| Date watched | December 25, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Show Time | 11:15 am |
| Theater | Alamo Drafthouse S.Lamar |
| Theater Number | 9 |
| Pizza | No |
| Tickets | Via App |
| Letterboxd Rating | **** 1/2 (4.5) |
| Crew | Just Me |
I watched “The Secret Agent” (2025) this Christmas morning and it was so much different than I had expected. Set in 1977 Brazil during Carnival, it follows Marcelo (Wagner Moura) or Armando depending on who you ask, as he moves through Recife, the state capital north of Rio, trying to survive and reconnect with his son in a world that feels hot and muggy but also full of life with a hint of government corruption mixed in.
Map from Wikipedia showing Recife
The movie is not simply about a spy or what I thought of when I heard “The Secret Agent”. It feels more like a weird road trip movie. There are colorful clothes, great music and sound work, dancing, and unexpected bits of comedy. The movie has various cuts where we fade out but the story keeps moving. It creates this sense we are watching through the eyes of someone else.
Those cuts interestingly enough leave you missing information about Marcelo and what he is doing until the narrative begins slowly piecing it together. I was not totally clear on who the “secret agent” was until much later. At first it feels like he is just wandering, staying at halfway houses and running from who knows what, but it leads to something surprisingly sweet with his kid.
This made me think about another recent Brazil film I liked. “I’m Still Here” (2024) from Walter Salles. That one is based on the disappearance of Rubens Paiva and his wife Eunice’s struggle after. Much heavier, but worth watching if you liked the political backdrop here.
Anyway, fun watch, weird and colorful, and not what I expected from the title. Maybe I gave it an extra star because I Loved I’m Still here I don’t know.
My Letterboxd review has a few more thoughts: https://letterboxd.com/marcuseid/film/the-secret-agent-2025/