Cinema Review: The Secret Agent (2025)
Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Written by Kleber Mendonça Filho
Produced by Emilie Lesclaux
Main cast: Wagner Moura, Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Alice Carvalho, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Cândido,
& Udo Kier, etc.
Cinematography by Evgenia Alexandrova
** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS **
I watch a lot of films and am often bemused by the critically acclaimed films and award winners which have my head scratching. I watch them thinking the critics or judges must be on another planet, drunk or high in regards to their brain waves and word farts. I am aware many reviews decisions are made based on taste, subjectivity, politics, nepotism, cronyism and also commercial reasons, such as getting pay-offs from studios, allegedly.
Of course I have my own thought patterns and we cannot all agree, but there are genuinely some films that are horrible to watch but somehow get critics purring and win loads of awards. The most recent high profile examples of this are The Souvenir (2019), Titane (2021), Anora (2024) and Kleber Mendonça Filho’s virtually unwatchable surreal Western, Bacurau (2019). Thus, I was reluctant to believe the praise heaped on his next film The Secret Agent (2025); a period thriller set in the corrupt and deadly political landscape of 1970s Brazil.
Wagner Moura portrays an enigmatic Armando (Wagner Moura) travelling across his native land keen to keep a low profile from gangsters, government officials and police. Although given the rabid criminality on show there it is difficult to tell the difference between such characters. Once he reaches his destination in Northern Brazil, the idea is to reconcile with his in-laws and young son, find out more about his mother’s past and also stay one step ahead from the criminals pursuing him.
The Secret Agent (2025) unfolds at a deliberately unhurried pace, the kind that might test impatient viewers but ultimately proves hypnotic in its control and precision. Kleber Mendonça Filho directs with a quiet confidence, allowing tension to simmer beneath the surface rather than erupt in obvious bursts. Every frame feels meticulously composed, contributing to an atmosphere that is as absorbing as it is suffocating. That said, there is one notably capricious sequence that momentarily veers off course—its tonal shift is jarring, almost indulgent—but it carries an unexpected sting that lingers, suggesting it may be more intentional than it first appears.
What truly elevates the film, however, is its astonishing attention to period detail and a towering central performance from Wagner Moura. The production design and costuming are nothing short of immaculate, immersing the audience in a world that feels textured, lived-in, and entirely authentic. Moura anchors it all with a performance of remarkable subtlety and depth, conveying inner turmoil through the smallest gestures and glances. It’s the kind of nuanced, deeply felt work that lingers long after the credits roll—and in any fair awards landscape, it would have been more than worthy of an Academy Award for Best Actor. Here’s a film I actually agree with the critics and award panellists about.
The Cinema Fix presents 