Best movies like House of Cards
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
No overview found.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 714
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: political, suspense
Best tv shows and movies like House of Cards (1968):
Similar in 85%
The Salzburg Connection (1972)
Plot Summary:
An American lawyer on vacation in Europe is asked by a book publisher to stop by the Austrian town of Salzburg to see a photographer who's taking pictures for a book on picturesque Austrian lakes. Upon his arrival he senses that something is wrong when the photographer seems to have vanished, leaving a near panic-stricken wife and a sinister, secretive brother. Before he knows it, the lawyer finds himself mixed up with spies, assassins, and the hunt for a list made up by the Nazis during World War II of people who collaborated with them.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 548
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: eurospy
Similar in 77%
Blindfold (1966)
Plot Summary:
A patient being psychoanalyzed by Dr. Snow is a government scientist. General Pratt hides him in a secret place known as "Base X," forcing Dr. Snow to wear a blindfold whenever he is taken there.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 1000
Genere: Comedy, Crime, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: retro, slang, tension, suspense
Similar in 78%
Russian Roulette (1975)
Plot Summary:
An RCMP officer is ordered to discreetly take a Russian immigrant into custody in advance of a state visit by the Soviet premier. When his prisoner is kidnapped, the officer is drawn into a complicated assasination scheme.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 486
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: political thriller, suspense, independent film
Similar in 75%
The Prize (1963)
Plot Summary:
For some reason, this year's Nobel prize in literature has been awarded to the young author Andrew Craig, who seems to be more interested in women and drinking than writing. Another laureate is Dr. Max Stratman, the famous German-American physicist who comes to Stockholm with his young and beautiful niece Emily. The Foreign Department also gives him an assistant during his stay, Miss Andersson. Craig soon notices that Dr. Stratman is acting strangely. The second time they meet, Dr. Stratman does not even recognize him.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: retro, slasher, humorous, realistic, suspenseful, semi serious, suspense, cynical
Similar in 77%
The Cat Burglar (1961)
Plot Summary:
Unwitting pickup artist Jack Coley (Jack Hogan) nabs a briefcase holding a costly scientific formula, turning himself into a moving target for owner Alan Sheridan (John Baer), foreign agents and the fuzz -- all bent on a blistering game of finders, keepers. In this stylized crime drama, the quarry coolly eludes the pack while eliciting the aid of an unlikely party: blonde beauty Nan Baker (June Kenney), the attaché's original carrier.
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 282
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 65 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
The Last Thing He Wanted (2020)
Plot Summary:
At the turning point of the Iran-Contra affair, Elena McMahon, a fearless investigative journalist covering the 1984 US presidential campaign, puts herself in danger when she abandons her assigned task in order to fulfill the last wish of her ailing father, a mysterious man whose past activities she barely knows….
IMDB Rating: 4.3
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: captivating, exciting, tense, suspense, political thriller
Similar in 82%
Tentacle 8 (2014)
Plot Summary:
A mysterious computer virus wipes out highly classified personnel files at the NSA, prompting a top secret investigation. RAYMOND BERRY, an NSA operative is thrown into a detention center, where he is suspected of crimes against the United States. He fights to stay alive, hoping to reunite with TABITHA, a CIA agent he has recently fallen in love with. Ray discovers that Tabitha is not who she says she is, complicating his plans to escape his former life and start over in anonymity.
IMDB Rating: 4.0
IMDB Votes: 127
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: tense, captivating, suspense, suspenseful, disturbing, independent film
Similar in 82%
All Around the Town (2002)
Plot Summary:
A young woman, seemingly good but still psychologically disturbed from being kidnapped as a little girl, becomes the obvious suspect in a murder.
IMDB Rating: 5.2
IMDB Votes: 462
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, France, Canada, USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, enigmatic, suspense, mind bending, bleak, serious, realistic
Similar in 81%
Assignment K (1968)
Plot Summary:
Philip Scott, the boss of a toy company, is secretly also the chief of a British spy organization. Scott's cover is destroyed when enemy agents kidnap his girlfriend to force him to reveal the identities of his fellow spies.
IMDB Rating: 5.4
IMDB Votes: 252
Genere: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: grindhouse, independent film, eurospy
Similar in 82%
Operation C.I.A. (1965)
Plot Summary:
A young CIA agent is assigned to Saigon to stop a planned political assassination.
IMDB Rating: 4.9
IMDB Votes: 178
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: independent film, cult film
Similar in 75%
Target (1985)
Plot Summary:
A Texan with a secret past (Gene Hackman) searches Europe with his son (Matt Dillon) after the KGB kidnaps his wife (Gayle Hunnicutt).
