“The Secret Agent”
Detroit Film Theatre
January 2, 2025
What a pleasure to start off 2026 with a film as rich, as deceptive, as dream-like as “The Secret Agent,” the latest from director Kleber Mendonça Filho.
And yes, setting is everything, sitting in the balcony of the historic Detroit Film Theatre inside of the Detroit Institute of Arts. The scene mimics one of the main settings in “The Secret Agent” – a beloved cinema in Mendonça Filho’s hometown of Recife, Brazil.
Screenings of “Jaws” were still top billing in Brazil in 1977 as this period piece reveals itself slowly to the audience. And throughout “The Secret Agent,” there’s plenty of sharks in the water – literally and figuratively.
The mission here is far from straight ahead. Brazilian actor Wagner Moura (Netflix’s “Narcos”) plays a main character with a couple of names, returning to Recife to reunite with his son and escape … from something. You’ll find yourself completely wrapped up in this film within the first few minutes without exactly understanding where the hell we’re going to end up.
Is this a film about a true secret agent or the grim lives of political dissidents on the run during a military dictatorship? How can a world like this be so vibrant and colorful yet so violent and bloody at the same time? It’s absolutely refreshing to see a film with so many dark undertones be this brilliantly shot in full, ravishing color.
The plot is a complicated one with many sub-plots to follow and many actors filling the screen. In lesser hands, this would be a problem for any filmmaker to navigate with authority. But thanks to Mendonça Filho’s deft hand, the casting here is brilliant.
Visually, everyone on screen is captivating. Often with just a few lines of dialogue, you’ll be dropped completely into their world and emphasize with them – even if it’s just for a couple minutes.
There’s big themes here surrounding Brazil’s collective memory, what it means to take a stand for something larger than yourself (and your family) and the lengths we’ll go to hang onto our identities when it all seems bloody and violent and pointless.
But hey, keeping the plot here is classified – you’ll just have to find out for yourself. Good luck getting a straight answer.
