The Secret Agent

Marcelo, a technology specialist in his early forties, arrives in Recife during Carnival week in 1977. He is on the run and hopes to reunite with his young son, but the city proves far from the safe refuge he imagined, and a threatening situation hangs over his attempt to build a new life there. Set during a military dictatorship, the crime drama follows a man whose past keeps closing in on him.

The film is directed and written by Kleber Mendonça Filho, his fourth feature after Aquarius (2016), Bacurau (2019) and Pictures of Ghosts (2023). Wagner Moura plays Marcelo, heading a cast of 75 credited performers that includes Alice Carvalho, Gabriel Leone, Isabél Zuaa, Maria Fernanda Cândido and Udo Kier. Emilie Lesclaux, Mendonça Filho and Winston Araújo produced the film, a co-production between Germany, the Netherlands Antilles, Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands and France, made for about 5 million USD. It has taken roughly 14 million USD worldwide.

The film runs 161 minutes. Audiences are positive but measured: it holds 7.2 out of 10 on IMDb from over 56,000 votes and 7.2 out of 10 on TMDB from several hundred votes. Critics are noticeably warmer, with an 8.7 out of 10 score from 212 reviews, placing it well above the audience ratings.