Film
The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
Guy Ritchie takes the 1964 TV spy show and turns it into a widescreen fashion shoot: matching suits, matching smirks, split-screen smugness. Cold War espionage played as farce, with Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin bickering their way through a plot that exists mainly to get them into nicer rooms. Gorgeous production design, low stakes, all style. Good for anyone wanting Bond's glamour without Bond's self-seriousness.
If you liked this
Kingsman: The Secret Service2015
Same recipe — impeccably dressed agents, tongue-in-cheek tradecraft, and a director who clearly loves the genre more than he respects it. Start here for wit and wardrobe minus the Cold War.
But Considerably more violent and profane than U.N.C.L.E., with a nastier streak hiding under the tailoring.

Charade1963
Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn doing the same glamorous cat-and-mouse thing decades earlier, with wit this sharp and clothes this good. The blueprint for the entire 'style as plot' genre.
But Slower pace and old-fashioned rhythms — no gadgets, no action set pieces, just conversation and suspicion.

Ocean's Eleven2001
Soderbergh's crew has the same lazy, cocktail-hour cool — a plot that's really an excuse for beautiful people to trade barbs in beautiful clothes. Pure hangout-caper pleasure.
But It's a heist, not espionage, so the stakes are lower and the tone even breezier.

The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels1998
This is Guy Ritchie's actual voice before Hollywood polish sanded it down — same freeze-frames, same cocky editing, same love of criminals who talk more than they shoot. U.N.C.L.E. is this film in a tuxedo.
See where Ritchie's visual tricks and rat-a-tat structure actually came from — grubbier, funnier, and far more dangerous than the spy movie it eventually led to.
But Brutal, sweary, and thick with London slang — nothing like U.N.C.L.E.'s glossy postcard version of cool.

More like this (8)
Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation2015
Same year, same genre, but played dead straight — real stunts, real tension, and a rogue-agent plot that takes itself seriously enough to actually thrill you.
But If you liked U.N.C.L.E. precisely because it doesn't take itself seriously, this will feel like a tonal 180.

Atomic Blonde2017
Cold War Berlin, a killer soundtrack, and a spy who's all icy style — U.N.C.L.E.'s aesthetic pushed into something trashier and much more violent.
But The plot is deliberately murky and the brutality is real, not cartoonish — a very different comedy-to-violence ratio.

North by Northwest1959
Hitchcock's own take on mistaken identity and Cold War intrigue, with the same appetite for style, humour, and a hero charming his way out of trouble.
But It's a thriller first and a comedy second — expect suspense over quips.

The Thomas Crown Affair1968
Another sixties exercise in gorgeous people outsmarting each other, all split-screen chic and unbearably cool leads. If you loved the look of U.N.C.L.E., this is its cousin.
But It's a heist romance, not spy-craft, and moves at a much dreamier pace.

Spy2015
Melissa McCarthy turns the glossy spy genre inside out with actual laugh-out-loud comedy instead of raised eyebrows — a good chaser if you wanted more jokes, less swagger.
But Broader and crasser — this is comedy first, spy movie second, with none of U.N.C.L.E.'s visual restraint.

The Italian Job1969
British caper cool from the same decade U.N.C.L.E. is nostalgic for — sharp suits, cheeky banter, and a plan that's more about style than plausibility.
But Slighter and more dated in its humour, with a shrug of an ending rather than a real climax.

Bridge of Spies2015
Same decade, same nuclear-tinged standoff between East and West, but played as sober true history instead of a fashion shoot — the deadly-serious version of the exact geopolitical anxiety U.N.C.L.E. treats as a punchline.
Spielberg and Tom Hanks turn Cold War tension into a quiet, gripping moral drama — proof the same era could produce genuine dread instead of banter.
But Slow, talky, and entirely devoid of gadgets or glamour — the opposite evening to the one U.N.C.L.E. offers.

OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies2006
A French spoof of exactly the 1960s spy furniture U.N.C.L.E. is dressed in — same tailored suits, same Cold War plotting, but played as outright, gleeful parody rather than affectionate homage.
If U.N.C.L.E.'s wink at the genre didn't feel silly enough, this goes all the way — a magnificently dim secret agent stumbling through every 60s spy cliché.
But Subtitled and broader than broad — the humour is pure farce, with none of U.N.C.L.E.'s visual sophistication.

People
Cast
Henry CavillNapoleon Solo
Armie HammerIllya Kuryakin
Alicia VikanderGaby Teller
Elizabeth DebickiVictoria Vinciguerra
Luca CalvaniAlexander
Sylvester GrothUncle Rudi
Hugh GrantWaverly
Jared HarrisSanders
Misha KuznetsovOleg
Marianna Di MartinoDesk Clerk
Julian M. DeusterAssistant
Directing
- Guy RitchieDirector
- Terence MaddenOther
- Liz Elizabeth WestScript Supervisor
- Sharon MansfieldScript Supervisor
Writing
- Guy RitchieScreenplay
- Lionel WigramScreenplay
- David C. WilsonStory
- Guy RitchieStory
- Jeff KleemanStory
- Lionel WigramStory
Production
- Peter EskelsenAssociate Producer
- Reg Poerscout-EdgertonCasting
- Emma CallinanCasting Associate
- Lillie JeffreyCasting Associate
- Mark MostynCo-Producer
- Max KeeneCo-Producer
- Mark ScoonExecutive In Charge Of Production
- David DobkinExecutive Producer
- Jeff KleemanExecutive Producer
- Steven MnuchinExecutive Producer
- Enzo SistiLine Producer
- Caterina BoselliLocation Coordinator
- Guy RitchieProducer
- John DavisProducer
- Lionel WigramProducer
- Steve Clark-HallProducer
- Michael WilsonProduction Assistant
Recommended by
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, Sherlock Holmes, Atomic Blonde, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Spy×Family, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, Mayday, Casino Royale, Get Smart, True Lies, In the Grey, The Gray Man, OSS 117: Lost in Rio