"spy"

1946 · Alfred Hitchcock · 102 min · Thriller / Romance

Notorious is Hitchcock at the height of his powers, weaving espionage, romance, and psychological tension into a film where the most dangerous weapon is a wine cellar key. Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman deliver career-defining performances in a story about love, trust, and betrayal that works as both a spy thriller and a devastating romance. The slow poisoning sequence is among the most suspenseful in cinema history, built entirely on what the audience knows that the characters don't.

2022 · 5 Seasons · Apple TV+ · Spy Thriller / Drama

Slow Horses is built on the simple premise that intelligence work is mostly thankless drudgery performed by people who've already failed, and it turns that idea into one of the sharpest spy dramas on television. Gary Oldman's Jackson Lamb is a masterclass in controlled chaos, leading a cast that makes every season feel earned. Some later seasons wobble in their plotting, and the show's deliberate pace won't suit everyone. But across five seasons and counting, this is a series that keeps finding new ways to make institutional dysfunction thrilling. It's the rare show that gets better the more comfortable it becomes with its own characters.

1959 · Alfred Hitchcock · 136 min · Thriller

North by Northwest is Alfred Hitchcock at his most purely entertaining, a film that practically invented the template for the globe-trotting thriller. Cary Grant is magnetic, the set pieces remain iconic for good reason, and Ernest Lehman's screenplay balances wit and tension with rare precision. The plot doesn't hold up to scrutiny, and anyone looking for depth will need to look elsewhere. But as a piece of filmmaking craft designed to thrill, charm, and move at speed, it's never been topped.

2006 · Martin Campbell · 144 min · Action / Thriller

Casino Royale stripped James Bond down to his foundations and rebuilt him as something audiences hadn't seen before: a vulnerable, brutal, emotionally exposed spy who earns his reputation in real time rather than arriving fully formed. Daniel Craig's debut is physical, cold, and surprisingly moving in its final stretch. Martin Campbell directs with confidence and restraint, letting the poker table carry as much tension as the action sequences. Some pacing issues in the final act and a runtime that tests the limits of the story's natural length keep it from perfection, but this is the Bond reinvention the franchise needed and one of the best entries in the series' sixty-year history.

1963 · Terence Young · 115 min · Action / Thriller

From Russia with Love is the Bond film that plays like a proper espionage thriller first and a franchise spectacle second. Sean Connery's second outing as 007 is leaner and more grounded than almost anything that followed, anchored by Robert Shaw's menacing Red Grant and a train compartment fight that remains one of the greatest action sequences in cinema. The pacing asks for patience in its first half and a few scenes have aged poorly, but the slow burn pays off with a final act of sustained tension that set the standard for the series. Over sixty years later, it's still in the conversation for the best Bond film ever made.

1964 · Guy Hamilton · 111 min · Action, Thriller

Goldfinger established the Bond formula that would define decades of spy cinema, delivering an iconic villain, the definitive Bond car, and Sean Connery at his most magnetic, though modern audiences will need to reckon with its deeply dated treatment of women.

2022 · 3 Seasons · TV Tokyo · Action / Comedy / Slice of Life

Spy x Family builds its entire premise around a fake family where every member is hiding something, then spends its runtime making you care about them like they're real. The combination of Cold War spy action, a telepathic child's chaotic misadventures, and a found-family heart gives the show a range that most anime comedies never attempt. It leans heavily on its comedic formula and the overarching spy plot moves forward at a crawl, which limits its ceiling. But the character chemistry is irresistible, the animation quality is strong, and Anya Forger might be the most universally beloved anime character in years. It's the rare show that works for hardcore anime fans and complete newcomers alike.

1995 · Martin Campbell · 130 min · Action / Spy

GoldenEye pulled off the hardest trick in franchise filmmaking: it made Bond feel relevant again after a six-year absence without abandoning what made the series work in the first place. Pierce Brosnan brought confidence and charm to the role, Sean Bean gave him a villain worth matching wits with, and Martin Campbell staged action sequences that still hold up three decades later. The third act drags, and a few of the comedic elements overstay their welcome. But as a reinvention of a franchise that could have easily died in the early 1990s, this one delivered exactly what it needed to.

2012 · Sam Mendes · 143 min · Action, Thriller

Skyfall elevates Bond with stunning visual craft and a personal stakes narrative that redefines the franchise, even as its villain's plot crumbles under scrutiny and the final act divides audiences on whether stripped-down simplicity was a bold choice or a misstep.

1935 · Alfred Hitchcock · 86 min · Thriller

The 39 Steps is the film that established the Hitchcock thriller template: an innocent man wrongly accused, a cross-country chase, a cool blonde reluctantly drawn into danger, and a MacGuffin that matters less than the journey it creates. Robert Donat's charisma and Hitchcock's already-confident visual storytelling make a 1935 film feel surprisingly modern, with a pace and wit that most contemporary thrillers would envy. The plot logic doesn't survive scrutiny, but Hitchcock never cared about that, and neither will you.

2007 · 7 Seasons · USA Network · Action, Comedy, Drama, Thriller

Burn Notice found a winning formula by dropping a resourceful spy into Miami and letting him solve problems with duct tape, yogurt, and voiceover narration explaining exactly how. Jeffrey Donovan's Michael Westen is charming and competent without being invincible, and the trio of Michael, Fiona, and Sam became one of television's most entertaining teams. The overarching burn notice mythology grows unwieldy in later seasons, but the show's blend of clever problem-solving, sunny location, and self-aware humor makes it one of the most rewatchable action shows of its era.

1994 · James Cameron · 141 min · Action / Comedy

True Lies is James Cameron proving he could direct comedy with the same command he brought to action, and Arnold Schwarzenegger proving he could be funny and formidable in the same scene. Jamie Lee Curtis steals the second half of the film entirely, Tom Arnold provides surprisingly effective comic relief, and the action sequences deliver on a scale that 1994 audiences had rarely seen. The runtime bloats past what the story can sustain, the villain characterization is the thinnest element by far, and some of the humor has aged unevenly. But as a big, loud, entertaining marriage of action spectacle and domestic comedy, it still works.

2009 · 14 Seasons · FX · Animated Comedy

Archer delivers some of the sharpest dialogue and most inventive comedy in adult animation during its peak years, but three seasons of dream sequences and diminishing returns in its later run prevent it from sustaining the brilliance of its early promise.

2021 · Cary Joji Fukunaga · 163 min · Action / Thriller

No Time to Die swings for something no Bond film has ever attempted, and whether you love or hate the result depends entirely on how you feel about the franchise breaking its own rules. Daniel Craig's final outing delivers stunning action set pieces, a gorgeous pre-credits sequence in Matera, and an emotional throughline that gives his five-film tenure a definitive ending. But a bloated runtime, a forgettable villain, and a divisive conclusion that prioritizes closure over tradition make it a deeply polarizing send-off. The ambition is admirable, the execution is uneven, and the conversation about that ending won't stop anytime soon.

2018 · 4 Seasons · BBC America · Thriller / Drama

Killing Eve burst onto the scene with a first season that redefined the spy thriller through two magnetic lead performances, razor-sharp writing from Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and a cat-and-mouse dynamic crackling with tension and dark humor. Each subsequent season brought a new showrunner and a noticeable step down in quality, culminating in a final season that left most of its audience feeling shortchanged. The first season is exceptional television by any standard. The complete series is a cautionary tale about what happens when a show's creative identity fractures.