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
Cookie Queens
A documentary about the annual Girl Scouts' cookie sale is probably not high on your list of must-sees, but don't be too sure — this movie is a delight, a rare celebration of girlhood, supportive family relations, and the art of salesmanship.
A Simple Machine
Cutting costs, swapping four wheels for two, Nick is downsizing to pay off his student debt. It's a path which leads to savings he had not anticipated, even if his girlfriend thinks he's losing it (and she may be right). A lean, low budget gem.
Jackie Brown
Take half a dozen characters who know they're in a fix, and give them half a million dollars to fight over. Tarantino's crime movie (his best) transcends genre in large part because in Pam Grier and Robert Forster it gives us people we truly care about.
Princess Mononoke
A mystical fight between humans and the Animal Gods of the forest. Ashitaka, the last prince of a dying race, struggles to find a way for both sides to co-exist. But the fighting only becomes more and more bloody and all hope seems to be lost…