12 Movies Like Fauda You Need to Watch
Want tense spy thrillers and war dramas? Explore 12 picks like Fauda, including Tehran, The Spy, The Bureau, Patriot, Kandahar, and more.
If you want movies like Fauda, you are probably after tense espionage, close-quarters danger, and stories that feel grounded instead of glossy. This list brings together 12 gripping picks across action, crime, drama, thriller, and war, including Tehran, The Spy, The Bureau, Patriot, and Kandahar. You will also find fast-moving options like Taken and American Assassin, plus politically charged thrillers that keep the pressure high from the first scene to the last. Whether you want undercover missions, intelligence wars, or stories about people caught between duty and survival, these titles deliver the same sharp energy that made Fauda such a standout.
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01
Tehran
action · crime · drama · thriller
Tamar is a Mossad hacker-agent who infiltrates Tehran under a false identity to help destroy Iran's nuclear reactor. But when her mission fails, Tamar must plan an operation that will place everyone dear to her in jeopardy.
Directed by Daniel SyrkinCast Niv Sultan, Shaun Toub, Shila Ommi, Shervin Alenabi, Sarah von SchwarzeApple TV Plus -
02
The Spy
biography · drama · history · thriller
In the 1960s, Israeli clerk-turned-secret agent Eli Cohen goes deep undercover inside Syria on a perilous, years-long mission to spy for Mossad.
Directed by Gideon RaffCast Sacha Baron Cohen, Noah Emmerich, Hadar Ratzon Rotem, Alexander Siddig, Waleed ZuaiterNetflix -
03
The Bureau
drama · thriller
Within the DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), a department called the Office Of Legends (BDL) forms and remote pilot the most important agents of the French intelligence services: Clandestine. Immersion in hostile country, their mission is to identify individuals who may be recruited as sources of information. Operating "under caption", that is to say in a fabricated identity from scratch, they live for many years in a permanent duplicity. Our hero just returned from a clandestine mission six years in Damascus. But contrary to what is required by safety rules, he does not abandon his legend and the identity under which he lived in Syria, thus putting in danger the whole system.
Directed by Eric Rochant, Samuel Collardey, Antoine Chevrollier, Anna Novion, Hélier CisterneCast Mathieu Kassovitz, Florence Loiret Caille, Jonathan Zaccaï, Sara Giraudeau, Jules SagotParamount Plus -
04
Taken
action · drama · thriller
The origin story of younger, hungrier, former Green Beret Bryan Mills as he deals with a personal tragedy that shakes his world. As he fights to overcome the incident and exact revenge, Mills is pulled into a career as a deadly CIA operative, a job that awakens his very particular, and very dangerous, set of skills.
Directed by Romeo Tirone, Bill Johnson, Elodie Keene, Lexi Alexander, Holly DaleCast Clive Standen, Jennifer Beals, Adam Goldberg, Jessica Camacho, Gaius CharlesAmazon Prime VideoPeacock PremiumFreevee -
05
Patriot
comedy · drama · thriller
To prevent Iran from going nuclear, intelligence officer John Tavner must forgo all safety nets and assume a perilous "non-official cover" -- that of a mid-level employee at a Midwestern industrial piping firm.
Directed by Steve Conrad, Tucker Gates, Ted Griffin, Michael Trim, James WhitakerCast Michael Dorman, Kurtwood Smith, Michael Chernus, Kathleen Munroe, Aliette OpheimAmazon Prime VideoFreevee -
06
Kandahar
action · drama · thriller
After his mission is exposed, an undercover CIA operative stuck deep in hostile territory in Afghanistan must fight his way out, alongside his Afghan translator, to an extraction point in Kandahar, all whilst avoiding elite enemy forces and foreign spies tasked with hunting them down.
Directed by Ric Roman WaughCast Tom Rhys Harries, Farhad Bagheri, Gerard Butler, Mitchell LaFortune, Mark ArnoldHulu -
07
American Assassin
action · thriller
AMERICAN ASSASSIN follows the rise of Mitch Rapp (Dylan O’Brien), a CIA black ops recruit under the instruction of Cold War veteran Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton). The pair is then enlisted by CIA Deputy Director Irene Kennedy (Sanaa Lathan) to investigate a wave of apparently random attacks on both military and civilian targets. Together the three discover a pattern in the violence leading them to a joint mission with a lethal Turkish agent (Shiva Negar) to stop a mysterious operative (Taylor Kitsch) intent on starting a World War in the Middle East.
Directed by Michael CuestaCast Dylan O'Brien, Charlotte Vega, Christopher Bomford, Chris Webster, Shahid AhmedParamount Plus -
08
Caliphate
crime · drama · thriller
National Security agent Fatima receives a tip that a terrorist attack against Sweden is in the planning stage. Meanwhile Sulle, a teenage girl in Stockholm, gets interested in her student assistant who opens doors to a new and fascinating world - the true path. Kalifat is a thriller about the intermingled fates of five young women who get caught up in the seducing and destroying force of religious fundamentalism.
Directed by Goran KapetanovicCast Gizem Erdogan, Amed Bozan, Aliette Opheim, Nora Rios, Lancelot NcubeAmazon Prime VideoFreevee -
09
Spy/Master
action · drama · thriller
Victor Godeanu, Ceausescu's right-hand man, has a secret. He is also a KGB agent and must escape before he is discovered, so he will seize a valuable diplomatic opportunity.
Directed by Christopher SmithCast Alec Secareanu, Parker Sawyers, Ana Ularu, Svenja Jung, Laurentiu BãnescuMax -
10
Ghosts of Beirut
history · thriller
Follows the hunt for Imad Mughniyeh, a Lebanese terrorist who evaded his adversaries in the Mossad and the CIA for more than two decades.
Directed by Greg BarkerCast Dina Shihabi, Navid Negahban, Sarah Oliver-Watts, Nick Donadio, Amir KhouryParamount Plus -
11
The Night Manager
crime · drama · mystery · thriller
Former British soldier Jonathan Pine navigates the shadowy recesses of Whitehall and Washington where an unholy alliance operates between the intelligence community and the secret arms trade. To infiltrate the inner circle of lethal arms dealer Richard Onslow Roper, Pine must himself become a criminal.
Directed by Susanne Bier, Georgi Banks-DaviesCast Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman, Alistair Petrie, Michael NardoneAmazon Prime Video -
12
Lioness
action · drama · thriller
Cruz Manuelos, a rough-around-the-edges but passionate young Marine, is recruited to join the CIA's Lioness Engagement Team to help bring down a terrorist organization from within. Joe, the station chief of the Lioness program, is tasked with training, managing and leading her female undercover operatives.
Directed by Michael Friedman, John Hillcoat, Stephen Kay, Anthony Byrne, Paul CameronCast Zoe Saldaña, Laysla De Oliveira, Dave Annable, Jill Wagner, LaMonica GarrettParamount Plus
Wrapping Up
These picks give you a strong mix of covert operations, personal stakes, and high-tension storytelling, with something here for viewers who want realism, momentum, or both. From Tehran and The Bureau to Patriot and American Assassin, each title brings a different angle on secrecy, conflict, and survival. Bookmark this page if you want a quick way to revisit the best options, since it is updated regularly as new matches become worth adding. If you are ready for your next binge, this list is a solid place to start.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes these movies similar to Fauda?
These picks were matched by tone, themes, and story style using a similarity model trained on plot synopses, genres, and cast — not just shared genre tags — so the connection runs deeper than a simple category match.
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Last updated: September 10, 2026