The Secret Agent (2025 film)

The Secret Agent (Portuguese: O Agente Secreto; Brazilian Portuguese: [u aˈʒẽt͡ʃi seˈkɾɛtu]) is a 2025 neo-noir historical political thriller film written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho. It follows Armando (Wagner Moura), a former professor caught in the political turmoil of the final years of the Brazilian military dictatorship, attempting to flee persecution and resist an authoritarian deceitful regime. The supporting cast includes Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leone, Alice Carvalho, Hermila Guedes, Isabél Zuaa, and Udo Kier in his final film role.

The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 18 May, where it received widespread acclaim and became the festival's most awarded film, winning the Best Actor award for Moura, the Best Director award for Mendonça Filho,^[3] the Art House Cinema Award and the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film.^[4][5] At the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, it became the first Brazilian film nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama and for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama (Wagner Moura), while also receiving a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. It was selected as Brazil's official entry for Best International Feature Film at the 98th Academy Awards, making the shortlist.^[6][7]

It was theatrically released in Brazil and Germany on 6 November 2025 by Vitrine Filmes and Port au Prince Films, respectively, and will be released in France on 17 December by Ad Vitam.

In 1977, during the political turmoil of the Brazilian military dictatorship, former teacher Armando arrives in Recife during the carnival holiday, and is sheltered by Dona Sebastiana, alongside other political refugees: Claudia, Haroldo and Angolan Civil War immigrants Thereza Vitória and Antonio. Nearby, since the passing of his wife Fátima, Armando's son Fernando is being raised by his grandfather Sr. Alexandre, a projectionist at Cinema São Luiz. Meanwhile, corrupt chief of police Euclides and his sons Sergio and Arlindo are called during the holiday after a human leg is found inside a captured tiger shark.

Armando is located at the city's social registration archive under the alias of Marcelo, and is welcomed by Euclides, who offers him protection. Euclides' arrogant behavior visibly annoys Armando, which includes harassing Hans, a Jewish Holocaust survivor who is mistakenly assumed to be a Nazi fugitive. Meanwhile, in São Paulo, hitmen Bobbi and Augusto are hired by a former Eletrobras president to kill Armando, with whom he has a political and personal vendetta. Sergio and Arlindo dispose the human leg in the Capibaribe River, where it suddenly revives and attacks gay men cruising in a public park at night; the story, presumably a newspaper cover-up for the political corruption and violence during the carnival week, creates a public frenzy.

Contacted by Elza, the leader of a political resistance movement in the Brazilian northeast, Armando is instructed to flee the country in the following days and informed of the imminent danger. Augusto and Bobbi hire a local impoverished gunman, Vilmar, to find Armando. Anticipating an escape, Armando bids farewell to Dona Sebastiana and the other refugees. The next morning, he relentlessly searches for any documents of his late mother, "India", of whom he has few memories. Vilmar identifies Armando but fails to kill him, shooting Arlindo and a fellow police officer. Bobbi, watching from afar, chases a bleeding Vilmar through Recife's downtown and is later killed in a barbershop by Vilmar.

In the present day, history student Flavia researches Elza's resistance network through her audio recordings and newspaper archives, learning that Armando was assassinated. Traveling to Recife, Flavia meets with Fernando, now a middle-aged doctor, who agrees to be interviewed in the hospital where he works after Flavia donates blood. Discussing Armando's political past and murder, Fernando states he does not have a single memory of his father or his own childhood back in 1977.

Kleber Mendonça Filho wrote the script over three years, partially overlapping with the production of Pictures of Ghosts.^[8][9] It was co-produced by companies from Brazil, France, Germany and the Netherlands.^[10]

The film marks Wagner Moura's first Portuguese language production in eight years.^[11][12] It was Udo Kier's final film role before his death in late 2025, in his second collaboration with Mendonça Filho following Bacurau (2019).^[13]

The film is a neo-noir historical political thriller,^[14] heavily inspired by Brian De Palma's oeuvre and 1970s films in general,^[15] including: John Boorman's Point Blank (1967), Karel Kachyňa's The Ear (1970), Elio Petri's Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), Jorge Bodanzky and Orlando Senna's Iracema (1974), Héctor Babenco's Lúcio Flávio (1977), Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Eduardo Coutinho's Twenty Years Later (1984).^[16]

The story's main motifs also echo Spielberg's Jaws (1975), particularly in that Recife is a coastal city plagued by tiger shark attacks.^[17]

Principal photography took place during ten weeks in 2024, shooting on location in Recife, Pernambuco. Many of the films scenes were shot in historical city's buildings, such as the Cinema São Luiz (one of the last art house cinemas in Brazil) and on most of Recife's colonial bridges.^[18] For the haired leg chase scenes, shooting took place in location at the Capibaribe River, featuring its usual capybara inhabitants, and at "May 13th Park" (Parque 13 de Maio). Carnival scenes were reenacted near the Aurora Street (Rua da Aurora), where Recife's main carnival association parade take place. Scenes featuring the captured tiger shark and Armando teaching past were shot at the Federal University of Pernambuco campus, a public funded University.^[18]

Additional scenes were shot in São Paulo, featuring Euclides and Bobbi characters. Principal photography wrapped by late August 2024.^[19][20] Pick-up scenes were shot in Brasilia in December 2024.

