The Secret Agent (2025)

Kleber Mendonça Filho | Brazil, France, Germany, the Netherlands | 2025 | 158 min | R21 (Sexual Scenes) A professor is on the run after locking horns with a politician who deems his department’s research a threat to his business. In 1970s Brazil, Marcelo, a recently widowed university professor on the run, is on his way to a small town to reunite with his son Fernando. Concerned about his grandson’s safety under Marcelo’s care, Marcelo’s father-in-law Alexandre introduces him to a mysterious woman who promises safe passage out of town. In a place riddled with political corruption, the walls close in on Marcelo as he realises that hitmen are pursuing him. Through multiple subplots and an affectionate ode to the movies of Filho’s youth, The Secret Agent indulges us with its delightful 1970s neo-noir visual style. It reflects how histories can be altered and memories can be contradicted when power is abused.