By George & Josh Bate
Every year, there’s usually a universally lauded movie that we don’t connect with and can’t see why it’s beloved by so many. In 2025, The Secret Agent is that movie for us.
Written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, The Secret Agent takes place in 1977 during the military dictatorship of Brazil. Marcelo Alves (Wagner Moura) moves from São Paulo to Recife to escape a mysterious past and tries to avoid detection from a millionaire (Luciano Chirolli) holding a grudge and his two hitmen (Roney Villela and Gabriel Lone) with the help of his neighbors and family.
The Secret Agent begins with a level of intrigue most political thrillers can only dream of. Brazilian filmmaker Filho drops his audience into a story with little context beyond on-screen text describing the setting as “a time of great mischief.” Moura’s Marcelo is on the run, from what we’re uncertain of, seeking refuge in an apartment block led by the endearing and gravely voiced Dona Sebastiana (Tânia Maria) which houses other refugees. From an introductory scene involving a tense and prolonged traffic stop and onward, Filho takes his time with a number of lengthy sequences that quietly heighten the tension of Marcelo’s predicament. Each of these sequences place a different piece of the puzzle on the board, whether that be a shark carcass that has washed ashore containing a human leg or Marcelo securing a position at a social registration archive for an unknown purpose. Like some of the great political thrillers, vis-à-vis Marathon Man and The Boys From Brazil, Filho’s film doesn’t spell everything out right away, instead allowing the viewer to keep track of various intriguing, moving parts as we wait for the full scope of the story to be revealed.
However, unlike many of the great political thrillers, The Secret Agent blunders its answers to the myriad of questions it poses, thus failing to justify the audience’s patience with its prolonged runtime. After keeping many of the fundamentals of its story under wraps for much of the film, Filho provides unsatisfactory, and even underwhelming answers, to its intriguing questions, namely why our lead character is on the run. While an understanding of the political situation in 1977 Brazil will enhance one’s appreciation for the explanation provided, and the film more generally, it does not make up for a number of disappointing reveals that almost entirely deplete the film of the intrigue that previously made it so compelling.
More frustrating that the unsatisfying answers provided is the baffling decision to not provide answers to other mysteries. Filho throws so many elements and characters into his story but seems disinterested in pulling them altogether in a cohesive manner. This disinterest leaves various subplots, which take up quite a bit of the runtime, perplexingly unresolved. In particular, a subplot involving news reports of a serial killing human leg (yes, you read that correctly) offers some unusual levity but never effectively connects to the rest of the narrative.
The Secret Agent picks up the pacing in a more thrilling final act in which the stakes and tension are raised. Bizarrely, however, Filho squanders the palpable excitement of his third act by opting to resolve the central conflict of the film off-screen, depriving the audience of a potentially powerful moment. There is no explanation for why this climactic event occurs off-screen, especially as so much of the runtime is dedicated to events that ultimately serve little discernible purpose. An epilogue set in the present day concludes the film on a more solemn, reflective note about the power (or lack thereof) of memory, although this hardly seems fitting to the film that came before it.
The messy storytelling on display fails to live up to the strength of Wagner Moura’s lead performance. The actor known for his roles in Narcos and last year’s Civil War brilliantly plays into the intrigue of the film and delivers a commanding, grounded performance as a man on the run and unwaveringly dedicated to his family.
The real standout of The Secret Agent though is Tânia Maria as Dona Sebastiana. Maria’s short stature and tiny frame belie a character with an immense and lasting impact, potentially even more than Moura’s lead. As the de facto caregiver for refugees like Marcelo, Dona Sebastiana brings a maternal warmth to the film every time she is on screen. Her kindness toward the different residents of her apartment building is so endearing, as is the gravely, chain smoker voice she delivers her kind words with. It’s a shame that the film doesn’t make more of the makeshift community of Dona Sebastiana’s building as some of the most quietly powerful scenes come when the residents are gathered together and supportive of one another during such difficult times.
Also successful is Filho’s integration of Jaws into the story of The Secret Agent. From the shark carcass harboring a human leg that washes ashore to Marcelo’s son’s fascination with Jaws to Marcelo’s father-in-law’s theater screening the movie, Steven Spielberg’s horror classic seeps into the fabric of Filho’s latest. The movie excels in giving the inclusion of Jaws metaphorical meaning in its epilogue, while the structure of Spielberg’s film is not entirely dissimilar from Filho’s approach to The Secret Agent if one really thinks about it. It’s always nice to see a movie do more than just pay homage to a beloved classic and give it new meaning all these years later. The Secret Agent certainly does that with Jaws.
VERDICT: 5.5/10
Brazil’s official entry for Best International Film at the 2026 Academy Awards, The Secret Agent falls short of expectations established by its rave festival reception. Writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s film begins with a level of intrigue most political thrillers could only dream of but eventually frustrates and fails to justify its bulky runtime with underwhelming answers to the myriad of mysteries and questions it poses. More damningly, the film leaves other questions puzzlingly unanswered, culminating in a story with far too many moving pieces that never cohesively come together. The storytelling fails to live up to the strength of Wagner Moura’s commanding performance, which evidences his capacity to be a leading man in subsequent projects. The real standout, however, is Tânia Maria as the diminutive, chain-smoking, gravely voiced, and exceedingly warm Dona Sebastiana, who brings incredible warmth to Filho’s film. With a title that erroneously suggests a far more intriguing and thrilling movie than what we get, The Secret Agent is the acclaimed film of 2025 that earns plaudits from many but fails to resonate with us.