The Secret Agent (2025)
In 1977, a technology expert flees from a mysterious past and returns to his hometown of Recife in search of peace. He soon realizes that the city is far from being the refuge he seeks.
directed by: Kleber Mendonça Filho
written by: Kleber Mendonça Filho
starring: Wagner Moura, Carlos Francisco, Laura Lufési…
The Secret Agent was probably one of the best movies I’ve seen that I didn’t seem to fully grasp in my life. That’s an elite category so far only reserved for this film, and Christopher Nolan’s Tenet (2020). Therefore, with that being said, I’d personally class it as a decent movie overall.
With that being said, I’m going to be completely transparent, some of the fault of my confusion is to be blamed on myself. This being because I arrived at the cinema 10 minutes late, but still, one would assume that you couldn’t have missed out on all that much in that brief period of time. However, this film may warrant a rewatch given all of the praise it’s gotten. And I’m not talking about the general public either, I went to watch this film with two Brazilian mates of mine and they both seemed highly impressed with it once the credits started rolling.
So what specifically did I enjoy about this flick? Firstly, the dialogue. To be genuinely witty, yet informative, yet heartfelt to a degree is a tricky tight-rope to walk. However, this film managed to do it very well in my opinion. What comes to my mind immediately was when Wagner Moura’s Armando was getting shown around an apartment by an old lady, in which nearly everything she said warranted a laugh. She was genuinely funny, not even in a corny way like is often seen. Even the more slap-you-in-the-face absurd scenes were hilarious, made better by the character’s reactions to them why then did randomly occur.
On top of this, I was a big fan of the plot pattern too. It was non-linear, jumping about between time, location and all sorts in order to tell a story that (whilst again, I did find a little confusing) kept me interested throughout. There was no point where I felt necessarily bored or like my attention was being burgled by something else. Elements of the film even somewhat reminded me of Pulp Fiction (1994), specifically when a step-father and step-son duo casually dispose of a body in the ocean, followed by a scene the next morning where they’re washing out the trunk and heading to a meeting like it’s just another weekday in the suburbs.
If I’d have to put a finger on what threw me about this film, I’d probably have to go with the fact that there never seemed to be any satisfying conclusion to anything that happened. There were a bunch of events, sure, but I never got why all this stuff happened in the first place. Like, what was the purpose of it all. I guess I was just waiting for some be climax which never seemed to come. This was somewhat reminiscent of No Country For Old Men (2007) which left me with the same half-perplexed expression on my face. But who knows, maybe that first 10-minutes of the film was the key in unlocking it all.
So overall, I was definitely impressed by this film in some regards, despite being somewhat confused too. Would I watch it again? It did entertained me enough for me to give it another chance (this time from the very beginning), but I don’t know when that would next be. Oh, and I’d be remised if I didn’t add that my Brazilian mates want people to know that Brazil is a much nicer place now than was depicted in the film.