471 - The Secret Agent

Eavesdropping at the Movies · Mar 27, 2026 · 42m

We've previously seen Bacurau, writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho's last film, which we loved, and find The Secret Agent a similarly fascinating depiction of political corruption and persecution in Brazil, though much more grounded and fleshed out, particularly given the historical setting in 1977, at which time Brazil was subject to a military dictatorship. To José, who grew up in Franco's Spain, The Secret Agent's depiction of life under fascism richly, and scarily, evokes the dynamics at play in such a society. As Wagner Moura's protagonist discovers, simply upsetting the wrong person…