Film

The November Man

Pierce Brosnan plays a retired CIA assassin dragged back into the game to protect a witness—only to discover his former protégé is now the enemy. It's slick, competent spy-thriller comfort food: clean action, international intrigue, and two professionals who know exactly what they're doing. For anyone who wants Bond-adjacent thrills without overthinking it.

TMDb rating3.1

If you liked this

Atomic Blonde2017

Charlize Theron as a 1980s MI6 agent infiltrating East Berlin, with fight choreography that's genuinely stunning. It's stylish, brutal, and far smarter than the premise suggests.

But The plot is deliberately convoluted—you're often meant to be confused alongside the protagonist, which some find frustrating rather than clever.

Atomic Blonde poster

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold1965

An unglamorous Cold War spy thriller that invented the template. Betrayal, moral ambiguity, and Richard Burton as a burnt-out operative—it's where the disillusionment in The November Man comes from.

But Methodical and grey. If you want spectacle or romance, this is the opposite. It moves deliberately.

The Spy Who Came In from the Cold poster

Mission: Impossible - Fallout2018

Tom Cruise doing increasingly impossible stunts while actual spy-craft happens around him. Henry Cavill as the antagonist you're unsure about. Kinetic, gorgeous, and genuinely thrilling without being dumb.

But Two hours forty; it's a commitment, and the plot requires you to have seen the previous films to fully land.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The November Man

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Passenger 571992

Both are expert-versus-expert thrillers where the professional's competence is the entire appeal. Style and efficency over substance.

Wesley Snipes on a hijacked plane—absurd, kinetic, utterly committed to its own pulpy logic. It's the spiritual ancestor of The November Man's clean, efficient action and its refusal to take itself too seriously. A reminder that action cinema used to be fun.

But Dated in ways that range from charming to awkward. The dialogue is purple and the plot has holes you could fly a 747 through.

Passenger 57 poster
More like this (7)

Bridge of Spies2015

Spielberg and Hanks on Cold War espionage: tense, humane, fascinated by negotiation rather than violence. Tom Donovan is a lawyer solving crises through principle, which is its own kind of spy thriller.

But Deliberately paced. The excitement is intellectual—if you came for action beats, you'll feel the long stretches waiting.

Bridge of Spies poster

The Good Shepherd2006

DeNiro directing and starring as an idealistic CIA officer whose career becomes a slow moral catastrophe. Sweeping, ambitious, a genuine epic about institutional betrayal and personal cost.

But Nearly three hours and deliberately dense. It asks you to track decades and dozens of characters. Some call it bloated.

The Good Shepherd poster

Red Notice2021

Dwayne Johnson, Ryan Reynolds, and Gal Gadot in a heist-thriller that's agile, funny, and surprisingly affectionate about old-school espionage competence. Pure entertainment with wit.

But Relies heavily on star chemistry; if the banter doesn't land for you, there's not much underneath.

Red Notice poster

Sicario2015

Denis Villeneuve's masterclass in tension. Emily Blunt as an idealistic FBI agent dragged into something far darker, with Benicio Del Toro as the mystery at its center. Morally unsettling and visually hypnotic.

But It's grim and offers no heroes or easy answers. The ending doesn't give you the catharsis you might want.

Sicario poster

Munich2005

Spielberg and Brosnan on assassination and revenge after the 1972 Olympics. A rare Hollywood film that actually questions whether killing is justice. Methodical and genuinely unsettling.

But Heavy, slow, and morally unresolved. It won't thrill you so much as exhaust you.

Munich poster

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy2011

Gary Oldman as George Smiley, hunting a Soviet mole in the Cold War. Oblique, literary, deeply intelligent—the anti-action spy film that proves espionage is about information and human failure.

But Deliberately cryptic. It trusts you to follow without explanation. If you need clarity, this will frustrate you.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy poster

Spy Game2001

Mentor-and-student relationship at the core, told as a duel of wits between intelligence professionals who respect each other even as enemies.

Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in a CIA origin story told via interrogation room flashbacks. It's lighter than The November Man—almost comedic about espionage's moral murk—but structured as a stylish puzzle. Underrated and propulsive.

But Tonally inconsistent; it's never sure if it's a thriller or a lark, which some read as confused filmmaking.

Spy Game poster

People

Cast

Directing

Writing

Production

Recommended by

RED 2, Safe House, The Fourth Protocol