NoBadPicks

Movies Like 23

If you loved 23's Drama and Thriller storytelling, these films deliver a similar experience — carefully selected for tone, themes, and emotional depth. Each pick includes where to watch it right now.

Top Picks

Gorky Park
6.3

Gorky Park

1983

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.

A Scanner Darkly
6.8

A Scanner Darkly

2006

An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.

Telefon
6.6

Telefon

1977

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 missions until they're told a line of a Robert Frost poem. Dalchimski flees to the U.S. and starts phoning these agents who perform sabotage acts against military targets.

WarGames
7.1

WarGames

1983

High school student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Department of Defense's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together with his friend and a wizardly computer genius, David must race against time to outwit his opponent and prevent a nuclear Armageddon.

The Lives of Others
8.0

The Lives of Others

2006

In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.

The Courier
7.0

The Courier

2020

Cold War spy Greville Wynne and his Russian source try to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Minority Report
7.3

Minority Report

2002

John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.

The Manchurian Candidate
7.5

The Manchurian Candidate

1962

Near the end of the Korean War, a platoon of U.S. soldiers is captured by communists and brainwashed. Following the war, the platoon is returned home, and Sergeant Raymond Shaw is lauded as a hero by the rest of his platoon. However, the platoon commander, Captain Bennett Marco, finds himself plagued by strange nightmares and soon races to uncover a terrible plot.

More Movies Like 23

10 Cloverfield Lane
7.0

10 Cloverfield Lane

2016

After a catastrophic car crash, a young woman wakes up in a survivalist's underground bunker, where he claims to have saved her from an apocalyptic attack that has left the outside world uninhabitable.

Bridge of Spies
7.2

Bridge of Spies

2015

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.

Buffalo Soldiers
6.3

Buffalo Soldiers

2002

A criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.

Nineteen Eighty-Four
6.8

Nineteen Eighty-Four

1984

Imagine a world where absolute conformity rules, and word and thought, including loyalty to Big Brother is demanded. It's the year 1984 and such a world exists. Divided into three vast states, whose inhabitants are dominated by all powerful governments, an illegal love affair begins. Soon, worker drone Winston becomes the target of a brain-washing campaign to force him back to conformity.

Kill the Messenger
6.6

Kill the Messenger

2014

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.

Atomic Blonde
6.4

Atomic Blonde

2017

An undercover MI6 agent is sent to Berlin during the Cold War to investigate the murder of a fellow agent and recover a missing list of double agents.

Shining Through
6.5

Shining Through

1992

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 against Hitler, and Linda volunteers to work for Ed spying undercover behind Nazi lines. Assigned to uncover information about a German bomb, Linda also has personal motives to fulfill: discovering the fate of her Jewish family members in Berlin.

The Sum of All Fears
6.4

The Sum of All Fears

2002

When the president of Russia suddenly dies, a man whose politics are virtually unknown succeeds him. The change in political leaders sparks paranoia among American CIA officials, so CIA director Bill Cabot recruits a young analyst to supply insight and advice on the situation. Then the unthinkable happens: a nuclear bomb explodes in a U.S. city, and America is quick to blame the Russians.

The Falcon and the Snowman
6.4

The Falcon and the Snowman

1985

The true story of a disillusioned military contractor employee and his drug pusher childhood friend who became walk-in spies for the Soviet Union.

The Saint
6.1

The Saint

1997

Simon Templar (The Saint), is a thief for hire, whose latest job to steal the secret process for cold fusion puts him at odds with a traitor bent on toppling the Russian government, as well as the woman who holds its secret.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol
7.1

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

2011

Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt to stop him ends in an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF to be implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to disavow them. No longer being aided by the government, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks around the globe, although they might still be too late to stop a disaster.

Putin
6.2

Putin

2025

A portrait of a formidable political figure, unraveling the contrasting facets of an iron-fisted tyrant and a man haunted by fear.

Why These Movies Are Similar

These recommendations share core qualities with 23 (1998): Drama and Thriller themes, similar narrative structure, and comparable emotional depth. NoBadPicks uses a combination of TMDB collaborative filtering, genre matching, and AI analysis to surface films most likely to resonate with fans of 23.

See full details for 23 (1998)

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