Movies Like Wife of a Spy (2020)

Wife of a Spy is a 2020 drama, thriller, war film from Kiyoshi Kurosawa with a MovieMagicScore of 6.7/10. Here are 20 similar films, ranked by real viewer ratings — starting with Empire of the Sun and Men Behind the Sun.

Drama Thriller War

Empire of the Sun

1987

Jamie Graham, a privileged English boy, is living in Shanghai when the Japanese invade and force all foreigners into prison camps. Jamie is captured with an American sailor, who looks out for him while they are in the camp together. Even though he is separated from his parents and in a hostile environment, Jamie maintains his dignity and youthful spirit, providing a beacon of hope for the others held captive with him.

7.5

MagicScore

Men Behind the Sun

1988

The film is a graphic depiction of the war atrocities committed by the Japanese at Unit 731, the secret biological weapons experimentation unit of the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The film details the various cruel medical experiments Unit 731 inflicted upon the Chinese and Soviet prisoners at the tail-end of the war.

6.2

MagicScore

Purple Butterfly

2003

Ding Hui is a member of Purple Butterfly, a powerful resistance group in Japanese occupied Shanghai. An unexpected encounter reunites her with Itami, an ex-lover and officer with a secret police unit tasked with dismantling Purple Butterfly.

6.7

MagicScore

The Last Emperor

1987

A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People's Republic.

7.6

MagicScore

Red Sorghum

1988

An old leper who owned a remote sorghum winery dies. Jiu'er, the wife bought by the leper, and her lover, identified only as "my Grandpa" by the narrator, take over the winery and set up an idealized quasi-matriarchal community headed by Jiu'er. When the Japanese invaders subject the area to their rule and cut down the sorghum to make way for a road, the community rises up and resists as the sorghum grows anew.

7.2

MagicScore

Fires on the Plain

1959

In the closing days of WWII, a Japanese soldier afflicted with tuberculosis is abandoned by his company and left to wander the Philippine island of Leyte.

7.6

MagicScore

The Wasted Times

2016

Shanghai gangsters grapple with lust and loyalty on the eve of war with Japan as they try to navigate an alliance with the enemy's army.

6.9

MagicScore

Letters from Iwo Jima

2006

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

7.5

MagicScore

The Thin Red Line

1998

The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived.

7.4

MagicScore

#10

Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence

1983

Island of Java, 1942, during World War II. British Major Jack Celliers arrives at a Japanese prison camp, run by the strict Captain Yonoi. Colonel John Lawrence, who has a profound knowledge of Japanese culture, and Sergeant Hara, brutal and simpleton, will witness the struggle of wills between two men from very different backgrounds who are tragically destined to clash.

7.3

MagicScore

#11

Tora! Tora! Tora!

1970

In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.

7.1

MagicScore

#12

Flags of Our Fathers

2006

There were five Marines and one Navy Corpsman photographed raising the U.S. flag on Mt. Suribachi by Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. This is the story of three of the six surviving servicemen - John 'Doc' Bradley, Pvt. Rene Gagnon and Pvt. Ira Hayes - who fought in the battle to take Iwo Jima from the Japanese.

6.9

MagicScore

#13

Hidden Blade

2023

Follows the story of underground workers who risked their lives to send intelligence and defend the motherland, set after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor when the Wang Jingwei regime declared war on Britain and the U.S.

6.2

MagicScore

#14

Midway

1976

This war drama depicts the U.S. and Japanese forces in the naval Battle of Midway, which became a turning point for Americans during World War II.

6.6

MagicScore

#15

They Were Expendable

1945

After a demonstration of new PT boats, navy brass are still unconvinced of their viability in combat, leaving Lt. "Rusty" Ryan frustrated. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, however, Ryan and his buddy Lt. Brickley are told they can finally take their squadron into battle. The PT boats quickly prove their worth, successfully shooting down Japanese planes, relaying messages between islands, and picking off a multitude of enemy ships.

6.5

MagicScore

#16

Paradise Road

1997

A group of English, American, Dutch and Australian women creates a vocal orchestra while being imprisoned in a Japanese POW camp on Sumatra during World War II.

6.4

MagicScore

#17

Midway

2019

The story of the Battle of Midway, and the leaders and soldiers who used their instincts, fortitude and bravery to overcome massive odds.

7.1

MagicScore

#18

The Final Countdown

1980

During routine manoeuvres near Hawaii in 1980, the aircraft-carrier USS Nimitz is caught in a strange vortex-like storm, throwing the ship back in time to 1941—mere hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

6.6

MagicScore

#19

Allied

2016

In 1942, an intelligence officer in North Africa encounters a female French Resistance fighter on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. When they reunite in London, their relationship is tested by the pressures of war.

6.8

MagicScore

#20

Ivan's Childhood

1962

In WW2, twelve year old Soviet orphan Ivan Bondarev works for the Soviet army as a scout behind the German lines and strikes a friendship with three sympathetic Soviet officers.

7.8

MagicScore

Frequently asked

What are the best movies like Wife of a Spy?

The top films similar to Wife of a Spy by MovieMagicScore are Empire of the Sun (7.5), Men Behind the Sun (6.2), Purple Butterfly (6.7). Each shares drama/thriller/war themes and is ranked by real viewer ratings, not critics or studios.

Is Wife of a Spy worth watching?

Wife of a Spy holds a MovieMagicScore of 6.7/10 from 98 viewer ratings.

What kind of movie is Wife of a Spy?

Wife of a Spy (2020) is a drama, thriller, war film directed by Kiyoshi Kurosawa, starring Yu Aoi, Issey Takahashi, Masahiro Higashide.

Where can I find more recommendations like Wife of a Spy?

Browse the full ranked list above, or explore more drama recommendations on MovieMagicScore, where every list is ordered by genuine viewer ratings.

Keep exploring

Movies like Empire of the Sun Movies like Men Behind the Sun Movies like Purple Butterfly Movies like The Last Emperor Movies like Red Sorghum Movies like Fires on the Plain

About movies like Wife of a Spy

This ranked list pairs Wife of a Spy (2020), a drama and thriller and war film from Kiyoshi Kurosawa, with similar titles by genre, theme and cast overlap (fans of Yu Aoi take note). Unlike critic-driven sites, every position here is ordered by MovieMagicScore — a rating built only from real viewers, with no studio marketing or paid placement. Scores update as more people rate, so the list stays current.

← Back to Wife of a Spy