A highlight of the Cannes Film Fest, Secret Agent is a compelling neo noir historical political thriller, written and directed by Brazilian maestro 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, trying to flee persecution and resist authoritarian regime.
In 1977, during the political turmoil of the Brazilian military dictatorship, former teacher Armando arrives in Recife during the carnival holiday.
He is sheltered by Dona Sebastiana, alongside other political refugees: Claudia, Haroldo and Angolan Civil War immigrants Thereza Vitória and Antonio.
Since the passing of his wife Fátima, Armando’s son Fernando is being raised by his father-in-law 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 shark.
Armando, under the alias of Marcelo, is welcomed by Euclides, who offers him protection. Euclides’ arrogant behavior annoys Armando, which includes harassing Hans, a Jewish Holocaust survivor who is mistakenly assumed to be a Nazi fugitive.
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.
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 northeast, Armando is instructed to flee the country due to the imminent danger.
Armando searches for any documents of his late mother, “India,” who he barely remembers. Vilmar identifies Armando but fails to kill him, shooting Arlindo and a fellow police officer. Chasing a bleeding Vilmar through Recife’s downtown, Bbby is later killed in a barbershop.
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 doctor, who agrees to be interviewed in the hospital after Flavia donates blood.
The take ends on a sad, elegic note when, discussing Armando’s political past and murder, Fernando states he does not have any memory of his father or his own childhood.
A complex, time-jumping political crime thriller, the movie contains many vibrant scenes that display the visual aesthetics of the 1970s, when most of the story is set. As such, it is steeped in significant historical detail as well as respect for art cinema of the era.
Cast and Crew Notes
The film marks Wagner Moura’s first Portuguese language production in eight years. It was Udo Kier’s final film role before his death in late 2025, in his second collaboration with Mendonça Filho after Bacurau (2019)
The film also marks Russian-French cinematographer Evgenia Alexandrova’s first collaboration with the filmmaker, who shot the film with Panavision anamorphic lenses and vintage camera equipment, aiming to replicate the visual style of the 1970s movies
Critical Acclaim
It was selected as Brazil’s official entry for the 2025 Best International Feature Oscar.
The film had its world premiere at the main competition of the 2025 Cannes Film Fest, where it receiving a 13-minute long standing ovation, and was the most awarded film in the festival. It won the Best Actor prize for Wagner Moura (the first Brazilian actor to achieve that) and the Best Director prize for Mendonça Filho (the second Brazilian filmmaker to win it after Glauber Rocha in 1967).
At the 2025 Cannes Film Fest, 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.
At the 2025 New York Film Critics Awards, The Secret Agent was the most awarded feature, winning Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor. At the 2025 Los Angeles Film Critics Awards, it won Best Foreign Language Film and was runner-up for Best Picture and Best Lead Performance.
Cast
Wagner Moura as Armando / Marcelo Alves / Fernando (adult)
Enzo Nunes as Fernando (young)
Carlos Francisco as Sr. Alexandre
Tânia Maria as Dona Sebastiana
Robério Diógenes as Euclides
Maria Fernanda Cândido as Elza
Gabriel Leone as Bobbi Borba
Roney Villela as Augusto Borba
Kaiony Venâncio as Vilmar
Alice Carvalho as Fátima
Hermila Guedes as Claudia
Isabél Zuaa as Thereza Vitória
Licínio Januário as Antonio
Laura Lufési as Flavia
Thomás Aquino as Valdemar
Italo Martins as Arlindo
Igor de Araújo as Sergio
Udo Kier as Hans
João Vitor Silva [pt] as Haroldo
Robson Andrade as Clóvis
Geane Albuquerque as Elisângela
Aline Marta Maia as Lenira Nascimento
Luciano Chirolli [pt] as Henrique Castro Ghirotti
Gregorio Graziosi as Salvatore Ghirotti
Isadora Ruppert as Daniela
Buda Lira as Anísio
Suzy Lopes as Carmem
Marcelo Valle as João Pedro