IMDB Rating: 5.9
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: serious, suspenseful, realistic, suspense, neo noir, cult classic, fast, surprise ending, independent film, black comedy
Similar in 75%
The Kremlin Letter (1970)
Plot Summary:
A network of older spies from the West recruits a young intelligence officer with a photographic memory to accompany them on a mission inside Russia. They must recover a letter written by the CIA that promises American assistance to Russia if China gets the atomic bomb.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: neo noir, political thriller, visually stunning, tense, serious, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
Closed Circuit (2013)
Plot Summary:
A terrorist attack in London results in the capture of suspect Farroukh Erdogan (Denis Moschitto). The attorney general appoints Claudia Simmons-Howe (Rebecca Hall) as special advocate on Erdogan's legal team. On the eve of the trial, Erdogan's lawyer dies, and a new defense attorney, Martin Rose (Eric Bana), steps in. Martin and Claudia are former lovers, a fact which must remain hidden. As Martin assembles his case, he uncovers a sinister conspiracy, placing him and Claudia in danger.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, serious, suspenseful, political, realistic, clever, exciting, surprise ending, bad ending
Similar in 80%
The Deadly Affair (1967)
Plot Summary:
Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: tense, serious, suspenseful, psychological, exciting, enigmatic, neo noir, political, dark, slasher
Similar in 77%
The Quiller Memorandum (1966)
Plot Summary:
Two British agents are murdered by a mysterious Neonazi organization in West Berlin. The British Secret Service sends agent Quiller to investigate. Soon Quiller is confronted with Neonazi chief "Oktober" and involved in a dangerous game where each side tries to find out the enemy's headquarters at any price.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 4000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 104 min
Plot tags: neo noir, political thriller, independent film, exciting, serious, realistic, suspenseful, stylized, eurospy
Similar in 89%
Frantic (1988)
Plot Summary:
Ford plays an American doctor whose wife suddenly vanishes in Paris. To find her, he navigates a puzzling web of language, locale, laissez-faire cops, triplicate-form filling bureaucrats and a defiant, mysterious waif who knows more than she tells.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 57000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: suspense, neo noir, psychological, tense, suspenseful, psychological thriller, suspense thriller, noir, mysterious, political thriller
Similar in 78%
State of Siege (1972)
Plot Summary:
Like most of Costa-Gavras' political thrillers, the French State of Siege is based on a true story. The incident dramatized herein is the kidnapping of a U.S. official somewhere in Latin America. The director's sympathies clearly lie with the kidnappers, especially since the official (played by Yves Montand), ostensibly an expert in traffic control, has been assigned as special advisor to the government's secret police, training these worthies in the art of the torturing of political prisoners. Uruguay was the country where this story actually took place; though no names are given, there's little doubting the identity of Costa-Gavras' fictional locale. Despite its up-to-date radicalism, State of Siege adheres to time-honored Hollywood formula, with ugly, vulgar bad guys vs. handsome, articulate good guys.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, Italy, West Germany
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: political, social, political thriller, tense, rough, serious, captivating, realistic, suspenseful, talky
Similar in 82%
State of Play (2009)
Plot Summary:
Handsome, unflappable U.S. Congressman Stephen Collins is the future of his political party: an honorable appointee who serves as the chairman of a committee overseeing defense spending. All eyes are upon the rising star to be his party's contender for the upcoming presidential race. Until his research assistant/mistress is brutally murdered and buried secrets come tumbling out.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 158000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, France
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: suspense, political thriller, clever, political, tense, suspenseful, detective, exciting, tricky, psychological
Similar in 84%
The Pelican Brief (1993)
Plot Summary:
Two Supreme Court Justices have been assassinated. One lone law student has stumbled upon the truth. An investigative journalist wants her story. Everybody else wants her dead.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: tense, suspense, suspenseful, political thriller, political, clever, exciting, intense, realistic, serious
Similar in 85%
Gorky Park (1983)
Plot Summary:
Police Inspector Renko tries to solve the case of three bodies found in Moscow's Gorky Park but finds his attempts to solve the crime impeded by his superiors. Working on his own, Renko seeks out more information and stumbles across a conspiracy involving the highest levels of the government.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 16000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: detective, political, suspense, tense, bleak, suspenseful, neo noir, political thriller, action thriller, serious
Similar in 81%
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Plot Summary:
A bookish CIA researcher finds all his co-workers dead, and must outwit those responsible until he figures out who he can really trust.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: political thriller, tense, suspense, atmospheric, exciting, suspenseful, political, neo noir, psychological thriller, mysterious
Similar in 75%
Page Eight (2011)
Plot Summary:
Page Eight is lovingly turned, with elegant writing, a flawless cast and a heartfelt message from writer/director David Hare about the danger zone where spies and politicians meet. The tension builds gently as we follow the fortunes of Johnny Worricker, a jazz-loving charmer who works high up at MI5 as an intelligence analyst. It’s a part made for Bill Nighy and he purrs out bon mots with a weary panache that women 20 years younger find irresistible. One such is his neighbour, Nancy Pierpan (Rachel Weisz), in a Battersea mansion block. The question for Johnny is whether her interest in him is genuine or hides something darker. As his boss (Michael Gambon) puts it: “Distrust is a terrible habit.” Questions of trust, honour and friendship rumble through the play. The characters exchange oblique repartee as a plot about a damning dossier unwinds. It’s not to be missed.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: political thriller, tense, serious, realistic, political, captivating, psychological, exciting, sincere, suspense
Similar in 75%
The Executioner (1970)
Plot Summary:
A British intelligence agent must track down a fellow spy suspected of being a double agent.
