Brazilian auteur Kleber Mendonça Filho (“Bacurau”) is set to direct “The Secret Agent,” a gripping political thriller headlined by “Civil War” star Wagner Moura. The film is set in the late 1970s during the final years of Brazil’s military dictatorship.
MK2 Films, the sales banner behind the Oscar-winning “Anatomy of a Fall,” will introduce the project to buyers at the Cannes Film Market. Now in pre-production, “The Secret Agent” is being produced by Brazil’s Cinemascopio (“Bacurau,” “Aquarius”) and MK Productions, whose credits include Oscar-nominated films such as Joachim Trier’s “The Worst Person in the World” and Pawel Pawlikowski’s “Cold War.”
Moura, who broke through internationally with his Golden Globe-nominated performance as Pablo Escobar in the Netflix series “Narcos,” will star as Marcelo, a university professor in his 40s who is on the run. He travels from São Paulo to the seaside city of Recife during Carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son. But he soon finds out he has been tailed and spied on by neighbors in his new refuge, leaving him no possible escape from the tentacles of corruption. Moura stars opposite Maria Fernanda Candido(“The Traitor”).
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“The Secret Agent” is a passion project for Mendonça Filho, a politically-minded filmmaker who penned the script based on extensive research and a deep dive into his own archives. The story unfolds in his hometown of Recife, which served as the backdrop for his 2016 Cannes competition film “Aquarius,” as well as “Neighboring Sounds” and “Pictures of Ghosts,” another Cannes alumnus which represented Brazil in the 2023 Oscar race. “The Secret Agent” marks Mendonça Filho’s most ambitious feature to date — and his first fiction film since “Bacurau,” which received Cannes’ Jury Prize in 2019.
Along with its rich historical context, “The Secret Agent” will also weave in folklore elements, such as the Carnival festivities and urban legends, as well as an authentic Brazilian soundtrack. The movie is expected to be delivered in 2025.
