Best movies like Official Secrets
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
The true story of British intelligence whistleblower Katharine Gun, who prior to the 2003 Iraq invasion leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation against members of the UN Security Council. The memo proposed blackmailing member states into voting for war.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 53000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, psychological, suspenseful, surprise ending, serious, tense, thought provoking, captivating, motivational, inspirational
Best tv shows and movies like Official Secrets (2019):
Similar in 78%
Kill the Messenger (2014)
Plot Summary:
A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 48000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: political, tense, suspenseful, thought provoking, clever, captivating, disturbing, spiritual, neo noir, emotional
Similar in 77%
Nothing But the Truth (2008)
Plot Summary:
When reporter Rachel Armstrong writes a story that reveals the identity of a covert CIA operative, the government demands that Rachel reveal her source. She defies the special prosecutor and is thrown in jail. Meanwhile, her attorney, Albert Burnside argues her case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: suspense, psychological, serious, tense, suspenseful, political, tricky, twisted, emotional, thought provoking
Similar in 85%
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 89%
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 80%
Runaway Jury (2003)
Plot Summary:
A juror on the inside and a woman on the outside manipulate a court trial involving a major gun manufacturer.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 103000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min
Plot tags: clever, suspense, tense, surprise ending, captivating, stylized, political, cynical, detective, twisted
Similar in 86%
Richard Jewell (2019)
Plot Summary:
Richard Jewell thinks quick, works fast, and saves hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives after a domestic terrorist plants several pipe bombs and they explode during a concert, only to be falsely suspected of the crime by sloppy FBI work and sensational media coverage.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 95000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, tense, sad, realistic, factual, emotional, suspense, historical drama, touching, depressing
Similar in 77%
Serpico (1973)
Plot Summary:
The real-life struggle of an honest New York City cop against a corrupt system.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 132000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Italy, USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: suspense, serious, realistic, neo noir, psychological, rough, clever, political, detective, grim
Similar in 78%
The Mauritanian (2021)
Plot Summary:
A detainee at the U.S military's Guantanamo Bay detention center is held without charges for over a decade and seeks help from a defense attorney for his release.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 59000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: thought provoking, suspense, tense, captivating, inspirational, serious, social, dramatic, disturbing, art house
Similar in 89%
The Ghost Writer (2010)
Plot Summary:
A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident. In director Roman Polanski's tense drama, the author realizes that his discovery threatens some very powerful people who will do anything to ensure that certain episodes from Lang's past remain buried.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 169000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, UK
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: serious, suspense, atmospheric, political thriller, captivating, political, tricky, enigmatic, unusual plot structure, psychological thriller
Similar in 88%
The Whistleblower (2010)
Plot Summary:
Based on the experiences of Nebraska cop Kathryn Bolkovac (Rachel Weisz) who discovers a deadly sex trafficking ring while serving as a U.N. peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Risking her own life to save the lives of others, she uncovers an international conspiracy that is determined to stop her, no matter the cost.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 35000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: Canada, Germany
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: rough, political, educational, heartbreaking, factual, intellectual, suspenseful, suspense, thought provoking, sincere
Similar in 89%
Salvador (1986)
Plot Summary:
A second rated journalist from the US tries his luck in El Salvador during the military dictatorship in the 1980s.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 23000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: UK, Mexico, USA
Duration: 122 min
Plot tags: suspense, political, tense, harsh, factual, rough, thought provoking, bleak, serious, captivating
Similar in 87%
Shock and Awe (2017)
Plot Summary:
A group of journalists covering George Bush's planned invasion of Iraq in 2003 are skeptical of the presidents claim that Saddam Hussein has "weapons of mass destruction.".
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 8000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: political, tense, suspense, suspenseful, factual, brutal, political drama
Similar in 88%
The Fifth Estate (2013)
Plot Summary:
A look at the relationship between WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his early supporter and eventual colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg, and how the website's growth and influence led to an irreparable rift between the two friends.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 42000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, India, Belgium
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: political, tense, stylized, thought provoking, realistic, serious, suspenseful, entertaining, inspirational, social
Similar in 90%
The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
Plot Summary:
The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA, Mexico
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: tense, realistic, psychological, captivating, serious, political, suspenseful, factual, retro, neo noir
Similar in 76%
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 76%
Green Zone (2010)
Plot Summary:
During the U.S.-led occupation of Baghdad in 2003, Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his team of Army inspectors were dispatched to find weapons of mass destruction believed to be stockpiled in the Iraqi desert. Rocketing from one booby-trapped and treacherous site to the next, the men search for deadly chemical agents but stumble instead upon an elaborate cover-up that threatens to invert the purpose of their mission.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 142000
Genere: Action, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, France, Spain, USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: political thriller, suspense, tense, exciting, political, serious, suspenseful, intense, entertaining, factual
Similar in 80%
Syriana (2005)
Plot Summary:
The Middle Eastern oil industry is the backdrop of this tense drama, which weaves together numerous story lines. Bennett Holiday is an American lawyer in charge of facilitating a dubious merger of oil companies, while Bryan Woodman, a Switzerland-based energy analyst, experiences both personal tragedy and opportunity during a visit with Arabian royalty. Meanwhile, veteran CIA agent Bob Barnes uncovers an assassination plot with unsettling origins.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 133000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 128 min
