The Secret Agent (2026)

Kleber Mendonca Filho's new feature pretty much defies categorisation. At first glance it might look like a low-key political thriller with elements of a family drama mixed in, but scratch the surface of it and it suddenly becomes something else entirely. And then, something else. The film opens with Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a man on the run, pulling into a remote petrol station in 1970's Brazil- the film is shot in Vista Vision, which makes 1970's Brazil look incredibly authentic; you can almost inhale the era. As he approaches, he sees a dead body beside the station, covered in cardboard and surrounded by fleas. The man working at the petrol station tries to spin the subsequent conversation away from the body, before two policemen show up; they're far more interested in questioning Marcelo and acquiring a bribe from him than taking a look at the body. It's a gripping opening sequence despite the low-key nature of it; you're not really sure what's happening but it's engrossing none the less. And this is how The Secret Agent plays out for much of its lengthy running time. Filho slowly reveals to the audience why Marcelo is on the run and is desperate to see his son (who now lives with his grandparents following the death of his mother and fugitive status of his father), but there's other story strands unfolding around Marcelo's tale. We learn that Marcelo's son is obsessed with Spielberg's blockbuster film Jaws, a film that is currently enjoying a rerun at the local cinema run by his grandfather, in which several scenes take place; and also that the locals are currently being swept up by the local news story that a severed leg has been found in the stomach of a shark. On top of this, we follow another plot involving a minister with private commercial connections who has hired two hit men to hunt down and kill Marcelo. It's all happening, these aren't the only plot strands by any means, and one would be justified in asking how on earth Fihlo's film can possibly work, let alone be any good. The fact that The Secret Agent is phenomenal is a testament to Filho's audacity behind the camera, the magnificent sense of time and place he achieves, and the incredible ambition he shows in putting this to screen. He also needs a good cast, and Wagner Moura is utterly brilliant in the leads role as Marcelo; as the film flits back and forth between time we understand the burden he carries in the late seventies and on the run- and see his frustration in a past life as an academic working in engineering and going through the pain and frustration of his research department shut down by corruption. There's also a brilliant performance by Tania Maria as Dona Sebastiana, an elderly grandmother like figure who welcomes Marcelo into her small apartment block community with open arms. It becomes apparent that she's housing a small resistance group of refugees who we slowly come to know and love in what is one of the film's many superb strands of story. The film is set in the middle of a twenty one year military dictatorship, and the unease and dangers of such a regime are ever present at the film's edges, seeping into a narrative which becomes more and more bizarre yet consistently compelling. We even get a scene which pays homage to the exploitation films of the era as Filho provides a visual treat to the rumours of the severed hairy leg going rogue and attacking citizens. If it all sounds far too strange to work, don't be dissuaded in any way. There's certainly humour here, but it always adds to the film rather than subtracting. This is visionary film making, and Filho has already proven he can do this with 2016's excellent Aquarius, another film which makes the most of every minute of its similar running time. There's also a small strand that begins to reveal itself in very brief snippets set in the present day, with two young women in an office listening to the cassette recordings of interviews with Marcelo from many decades ago, trying to make sense of his story. Filho gives us no real clue as to what might be happening here until the film's conclusion, yet it's just as satisfying as everything else that has preceded it. The Secret Agent is one of those films that needs to be seen to be believed. It often plays like the political thriller its trailer suggests, but there's so much more going on that somehow all fits together to make what is one of the most impressive films of the year. It's the only International feature nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, and in my own personal opinion, of all the films nominated, Filho's film should claim the gong. But it won't, of course. This is masterful filmmaking that impresses on every single level. The cast are brilliant, the cinematography superb, and the whole thing absolutely flies by. I've only seen a handful of new releases so far this year- and I know it's awards season so the releases are supposed to be good, but both this and Nouvelle Vague are a level above. 8.8/10