Espionage Starter Pack: 10 Spy Films to Watch on OTT

Team FC

Saboteur (1942)

Where: Amazon Prime Video (Paid)

Saboteur, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1942 espionage thriller film, has the beginnings of his much superior and more frenetic North by Northwest (1959) – an everyman caught up in a vile conspiracy, a daring cross-country chase and ambitious sequences.

Burn After Reading (2008)

Where: Amazon Prime Video (Paid)

Granted that this is less a spy movie and more a movie about spies, Burn After Reading has such a whacky, humorous energy that we can’t help but count this in.

Vishwaroopam (2013)

Where: Disney+ Hotstar 

Vishwaroopam is one of the many examples of Kamal Haasan’s genius at work. In the spy thriller written and co-produced by him, Haasan also takes up the mantle of the lead role.

D-Day (2013)

Where: Tubi 

In 2013, with Kal Ho Naa Ho’s sweet shadow looming large over his career, it was hard to imagine Nikkhil Advani making an espionage thriller. But make an espionage thriller he did, and how.

Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)

Where: Disney+ Hotstar 

A single glance at Gary “Uggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton) could tell you that he was headed towards prison – the man regularly dabbled in petty theft, drugs and mindless crime.

Our Kind of Traitor (2016)

Where: Amazon Prime Video 

If you’re a fan of espionage action thrillers, you’ve probably heard of John Le Carré. The British/Irish author’s six-decade-long career has produced some of the most terrific character studies of a spy.

Atomic Blonde (2017)

Where: Amazon Prime Video 

Charlize Theron as a deadly MI6 spy who specialises in hand-to-hand combat? Yes, please. The trailer for Atomic Blonde alone show the several different ways in which Lorraine Broughton, the ace of Her Majestry Secret Intelligent Service, can obliterate her enemies – one involving a bright red stiletto.

Raazi (2018)

Where: Amazon Prime Video

Undeniably one of the best espionage thrillers to come out of recent Hindi cinema, Raazi was often cited as Alia Bhatt’s best performance before Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) came along.

Goodachari (2018)

Where: Amazon Prime Video

Goodachari transcends its average writing through sheer ambition and sleek action. Adivi Sesh plays Gopi, the orphaned child of a deceased RAW agent. Much like his father, Gopi dreams of serving the country through RAW but is framed for poisoning a senior official.

BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Where: Amazon Prime Video

It’s 1972. The first Black officer at the Colorado Springs Police Department, itching to make a name for himself, calls up the local division of the Ku Klux Klan and enrols himself as a member. What follows is absolute mayhem.

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