The Secret Agent — Kleber Mendonça Filho at the Height of His Craft
First and foremost, The Secret Agent is a film — and a great one. Not merely because of its subject or its performances, but because it is made by a director fully in command of his artistic powers. Kleber Mendonça Filho is no longer proving himself; he is asserting mastery.
Since Neighbouring Sounds (O Som ao Redor, 2012), Mendonça Filho has steadily positioned himself as one of the most serious and original storytellers in contemporary Brazilian cinema. With The Secret Agent, that trajectory reaches a new level. This is the work of a filmmaker in his prime, someone who understands not only how to tell a story, but how cinema itself thinks, breathes, and remembers.
What makes his achievement even more remarkable is where he comes from — and where he does not. Brazilian cinema has long revolved around Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, the gravitational centers where most talent, money, and visibility concentrate. Mendonça Filho operates outside that vortex. Rooted in the Northeast, he has established himself not as an outsider seeking validation, but as a serious contender reshaping the national cinematic language from the margins.
Craft, Reconstruction, and Collective Intelligence
The film rests on an extraordinarily competent crew, whose work borders on the invisible — the highest compliment craftsmanship can receive. The reconstruction of the northeastern Brazilian city where the story unfolds is meticulous, immersive, and emotionally convincing. Nothing feels ornamental; everything feels lived-in.
This precision is not accidental. Mendonça Filho is a filmmaker who openly acknowledges his lineage. He praises filmmakers and film artists constantly, and The Secret Agent makes that cinephilia explicit. The film tells you, without hesitation: I belong to this tribe. These are my people. These are my idols.
Yet this reverence never turns into imitation. Instead, it manifests in confidence — confidence to stage scenes of sex, to portray Brazilian sensuality without exoticism, and to include moments of female agency and affirmation that feel organic rather than programmatic. These choices are not slogans; they are expressions of lived cultural understanding.
A Deep Understanding of Brazil — Socially and Sonically
One of the film’s most quietly brilliant achievements is its grasp of Brazil’s social texture. Mendonça Filho understands that Brazil is not a single cultural voice, but a polyphony. The use of multiple Portuguese accents is not decorative — it is structural. It reflects class, geography, history, and power relations with astonishing clarity.
Few filmmakers capture this richness without flattening it. The Secret Agent does. It listens as much as it speaks, and that listening gives the film its depth.
An International Web, A Brazilian Core
The production itself mirrors the film’s thematic complexity. With French, Dutch, Brazilian, and other collaborators — more than 200 people credited across multiple forms of contribution — the film is supported by a strong international network, without ever losing its Brazilian soul.
This is not global cinema trying to dilute itself for export. It is Brazilian cinema confident enough to collaborate on equal terms.
Performances: A Cast That Carries Weight
The cast is almost uniformly brilliant.
Wagner Moura is, undeniably, the cereja do bolo — the cherry on top. His performance anchors the film with gravity, restraint, and internal tension. But what elevates The Secret Agent is that Moura is never alone at the summit.
Maria Fernanda Cândido (Elza) brings precision and emotional intelligence.
Gabriel Leone (Bobbi) balances vulnerability and control.
Hermila Guedes (Claudia) delivers raw presence and authenticity.
Alice Carvalho (Fátima) and Geane Albuquerque (Elisângela) add texture and force.
Roney Villela (Augusto) and João Vitor Silva (Haroldo) deepen the ensemble’s credibility.
And the presence of Udo Kier adds a haunting, transnational resonance that quietly expands the film’s symbolic reach.
This is not a star vehicle; it is an ensemble built on trust and precision.
Final Thoughts
The Secret Agent confirms what attentive viewers already suspected: Kleber Mendonça Filho is no longer emerging — he has arrived. The film is politically aware without being didactic, sensual without being indulgent, intellectual without being cold.
It is cinema made by someone who understands where he comes from, who he speaks to, and which cinematic ancestors he walks alongside — while still carving his own unmistakable path.
