The Secret Agent (2025) is written & directed by Kleber Mendonca Filho. It stars Wagner Moura, Tania Maria, Laura Lufesi, Roberio Diogenes, Maria Fernanda Candido, Gabriel Leone, Honey Villela, Carlos Francisco, Kaiony Venancio, Italo Martins, Enzo Nunes, Hermila Guedes, Geane Albuquerque, Joao Vitor Silva, Alice Carvalho, Luciano Chirolli, Udo Kier, Isabel Zuaa, Thomas Aquino, Joalisson Cunha, Marcelo Valle, Buda Lira, Erivaldo Oliveira, Isadora Ruppert, Robson Andrade, Licinio Januario, Rubens Santos, Fabiana Pirro, Gregorio Graziosi, Fafa Dantas, Suzy Lopes, Aline Marta, and Wilson Rabelo. 

The film takes place in 1977 and follows Armando Solimoes (Moura), a former professor hiding out in his hometown of Recife after being labeled an enemy of the state by Brazil’s current dictatorship. Despite looking over his shoulder, he finds solace in a group of fellow political refugees who offer him the community he’s been looking for. Only wishing to live out the remainder of his life quietly with his young son, Fernando (Nunes), he quickly realizes he may never escape his past. When two hitmen are dispatched to eliminate him, Armando is forced to contemplate whether his personal safety is worth possibly exposing the community of individuals he now considers family.

Despite featuring a large ensemble cast, the film rests entirely on Wagner Moura’s shoulders. He carries the nearly 3-hour film from beginning to end, easily earning his Best Actor nomination at this year’s Academy Awards. He’s a likable, mature, and consistently intelligent character. That being said, he’s not without the kinds of necessary flaws that make him distinctly human. As the film moves along, it becomes more and more clear that Armando’s inability to face his past/stand up to injustice only puts innocent people in the crossfire. He’s a character who despises violent resolution, refusing at multiple points to carry a firearm, but is eventually forced to realize that his actions are what set everything off. He’s complicit in the violence regardless of whether he pulls a trigger. 

 At almost 3 hours long, the film holds viewers’ attention through its immersive setting, colorful characters, and a subtle yet natural sense of humor. As a slice-of-life experience, the film is much more engaging than I anticipated. When you realize that a certain level of tragedy is inevitable, it makes your heart sink because of how much you’ve come to adore these people. This makes the film’s last 20 minutes work extremely well despite feeling a bit rushed. Like reality, it’s not interested in tying up every loose plot thread with a pretty little bow. It’s not perfect, but because we care about the characters, it provides just enough excitement and surprise to play as a fulfilling experience.  

The film draws plenty of inspiration from crime film classics such as Fargo (1997) and Point Blank (1967), among others. Thankfully, the script never copies these films outright. Instead, it uses these inspirations to shape the audience’s expectations about how certain elements will play out, setting them up to be surprised when they unfold in a completely different way. 

Overall, this is an extremely engaging political crime drama period piece that succeeds in being both epic in scope and deeply personal in its human emotion. It’s a big, unique movie-going experience that has so much to offer, it could’ve been released as a miniseries. This is maybe the film’s biggest draw, but at the same time, possibly its biggest flaw. It’s strange to wish that an almost 3-hour movie was a little bit longer, but that’s where I’m at with this one. It’s a great film, but it just doesn’t quite stick the landing. It abruptly shifts away from the story we’ve been following for almost the entire runtime in order to hammer home its message/themes, making it clear that the writers couldn’t figure out how to blend the two seamlessly. It’s not for everyone, but the majority of movie buffs are sure to have a great time. B+