Director Spike Lee has had a number of critically acclaimed movies over the last four decades, but his biggest hit to date is the 2006 crime thriller Inside Man.
Lee re-teamed with frequent collaborator Denzel Washington for an intense and engaging story that gave the heist genre some fresh ideas. This film kept audiences on their toes on its way to $184.4 million worldwide.
As this modern classic approaches its 20th anniversary in 2026, Watch With Us is sharing three reasons why you should watch Inside Man on Netflix before it leaves on January 1, 2026.
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The Ensemble Cast Is Incredible
Whenever Washington is cast in a leading role, you can bank on a great performance from one of the best actors of his generation. He plays Detective Keith Frazier, the man in charge of hostage negotiations during the bank robbery. He’s nominally the hero of the story, and yet a lot of the audience’s sympathy lies with Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), the ringleader behind the robbery. Owen may get second billing behind Washington, but this is Dalton’s story, and he even breaks the fourth wall to tell the audience that he’s pulled off the perfect robbery.
The late Christopher Plummer plays Arthur Case, the chairman of the bank who realizes that the heist may expose his darkest secrets. Jodie Foster plays Case’s fixer, Madeleine White, and she’s interesting because she exudes authority and power even during the middle of the heist. Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor costar as two of Frazier’s colleagues in the NYPD, Captain John Darius and Detective Bill Mitchell. They don’t get as much screen time as the other characters, but they make the most of their scenes.
The Bank Heist Is Ingeniously Staged
One of the most impressive aspects of the heist is that Dalton may be right. This is one of the most meticulously planned bank robberies put to film, and it’s hard not to admire the effort behind it. Dalton and his team have an ingenious way to hide themselves among the hostages that leaves Frazier and the NYPD baffled.
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Lee’s skills behind the camera are also on full display as he lets Dalton and the others trick the police at almost every turn. The robbery is almost performance art, because it’s largely a distraction to give Dalton time to achieve his true objective. The secrets that Case has been hiding are more valuable than any amount of money, and it’s another reason why the audience inevitably sides with Dalton over the cops.
The Real New York Locations Give the Film More Flavor
Lee filmed Inside Man on location in New York, and that was a tremendous boon for this film. There’s an authenticity to the locations in this movie that simply can’t be faked. This feels like a New York story because it is. The city itself is almost a supporting character by the end.
The primary location used in the film was a decommissioned bank, which also added flavor to the film. It’s a lot easier to believe in Inside Man when it has at least one foot set in reality. In the real world, the rich and powerful don’t fall as easily as they do here. But if there was ever a fictional bank robber who deserved folk hero status, it’s Dalton for what he accomplishes in this movie. There is an unrelated sequel to this film, Inside Man: Most Wanted, which is also streaming on Netflix. But frankly, you can ignore that one. This is the movie that you should be watching.
Inside Man is streaming on Netflix until January 1.
