The Secret Agent (2025)

Incredible production design. Baffling narrative decisions.

There’s clearly a ton of craft in The Secret Agent - the production design is incredible, and Wagner Moura is pretty good in the lead. But there are some baffling decisions here that I don’t fully understand. For example, we don’t learn the backstory about Moura’s character until halfway through the film. I was extremely lost, extremely confused, and honestly completely disengaged for the first half.

The movie is clearly playing with 70s political thrillers and grindhouse aesthetics. It has a lot to say about political corruption, memory, ghosts, and our relationship to the past. Some parts are fun and interesting - wild swings that almost work. But at nearly three hours, it’s an absolute slog to get through.

Too much runtime. Not enough payoff. It just didn’t work for me.

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