As expected, within a span of a few days alone, Heart of Stone has climbed up right to the top of Netflix’s most-watched films. The Gal Gadot, Jamie Dornan & Alia Bhatt starrer is tailor-made streaming stuff with little to no surprises packed in. However, that’s exactly what Netflix is aiming for right now – forming tired and serviceable action flicks that can help them build multiple franchises. It shouldn’t be a surprise that maybe 10 years from now, these spy movies will be crisscrossing their universe to have an Avenger-level showdown in the realm of globe-trotting espionage. Jokes apart, if you did enjoy Netflix’s Heart of Stone, here are a few movies that you might find in the same vein.
1. Skyfall (2012)
The James Bond inspiration on Heart of Stone is apparent, but the similarities are too eerie to let go of when Skyfall is concerned. The 23rd film in the long-standing franchise revolves around Bond’s pursuit of a cyberterrorist who poses a significant threat to MI6 and M, the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service.
Directed by Sam Mendes, the plot of the film centers on Bond’s loyalty to M being put to the test when her past comes back to haunt her. The film explores themes of betrayal, espionage, and the consequences of decisions made in the line of duty. The main antagonist, Raoul Silva, portrayed by Javier Bardem, is a former MI6 agent who has turned against the agency and seeks to exact revenge on M. Much like Jamie Dornan’s Parker, the evil of the film has a very personal agenda against the allied forces that operate in secrecy.
Throughout the movie, Bond must track down Silva, who is a master hacker capable of disrupting global security and intelligence networks. The story takes Bond to various locations, from Istanbul to Shanghai and ultimately to the Scottish Highlands, where the climax of the film unfolds at Bond’s childhood home, Skyfall.
2. Atomic Blonde (2017)
When we talk about female-led espionage thrillers, the 2017 action film Atomic Blonde instantly comes to mind. Directed by David Leitch and based on the graphic novel “The Coldest City” by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart, the movie is set during the Cold War in 1989, right before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Starring Charlize Theron as Lorraine Broughton, an MI6 agent (British intelligence) who is sent to Berlin to recover a list of double agents that could jeopardize the entire intelligence network, Atomic Blonde follows the complex and dangerous world of espionage in Berlin that Lorraine tries to navigate in order to get her hands on this list.
On the way, she faces many challenges, including betrayals and deadly encounters with other spies, mercenaries, and double agents. Similar to Heart of Stone’s Rachel Stone, Lorraine is a headstrong and intelligent spy who wouldn’t get scared if she had to jump down a cliff or take off an entire army all on her own.
3. Interceptor (2022)
Talking about female-centric action movies that are about the heroine saving a weapon from falling into the wrong hands, Netflix’s 2022 film Interceptor comes to mind. Much like Heart of Stone, the movie follows J. J. Collins (Elsa Pataky), who is cast aside from her cherished role at the Pentagon under unjust circumstances and finds herself at the helm of a solitary nuclear missile interceptor base, a lone bastion stationed amidst the boundless expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
As the solitude of her new post envelopes her, a meticulously coordinated assault descends upon the isolated base. Amidst the chaos, Collins crosses paths with Alexander Kessel, a figure both charismatic and corrupt, a former luminary of US military intelligence who now harbors unthinkable designs. With her back against the wall, Collins draws upon her years of tactical prowess and battle-honed wisdom as the line between ally and adversary blurs, and she must navigate a treacherous labyrinth of deception.
Her mission: to halt Kessel and his mercenaries from executing their malevolent scheme that threatens untold destruction. Similar to Rachel Stone in Heart of Stone, the fight here mostly becomes about stopping people that you once knew and trusted and never truly understanding what made them do the switch.
4. The 355 (2022)
In this high-stakes thriller, the world’s most classified weapon slips into the clutches of ruthless mercenaries. Enter Mason “Mace” Brown (Jessica Chastain), a CIA agent known for her unpredictability. Teaming up with her rival, the German operative Marie (Diane Kruger), Mace finds an unlikely ally in Khadijah (Lupita Nyong’o), a brilliant former MI6 agent with unmatched computer skills. Together, they recruit the talents of Graciela (Penélope Cruz), a Colombian psychologist whose expertise adds a unique dimension to the team.
Their mission: a race to reclaim the weapon before catastrophe strikes. But there’s a catch—their every move is being shadowed by Lin Mi Sheng (Bingbing Fan). As the quartet embarks on a globe-trotting odyssey, from the charming cafes of Paris to the vibrant markets of Morocco and the lavish auction houses of Shanghai, alliances form and break, trusts are tested, and loyalties will be pushed to the brink.
The 355 finds a place in this list of movies similar to Heart of Stone because operatives are trying to keep a powerful weapon from falling into the wrong hand. That, and the fact that both the movies use terribly tired espionage tropes to present a pretty standard action fair in spite of a bigger, more palatable narrative in sight.
5. The Gray Man (2022)
Amidst the shadows, the CIA’s enigmatic and supremely skilled mercenary, Sierra Six (Ryan Gosling) – a figure shrouded in mystery, unknowingly stumbles upon a trove of ominous agency secrets.
As fate would have it, a psychopathic former ally turned nemesis named Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans) decides to capitalize on this accidental discovery, unleashing a ruthless wave of chaos by placing a lucrative bounty on Six’s head. This nefarious action triggers a relentless worldwide pursuit, pitting an array of cunning international assassins in a high-stakes race to eliminate their elusive target.
Now, there are a few reasons why you can consider watching The Gray Man after you are doing with Heart of Stone. Much like the latter, this is a spy thriller where the conflict within the agencies serves as a backdrop. The fact that you can watch both of them on Netflix is another.
6. Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One (2023)
Skydance, the production company behind Netflix’s Heart of Stone, is not the only common thread between the two movies. In fact, many critics and audiences have pointed out how the two films share the same DNA. In Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Ethan Hunt and his skilled IMF team are thrust into their most perilous mission to date: Hunt down a nightmarish new weapon poised to shatter humanity’s future if it lands in the wrong hands.
As the balance of power hangs on tethered grounds and the world is leading to some kind of self-destruction, shadows from Ethan’s own history inch closer, initiating a high-stakes global showdown.
Much like Heart of Stone, the latest of the MI movies is a heart-pounding pursuit across continents as Ethan and his team engage in relentless battles with cryptic and omnipotent adversaries who seem to emerge from nowhere. Like Rachel Stone in Heart of Stone, the dilemma lies in Hunt having to choose between saving the world from a power weapon falling into the wrong hands and saving those who he considers the closest.
