Movies like Special Agent (2020)
The best movies like Special Agent (2020) are Secret Reunion (2010), Humint (2026) and A Better Tomorrow (2010). If Special Agent 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 ratedTae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)8.0/10 from 811 votes
- NewestHumint (2026)Released 2026
- In KoreanSecret Reunion (2010)Also in Korean
Secret Reunion (2010)
Two spies share a secret bond, despite their loyalties. A North Korean assassin is sent to Seoul to kill a dissident, but instead he teams up with a South Korean agent in search for revenge.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisHumint (2026)
A South Korean agent hunts a drug ring in Russia and goes head-to-head with a North Korean operative — pulling both into peril and tangled secrets.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisA Better Tomorrow (2010)
An idealistic policeman must bring down his estranged older brother, now a powerful gangster in a South Korean port city.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both drama & action
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 thisKundo: Age of the Rampant (2014)
In 1862, amidst the rule of the late Joseon dynasty in Korea, a band of fighters named Kundo rise against the unjust authorities.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisAssassination (2015)
In Japanese-occupied Korea, three freedom fighters are assigned a mission to assassinate a genocidal military leader and his top collaborator. But the plan goes completely awry amidst double-crossings, counter-assassinations, and a shocking revelation about one of the assassins' past.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 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 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 thisHunt (2022)
After a high-ranking North Korean official requests asylum, KCIA Foreign Unit chief Park Pyong-ho and Domestic Unit chief Kim Jung-do are tasked with uncovering a North Korean spy, known as Donglim, who is deeply embedded within their agency. When the spy begins leaking top secret intel that could jeopardize national security, the two units are each assigned to investigate each other.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisSilmido (2003)
On 31 January 1968, 31 North Korean commandos infiltrated South Korea in a failed mission to assassinate President Park Chung-hee. In revenge, the South Korean military assembled a team of 31 criminals on the island of Silmido to kill Kim Il-sung for a suicide mission to redeem their honor, but was cancelled, leaving them frustrated. It is loosely based on a military uprising in the 1970s.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Worth the HypeMovies 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 thisPhantom Detective (2016)
Hong Gil-dong is an infallible private detective with an exceptional memory and quirky personality. While chasing the only target he failed to find, he gets entangled in a much bigger conspiracy than he bargained for.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisV.I.P. (2017)
A son to a high-ranked official in North Korea commits a series of murders going across the countries around the world. The movie depicts the following events as South Korea, North Korea and Interpol start chasing down after him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisYaksha: Ruthless Operations (2022)
Nicknamed after a human-devouring spirit, the ruthless leader of an overseas black ops team takes up a dangerous mission in a city riddled with spies.
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 thisTyphoon (2005)
A vengeful refugee-turned-pirate steals nuclear materials to attack and obliterate the Koreas in a Nuclear Typhoon. A top South Korean naval officer is assigned the task to stop his plans and execute him.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Roundup: No Way Out (2023)
Detective Ma Seok-do changes his affiliation from the Geumcheon Police Station to the Metropolitan Investigation Team, in order to eradicate Japanese gangsters who enter Korea to commit heinous crimes.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIris: The Movie (2010)
Hyunjun and Sawoo, close friends and rivals from the South Korean special forces, are recruited by the secret agency NSS. They both fall for Seunghee, the beautiful but lethal profiling specialist at NSS. When they are faced against each other in a nuclear terrorist attack, they are forced to make their final decision and Seunghee's formidable secret is revealed.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisThe Berlin File (2013)
When an illicit arms deal goes bad, North Korean spy Pyo Jong-seong finds himself targeted not just by the South Koreans but also his own bosses.
Why it matches: Recommended by TMDB viewers · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisShiri (1999)
North Korea's 8th Special Forces hijack a shipment of CTX, a potent new liquid explosive, and threatens South Korea as part of a plot to re-unify the two countries. Ryu and Lee, special agents of O.P., South Korea's secret intelligence service, attempt to track down the terrorists and find the CTX. Meanwhile Hee, the 8th's ultra-bad female sniper, resurfaces to wreak havoc and haunt Ryu.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisTae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004)
When two brothers are forced to fight in the Korean War, the elder decides to take the riskiest missions if it will help shield the younger from battle.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
Absolute CinemaMovies like thisPoongsan (2011)
Poongsan has the unenviable - and death-defying - job of delivering messages across the North and South Korean border to separated families. When South Korean government agents ask him to smuggle in In-ok, the lover of a high-ranking North Korean defector, into the South, the damsel and rescuer fall in love instead.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action & drama
My Name Is Loh Kiwan (2024)
After defecting from North Korea, Loh Kiwan struggles to obtain refugee status in Belgium, where he encounters a dejected woman who has lost all hope.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisIllang: The Wolf Brigade (2018)
In 2029, an elite police squad combats an anti-reunification terrorist group while another enemy lurks nearby.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like thisWelcome to Dongmakgol (2005)
Based on the long running play by Jang Jin, the story is set in Korea during the Korean War in 1950. Soldiers from both the North and South, as well as an American pilot, find themselves in a secluded and naively idealistic village, its residents unaware of the outside world, including the war.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Worth the HypeMovies like thisLove Impossible (2003)
An archaeological site in China was selected to send two teams, North and South Koreans, and students to collaborate and continue reconciliation of the two countries. But the team leader of the South decided to dredge the leader of the North group.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Inshalla (1997)
A Korean foreign exchange student is arrested on charges of illegal immigration while vacationing in Algeria. However, she is aided in her release by a mysterious agent from North Korea.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
My Dictator (2014)
Sung-geun is an untalented actor who makes a living playing minor roles. He happens to land on the role as Kim Il-sung, the former leader of North Korea, for the rehearsal of the South-North Korea Summit. Sung-geun becomes passionately immersed in his role, motivated by his son who looks up to him. However, the summit is not realized, and Sung-geun ends up lost in the delusion that he really is Kim Il-sung.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both drama
Spy Girl (2004)
Ko-bong has a huge crush on Gye-soon who works at a fast food restaurant without knowing that the girl he love is a spy from North Korea.
Why it matches: Similar story and style · both action
Popcorn FlickMovies like this
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Frequently asked questions
What are the best movies like Special Agent?
The closest matches to Special Agent are Secret Reunion (2010), Humint (2026) and A Better Tomorrow (2010). Below are 27 more, each with the reason it matches.
What should I watch after Special Agent?
Start with Secret Reunion (2010), the closest match to Special Agent.
What is the highest-rated movie like Special Agent?
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War (2004), rated 8.0/10 by 811 TMDB users.
What is the newest movie like Special Agent?
Humint (2026) is the most recent release on this list.
Are there Korean movies like Special Agent?
Yes: Secret Reunion (2010), Humint (2026) and A Better Tomorrow (2010).
How are movies similar to Special Agent chosen?
First come films that Trakt’s viewers watch alongside Special Agent, then TMDB’s recommendations and films it rates as similar in story and genre. Each pick says which signal put it there.