Mendonça Filho and his long-time partner Emilie Lesclaux produced the film through their film company CinemaScópio. The film also marks Russian-French cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova's first collaboration with the filmmaker,^[21] who shot the film with Panavision anamorphic lenses and vintage camera equipment, aiming to replicate the visual style of the 1970s movies.^[22]

The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival on 18 May,^[23] receiving a 13-minute long standing ovation,^[24] and was the most awarded film in the festival.^[25] It competed for the Palme d'Or,^[26] winning the Best Actor prize for Wagner Moura (the first Brazilian actor to win it) and the Best Director prize for Mendonça Filho (the second Brazilian filmmaker to win it after Glauber Rocha in 1969).^[5][3] A few days after its premiere, Neon acquired North American distribution rights to the film, while Mubi acquired the rights for the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hispanic America, and India.^[27][28]

The Secret Agent had its North American premiere at the Main Program of the 52nd Telluride Film Festival.^[29] At the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival it received a gala screening the Special Presentations section.^[22] It was also screened at the Main Slate at the 2025 New York Film Festival.^[30] In October, it was screened in the "Best of 2025" section of the 20th Rome Film Festival^[31] and at the Adelaide Film Festival.^[32]

The film's Brazilian premiere took place on 10 September 2025 at the Cinema São Luiz.^[33]

It received a wide theatrical release in Brazil and Germany on 6 November 2025. Neon released the film in North American theaters on 26 November.^[34] It will receive a theatrical release on 17 December by Ad Vitam in France.

On its opening weekend in Brazil, The Secret Agent had 273,000 admissions, grossing R$6.6 million at the box office, topping Predator: Badlands debut weekend (R$5.7 million) and Black Phone 2 fourth weekend (R$1.8 million).^[35][36] By the end of its first full week, alongside September and October previews, the film had surpassed 500,000 admissions and R$10 million at the box office.^[37][38]

By 13 December 2025, The Secret Agent had 1 million admissions in Brazil, grossing R$22 million at the box office, surpassing Bacurau as Mendonça's highest grossing film.^[39][40]

In its limited release weekend in the United States, The Secret Agent grossed $71k on the 5-day opening thanksgiving holiday, with an average $23k per theatre, beating I'm Still Here’s previous record for Brazilian productions opening weekend in the U.S.^[41] By 21 December 2025, the film had grossed $951k in its limited 43 theaters run at the U.S. box office.^[42] Bringing its international box office totals to $1.3 million.^[42]

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 98% of 133 critics' reviews are positive. The website's consensus reads: "A thematically rich and visually arresting political thriller, The Secret Agent blends grindhouse stylization with biting social commentary to weave a vividly dangerous yet darkly human tale."^[43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 92 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[44]

Steve Pond of TheWrap pointed out that "cohesiveness or coherence are not high on [the film's] list of attributes", "but [the film's] messiness is part of its charm".^[45] David Ehrlich of IndieWire gave the film a 'B+' score, concluding that "always compelling, but sometimes more sedate than its material demands — [it] is often at its most alive during its detours".^[46]

Other critics praised the film for its ambition, visual style, and emotional depth. Shannon Connellan of Mashable called it “a complex, time-jumping political crime thriller” and wrote that its “compelling script, impeccable acting, and striking 1970s aesthetic” make it “impossible to look away.” ^[47] Pavel Snapkou of Showbiz by PS described the film as “a bright and memorable” neo-noir political thriller, praising its “vivid, vibrant scenes” and calling Moura “electrifyingly good,” delivering “one of the best male performances of the year.” ^[48] Carlos Aguilar of The Playlist hailed the film as “an imposing masterpiece steeped in history and a palpable adoration for cinema.” ^[49]

Despite Mendonça Filho having been passed over twice by the Brazilian submission commission for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film,^[50] for two critically acclaimed productions, Aquarius in 2016 (due to the political boycott of the Temer administration)^[51] and Bacurau in 2019 (during the Bolsonaro administration), The Secret Agent was expected to be the country's safe choice after its successful run in the 2025 Cannes Film Festival and the ongoing Neon strong awards season campaign.^[52][53]

By August, the film was shortlisted alongside other five Brazilian feature films. Shortly after, reports emerged suggesting a possible snub in favor of Manas (2024), which was supported by a lobby of 70 high-profile companies for its supposed "urgent subject in Brazil". The movement created a public uproar driven by the perception of abuse of political and personal power in the Brazilian Oscar submission process, instead of artistic merit and commercial logic.^[54][55][56]

Following the negative response to the Manas campaign from critics and the Brazilian film industry, which included a four-minute long video by Fernanda Torres supporting selection of the The Secret Agent, the latter was ultimately chosen as the country's official submission on 15 September.^[57][58][59]

At the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, The Secret Agent was the festival's most awarded film, winning the Best Actor award for Moura, the Best Director award for Mendonça Filho, the Art House Cinema Award and the FIPRESCI Prize for Best Film.

At the 2025 New York Film Critics Circle Awards, it was also the most awarded film (alongside One Battle After Another), winning Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor (Wagner Moura). At the 2025 Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, it won Best Foreign Language Film and was the runner-up for Best Picture and Best Lead Performance. At the 31st Critics' Choice Awards, it has been nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor. At the 83rd Golden Globe Awards, it became the first Brazilian production nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama, and Moura the first Brazilian to get a nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama, while the film also received a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Furthermore, The Secret Agent was named the best film of the year on The Hollywood Reporter’s top 10 Best Films of 2025, placed fourth on Cahiers du Cinéma top 10 films of 2025,^[60] sixth on BBC’s 25 Best Films of 2025,^[61] eighth on The New York Times’ Best Movies of 2025,^[62] one of the Top 5 International Films of the year by the National Board of Review, and also appeared on former President of the United States Barack Obama's annual list of his favorite films of the year.^[63]

• List of submissions to the 98th Academy Awards for Best International Feature Film
• List of Brazilian submissions for the Academy Award for Best International Feature Film

• The Secret Agent at IMDb