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.
Best Director, Best Actor, Cannes 2025; Oscar Submission: Brazil
Missed it at VIFF? Catch it at the VIFF Centre after the festival.
Community Partner
Kleber Mendonça Filho
Wagner Moura, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Candido
Brazil/France/
Netherlands/Germany
2025
In Portuguese with English subtitles
Book Tickets
Credits
Executive Producer
Brent Travers
Producer
Emilie Lesclaux
Screenwriter
Kleber Mendonça Filho
Cinematography
Evgenia Alexandrova
Editor
Eduardo Serrano, Matheus Farias
Production Design
Thales Junqueira
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Whispers in the Woods
A luxuriant, healing immersion in nature with ravishing wildlife photography, this is the cinematic equivalent of "forest bathing," a trip deep into the Vosges, France, with photographer Vincent Munier (The Velvet Queen), his father and his son.
King Arthur's Night
John Bolton's film of Niall McNeil and Marcus Youssef's musical staging recreates Camelot at Harrison Hot Springs. It's a self-referential piece which joyfully reframes a classical narrative through the prisms of disability, inclusivity, and imagination.
