Overview
A secret agent's mission in Cairo leads to unexpected adventures and comedic mishaps.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Brisk
- Intensity
- Moderate
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Mild
- witty
- irreverent
- deadpan
- lazy sunday
- comedy night
What critics said
Critics broadly found the film an entertaining and unusually detailed spy spoof, praising its deadpan comedy, period recreation, and political satire while noting some uneven pacing.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The film reproduces the look of 1950s cinema through its production design, cinematography, styling, and deliberately old-fashioned spy presentation.
Hubert Bonisseur de la Bath performs the polished, hyper-confident secret agent while his arrogance and foolish assumptions generate the comedy.
The Cairo mission uses Western espionage, French intelligence, Nazi holdouts, and regional political unrest to satirize foreign-policy attitudes.
The comedy is frequently played almost straight, preserving the heroic posture and formal grammar of classic spy films while making the protagonist absurd.
Films like OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies, and why
The Pink Panther
shared straight-faced spy spoofing, stylish period pastiche, and politically charged comedy
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
shared suave espionage parody, retro 1960s-influenced aesthetics, and broad comic set pieces
Get Smart
shared bumbling secret-agent protagonist, deadpan humor, and satirical espionage plotting
Johnny English
shared James Bond homage, period spy adventure, and irreverent action comedy
Movie Details
- Director
- Michel Hazanavicius
- Release Date
- 2006-04-19
- Runtime
- 99 min
- Rating
- 7.2 / 10 (1906)
Cast
- Jean Dujardin
- Bérénice Bejo
- Aure Atika
- Philippe Lefebvre
- Konstantin Aleksandrov
- Saïd Amadis
- Laurent Bateau
- Claude Brosset
- François Damiens
- Youssef Hamid
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- fuboTV, Philo, OVID, Fandor Amazon Channel, France Channel Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies about?
- A swaggering French secret agent blunders through 1955 Cairo in a meticulously styled, deadpan send-up of classic espionage cinema.
- What is OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies as brisk, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies as mild.
- What did critics think of OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies?
- Critics broadly found the film an entertaining and unusually detailed spy spoof, praising its deadpan comedy, period recreation, and political satire while noting some uneven pacing.
- Which films are like OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies?
- Films with a similar feel include The Pink Panther, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, Get Smart, and Johnny English.
- How long is OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies?
- OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies runs 99 minutes.
- Where can I watch OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies?
- In United States, OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies streams on fuboTV, Philo, OVID, Fandor Amazon Channel, France Channel Amazon Channel, Cineverse Amazon Channel.
In Ember's collections
Movies like OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies
- Inspector Clouseau1968
- The Pink Panther1963
- The Magnificent One1973
- Mortadelo & Filemon: The Big Adventure2003
- Asterix & Obelix: The Middle Kingdom2023
- The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec2010
- The Pink Panther 22009
- The Last Mercenary2021
- The Return of the Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe1974
- The Gendarme and the Creatures from Outer Space1979
