FilmsSpiesLike this

Films like Spies.

Spies (1928) reads as Sombre, breathless, measured thriller / crime, grounded in texture. Ambivalent, mid-stakes, cold. Every film below is ranked by distance across the same twelve hand-scored axes — with what it keeps, and where it walks away. Not a genre dump.

The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (1933) poster
1. The Testament of Dr. Mabuse1933

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) poster
2. The Man Who Knew Too Much1934

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Foreign Correspondent (1940) poster
3. Foreign Correspondent1940

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

The Last Command (1928) poster
4. The Last Command1928

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Saboteur (1942) poster
5. Saboteur1942

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a unmistakable directorial hand.

Battleship Potemkin (1925) poster
6. Battleship Potemkin1925

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

The 39 Steps (1935) poster
7. The 39 Steps1935

Keeps the unmistakable directorial hand and the grounded, familiar shape — one of the nearest reads in the catalogue.

Fragment of an Empire (1929) poster
8. Fragment of an Empire1929

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Strike (1925) poster
9. Strike1925

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the unmistakable directorial hand; trades toward a cold, bleak undertow.

Underworld (1927) poster
10. Underworld1927

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

Secret Agent (1936) poster
11. Secret Agent1936

Keeps the cold, bleak undertow and the bone-dry seriousness; trades toward a unmistakable directorial hand.

The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927) poster
12. The Love of Jeanne Ney1927

Keeps the bone-dry seriousness and the grounded, familiar shape; trades toward a patient, unhurried pace.

These are Spies’s neighbours — where are yours?

Rate five posters and the same twelve axes read you — then tonight’s pick comes from your own centre of taste.

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