Spies like them: The 25 greatest espionage films (2025)

Universal Studios

One of the best spy movies ever made stars Carey Grant and Audrey Hepburn? Um, yes please! It's a charming film about a man after a woman's inheritance--or is he? Stick around for some of the most charming twists in the genre.

MGM

In this latest iteration of Bond, the spy has become less of a womanizer and more of a humanizer. He's less a hero than a human with actual emotions. That being said, he's still got a number of models with him. Because, you know, he's James Bond.

Paramount Pictures

Watch a man unravel to the floorboards of his mind in Francis Ford Coppola's follow-up to The Godfather. The conspiracy thriller sees a surveillance expert try to decipher a conversation that may have led to murder but may have just been another conversation. Coppola mirrors his uncertainty with filmmaking techniques.

Paramount Pictures

Set in the final months of the Cold War, this one follows a British agent who goes undercover to find out what's happening on the other side. Like the best conspiracy thrillers, the line between right and wrong isn't just blurred but shattered into a million pieces. In this cold, atmospheric masterpiece, there is no one he can trust.

Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

You can trace the steps of espionage flicks back to Hitchcock, who came up with many of the genre's most notable elements. A wrongly accused man? A woman who gets roped in with him? A conspiracy that leads to the top? It's all here and it's all fantastic!

MGM

Another case of Wrong-Man-Itus. Cary Grant gets mistaken for a Communist spy, which sends him on a wild goose chase across the country in some of the genre's most memorable moments. Who can forget Grant running through a cornfield while a plane whizzes by his head? Or Grant hanging from a mountain rock? Hitchcock knew that set-pieces and locations were just as important to thrillers as the plot.

MGM

He's back. And his name's Bond, James Bond. The ultimate spy returns for more in this thriller, which sees our hero face not just a villain but himself.

Paramount Pictures

Mission Impossible undoubtedly revamped the spy subgenre, and it all started with Brian De Palma's original. Tom Cruise delivers a committed performance as Ethan Hunt, the spy who runs on trains, jumps off planes, and does a number of other crazy things. He's the impetus for a new kind of action hero, one who does his own stunts.

Paramount Pictures

Running on trains? That's cute. With this insane collection of stunts, Tom Cruise makes the original look like kid stuff. Forget the espionage plot for a second, and watch this dude strap himself to helicopters, jump off buildings, and hang off actual cliffs.

Dreamworks Pictures

If you like thrillers with a side of history, then Munich might be a good option for you. Steven Spielberg's biopic about the spies who enacted revenge on terrorists is ridiculously entertaining.

Dreamworks Pictures

More Spielberg! This time he follows the negotiator of a hostage situation during the Cold War. The result is ridiculously tense.

Paramount Pictures

Who said spy movies couldn't be funny? This satire from the folks behindThe Naked Gun sees a celebrity go undercover during the Cold War. The jokes are unloaded at a machine gun clip, with many hitting their mark.

Focus Features

The cast looks like the guest list of a British Oscar party: Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Gary Oldman, among others. One of them is a mole. It's up to a laconic detective to figure out who.

Lionsgate

The War on Drugs has been raging for quite some time now, but only one movie has hit the heroine needle on the head. Sicario follows a brigade of soldiers as they try to track down a druglord. They end up finding a land where the line between right and wrong is blurred by human greed. Denis Villeneuve's espionage flick pulses with mortal danger.

RKO Pictures

Notorious sees secret agent Cary Grant make difficult decisions about the woman he loves so he can get secrets about World War II. Hitchcock pushed more boundaries than just about anyone, using subtlety to get his groundbreaking ideas across.

The Criterion Collection

No one's better at creating a mysterious mood than Jean-Pierre Melville, whose films usually see heroes lost in a fog of doubt. His greatest achievement is this thriller involving French Resistance agents during World War II. No one can be trusted. No one is safe.

MGM

It just wouldn't be an espionage list without Sean Connery, now would it? The original Bond was suave, sexist, and a drunk. Ah, the good old days. All kidding aside, this Bond is escapist gold.

Universal Studios

Who can forget this blockbuster about the spy who forgets his identity? Besides the spy himself, of course. The Bourne Identity reinvigorated the genre with intense action, shaky camerawork and a very twisty plot.

The Criterion Collection

Do you trust our government? Not with these gas prices. Warren Beatty doesn't either, which sends him down a rabbit hole that leads to the top. The Parallax View is one of the great conspiracy thrillers for the way it immerses you in this world in which no one--not even our government--can be trusted.

The Criterion Collection

Another conspiracy thriller from Alan J. Pakula trades politics for sexual tension. In this one, a call girl tries to outwit her stalker with the help of a detective. Like The Parallax View, it immerses you in this world with creepy music and metaphoric camera angles.

Columbia Pictures

This one stirred a lot of discourse on the internet since it revolved around the terrorist attacks on our country. Some people didn't like the unpatriotic viewpoint, but these movies don't work if they play it safe. Zero Dark Thirty is a dangerous look at the people who track down terrorists.

The Criterion Collection

You thought we were done with Hitchcock titles? Think again. The Lady Vanishes earns a spot on this list for the way it builds tension within a single setting. On a train, a woman tries to find out what happened to the man next to her. Did he leave? Was he taken? Or worse, was he murdered when no one was looking? Hop on board to find out.

Universal Pictures

The movie that ties it all together, The Bourne Supremacysees Jason Bourne go after the organization that wiped his memory. Maybe they shouldn't have targeted the best agent they had. I'm just saying.

Gaumont-British Picture Corporation

We tried to include a wide range of movies on our list, but dang it, there were just so many Hitchcock films to choose from. We could have easily added more titles if we wanted, but we are ending our Hitchcock films with The Man Who Knew Too Much, the 1930s version that sees a young director find his footing.

Studio Ghibli

One of the best espionage movies is about a pig who flies planes. It might sound silly, but director Hayao Miyazaki makes it soar with lyrical animation and human warmth. Along with spectacular action sequences, Porco Rosso sees a fighter pilot who would rather fly for money than a fascist army, and just so happens to be a pig as well.