The Secret Agent

constantly engage with it. This is not a usual spy thriller. Its a drama which tests your patience every time. Wagner Moura's performance really helps with staying in connection with the film, he was simply outstanding and flawless. The film brilliantly shows life under a repressive regime and blatant corruption, which may be brutal and violent, but it also shows how life remains deceptively normal until it turns on a dime. Writer and director Kleber Mendonça Filho’s powerful film takes big swings in setting up its narrative, many of which may not land, and many can make you exhausted. The narrative can seem going in circles and taking random turns making it almost impossible to discern which bits to hang on to and which to discard as flavoring. By the end, even though there are answers regarding what happened to Marcelo, there are still gaps regarding the details such as did he ever find paperwork regarding his mother, how his wife, Fatima died. I would have liked it much better if it had stuck with mission at hand and with a tighter engaging screenplay. It is not just a story about a man who is seeking answers , its not about just people or a place, but the nature of history itself and that repressive corrupt systems enacting violence on the ordinary citizens who just want to mind their business. On a larger scale, the film creates a huge hurdle to piece together a compelling story understanding all the nuances snd details which people outside of brazil might feel hard to understand and reason with.