Plot tags: political thriller, suspense, cerebral, political, tense, realistic, intense, thought provoking, serious, disturbing
Similar in 89%
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)
Plot Summary:
True story of Germany's most famous anti-Nazi heroine brought to thrilling, dramatic life. Sophie Scholl stars Julia Jentsch in a luminous performance as the fearless activist of the underground student resistance group, The White Rose. Armed with long-buried historical records of her incarceration, director Marc Rothemund expertly re-creates the last six days of Sophie Scholl's life.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 28000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: Germany
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: touching, tense, sincere, suspenseful, emotional, political, disturbing, christian film, realistic, talky
Similar in 78%
Bridge of Spies (2015)
Plot Summary:
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 324000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA, India, Germany
Duration: 142 min
Plot tags: suspense, realistic, dramatic, tricky, intense, historical drama, serious, entertaining, period piece, suspenseful
Similar in 88%
The Report (2019)
Plot Summary:
The story of Daniel Jones, lead investigator for the US Senate’s sweeping study into the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program, which was found to be brutal, immoral and ineffective. With the truth at stake, Jones battled tirelessly to make public what many in power sought to keep hidden.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 49000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: political, uplifting, psychological, ambiguous ending, enigmatic, political thriller, informative, non-linear, philosophical, interesting
Similar in 88%
Breach (2007)
Plot Summary:
Eric O'Neill, a computer specialist who wants to be made an agent is assigned to clerk for Robert Hanssen, a senior agent with 25 years in the FBI, and to write down everything Hanssen does. O'Neill's told it's an investigation of Hanssen's sexual habits, however Hanssen is really suspected of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia for years and being responsible for the deaths of agents working for the United States.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min
Plot tags: political thriller, tense, realistic, suspenseful, suspense, intense, clever, political, dramatic, psychological thriller
Similar in 90%
JFK (1991)
Plot Summary:
New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison discovers there's more to the Kennedy assassination than the official story.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 167000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, France
Duration: 189 min
Plot tags: controversial, suspense, political, captivating, disturbing, tense, political thriller, factual, suspenseful, talky
Similar in 77%
Fair Game (2010)
Plot Summary:
Wife and mother Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) has a double life as a CIA operative, hiding her vocation from family and friends. Her husband, Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), writes a controversial article in The New York Times, refuting stories about the sale of enriched uranium to Iraq, Then Valerie's secret work and identity is leaked to the press. With her cover blown and other people endangered, Valerie's career and personal life begin to unravel.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 51000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, United Arab Emirates
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: political, intense, factual, political thriller, thought provoking, realistic, serious, suspenseful, controversial, inspirational
Similar in 80%
The Insider (1999)
Plot Summary:
Tells the true story of a 60 Minutes television series exposé of the tobacco industry, as seen through the eyes of a real tobacco executive, Jeffrey Wigand.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 178000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 157 min
Plot tags: political, suspense, cerebral, clever, intense, fast paced, tense, sincere, realistic, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
All the President's Men (1976)
Plot Summary:
In the run-up to the 1972 elections, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward covers what seems to be a minor break-in at the Democratic Party National headquarters. He is surprised to find top lawyers already on the defense case, and the discovery of names and addresses of Republican fund organizers on the accused further arouses his suspicions. The editor of the Post is prepared to run with the story and assigns Woodward and Carl Bernstein to it. They find the trail leading higher and higher in the Republican Party, and eventually into the White House itself.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 124000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: political thriller, political, cerebral, realistic, serious, suspense, factual, tense, captivating, neo noir
Similar in 76%
Spotlight (2015)
Plot Summary:
In 2001, editor Marty Baron of The Boston Globe assigns a team of journalists to investigate allegations against John Geoghan, an unfrocked priest accused of molesting more than 80 boys. Led by editor Walter "Robby" Robinson, reporters Michael Rezendes, Matt Carroll and Sacha Pfeiffer interview victims and try to unseal sensitive documents. The reporters make it their mission to provide proof of a cover-up of sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 494000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: factual, emotional, suspense, thought provoking, psychological, tense, talky, political, intellectual, intense
Similar in 83%
The Post (2017)
Plot Summary:
A cover-up that spanned four U.S. Presidents pushed the country's first female newspaper publisher and a hard-driving editor to join an unprecedented battle between journalist and government. Inspired by true events.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 160000
Genere: Biography, Drama, History, Thriller, War
Country: USA, UK, India
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: political thriller, political, factual, tense, inspirational, exciting, thought provoking, suspenseful, disturbing, suspense
Similar in 75%
Snowden (2016)
Plot Summary:
CIA employee Edward Snowden leaks thousands of classified documents to the press.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 160000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany, France
Duration: 134 min
Plot tags: realistic, factual, political thriller, thought provoking, serious, political, intense, clever, tense, informative
Similar in 83%
Argo (2012)
Plot Summary:
As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 633000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 120 min
Plot tags: tense, suspenseful, clever, captivating, political, intense, suspense, breathtaking, political thriller, realistic
Similar in 88%
The Imitation Game (2014)
Plot Summary:
Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 811000
Genere: Biography, Drama, Thriller, War
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: inspirational, captivating, intellectual, clever, serious, motivational, entertaining, thought provoking, factual, visually appealing