‘The Secret Agent’ review: Kleber Mendonça Filho’s political crime thriller is a must-see

Aquarius And Bacurau Director Kleber Mendonça Filho secret agent Focusing on one man’s experience of oppression, it weaves a complex, time-moving political crime thriller.

Set primarily in the Brazilian writer/director’s hometown of Recife, Pernambuco in the late ’70s, but moving quickly between past and present, the film takes place primarily in the tumultuous years of Brazil’s military dictatorship. It’s a heavy subject matter explored with humanity, with a script so compelling, impeccable acting and a wonderful 1970s aesthetic that it’s impossible to ignore.

in the lead, Narcos And civil war star wagner moura Gives a tremendous inner performance as a seemingly mad man in his mission to escape his country’s authoritarian regime. This is why Moura won Best Actor at Cannes, while Mendonça Filho won Best Director; secret agent Both are immersed in the complexities of rampant corruption and are searching for a way out.

secret agent Flickering between past and present to craft a complex narrative.

Over three acts, brilliantly edited by Eduardo Serrano and Matheus Farias, Mendonça Filho’s film moves across multiple timelines, past and present. In 1977, we meet Armando (Moura), known by the alias Marcelo, a man newly arrived to a residential complex in Recife during the annual Carnival period. A small Kodak box contains all his possessions, and he reveals very little about himself. The apartments are run by cautious matriarch Donna Sebastiana (Tania Maria), and Armando is welcomed with open arms. Amidst the ubiquitous carnival celebrations, Armando is warmly introduced to his neighbors by his seventy-year-old guardian. They are also political refugees, although not everyone enjoys using this term. There’s Thereza Vittoria (Isabel Zua), who has fled the Angolan civil war with her partner; There’s single mother Claudia (Hermila Guedes) whose past beyond the dental profession remains a mystery to her. Like our hero, many people are living under the threat of death.

Meanwhile, corruption is rampant on the city streets, as are carefree police vans filled with rogue officers, hooting, hooliganism, and reckless lawlessness. most prominent in secret agent There’s police chief Euclides (Roberio Diogenes) and his bodyguard-like sons Arlindo (Atallo Martins) and Sergio (Igor de Araújo), who enter the story after being pulled out of a carnival when a man’s severed leg is found in a dead shark’s nest – and that’s by no means the limit of the violence ahead. secret agent,

Gradually, the film uncovers the gravity of Armando’s situation: he is a widowed university professor, specializing in electrical engineering, who is fleeing persecution amid the country’s military dictatorship. In his past, standing up against corporate greed and corrupt government bureaucracy had left him vulnerable and taken away his beloved wife Fatima (new bandits‘Alice Carvalho). Getting out is no easy feat, as corruption, surveillance, and sinister people surround Armando at every turn – including two notoriously sneaky hitmen, Bobby.ferrariGabriel Leon) and his stepfather Augusto (Ronnie Villella), on his trail.

Donna Sebastiana as well as others, such as Elza (Vermelho MonetMaría Fernanda Cándido), who offers a form of witness protection, promising a passport within a few days. The placement at the city’s Identification Institute is Armando’s best chance of finding physical proof of his mother’s identity before leaving Brazil with his young son, who lives with his grandparents.

Mashable Top Stories

In the present, two young investigators in São Paulo listen to cassettes of recorded conversations from Armando’s time there, and we are left to wonder where their research is really leading. Here, and through Mendonça Filho’s use of archival photographs, the film becomes a fictional artefact in its own right, a story worthy of study and examination. But it’s the lively performances from the actors themselves that bring this volatile historical period to life, with Maura at the forefront.

Wagner Moura has given a tremendous performance secret agent.

Playing several roles in different time periods, Moura earned a Best Actor award at Cannes secret agentAfter all the role was written especially for him by Mendonça Filho, A classic hero brave enough to challenge powerful, corrupt institutions while justifiably fearing for his life and his family, Armando primarily internalizes the level of grave danger constantly looming over him, Maura’s subtlety and desperation imbue our hero with deeply human heroism, inspiring us as the audience to protect her at all costs,

Embodying a true collective theme, secret agent Moura has been surrounded by bold, eccentric performances from iconic German actor Udo Kier to expatriate tailor Hans Greta Star Diogenes as the city’s corrupt police chief. In particular, Armando finds sanctuary with his father-in-law, Sr. Alexandre (a wonderful performance). BacurauCarlos Francisco) who owns the local Cinema São Luiz, which shows American horror films as well as Brazilian films jaws And Prognostic Which creates complete frenzy in the audience. Here, and through Evgenia Alexandrova’s excellent cinematography, you can feel Mendonça Filho’s reverence for cinema and its importance in turbulent times as a filmmaker, critic and curator. In fact, secret agent It’s a perfect pairing with the director’s 2023 documentary pictures of ghosts ,Retratos Fantasmas), which traces cinema to his hometown of Recife.

secret agent Plays with the funky aesthetic of the 70s.

Despite the confusion and corruption that permeates the narrative, Mendonça Filho’s film is a surprising affair of the ’70s. Filmed in anamorphic Panavision, it’s nothing short of a feast for the eyes (before it isn’t). Each scene is drenched in the decade’s signature orange, brown and yellow, with the meticulous work of production designer Thales Junqueira on full display. Architect Chu Ming Silveira’s iconic, egg-shaped, yellow public phone booths known as Orelhos (or “Big Ears”) are an important part of both the story and the city’s landscape, while costume designer Rita Azevedo finds stunning authenticity in the period-specific outfits.

Despite the political turmoil on the ground, Mendonca Filho also reverently and accurately captures scenes of Recife, with Armando taking views of the grand city bathed in sunlight from the Cinema São Luiz projection room, and street scenes often focusing on community members caught up in the chaos. A little magical realism is also thrown in for unexpected measure, and composers Mateus Alves and Tomas Alves Souza pull everything together with an intense, atmospheric score.

Ultimately, Mendonça Filho’s film explores a time of political corruption, violence and inevitable paranoia through a humanitarian lens, with the director saying in a press statement, “The challenge was to make a film about the logic of those times without ticking all the boxes of a dictatorship film.” A reverent, authentic aesthetic paired with Moura’s powerful performance, secret agent A deeply humanistic look at a historical moment of authoritarianism and government corruption. This is a must see.

Updated: November 20, 2025, 6:14 PM EST “The Secret Agent” was reviewed at the BFI London Film Festival. This article was originally published on October 11, 2025.

secret agent It will be released in theaters in New York on November 26 and Los Angeles on December 5, followed by a nationwide release. The film will be released in the UK and Ireland on February 20, 2026.