The Secret Agent (2025)★ 7.5/10

Brazil is in the spotlight right now with two movies. First, it was I’M STILL HERE. Now, it’s the Golden Globe-winning historical neo-noir political thriller THE SECRET AGENT. While I’M STILL HERE took place in the South-East region of Rio, this one takes place in the North-East region of Recife. Both movies feature the nightmarish military dictatorship of the 1970’s, but in different ways. Corruption, disregard for truth, and indifference to suffering are common in this time and place. It shows a dark piece of Brazilian history. The opening scene is a masterclass of suspense, setting the tone for what we’re about to watch. It’s a story about Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a man who’s trying to lay low. I can’t really say too much more about him, but he ends up living with people like him. I really enjoyed Dona Sebastiana, played by Tânia Maria. She takes him in and deserves her own movie. I enjoyed this experience, but not as much as a lot of movie critics. I just think maybe some things went above my head a bit. It has intentional ambiguity, perhaps too much for me, especially because I was busy reading subtitles. There’s a subplot involving a human leg that’s found inside a shark’s mouth. There’s a theme of how a government can steer the narrative in whatever way that most benefits them. The characters are fully fleshed out. Moura is a movie star, already winning a Golden Globe for this performance. This film is multifaceted. It’s a love letter to cinema and the preservation of it. The preservation of culture itself. There was one storytelling choice I didn’t really get, but I believe I’m getting close to. Overall, THE SECRET AGENT is an unconventional slow burn thriller that takes its time getting the audience used to its dangerous environment and time period. It’s thematically rich and has amazing performances. It has been nominated for four Academy Awards: Best International Film, Best Actor for Moura, Best Casting, and Best Picture. This film is very important to Brazil and its people, as it tries to heal the country’s fractured memory of a horrible dictatorship. We don’t want history repeating itself, right?

This is a really good movie with a lot of intricacies. Memory and history both play an influential part, but what ties it together its its mystery-esque story and its gripping acting performances. I was especially impressed by the man that played Bobbi. This is a must-watch for neo-noir fans and people interested in 1970s' history.

I was struggling between 8 and 9 stars, but the Wilhelm Scream pushed this over the edge for me. This is one of those movies that I thought could never live up to the hype, and yet it somehow surpassed it. Wagner Moura is rightfully having his praises sung for his performance, but the best part about O Agente Secreto is that you can feel the passion, for film and for Brazil, in every single frame

Quickly realized watching a Brazilian film at VIFF is like watching an MCU movie opening weekend having never read a comic book, except I’m actually more inclined to research the subject to help contextualize those massive audience reactions because the film itself is extremely well made.

What was that bizarre scope projection about though?! The 2.39:1 anamorphic frame was quite literally projected like 2.2:1 5-perf (in layman’s terms, the left 10% of the frame was completely cut off)!! The experience of realizing the problematic projection was an interesting experience though. At first, I noticed all the centre subtitles looked left-heavy, which I initially chocked up to my angle of view. Next, it was the opening titles where it became abundantly clear that the safe areas were set to 5% at most because the ones pushed to edge of frame had parts of or entire letters chopped off; at this point I was worried, but I thought maybe it was just a timed text DCP issue. But no, over the course of the film, it became extremely obvious that the authorial intent was to correctly use the entire scope (haha) of the frame, but that meant any subject at the left edge was compromised, and to a lesser extent the anamorphic rack focuses looked off. Did no one say anything in the first screening earlier in the fest?! Is it just this film or have other scope films also been projected like this?!

Kleber soube o que fazer, precisava mostrar sentimentos mesmo pra quem não acreditava, precisava representar dor pra quem nunca conseguiria senti-la.

Aqui Kleber encontrou a medida, um equilíbrio muito bom para o que vem trabalhando ao longo de sua filmografia e consegue falar com todos nós, com os brasileiros e sua historia, seu passado e sua cultura, e também com os estrangeiros, levando o Brasil além, para os que não o conhecem, mas tudo isso com uma mistura gostosa de referencias daqui e dali. Ele manja, é provado e comprovado.

Una crónica muy interesante sobre tiempos de opresión y dictadura.

Esterpossevini

La gran joya de los Oscar. Gracias por recomendarla amigos.
Espero que gane mejor actor, película extranjera y (lo dudo mucho)mejor película.
Película extremadamente interesante, inteligente, basada en los setenta. Epoca que quizá sea la más retratada en Latinoamerica por razones obvias, pero acá lo hace de una manera espectacular. La señora hace un papel tremendamente gracioso. La amo.

Excelente,MUITOOO BOOOM,vamos torcer para ele levar a estatueta como Globo de Ouro no próximo mês:março agora de 2026

La mejor extranjera del 2025

Qué viaje tan extraño y, a ratos, asfixiante es asomarse a El Agente Secreto (la versión de 1996, basada en la joya de Joseph Conrad). Te deja con esa sensación amarga en la garganta, como cuando te das cuenta de que el mundo es mucho más gris y complicado de lo que nos gusta admitir en nuestras fotos de redes sociales.
​Un laberinto de soledad y pólvora
​Lo que más me golpeó no fue la trama de espionaje o los tintes políticos de la Londres victoriana, sino la fragilidad humana. Bob Hoskins está inmenso como Verloc. No es el típico espía elegante a lo James Bond; es un hombre sudoroso, mediocre, atrapado entre dos fuegos y devorado por su propia cobardía. Te dan ganas de sacudirlo y, al mismo tiempo, de apartar la mirada.
​Pero el corazón roto de la película —el que de verdad te deja pensando cuando se apaga la pantalla— es Patricia Arquette. Su personaje, Winnie, es el recordatorio de que, en los juegos de poder de los hombres "importantes", siempre son los inocentes quienes terminan pagando los platos rotos. La tragedia del pequeño Stevie no es solo un punto en el guion; es un puñetazo al estómago que te recuerda lo fácil que es romper una vida por una ideología vacía.
​Lo que me hizo vibrar (y lo que me chirrió)
​La atmósfera: Esa Londres sucia, llena de niebla y sombras, se siente casi como un personaje más. Puedes oler el hollín y el miedo.
​El reparto de lujo: Ver a un joven Christian Bale o la intensidad perturbadora de Robin Williams (en un papel sin acreditar que es puro fuego) le da un peso actoral que hoy en día cuesta encontrar.
​El ritmo: A ver, seamos honestos: no es una película para ver con el móvil en la mano. Es lenta. A veces se siente tan pesada como el abrigo de Verloc, y entiendo perfectamente a quien se desespere un poco en el segundo acto.
​Reflexión final
​No es una película "disfrutable" en el sentido tradicional. No sales de ella con ganas de comerte el mundo, sino con ganas de abrazar a los tuyos y protegerlos de la locura de los extremismos. Es un retrato crudo de cómo la ambición y la falta de empatía pueden convertir un hogar en un campo de cenizas.
​Si buscas acción trepidante, pasa de largo. Pero si quieres una historia que te hable de la traición, el remordimiento y la vulnerabilidad, dale una oportunidad una noche que estés de humor introspectivo.
​Valoración: 💫💫💫 (3 de 5 estrellas)
Es sólida, honesta y dolorosa, aunque a veces se pierde un poco en su propio pesimismo.