The Secret Agent
Directed by Kleber Mendonça FilhoBrazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven he was expecting.
The Secret Agent Ratings & Reviews
- Kevin WardDecember 14, 2025The Secret Agent is a political thriller that is tough to crack at first. The title alone essentially begs you to immediately start scanning the characters trying to decode who’s watching whom, what kind of espionage game is being played. Who even IS the secret agent? Those answers don’t come easily. Instead, the film drops you into a slow-burn atmosphere with minimal explanation and lets tension, mood, and implication do much of the heavy lifting. At the center of it all is Wagner Moura who is phenomenal. The film’s many tonal shifts and genre flourishes orbit around him: split diopters, a Jaws homage, a B-movie killer sequence, and a genuinely thrilling shootout. It often feels like a love letter to cinema itself, a collage of influences converging into something singular rather than derivative. As strong as Moura is, Dona Sebastiana steals every scene. There’s also something that feels very prescient about watching citizens attempt to flee a country in its waning moments before slipping into dictatorship.
- thehave1January 31, 2026Disorganised, unfocused thriller that should not be nominated for an Oscar, some of the characters are interesting but are never fully developed, the two faced cat was fascinating and the old lady was brilliant, the leg in the park was just stupid and out of character for the film. Satire and serious problem do not mix at least not for me.
- shadow244219h agowas ok, but tbh very boring as well. nicely acted and the scenery is nice. but thats about it imho
- TimFebruary 8, 2026The filmmakers could have taken the thriller aspects out of this movie and you would have been left with an absolutely absorbing family drama, trevelogue, and parade of fascinating characters. I kept expecting something otherworldly to happen until I realized that there was just a flavor of otherworldliness infusing every minute. At times it gave me the same feeling I get reading the Palomar comics by Gilbert Hernandez. I will definitely be watching this one again.
- rg9400January 26, 2026The Secret Agent makes a lot of baffling decisions that prevent its strongest aspects from shining through. For one thing, the movie waits until halfway into the runtime to give us the background into our main character and why events are happening to him as well as what motivates him. In fact, this is a very common theme throughout the movie. In that flashback itself, the character himself says that he told the story in the wrong order and after showing us a scene filled with consequences, he talks about what led to that scene. This decision to put the cart before the horse is clearly intentional, but I think it is a mistake. It does not generate an air of mystery to not know why this character is on a run. It just makes it hard to care about seeing effects of a cause without knowing that cause first. As I'm writing this review, I can barely recall the first half of the movie prior to that flashback because so much of it didn't have the background required to make them engaging, and I think had some of those scenes been put after this backstory, they would have landed way better. There are also a handful of really weird, almost surreal scenes that feel out of place in this movie, including the opening scene. They are darkly comic, and I get that they are representing the type of wanton corruption and violence that existed within Brazil at the time, but they never stitch together with the rest of the narrative. Finally, this movie is missing an ending. After the halfway point, the movie seems to be actually building momentum, and part 3 is filled with some thrilling scenes. It starts to feel like all these disjointed threads will finally come together in an epic and bloody conclusion. Except, the movie doesn't give us that. Suddenly, the movie loses all interest in seeing the various storylines to their end. So many of them are literally left unresolved or happen offscreen, left up to viewer interpretation. To call it anticlimactic would be understating how much of a misfire it is. Instead, the movie tries to focus on some strange framing story (that again has not had enough of a background to make us care about it), and then it ends on a scene that seems to be trying to be insightful and pithy but feels unearned and frustrating. At 2h41m, having a rushed and incomplete ending is unacceptable. There are just lots of these baffling decisions, but the sad part is that there is clearly a lot of craft that went into this movie. Wagner Moura is really good even if I do not think he is at Best Actor level. The cinematography is fantastic with gorgeous transitions and colors that feel nostalgic while also full of depth. In a vacuum, scenes can be expertly blocked and sharply written. At times, the movie feels like a classic. However, its flaws are numerous and severe enough that I just felt annoyed by the end of the movie instead of enjoying it.
- cultfilmlikerJanuary 27, 2026Would have pulled that woman out first, Vincent from Pulp Fiction Beautiful cinematography! And I love the set designs. Even the banal was colorful! Incredible soundtrack and loved the music too! Reminded me of the Donnie Darko score at times lol Everyone constantly fucking in the heat - it’s gotta smell like sex everywhere! Love that this and OBAA are both about revolutionaries trying and failing to communicate via phone Love the reverence for The Omen (& Jaws obviously) RIP Udo Kier
- Evan May7d agoWhen corruption and state-sanctioned violence lead to the erasure of people in the past and today, it’s worth paying the 2h 40m of our attention to be able to sit with them. Especially when they are portrayed by Wagner Moura (and Tânia Maria!).
- craig_119March 1, 2026I think if I knew more about Brazilian history and what was happening during this era I would have rated it a 4+ star
- Hasti.BozorgniaFebruary 6, 2026A tragedy of crime and corruption, and of those who choose to stand against.
