Most of us have never met a secret agent in real life — at least, as far as we know) — but that doesn’t mean we don’t have a fascination with the world of espionage. How else do you explain the 50 years of success for the James Bond films, a franchise that survived replacing its lead actor half a dozen times, or the “Mission: Impossible” phenomenon?
The best of these spy movies feature clever, ruthless, unflappable heroes (or anti-heroes, as the case may be) putting their lives on the line to unravel international plots that threaten world peace. But even your bog-standard spy movie has an underlying level of tension and compelling action that makes it irresistible to audiences. Even though the Cold War is over now, that doesn’t mean we need to let go of the classic espionage film, its greatest cultural relic. Here are seven spy movies on Netflix to check out.
