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

2:15 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

Friday December 26

4:00 pm
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

Jay Kelly

Dir. Noah Baumbach
130 min

In Noah Baumbach's wise and witty comedy, George Clooney plays Jay Kelly, a world-famous movie star touring Europe with his friend and manager, Ron (Adam Sandler). Faced with nagging dissatisfaction, Jay starts to ask himself some tough questions.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Little Amelie or the Character of Rain

Dir. Mailys Vallade & Liane-Cho Han
90 min

Baby Amelie believes herself to be a god. Her parents (Belgian diplomats in 60s Japan) can barely cope -- but find the perfect nanny to restore order in this delightful animated feature.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Peter Hujar's Day

Dir. Ira Sachs
76 min

Ben Whishaw is extraordinary in this conjuring trick of a movie from Ira Sachs (Passages), a minimalist masterpiece recreating a conversation between New York photographer Hujar and writer Linda Rosenkrantz in 1974.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Put Your Soul On Your Hand and Walk

Dir. Sepideh Farsi
113 min

A joyous and heartrending introduction to 25-year-old Palestinian photographer and artist Fatma Hassona, living under siege in Gaza.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre