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Argo poster

Movies that feel likeArgo (2012)

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.

If you loved Argo, the closest films we have are Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015) and Foxcatcher (2014). All three share Argo's contemplative and tense feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is A Hijacking (2012).

🍅 96% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.7 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Ben Affleckcontemplativetense
7 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · HBO Max · Amazon Prime Video

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If Argo hit the spot, these will too

Zero Dark Thirty poster
Zero Dark Thirty
2012 · dir. Kathryn Bigelow
🍅 91%★ 7.4thriller · dramaNetflixApple TV+

CIA tradecraft ground out over years, with the finale you know is coming

The difference: Colder and morally murkier — no crowd-pleasing exhale

A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L. Team 6 in May, 2011.

Bridge of Spies poster
Bridge of Spies
2015 · dir. Steven Spielberg
🍅 91%★ 7.6thriller · drama

A lone negotiator bluffing across enemy lines to bring Americans home

The difference: Talkier Cold War chess; the tension simmers, never spikes

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.

Foxcatcher poster
Foxcatcher
2014 · dir. Bennett Miller
🍅 88%★ 7drama · thriller

A true story tightening with dread toward its awful ending

The difference: A slow psychological chill — no mission, no clock ticking

The greatest Olympic Wrestling Champion brother team joins Team Foxcatcher led by multimillionaire sponsor John E. du Pont as they train for the 1988 games in Seoul - a union that leads to unlikely circumstances.

Locke poster
Locke
2014 · dir. Steven Knight
🍅 91%★ 7.1drama · thriller

One man improvising through a crisis using only his nerve

The difference: Just a man, a car and a phone — the entire film

Ivan Locke has worked hard to craft a good life for himself. Tonight, that life will collapse around him. On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, Ivan receives a phone call that sets in motion a series of events that will unravel his family, job, and soul.

Dark Waters poster
Dark Waters
2019 · dir. Todd Haynes
🍅 89%★ 7.6drama · thrillerRent or buy

A lone insider risking everything against impossible odds

The difference: A grinding legal slog measured in years, not days

A tenacious attorney uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world's largest corporations. In the process, he risks everything — his future, his family, and his own life — to expose the truth.

We Need to Talk About Kevin poster
We Need to Talk About Kevin
2011 · dir. Lynne Ramsay
🍅 74%★ 7.4drama · thrillerPrime VideoPeacock

Dread built from things you know already happened

The difference: Intimate family horror — nothing procedural about it

After her son Kevin commits a horrific act, troubled mother Eva reflects on her complicated relationship with her disturbed son as he grew from a toddler into a teenager.

A Hijacking poster
A Hijacking
2012 · dir. Tobias Lindholm
🍅 96%★ 7.1thriller · drama

Hostage negotiation as agonizing procedure, not action

The difference: Danish realism so dry it makes Argo look like a caper

Tensions are high after a Danish freighter is captured and held for ransom by Somali pirates, leading to weeks of high-stakes negotiations – and an escalating potential for explosive violence.

The Wave poster
The Wave
2008 · dir. Dennis Gansel
🍅 67%★ 7.6drama · thriller

An experiment escalating past the point anyone can stop it

The difference: A classroom parable, not a rescue thriller

A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.

The Town poster
The Town
2010 · dir. Ben Affleck
🍅 92%★ 7.5crime · drama · thrillerMax

Affleck directing pressure-cooker professionals on both sides of the law

The difference: A Boston heist picture — crime, not geopolitics

A proficient group of thieves rob a bank and hold the manager hostage. Things begin to get complicated when one of the crew members falls in love with her.

A Wednesday! poster
A Wednesday!
2008 · dir. Neeraj Pandey
★ 8.1drama · thriller

A city held hostage while professionals race a hidden clock

The difference: A lean Mumbai two-hander that lives on its final twist

Prakash Rathod, a retired police commissioner recounts the most memorable case of his career wherein he was informed about a bomb scare in Mumbai by an ordinary commoner.

The Machinist poster
The Machinist
2004 · dir. Brad Anderson
🍅 77%★ 7.6thriller · dramaParamount+

Paranoia mounting as the walls quietly close in

The difference: The threat is inside his head — a psychological puzzle

Trevor, an insomniac lathe operator, experiences unusual occurrences at work and home. A strange man follows him everywhere, but no one else seems to notice him.

The Place poster
The Place
2017 · dir. Paolo Genovese
★ 7drama · thriller

Tension built entirely from talk, stakes and moral nerve

The difference: One cafe table for the whole film — a fable, not history

The fates of an apparently random group of strangers who each come into contact with a mysterious figure who they believe possesses the power to grant any wish, in return for which they must carry out a task he assigns them.

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The best-reviewed films that share Argo’s defining feeling.