IMDB Rating: 6.0
IMDB Votes: 450
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: exciting, rough, serious, realistic, suspenseful, talky, suspense, eurospy
Similar in 85%
Marathon Man (1976)
Plot Summary:
A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 69000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 125 min
Plot tags: psychological, suspense, suspenseful, atmospheric, intense, serious, disturbing, dark, political thriller, grim
Similar in 83%
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Plot Summary:
An international assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ is employed by disgruntled French generals to kill President Charles de Gaulle, with a dedicated gendarme on the assassin's trail.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 44000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, France
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: political thriller, exciting, suspenseful, political, atmospheric, talky, intense, rough, serious, suspense
Similar in 83%
Topaz (1969)
Plot Summary:
A French intelligence agent becomes embroiled in the Cold War politics first with uncovering the events leading up to the 1962 Cuban Missle Crisis, and then back to France to break up an international Russian spy ring.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 143 min
Plot tags: suspense, tense, suspenseful, psychological, political thriller, enigmatic, psychological thriller, exciting, retro, art house
Similar in 77%
A Most Wanted Man (2014)
Plot Summary:
A Chechen Muslim illegally immigrates to Hamburg and becomes a person of interest for a covert government team which tracks the movements of potential terrorists.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 79000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, Germany
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: clever, bleak, tense, political, suspense, melancholic, thought provoking, psychological, cerebral, independent film
Similar in 89%
The Ipcress File (1965)
Plot Summary:
This espionage thriller represents a landmark in spy movies introducing the sly, dry intelligence agent Harry Palmer. The story, centers on Palmer's investigation into British Intelligence security. He's soon enmeshed in a world of double-dealing, kidnap and murder and finds a traitor is operating at the heart of the secret service. Will the mysterious 'Ipcress File' reveal who the traitor is?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 109 min
Plot tags: atmospheric, suspenseful, suspense, exciting, tense, enigmatic, clever, realistic, cynical, retro
Similar in 89%
Despite the Falling Snow (2016)
Plot Summary:
In Cold War Moscow, a female spy steals secrets from an idealistic politician – and falls in love with him. Moscow, 1959: Katya (Rebecca Ferguson, Mission Impossible- Rogue Nation, The Girl on the Train, The White Queen), is young, beautiful – and a spy for the Americans. When she and Mischa (Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Emerald City), begin spying on Alexander ( Sam Reid, Anonymous), an idealistic Communist politician, the last thing she expects is to fall in love with him. Her choice between love and duty leads to a nail-biting conclusion that Alexander (Charles Dance, The Imitation Game) can only unravel decades later in 1990s New York. His journey back to the snowbound streets of Moscow uncovers a love triangle and betrayals from those he trusted most.
IMDB Rating: 5.8
IMDB Votes: 3000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Thriller
Country: UK, Canada
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: tense, touching, suspense, suspenseful, emotional
Similar in 87%
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)
Plot Summary:
In the bleak days of the Cold War, espionage veteran George Smiley is forced from semi-retirement to uncover a Soviet mole within his former colleagues at the heart of MI6.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 210000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, France, Germany, USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: suspense, clever, tense, confusing, bleak, non-linear, atmospheric, thought provoking, period piece, political