- springer666February 6, 2026Whoopsie. I got confused and thought I was settling in to watch a movie about a travel agent. Being a travel agent, naturally I was keen to see my profession receiving its long due hagiography. But sometimes, the wrong path can lead to the right place. I watched the Secret Agent with a smile on my face the whole way through. What a film! What a performance by Wagner Moura! What a country! I now sell all my clients on the beauty, the culture, and the criminal underworld of Brazil. O Brasil é lindo maravilhoso!!!
- Wilson Girardi1d agoThere's life in Brazilian movies!
- jackmeat3d agoMy quick rating - 6.9/10. It’s been a while since I managed to watch every nominee in the Best Picture lineup, but this year I get to make an educated guess at the eventual winner after watching all 10. Unfortunately, The Secret Agent probably won’t be the one taking home the big trophy. Set in Brazil during 1977, the film follows Marcelo, a quiet technology expert played by Wagner Moura. He is on the run and trying to reconnect with his son. His journey leads him to Recife during Carnival, which sounds like the kind of crazy celebration where someone on the lam might blend in nicely. Wrong! The city quickly proves to be anything but a safe haven. The Secret Agent opens with a montage of old photographs and upbeat music that paints the era full of "great mischief". Almost immediately, though, things get strange in that artsy “this might mean something or it might just look cool” way. One early scene features police standing near a dead body that seemingly has nothing to do with them, just lying there like an awkward party guest no one wants to acknowledge. After some road travel through genuinely gorgeous scenery, we arrive at Part 1: Boy’s Nightmare. Marcelo settles into an apartment building run by the warm and seemingly innocent Dona, played by Tânia Maria. Naturally, when someone is introduced as adorable in a thriller, your brain immediately starts asking how long that innocence will last. The building houses a variety of refugees and oddball residents, including a cat with two faces that looks like it wandered in from a completely different genre. Symbolism? Possibly. Reoccurring nightmare? On the way. Director Kleber Mendonça Filho doesn’t shy away from the grisly when the moment calls for it. A shark-related scene involving a body and a missing leg proves that point pretty quickly. Meanwhile, the story splinters into other threads, including a grim execution sequence in São Paulo that suggests multiple storylines will eventually connect. Part 2, Identification Documents Service, slows things down considerably. In fact, it slows them down so much that some conversations stretch far beyond the payoff. It takes nearly two hours before the film finally snaps back to life with a moment that, without spoiling anything, gives someone a very literal “leg up” on the sexual revolution. Yes, the movie suddenly wakes up just long enough to remind you it has a sense of humor buried somewhere inside its moody runtime. Part 3, Blood Transfusion, arrives with about 40 minutes left and finally delivers some real urgency. A shootout turns graphic quickly, reinforcing the director’s commitment to showing violence without flinching. At some point, the storytelling approach becomes more interesting. I missed exactly when we first see it, but students listen to old tape recordings documenting past events. The film visually reconstructs what they’re hearing as the story unfolds. Visually, The Secret Agent is excellent. The production design nails the 1970s look, especially the cars, and Recife feels like a living, breathing character rather than just a backdrop. The film is packed with eccentric personalities played by an equally eccentric cast, keeping the atmosphere unpredictable. Moura gives a solid performance, but it’s far too subdued for me to give him the Best Actor nod. Marcelo spends most of the film operating at the same emotional volume level, which doesn’t always match with what is swirling around him. In the end, what could have been an inventive political thriller ends up feeling like a collage of familiar Brazilian themes. Corruption, nostalgia, and political tension - without enough weight to tie it all together. It’s technically accomplished and looks great, but dramatically hollow and, frankly, way longer than it needed to be. Sometimes style carries a film a long way. Here, it carries it 20 minutes shy of three hours…which was way too far in my eyes.
- Francois RatelleFebruary 25, 2026Very good
- ThPFebruary 14, 2026interesting but lengthy...
- makdelartFebruary 1, 2026I like films that are from outside Hollywood; I like unhurried narration and gradually building tension. In addition, we have events that are historically set in a specific place and time. However, despite everything, I would speed up the pace a bit.
The Secret Agent Trivia
The Secret Agent was released on November 6, 2025.
The Secret Agent was directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho.
The Secret Agent has a runtime of 2h 40m.
The Secret Agent was produced by Kleber Mendonça Filho, Emilie Lesclaux, Winston Araújo.
Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven he was expecting.
The key characters in The Secret Agent are Armando Solimões / Marcelo Alves / Adult Fernando Solimões (Wagner Moura), Dona Sebastiana (Tânia Maria), Fátima (Alice Carvalho).
The Secret Agent is rated R.
The Secret Agent is a Drama, Thriller, Crime film.
The Secret Agent has an audience rating of 8.2 out of 10.
The Secret Agent had a budget of $5M.
The Secret Agent has made $14.5M at the box office.