Wagner Moura

Carlos Francisco

Tânia Maria

Robério Diógenes

Roney Villela

Gabriel Leone

Alice Carvalho

Hermila Guedes

Isabél Zuaa

Maria Fernanda Cândido

Thomás Aquino

Laura Lufési

Isadora Ruppert

Igor de Araújo

Ítalo Martins

Udo Kier

João Vitor Silva

Luciano Chirolli

Geane Albuquerque

Fafa Dantas

Suzy Lopes

Gregorio Graziosi

Joálisson Cunha

Aline Marta

Buda Lira

Wilson Rabelo

Erivaldo Oliveira

Enzo Nunes

Márcio De Paula

Fabiana Pirro

Rubens Santos

Kaiony Venâncio

Licínio Januário

Marcelo Valle

Robson Andrade

Albert Tenorio

Edilson Silva

Nivaldo Nascimento

Cely Farias

Beto Quirino

Kleber Mendonça Filho

Evgenia Alexandrova

Emilie Lesclaux

Mariana Jacob

Werick Dino Garcia

Rita Azevedo

Marisa Amenta

Moabe Filho

Eduardo Serrano

Gabriel Domingues

Matheus Farias

Pedrinho Moreira

Tijn Hazen

Cyril Holtz

Fellipe Fernandes

Leonardo Lacca

Dora Amorim

Thales Junqueira

Mateus Alves

Tomaz Alves de Souza

Pethrus Tiburcio

Fred Burle

Brent Travers

Crime

Drama

Thriller

Mystery

O Agente Secreto

Lemming Film

One Two Films

CinemaScópio

ARTE France Cinéma

MK Productions

Brazil

France

Germany

Netherlands

Brent Marchant

The key to making a successful political thriller is to maintain a taught sense of mesmerizing, edge-of-the-seat intrigue. Unfortunately, that’s precisely the element that’s missing in this overlong, annoyingly convoluted tale set in 1977 Brazil during the waning days of its military dictatorship. The story follows the life of Armando (Wagner Moura), a former university researcher targeted for manipulation and framing by a corrupt, influential businessman (Luciano Chirolli) when the educator refuses to play ball with him. This, in turn, leads to a death threat against Armando, who must do whatever it takes to try and clear his name and stay alive. In the process, however, Armando gets caught up in a web of deceit, criminality and personal peril involving a shady police chief and his dubious associates, a pair of ruthless hitmen, a group of Brazilian and Angolan political dissidents in hiding, and a Holocaust survivor mistakenly believed to be a Nazi refugee. From this, it would appear that the film has a premise filled with potential to make for an engaging yarn, but, regrettably, it fails under the weight of its many shortcomings, most notably an overextended narrative that excessively delves into the details of government research funding and sociopolitical clashes involving regional Brazilian cultural and political differences, material that’s often tedious and not especially engaging. To complicate matters, director Kleber Mendonça Filho has compiled a mishmash of filming and storytelling styles that frequently impairs the picture’s flow and style, including a wealth of easily excised incidental material that tries viewer patience the further one gets into the story. This is clearly a case of a filmmaker in need of reining himself in, knowing when to kill his darlings, and unsuccessfully maintaining a level of suspense that, sadly, largely evaporates about an hour into the picture. In addition, this offering incorporates a present-day story thread involving a history student (Laura Lufési) assigned to transcribe surveillance tape recordings of Armando made at the height of his ordeal, a task that inexplicably captivates her, prompting her to learn more about the fate of her subject. It’s a needless subplot that evokes a huge “so what?” quality and could have readily been eliminated without damaging the picture in the slightest. I’m truly mystified how this bloated release ended up being the most honored candidate at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, capturing four awards, including best actor and director, as well as a Palme d’Or nomination, the event’s highest honor. This is a genre with so many other better offerings that one would be wise to watch in place of this disappointing effort.