Starring Wagner Moura, Kleber Mendonça Filho’s ‘The Secret Agent’ won both Best Director and Best Actor at Cannes.
Following this year’s historic success at the Oscars, Brazil is poised to have another strong contender for 2026 with ‘The Secret Agent’. The 2025 edition marked the country’s first Oscar win, with ‘I’m Still Here’ taking home the Best International Feature Film award.
Specialized media outlets have touted ‘The Secret Agent’ as another solid contender for the international category. What’s more, some critics have even said the film has real chances in other categories!
‘The Secret Agent’
I was fortunate enough to catch an early preview of ‘The Secret Agent’ a few weeks ago. The film has since received a wide release in Brazil, but remains unavailable in most other territories.
Neon will distribute the film in the U.S., with releases starting Nov. 26 in New York, Dec. 5 in Los Angeles, and a broader national rollout to follow. In the U.K. and Ireland, the release is set for Feb. 20, 2026, through MUBI.
‘The Secret Agent’ follows Marcelo (Moura), who is “marked for death” in 1977, at the height of the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil between 1964 and 1985. Marcelo returns to the city of Recife to see his son, seeking refuge under a fake identity.
The film’s title can be misleading – Marcelo is not your typical secret agent. He’s not James Bond or Jason Bourne. Far from it.
Marcelo is simply a college professor suffering persecution for confronting a powerful (and petty and vindictive) businessman, who then puts a hit on his head. Hence, the need for the fake identity.
A Piece of Brazilian History
It’s the type of thing that would only be possible under an authoritarian regime. As ‘I’m Still Here’ showed, criticizing those in power bore a heavy price. The Brazil of that era was commanded by the influential, and their power was often boundless.
This is an issue that sadly outlasted the authoritarian era in Brazil. The powerful often think they are above everyone else, a belief rooted in the country’s very inception. The Portuguese arrived in Tupiniquim lands in the 1500s and soon enslaved the native peoples. The influx of enslaved Africans was also one of the largest in the world.
This had a positive effect, making Brazil one of the most multicultural countries out there. However, power relations are still relatively unchanged. The rich and powerful are white, with European ancestry, while the subjugated often trace their roots to indigenous or African cultures.
The fact that Brazil’s independence wasn’t fought for doesn’t help either. Countries like the U.S. and France trace their national identities to conflicts against their colonizers or ruling monarchs. Brazil’s independence from Portugal, by contrast, was a top-down negotiated process that preserved social hierarchy without mass mobilization.
Dom Pedro I, the son of the King of Portugal, proclaimed Brazilian independence and subsequently governed the country. His son, Dom Pedro II, followed, governing Brazil for another 49 years.
I feel this accurately illustrates the perpetuation of powerful elites in Brazil. There was never a national conflict or mobilization to challenge existing power structures and truly create a patriotic, uniting identity.
Review
‘The Secret Agent’ vividly portrays Brazilian identity and culture through the city of Recife’s unique setting. Writer/director/producer Mendonça Filho, a Recife native and survivor of the dictatorship, captures the tension surrounding the country with remarkable sensibility. Filho also showcases the beauty of the Brazilian Nordeste with the authenticity of a true local.
Despite its ominous subject matter, ‘The Secret Agent’ manages to be light and funny, like a genuine spy thriller. There’s even a hilarious narrative surrounding a missing leg walking around on its own and terrifying Recife’s residents. Go figure.
Stylistically, ‘The Secret Agent’ unfolds more as a chronicle than a traditional narrative. It is at once an accurate representation of the times and a fictional, larger-than-life story. This approach may be off-putting to some, but it is precisely what makes ‘The Secret Agent’ one of the most distinctive films of the year.
Interview with Evgenia Alexandrova, director of photography for ‘The Secret Agent’
Evgenia Alexandrova is the award-winning Director of Photography for ‘The Secret Agent’. Born in Russia, she graduated from La FEMIS in Paris, one of the world’s top film schools.
She has worked on more than 30 films. Last year, she won the Cannes Prime Time Young Film Technician Award and, more recently, Best Cinematography at the Stockholm Film Festival.
‘The Secret Agent’ is her second feature shot in Brazil, following 2023’s ‘Heartless’. I spoke to Alexandrova about her experience on ‘The Secret Agent’, the style of the film’s cinematography, the rise of Brazilian cinema, and more in the interview below.
