The Secret Agent

Set in 1977, this unconventional political thriller interweaves several storylines. As such, the film offers an impressive look at personal and collective memories of Brazil's violent history.

About The Secret Agent:

The Secret Agent is a brooding political thriller by director Kleber Mendonça Filho, whose latest work brings to life a tumultuous period of Brazilian history. Using several storylines, he shows a country entangled in violence, corruption and vendettas, a turbulent 1970s carefully constructed from his own memories, family histories and archival material.

Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, technology expert and widower, is on the run. As the military dictatorship imposes increasingly cruel measures on the population, he arrives in Recife, where he hopes to reunite with his infant son. There, during carnival week, he finds accommodation with a group of like-minded people and assumes a false identity. But Marcelo's situation is more dire than he realises: he soon realises that the city is far from the non-violent haven he seeks.

The international film community also knows that The Secret Agent gets under the skin: it became the most awarded film at Cannes (Best Director, Best Actor), landed in many 'best of lists' and is still competing in several Oscar categories, partly due to the phenomenal acting of leading actor Wagner Moura.

Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
With Wagner Moura, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Cândido

Country of production: Brazil, Netherlands, France
Portuguese spoken, Dutch subtitles
drama, crime, 158 min, 2025
16+