The Secret Agent [NYFF 2025]
Studio: Neon
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Sep 30, 2025
In 2023, Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho made a vastly underrated documentary, Photos of Ghosts. Throughout the movie, which explores (amongst many themes) the cinemas of Recife, the filmmaker compares filmgoing to churchgoing and emphasizes the way in which the cinema (as an area) brings individuals collectively and forges group.
The director’s latest movie, The Secret Agent, looks like an extension of the concepts he explored in that documentary (in all one of the best methods). It’s a surprising interval piece, a hope-filled testomony to the resilience of those that struggle in opposition to the methods that try to manage them, and a love letter to each Recife and its cinemas. It’s additionally probably the greatest movies of the yr.
Set in 1977, through the Brazilian dictatorship, the movie opens by monitoring political refugee Armando (Wagner Moura) as he arrives in Recife. All through its first hour, the movie gives no particulars on what led to Armando’s present state of affairs; we merely watch as he assumes a brand new life below the title “Marcelo.” He sees his parents-in-law and his younger son, Fernando (Enzo Nunes), however he’s left all elements of his outdated life behind. That’s, till he learns that two bounty hunters have arrived within the metropolis on the lookout for him.
Mendonça Filho will not be in a rush to inform this story, as evidenced by each the movie’s 160-minute runtime and the gradual, considerate approach its narrative unfolds. Restraining particulars about Armando’s previous is a great transfer. The movie’s first hour virtually washes over you as you strive to determine why the character is ensuring choices or taking sure actions. The relative secrecy of all the pieces additionally echoes what’s occurring within the movie. Characters both aiding or conspiring in opposition to Armando reveal themselves fastidiously and unexpectedly, making a whirlwind of an expertise that’s continuously participating.
The Secret Agent performs considerably linearly, however not fully so. Mendonça Filho pivots from one plotline to a different so rapidly that each second calls for your consideration, as you’ll by no means know when plotlines will lastly intersect. By taped recordings of the characters talking, the director additionally sometimes cuts to a present-day narrative thread, which explores the significance of preserving, honoring, and publicizing historical past. The movie doesn’t want this narrative complexity to work, however its presence makes the story much more poignant and considerate.
As a result of the pacing and narrative kinds are so dynamic, The Secret Agent by no means feels aligned with a single style particularly. After all, it’s primarily a political thriller, although it usually veers into ’70s neo-noir territory. Chase sequences are shot like espionage motion sequences; there’s even a short (jaw-dropping) sequence that includes a Halloween-opening-type POV shot, although not in the way in which you’d anticipate. Mendonça Filho’s resistance to conforming to any style norms is the movie’s best success, as you by no means really feel it’s merely a interval piece. It’s one thing far higher and extra rewarding than that.
Cinema is the beating coronary heart of The Secret Agent. Conversations (and main plot occasions) happen within the projection room of one among Recife’s gorgeous film palaces, and Fernando is obsessive about the idea of going to see Jaws (although, given he’s petrified of the poster, Armando bans him from watching it). Whereas it’s initially shocking how very important cinema is to the story, it provides an extra dimension to the narrative’s energy. Cinema is a instrument of resistance and a illustration of historical past; every movie is steeped within the context wherein it was made. It permits us to see issues others could hold us from seeing and preserves historical past for what it was, no matter those that attempt to silence or sideline it. Mendonça Filho understands that completely, and it makes The Secret Agent all of the extra unforgettable.
Writer ranking: 8/10
