Movies Like The Scent of Fear

If you liked The Scent of Fear (1959), a movie directed by John Llewellyn Moxey, here are 20 movies with a similar feel, based on TMDB's recommendations. Each one links to its cast, trailer and where it's streaming.

1
The November Man (2014)
★ 6.1/10
An ex-CIA operative is brought back in on a very personal mission and finds himself pitted against his former pupil in a deadly game involving high level CIA officials and the Russian president-elect.
2
RED 2 (2013)
★ 6.5/10
Retired C.I.A. agent Frank Moses reunites his unlikely team of elite operatives for a global quest to track down a missing portable nuclear device.
3
North by Northwest (1959)
★ 8/10
Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.
4
The Amateur (2025)
★ 6.9/10
After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.
5
Knight and Day (2010)
★ 6.2/10
A fugitive couple goes on a glamorous and sometimes deadly adventure where nothing and no one – even themselves – are what they seem. Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the globe, with…
6
Jackie Brown (1997)
★ 7.4/10
Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan — with help from a bail…
7
Telefon (1977)
★ 6.6/10
Nicolai Dalchimski, a mad KGB agent steals a notebook full of names of "sleeping" undercover KGB agents sent to the U.S. in the 1950's. These agents got their assignments under hypnosis, so they can't remember their…
8
Shadow in the Cloud (2021)
★ 5.8/10
A WWII pilot traveling with top secret documents on a B-17 Flying Fortress encounters an evil presence on board the flight.
9
American Assassin (2017)
★ 6.4/10
Following the murder of his fiancée, Mitch Rapp trains under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley. The pair then is enlisted to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on military and civilian targets.
10
The Pelican Brief (1993)
★ 6.6/10
A law student's theory about the recent deaths of two Supreme Court justices embroils her in a far-reaching web of murder, corruption, and greed.
11
Gotcha! (1985)
★ 6/10
A student on a trip to France is tricked into smuggling secrets across the Iron Curtain by a sexy spy.
12
The Gray Man (2022)
★ 6.9/10
When a shadowy CIA agent uncovers damning agency secrets, he's hunted across the globe by a sociopathic rogue operative who's put a bounty on his head.
13
The Kremlin Letter (1970)
★ 5.9/10
After an unauthorized letter suggesting U.S. support for a Russian attack on China is sent to Moscow, a former naval officer and his team go undercover to retrieve it. Their plans are disrupted when a cunning…
14
Murder at the Embassy (2025)
★ 6/10
Private detective Miranda Green investigates a murder perpetrated in the British Embassy in Cairo, where a top secret document was stolen, risking to jeopardize both Buckingham Palace and the peace of the world.
15
The Spirit of St. Louis (1957)
★ 6.7/10
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh struggles to finance and design an airplane that will make his New York to Paris flight the first solo transatlantic crossing.
16
Passenger 57 (1992)
★ 6/10
Airline security specialist John Cutter, finally returning to the job after his wife's death, finds himself stuck on a flight being hijacked by notorious terrorist Charles Rane. Unfortunately for the terrorists…
17
Shining Through (1992)
★ 6.5/10
Spirited New Yorker Linda Voss goes to work for international lawyer and secret Office of Strategic Services operative Ed Leland just before World War II. As they fall in love, the United States enters the fight…
18
Fuze (2025)
★ 7.1/10
An unexploded WWII bomb is discovered on a busy construction site in the centre of London. Chaos ensues as the military and police begin a mass evacuation against a ticking clock.
19
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
★ 7.3/10
When bookish CIA researcher Joe Turner finds all his co-workers dead, he, together with a woman he has kidnapped, must work together to outwit those responsible until he determines who he can really trust.
20
Zip Wire (2026)
★ 7.5/10
When her ground-breaking pharmaceutical discovery is stolen and partner murdered, researcher Amy must face her fear of heights to escape nefarious attackers, with the only path to salvation being a treacherous aerial…