Back to trending
North by Northwest

North by Northwest

Thriller · Adventure · 1959

Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

Movie details

North by Northwest

“It's a deadly game of "tag" and Cary Grant is "it"!”

1959 Thriller · Adventure 2h 17m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

8.0 / 10

Community rating

Advertising man Roger Thornhill is mistaken for a spy, triggering a deadly cross-country chase.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over North by Northwest?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Supremacy

Action · 2004

A CIA operation to purchase classified Russian documents is blown by a rival agent, who then shows up in the sleepy seaside village where Bourne and Marie have been living. The pair run for their lives and Bourne, who promised retaliation should anyone from his former life attempt contact, is forced to once again take up his life as a trained assassin to survive.

The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity

Action · 2002

Wounded to the brink of death and suffering from amnesia, Jason Bourne is rescued at sea by a fisherman. With nothing to go on but a Swiss bank account number, he starts to reconstruct his life, but finds that many people he encounters want him dead. However, Bourne realizes that he has the combat and mental skills of a world-class spy—but who does he work for?

The Amateur

The Amateur

Thriller · 2025

After his life is turned upside down when his wife is killed in a London terrorist attack, a brilliant but introverted CIA decoder takes matters into his own hands when his supervisors refuse to take action.

Pickup on South Street

Pickup on South Street

Thriller · 1953

In New York City, an insolent pickpocket, Skip McCoy, inadvertently sets off a chain of events when he targets ex-prostitute Candy and steals her wallet. Unaware that she has been making deliveries of highly classified information to the communists, Candy, who has been trailed by FBI agents for months in hopes of nabbing the spy ringleader, is sent by her ex-boyfriend, Joey, to find Skip and retrieve the valuable microfilm he now holds.

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol

Action · 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.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Mission: Impossible - Fallout

Action · 2018

When an IMF mission ends badly, the world is faced with dire consequences. As Ethan Hunt takes it upon himself to fulfill his original briefing, the CIA begin to question his loyalty and his motives. The IMF team find themselves in a race against time, hunted by assassins while trying to prevent a global catastrophe.

Bridge of Spies

Bridge of Spies

Thriller · 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.

The Family Plan

The Family Plan

Action · 2023

Dan Morgan is many things: a devoted husband, a loving father, a celebrated car salesman. He's also a former assassin. And when his past catches up to his present, he's forced to take his unsuspecting family on a road trip unlike any other.

xXx

xXx

Action · 2002

Xander Cage is your standard adrenaline junkie with no fear and a lousy attitude. When the US Government "recruits" him to go on a mission, he's not exactly thrilled. His mission: to gather information on an organization that may just be planning the destruction of the world, led by the nihilistic Yorgi.

Mission: Impossible III

Mission: Impossible III

Adventure · 2006

Retired from active duty, and training recruits for the Impossible Mission Force, agent Ethan Hunt faces the toughest foe of his career: Owen Davian, an international broker of arms and information, who's as cunning as he is ruthless. Davian emerges to threaten Hunt and all that he holds dear – including the woman Hunt loves.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Alfred Hitchcock

Written by

Ernest Lehman

Cary Grant

Cary Grant

Roger Thornhill

Eva Marie Saint

Eva Marie Saint

Eve Kendall

James Mason

James Mason

Phillip Vandamm

Jessie Royce Landis

Jessie Royce Landis

Clara Thornhill

Leo G. Carroll

Leo G. Carroll

Professor

Josephine Hutchinson

Josephine Hutchinson

Mrs. Townsend

Philip Ober

Philip Ober

Lester Townsend

Court is in session

Put North by Northwest on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.