A taut thriller that unfolds across a massive canvas with political savvy, historical relevancy, and a good amount of cheek, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Cannes award winner The Secret Agent is another unique genre re-imagining from one of Brazil’s finest filmmakers.
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The year is 1977, and Brazil’s military dictatorship is starting to fall into its waning days, which means the grip it places upon its citizens only increases with the government’s growing irrelevance and resistance. Teacher and tech expert Marcelo (Wagner Moura, in his best role to date) has been on the run from government authorities for quite some time (for reasons not immediately understood), but is keen to return to the city of Recife, in order to spend time with his young son. Under the chaotic cover of Carnival season, Marcelo makes his way to a safe house where other politically persecuted people are staying, and even manages to get a job in the records department of the local police service while he waits for documents to be produced that can help him flee the country. It’s not long before his pursuers get hip to Marcello’s whereabouts and a father-son hitman team are sent to take him out for good.
Filho (Bacurau, Neighbouring Sounds) crafts a slow burning shell game that only lets the viewer in on little bits at a time. It’s like the shells are standing still for a very long time, only for all of them to be shuffled in the blink of an eye. It takes quite some time for The Secret Agent to get going, but when things escalate, Filho refuses to let up, en route to a conclusion that is both hinted at throughout, but still comes as a surprise. The Secret Agent is full of bold structuring and story twists, and Filho isn’t afraid of indulging in some amusing asides to create an immersive period experience (people losing their minds at a screening of The Omen, a running bit involving a shark that swallowed a human leg, the appearance of Udo Kier as a former German soldier who’s treated like a sideshow attraction by locals).
All the trappings of a period appropriate conspiracy thriller are on display in The Secret Agent, but Filho wants to a look at a world where such a story (fictional or not) can be a very distinct possibility. Filho’s vision of Brazil in 1977 is one where violence and corruption is rampant, and the aftermath is left to fester in the open without anyone saying or doing much about it. You can either find amusement or despair in such a setting, and Filho somehow finds both.
The Secret Agent opens at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto and Cineplex Forum in Montreal on Friday, December 5, 2025 and expands to additional Canadian cities in the following weeks.
