This 94% Rotten Tomatoes Christmas spy thriller might be the best you’ve never seen

Spy thriller meets forbidden romance in this Netflix thriller that has a 94% Rotten Tomatoes score. It’s a moody slow-burn set against twinkling Christmas lights, with secrets, seductions, and lots of snow.

Black Doves might just be the slickest Christmas spy thriller that is most unexpectedly emotional as well. It has the kind of holiday vibes that blend neon-lit espionage with family drama.

Black Doves is a six-episode spy thriller officially created and written by British screenwriter Joe Barton, known for The Lazarus Project. It is executive produced alongside Keira Knightley, Jane Featherstone, and Chris Fry under Noisy Bear and Sister Pictures.

It premiered on Netflix on December 5, 2024, and was filmed on location across London, using the festive holiday season as a backdrop. Keira Knightley is Helen Webb and Ben Whishaw is Sam Young in this stylish wintery thriller.

Helen is a seemingly ordinary wife and mother with a dangerous secret life. When things go terribly sideways, she’s forced to call in an old friend, Sam. What happens after that can only be described as thrilling.

Read on to know more.

Spy thriller but with Christmas lights? Black Doves is the answer

Black Doves will disappoint you if you go in expecting the usual slow-motion gunfights and over-the-top gadgets. It gives you something rarer: a character-driven story where there’s no dearth of secrets and betrayals.

Helen is battling the emotional fallout of living a double life. And Knightley, as always, brings that perfect balance of steel and vulnerability. The dynamic between Helen and Whishaw’s character, Sam, is another reason Black Doves works so well.

Their bond is built on years of regret, missteps, and memories on the field. Sam is the kind of assassin who reads like a poet and moves like a ghost. And watching him help Helen through her messy life gives the spy thriller an unexpected warmth—even amidst all that blood and action.

Black Doves also does something that feels revolutionary. It gives us a queer assassin in Sam, played with grace by Ben Whishaw. It’s something you don’t see often in a spy thriller. He is portrayed as a deeply layered character whose queerness is part of him, not his whole arc.

It’s rare to find a hitman who’s soft-spoken, emotionally complex, and also carrying the weight of a past love. And that adds such unexpected depth to the story. In a genre usually dominated by straight, stoic tough guys, Sam feels like a breath of fresh air.

So if you’re in the mood for something that takes the genre and gives it a new twist, Black Doves is your show. That Rotten Tomatoes score is most definitely well-earned. And once you start watching, you’ll wonder how this gem ever stayed off your watchlist.

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