Our Review

                 Movie: THE SECRET AGENT

          Rating: R, Some Full Nudity, Sexual Content,                            Language, Strong Bloody Violence – with                                      English subtitles`

                                   Length: 2:38

                  Release Date: December 12, 2025 

Jeanne: Written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, who won the Best Director award at 2025 Cannes Film Festival for this film, THE SECRET AGENT takes place in Mendonça Filho’s hometown of Recife, Brazil in 1977. Starring the celebrated Brazilian actor, Wagner Moura, who won Best Actor at Cannes, as Marcelo, a man on the run, Mendonça Filho incorporates a great deal from his youth in this thrilling political drama, which is an insightful expose of living in a dictatorship.

Marcelo, a widower, arrives in Recife during Carnival week. He’s a technology researcher who is now a target for two mercenary killers due to his successful new department at a local university in the Northeast. The powers that be have decided that Marcelo is a danger that must be eliminated.

He has to arrange for new passports for himself and his young son, so they can leave Brazil. He is aided in this effort by a woman named Elza (Maria Fernanda Cândido) and her resistance fighters. While he waits, Marcelo resides at a safe house run by Dona Sebastiana (Tânia Maria), an old woman who’s been around the block a few times and is well acquainted with the political violence in Brazil. Other refugees live there until they, too, can escape. But as the days pass, the killers begin to close in on Marcelo.

Brilliant directors make brilliant films --- and THE SECRET AGENT  is definitely in that category. Tapping into the past violent history of Brazil --- and Recife --- Mendonça Filho has woven a tale of terror interspersed with some lighter moments and even some dark humor.

During this time in the late 1970s, an urban legend circulated in Recife about a dismembered hairy leg. The police would show up in the local parks late at night and beat people --- primarily homosexuals --- nearly to death. Journalists weren’t allowed to report these incidents, so a code, ‘the hairy leg’, was devised to warn people about these occurrences. Mendonça Filho includes this scene in THE SECRET AGENT.

The role of Marcelo was written by Mendonça Filho specifically for Wagner Moura. And he is magnificent. It’s not a flashy role --- Marcelo is a scientist not a killer. But he finds himself thrust into this horrendous situation and Moura does a superb job taking us along on this perilous journey. He possesses a magnetic charm that keeps his audience glued to the screen.

THE SECRET AGENT is a memorable effort by Mendonça Filho and his cast and crew. The production designs, cinematography and editing are all outstanding, bringing the Recife of 1977 to life in spectacular fashion. But most importantly, THE SECRET AGENT is an homage to cinema itself and should be seen on the big screen!

Opinion: Strong See It Now!

David: THE SECRET AGENT is a thriller from Brazilian writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho, who was named Best Director at Cannes this year, while his lead actor, Wagner Moura, was named Best Actor. Mendonça Filho’s body of films has been highly regarded and awarded over the years at Cannes.

His latest movie takes place in 1977 towards the end of the military regime in Brazil at the time. The director made Carnival an integral part of his story to contrast the lawlessness of authorities in the streets with the festive atmosphere of the annual event.

Moura is a well-known Brazilian actor. He plays Marcelo, who has returned to his hometown of Recife (also Mendonça Filho’s actual childhood home) to get his young son Fernando, so they can escape Brazil together. But Marcelo is dogged by corrupt cops and two killers hired by a corrupt businessman with a serious evil streak.

In addition to Moura’s role, called career-defining, other cast standouts include Maria Fernanda Cândido as Elza, who is part of the resistance, and 77-year-old Tânia Maria as an elderly woman named Dona Sebastiana who provides comic relief while also providing shelter for those being targeted by the regime.

One absurdly comic element is the frequent appearance of a human leg, removed from a corpse, that comes alive and attacks people the regime finds distasteful, like gays. The hairy leg became a code that journalists used in reporting real-life attacks in Recife society --- thus avoiding censorship or worse. And there is also a two-headed cat to add to the craziness.

The movie is long, but moves quickly. And it has been submitted by Brazil for the 2026 Academy Awards in the category of Best International Feature. As Mendonça Filho recalls, artists in 2019 --- including Moura and himself --- with the election of former president Jair Bolsonaro --- were targeted and harassed by the far right on social media as being corrupt, along with universities and the press. Sound familiar??

Opinion: See It Now!