Spy dramas come in all kinds of flavors. The genre encompasses everything from big-budget, action-heavy blockbusters like the “Mission: Impossible” franchise to noir-ish thrillers (like director Steven Soderbergh’s recent “Black Bag” from earlier this year) that bring more fidelity to stories about the secret warriors operating in the shadows. Some are packed full of tropes and stereotypes; others go to great lengths to get even the smallest details about espionage work right. All of which is to say: “The 355,” director Simon Kinberg’s 2022 drama about a group of elite female spies that’s among the biggest movies on Netflix at the moment, is an entertaining 2-hour romp. Make of that declaration what you will.
Objectively, the movie was a flop. It made less than $30 million globally, and cost at least $40 million. Granted, it came out back when cinemas were arguably still in recovery mode after the pandemic — but still. The caveat to all that, meanwhile, is that while critics largely panned it, audiences seem to have enjoyed it. And they’re enjoying it still today, as we’ll see below.
A forgotten spy drama gets a new life on Netflix
As of this writing, “The 355” is sitting on a pretty abysmal 24% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes (based on 229 reviews). Having said that, I suspect that most movies would probably be more than satisfied to have the audience score of “The 355” — an 86%, based on more than 1,000 verified ratings.
On Netflix, the movie is #8 on the streamer’s daily Top 10 movies chart for the U.S. (the ranking that can be found each day inside the app itself). That puts it in front of “Despicable Me 2” and “Happy Gilmore 2” at #9 and #10, respectively. The star-studded cast, meanwhile, includes Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong’o, and Sebastian Stan. “Oscar nominee Simon Kinberg (“Deadpool”) co-wrote and directed this thriller about a team of female spies who fight to secure a top-secret weapon,” reads the movie’s official Netflix synopsis.
As someone who spends a lot of time watching spy-themed content, Netflix titles I’d recommend along these lines (before “The 355”) include the series “Black Doves” (starring Keira Knightley and Ben Whishaw) and “Kleo” (a German spy thriller perfect for fans of “Killing Eve”). Both are gritty, well-written, and quite addictive. That said, if you go in with low expectations and are just looking for a straightforward and crowd-pleasing thriller, I suspect that for most people, “The 355” will easily fit that bill. No wonder it’s creeping back up the Netflix charts three years after its release.
