Movies like The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki (1959)
The best movies like The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki (1959) are One Ranger (2023), The MacKintosh Man (1973) and Weekend in Taipei (2024). If The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki hooked you with its thriller, these 30 similar films are what to watch next, and every pick says why it matches.
Quick picks
- Highest ratedHigh and Low (1963)8.4/10 from 1,239 votes
- NewestThe Other (2025)Released 2025
- In JapanesePatlabor WXIII the Movie (2002)Also in Japanese
One Ranger (2023)
A Texas Ranger is recruited by British Intelligence to track down a dangerous terrorist and stop him from attacking London.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe MacKintosh Man (1973)
A member of British Intelligence assumes a fictitious criminal identity and allows himself to be caught, imprisoned, and freed in order to infiltrate a spy organization and expose a traitor; only, someone finds him out and exposes him to the gang...
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWeekend in Taipei (2024)
A former DEA agent and a former undercover operative revisit their romance during a fateful weekend in Taipei, unaware of the dangerous consequences of their past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPatlabor WXIII the Movie (2002)
Set in the year 2000, when the level of Labor accidents begin to escalate around Tokyo Bay, police detectives Kusumi and Hata are assigned to investigate. What they discover leads to a series of government cover-ups, conspiracy concerning a new biological weapon entitled WXIII-Wasted Thirteen and a tragic, personal connection to Hata. The only hope to stop this threat is to cooperate with the military and lead WXIII into a showdown with the Labors of Special Vehicle Division 2.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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
SnoozefestMovies 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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisRainy Dog (1997)
A Japanese assassin stranded in Taiwan must take work from a local crime boss to make ends meet when suddenly a woman from his past delivers a son to him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisCloak and Dagger (1946)
Italian partisans help a professor sent by the OSS to find an atomic scientist held by Nazis.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisChief of Station (2024)
After learning that the death of his wife was not an accident, a former CIA Station Chief is forced back into the espionage underworld, teaming up with an adversary to unravel a conspiracy that challenges everything he thought he knew.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWife of a Spy (2020)
It’s 1940, and the population of Japan is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something. Soon she allows herself to be drawn into a game in which she enigmatically conceals her intentions.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHider in the House (1989)
A deranged man hides in the attic of a new house and becomes obsessed with the unsuspecting family that moves in.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisPatlabor 2: The Movie (1993)
A Japanese police unit who use giant anthropomorphic robots (called Labors) is caught up in a political struggle between the civilian authorities and the military when a terrorist act is blamed on an Air Force jet. With the aid of a government agent, the team gets close to a terrorist leader to stop things from going out of control when after the military is impelled to impose martial law.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Worth the HypeMovies like thisWhisper (2007)
Sinister things begin happening to kidnappers who are holding a young boy for ransom in a remote cabin.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShades of Desire (2023)
After her twin sister Aubrey goes missing, Jennifer uncovers the scandalous, secret double-life that Aubrey leads - and that has put both of them in danger.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHounds of War (2024)
After a mission goes wrong, only one of a group of mercenaries is left alive to avenge his fallen brothers.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
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 thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Other (2025)
Unable to conceive, a couple seeks to build a family with a young orphan, survivor of tragic childhood. But their act of love turns to horror when they realize the violence in their foster's past has returned to destroy the new family.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both thriller
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHigh and Low (1963)
A Yokohama shoe executive faces a wrenching choice when kidnappers mistakenly seize his chauffeur’s son but demand the ransom anyway.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisAmagi Goe (2025)
Amagi Goe, based on Seicho Matsumoto's novel, has created numerous stars through its visualizations. Erika Ikuta will take on the difficult role of the main character in this adaptation.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Crazy Family (1984)
Shortly after moving to the suburbs, the Kobayashis start to come undone. Convinced a family curse is at the root of their erratic behavior, the man of the house takes it upon himself to course-correct before it takes the last of their sanity.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Tokyo: The Last Megalopolis (1988)
A demonic reincarnation of a Japanese general from the 10th century appears in the early 20th century Tokyo with a mission to destroy the blooming city.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Murder of the Inugami Clan (2006)
Inugami Sahei, who built up the wealth of the Inugami Clan, passes away, leaving a will with Furudate, his legal adviser, for his daughters Matsuko, Takeko and Umeko, all of whom have different mothers, and for their sons, as well as for Nonomiya Tamayo, the granddaughter of a person to whom Sahei feels heavily indebted. The will states that all his assets are inherited by Tamayo alone, on the condition that she marries one of the sons of the daughters. Furudate's assistant learns the content of the will, and seeks advice from Kindaichi Kosuke, a private detective, as he senses the air of unease. Shortly afterwards, murders start to occur one after another in the clan.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Mystery of Rampo (1994)
Edogawa Rampo is a writer whose latest work is censored by the government, deemed too disturbing and injurious to the public to be allowed to be published. However, after burning his drafts, his publisher shows him a newspaper with an account of events just like his forbidden story. As the film progresses, fantasy and reality intermingle in a tale that draws heavily on influences from Poe and Stoker's Dracula. The film's strongly Expressionistic direction skillfully combines a variety of media (animation, computer-generated imagery, grainy black-and-white fast film stock, color negatives) for artistic effect.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Shrill Cries: Reshuffle (2009)
Maebara Keiichi, a young teenager, has recently moved from the city to the rural village of Hinamizawa with his family. He is adjusting quite well to his new life, making friends at the small school, playing games, passing time in relative happiness, when suddenly a gruesome murder occurs. A mystery begins to unravel — tracing back to happenings five years ago. As Keiichi learns more about these strange events, he wonders if he will be able to face the truth behind all of this.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
No Longer Human (2019)
The story of Osamu Dazai, one of Japan's most celebrated novelists, absorbed in alcohol and love; married and in a relationship with two other lovers.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
Summer of Ubume (2005)
Kyogokudo is a used book seller who doubles as an onmyouji, or Heian style occultist. His friend Sekiguchi brings him the story of a woman who has been pregnant for twenty months. Sekiguchi investigates further with the help of his friend Enokizu, a detective with the unusual ability to see people's memories. They are hired by the impossibly pregnant woman's sister to find the woman's missing husband and lay this whole matter to rest. In the end, they need the help of Kyogokudo to exorcise the family curse.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
The Corporation (1976)
Tadashi Iki returns to Japan from a Soviet gulag 11 years after being captured during the invasion of Manchuria. He is offered a position in the expansive Kinki Corporation, but rival corporations are competing for a government contract to produce fighter planes.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both thriller
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki?
The closest matches to The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki are One Ranger (2023), The MacKintosh Man (1973) and Weekend in Taipei (2024). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki?
Start with One Ranger (2023), the closest match to The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki.
What is the highest-rated movie like The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki?
High and Low (1963), rated 8.4/10 by 1,239 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki?
The Other (2025) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Japanese movies like The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki?
Yes: Patlabor WXIII the Movie (2002), Rainy Dog (1997) and Wife of a Spy (2020).
How are movies similar to The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside The Challenge of the Female Spy Akatsuki, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.