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, Footage of Ghosts. Inside 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, seems like an extension of the concepts he explored in that documentary (in all the perfect methods). It’s a surprising interval piece, a hope-filled testomony to the resilience of those that struggle towards the methods that try to manage them, and a love letter to each Recife and its cinemas. It’s additionally the most effective movies of the yr.
Set in 1977, throughout 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 He sees his parents-in-law and his younger son, Fernando (Enzo Nunes), however he’s left all elements of his outdated life behind.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 in search of 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 guaranteeing selections or taking sure actions. The relative secrecy of all the pieces additionally echoes what’s occurring within the movie. Characters both aiding or conspiring towards Armando reveal themselves rigorously and unexpectedly, making a whirlwind of an expertise that’s consistently participating.
The Secret Agent performs considerably linearly, however not utterly 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 occasionally 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 types are so dynamic, The Secret Agent by no means feels aligned with a single style particularly. In fact, 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 quick (jaw-dropping) sequence that contains a Halloween-opening-type POV shot, although not in the way in which you’d count on. 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 better 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 terrified of the poster, Armando bans him from watching it). Whereas it’s initially shocking how important cinema is to the story, it provides a further dimension to the narrative’s energy. Cinema is a software of resistance and a illustration of historical past; every movie is steeped within the context through which it was made. It permits us to see issues others could maintain 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 score: 8/10
