THE SECRET AGENT
Starring: Wagner Moura, Alice Carvalho, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Càndido, Isabél Zuaa, and Udo Kier
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
ADRIANO
After last year's I'm Still Here detailing the Brazilian military dictatorship in the 1970s, The Secret Agent is here to give us an interesting perspective on that period of time. Anchored by a subtle but excellent performance from Wagner Moura, writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho takes us headfirst into the sun-soaked world of the average Brazilian citizen, enjoying life despite the terror going on. As slow as it is, it finds novel ways to never be boring, including creative noir-style editing choices and a memorable sequence involving Brazilian folklore, which makes this one of the more engaging titles of this year.
NICK
The biggest success of The Secret Agent is in its craftsmanship. Director Kleber Mendonça Filho has recreated 1970s Brazil with impressive authenticity, and it plays as important a role as any character in the film. Well, aside from Wagner Moura's Marcelo. Moura gets to show off leading man capabilities here and keeps you engaged throughout the (deliberately) slower paced film. That pacing can be tough, but along with some other aspects of the film, it makes sense the further the story goes. By its end you have an impressive piece of filmmaking that makes up for a lack of excitement with detail and structure.
AMARÚ
You can feel every bit of The Secret Agent’s almost three-hour runtime, but it interestingly never takes you out of the film. Director Kleber Mendonça Filho creates beautifully colorful shots and builds great character depth with his meticulous pacing. That slow-build simultaneously has you lost and locked into its disjointed narrative, which has you anticipating the final puzzle piece that clicks the film’s mysteries into place. Much of this is due to a terrific cast, with Wagner Moura continuing to catapult to must-see status, not to mention a standout performance from Tânia Maria. It took a while to get through, but The Secret Agent is worth the payoff.
QUENTIN
The Secret Agent is a perfect example of a movie not being greater than the sum of its parts. It has so much going for it, to include another terrific performance from Wagner Moura, an excellent score, a vibrant color palette, and a pastiche that effectively recalls Brazil in the 70s. However, it’s unnecessarily long, even feeling much longer than its 161-minute runtime, which makes it difficult to truly engage with the slow-moving narrative. Not helping in that regard are confusing time jumps, revelations that are fairly ho-hum, weird symbolism, and story beats and characters that come and go, often with no genuine purpose.
This film was reviewed by Nick, Adriano, and Amarú as part of Bitesize Breakdown's coverage of the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival.