he finds himself becoming a reluctant stepfather. Thanks to their enthusiasm and incredible mechanical know-how, he begins to make a name for himself on the racing circuit. But the sheriff doesn't take kindly to losing his extra income...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & comedy
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisFat Buddies (2018)
The film revolves around a pair of big-boned, bumbling cops who find themselves at the heart of a drug trafficking case. The agent "J" (Zhang Wen) was shot in the head during an A-level mission, causing damage to the intracranial hypothalamus. During the period of rehabilitating, J gradually became a big fat man of three hundred pounds and suffered from severe narcolepsy, but J still considered himself a ace agent. Finally, J received the task again and went to Japan to retrieve the confidential documents. After the file was obtained, J arbitrarily opened the file and decided to continue the task of hiding the organization for the organization, but he fainted in the izakaya. J who woke up in the hospital got to know the security guard Handsome Hao (Bei-Er Bao), Handsome Hao to prove that he is not a waste of nothing to resolutely join the mission. In the process of carrying out the task, the temporary partner has experienced the ridiculous and dangerous crisis of time over and over ...
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both comedy & action
Spies in Disguise (2019)
Super spy Lance Sterling and scientist Walter Beckett are almost exact opposites. Lance is smooth, suave and debonair. Walter is… not. But what Walter lacks in social skills he makes up for in smarts and invention, creating the awesome gadgets Lance uses on his epic missions. But when events take an unexpected turn, Walter and Lance suddenly have to rely on each other in a whole new way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & comedy
Worth the HypeMovies like thisSecret Agent 00 Soul (1990)
James Brown III, also known as Secret Agent 00 Soul, is an elite international operative who finally tells off the government and fulfills his longtime dream of opening a detective agency in his hold neighborhood. His once plush workspace is no a ramshackle hole-in-the-wall above a chicken and ribs joint, and instead of being surrounded by glamourous female agents, the is being shaken down by his son Junior, a 400-pound ne'er-do-well who wouldn't know hard work if it hit him in the face. Nonetheless, 00 Soul is able to transform an unlikely bunch of misfits into the wackiest group of oddball detectives ever to hit the 'hood.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & comedy
Ejen Ali: The Movie (2019)
As MATA seeks to upgrade its gadget for all agents, Ali embarks on a mission to stop a plot against Cyberaya but begins to question his loyalty.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Call 112 (1962)
A gang of pharmacists, intent on seizing Hyun-ju's inheritance, systematically approaches her. The leader of the gang is her ex-husband. Before they can seize her inheritance, internal conflict arises within the gang, and they are all murdered by the leader. Meanwhile, the police, aware of this, launch a nimble investigation. The leader, determined to keep her inheritance, persistently pursues her, but ultimately fails and is arrested. She is rescued from a near-death experience.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Betrayed (2011)
Doug Collins has been a highly-respected analyst at the FBI for twenty-five years. He is liked and admired by all the members of his team, but they've seen changes in Doug recently: an attractive young girlfriend, working odd hours, increased frustration at work. And then there was the time he was seen texting on his Blackberry from inside the SCIF. It's all probably nothing. They know his recent divorce has been tough on him. It's not like he's a spy. But what if he is? What is the price of silence?
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Despite the Falling Snow (2016)
New York, 1961. Alexander Ivanov, a high-ranked Soviet bureaucrat, reluctantly defects to the West while is part of a diplomatic mission, feeling the grief of being unable to know the fate of his wife Katya, whom he has had to leave behind in Moscow. Only many years later, in 1991, he will finally find out the truth when his niece Lauren travels to Moscow to participate in a painting exhibition.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
SnoozefestMovies like thisMy Home Village (1949)
This was the first feature film to be produced after the liberation of North Korea. It gives a pictures of boundless joy and emotion of the Korean people who are now liberated from the colonial yoke of Japanese imperialism thanks to the glorious anti-Japanese struggle organized and led by the great leader Comrade Kim Il-Sung. Unable to endure the insult of the landlord, Gwan Pil gives vent to his rage. Because of this, the Japanese imperialists deprive him of his tenant land and put him in jail where he gains class consciousness under the influence of a KPA operative.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Hijack 1971 (2024)
In the year 1971, former Korean Air Force fighter pilot Tae-In (Ha Jung-Woo) works as a pilot for a commercial airline. He faces a crisis inside a hijacked flight with the passengers, including Yong-Dae (Yeo Jin-Goo), and his crew members, including Captain Kyu-Sik (Sung Dong-Il) and Flight Attendant Ok-Soon (Chae Soo-Bin).
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisGethu (2016)
A hitman comes to a hill town to plot the murder of a top scientist. A young man and his righteous father stand in his way.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Like The Spies and something else?
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Spies?
The closest matches to The Spies are Secretly, Greatly (2013), Commitment (2013) and Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow (2011). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Spies?
Start with Secretly, Greatly (2013), the closest match to The Spies.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Spies?
Midnight Runners (2017), rated 7.5/10 by 263 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Spies?
The World of Love (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like The Spies?
Yes: Secretly, Greatly (2013), Commitment (2013) and Detective K: Secret of Virtuous Widow (2011).
How are movies similar to The Spies chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Spies, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.