Skip to main content
The Secret Agent film image; a man talking on a pay phone by a wall of people's headshots

The Secret Agent

O Agente Secreto

Book Now Book Now

Having run afoul of an influential bureaucrat working inside of Brazil’s military dictatorship circa 1977, Marcelo (Narcos’ Wagner Moura) decamps to Recife to live under an assumed name and reconnect with his young son. Bedding in with a cadre of political dissidents and refugees while finding work in the state identification archives, the former university researcher comes to understand precisely how insidious and all-encompassing the country’s corruption has become.

The Secret Agent serves notice that Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau) is now undisputedly one of international cinema’s titans. Filled with nostalgic references and punctuated by absurdist digressions, the film is both reflective and visionary in equal measure. Epic in scope, rich in allegory, and ambitious in structure (the narrative nimbly shifts between multiple time periods), this is a sophisticated and engrossing neo-noir that not only recalls classic 70s paranoid political thrillers but gives them a run for their money.

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s new film is set in the Brazilian dictatorship of the 1970s and its visual brilliance, sensual big-city intrigue, shaggy-dog comedy, gruesome lowlife walk-ons and epically languorous mystery combine to create something special.

Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

A major achievement, and for my money, sure to be one of the best films of the year.

David Rooney, Hollywood Reporter

Director

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Cast

Wagner Moura, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Candido

Credits
Country of Origin

Brazil/France/
Netherlands/Germany

Year

2025

Language

In Portuguese with English subtitles

Awards

Best Director, Best Actor, Cannes 2025

19+
158 min
Cinemascópio, MK Productions, Lemming Film, One Two Films

Book Tickets

Friday December 12

1:45 pm
First Look Fridays Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
4:55 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
8:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Saturday December 13

11:45 am
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
2:50 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
5:55 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
9:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Sunday December 14

8:30 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Monday December 15

2:50 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
5:55 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
9:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Tuesday December 16

3:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
9:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Wednesday December 17

2:50 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
5:55 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
9:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Thursday December 18

5:55 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
9:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Friday December 19

5:30 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
8:40 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Saturday December 20

5:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
8:10 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Sunday December 21

5:30 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
8:40 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Monday December 22

5:30 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
8:40 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Tuesday December 23

5:30 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now
8:40 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

Wednesday December 24

1:00 pm
Hearing Assistance Subtitles
VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema
Book Now

First Look Fridays: $10 Tickets

Enjoy $10 tickets at this film’s first Friday matinee screening.

Credits

Executive Producer

Brent Travers

Producer

Emilie Lesclaux

Screenwriter

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Cinematography

Evgenia Alexandrova

Editor

Eduardo Serrano, Matheus Farias

Production Design

Thales Junqueira

Also Playing

The Count of Monte Cristo

Dir. Matthieu Delaporte & Alexandre de La Patelliere
178 min

You can't beat this evergreen Alexandre Dumas tale for adventure, intrigue and romance. This lavish French blockbuster from the writers of the recent Three Musketeers movies pulls you in from the first scene and doesn't let off for the next three hours. Co-Presented with Vancouver Opera.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Israel Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989

Dir. Göran Hugo Olsson
240 min

Drawing on 30 years of television archives, Göran Hugo Olsson relates the early history of the state of Israel, as reported by Swedish filmmakers, politicians and journalists. "An astonishing, invaluable document." William Mullally, The National

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

Frankenstein

Dir. Guillermo del Toro
149 min

Frankenstein and Guillermo del Toro might have been made for each other. The movie does not disappoint, a ripping yarn of grand adventure, spectacle, hubris, passion and XXL body parts, a tale of the fantastic that rings the imagination. Screening in 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

The Ballad of a Small Player

Dir. Edward Berger
105 min

Colin Farrell stars in this noir film about a gambler running out of luck in Macau, from the director of Conclave and All Quiet on the Western Front. Tilda Swinton, Fala Chen and Deannie Yip costar.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre