There's nothing like a spy thriller to keep you on the edge of your seat, and thankfully streaming giant Netflix has plenty of them to pick from.
Spy shows are some of Netflix's most popular and the streamer releases quite a few of them. So many, in fact, that it can be hard to decide what to watch — thankfully, we're here to figure that out for you. It's our name, after all!
Whether you want a home-grown political thriller or something set in the far-flung corners of the world, there's something for you on the streamer; options range from tense and nail-biting picks to silly or funny secret agent series if you want something a little lighter.
So sit back; here are 10 of the best spy thrillers to watch on Netflix right now.
The best spy thrillers on Netflix
The Night Agent
One of Netflix's most popular shows ever is The Night Agent, a 10-part action thriller that already has a sequel series on the way. It follows Peter Sutherland (Gabriel Basso), an FBI agent who stumbles into a conspiracy in the White House and needs to find out who's in charge of it. At the same time, he needs to protect people who might be at risk from the web of crime.
FUBAR
Another 2023 hit for Netflix was FUBAR, an Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle which was quite a different tone for a spy show. A comedy action series, it follows Luke Brunner (Arnie) and his daughter Emma (Monica Barbaro), who find their dysfunctional family unit threatened further when they discover that they're both secretly CIA spies. Going on missions together just makes their family woes worse, as Luke fights to win back his ex wife while stopping an arms dealer whom he unintentionally raised.
Treason
Treason tells the tale of Adam Lawrence (Charlie Cox), whose sudden promotion to an important rank in the MI6 is just one part of a conspiracy which could compromise the entire agency. In this 5-part miniseries, he needs to figure out how to stop the sprawling plot he finds himself in the middle of, before he loses his family or worse, his country.
Designated Survivor
Netflix picked up popular ABC show Designated Survivor for its third and final season. It follows a terror attack that wipes out the US' line of presidential succession, leaving the underqualified Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) to take over the role as POTUS. He needs to figure out how to lead a country while also getting to the bottom of the plot that put him in office in the first place.
The Spy
This is the first entry in our list that's based on real events. The Spy dramatizes the real life of Eli Cohen, here played by Sacha Baron Cohen, who was a Mossad spy in the 1960s. The show follows how the man infiltrated Syrian government and society, and used this to his advantage in the 1967 Six-Day War between the country and Israel.
Who is Erin Carter?
You could argue whether this is a spy show, but it's definitely a crime thriller. Who is Erin Carter? looks at the life of the titular character, a schoolteacher living in Barcelona, who has her perfect persona unraveled when she's caught in a supermarket robbery which pulls the threads of who she pretends to be. There's technically no spying but there are secret identities and hidden plots, so we're counting it.
Spy Ops
Our only documentary of this list is Spy Ops, which makes the cut because it's certainly about spying! The documentary looks at cases of real-life espionage, secret agent shenanigans and political and military conspiracies. Lots of the interviewees are from the CIA and MI6, and topics cover the Cold War, coups and more.
Pine Gap
Not all espionage is working against other countries, as Pine Gap shows. This series, set in Australia, is about the team of US and Australian operatives who have to learn to work together in the real-life Pine Gap facility in Alice Springs, Australia. It's a slow show but it presents a different type of thriller to many of the others on this list.
Narcos
One of the original Netflix hits was Narcos, which is largely a crime thriller but its framed in such a way that makes it seem more like an espionage show. It's about DEA agents who hunt down crime kingpins; Pablo Escobar in the first two seasons, the Cali Cartel in season 3 and the Guadalajara Cartel in spin-off Narcos: Mexico. Boyd Holbrook and Pedro Pascal star as the agents who need to work their way through Colombia's underbelly to take down these drug gangs.
Kleo
Any good spy thriller list needs at least one German entry, and Kleo represents the Cold War thriller here. It follows Kleo, a German assassin in 1989, who leads a quest to unravel the conspiracy that led to her being falsely imprisoned two years prior, and enact vengeance. However members of the police force and the assassin's old allies all threaten to get in the way in this comedy thriller set in a divided Berlin.
