Hidden Agenda

Hidden Agenda is a British political thriller set during the Troubles in Northern Ireland. American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her partner, the activist Paul Sullivan, travel to Belfast to look into allegations that British security forces have committed human rights abuses. Their inquiry is cut short when Sullivan is killed in the street, and the official account brands him an IRA accomplice. Dissatisfied with that explanation, Ingrid joins forces with Peter Kerrigan, a British investigator who pursues the case against his own government's wishes. Together they follow documentary evidence Sullivan had gathered, and what they find points toward a conspiracy reaching into the highest levels of the British establishment, putting them at risk the further they go.

Ken Loach directed the film from a screenplay by Jim Allen, with Eric Fellner producing. It is the fifth of the twenty features Loach directed, arriving between Fatherland and Riff-Raff, and it belongs to the run of politically engaged work he made for television and cinema in that period. Frances McDormand plays Ingrid, Brian Cox plays Kerrigan and Brad Dourif plays Sullivan, with Mai Zetterling, Bernard Archard and Michelle Fairley among the twenty-nine credited cast members.

Hidden Agenda was released in November 1990 and runs 108 minutes. It took about 1 million dollars worldwide, a modest return for a British drama of its size. Audiences rate it 6.9 out of 10 on IMDb from around 5,300 votes and 6.9 out of 10 on TMDB from 114 votes, while critics gave it 7 out of 10 across 21 reviews, placing it slightly above the viewer scores.