Find out if the award-winning feature film by Kleber Mendonça Filho with Wagner Moura is based on real events and understand the scenario of the military dictatorship in 1977
Since it hit theaters and won over international critics, many viewers have been wondering if The Brazilian film The Secret Agent is based on real events. The work, which combines suspense and political drama, presents a detailed recreation of Brazil in the 1970s, which raises doubts about the veracity of the events narrated on screen.
Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho (Bacurau, Aquarius) and starring Wagner Moura, the film stands out not only for its tense plot, but for the atmosphere of paranoia that permeated the country during the military regime.
Below, we explain the origin of the script, what is fiction and what is historical reality in the production.
The plot of The Secret Agent
The story takes place in 1977. Marcelo (played by Wagner Moura) is a university professor and technology specialist in his 40s. Fleeing a turbulent past and political threats in São Paulo, he decides to move to Recife during Carnival week, seeking refuge and the chance to reunite with his son.
However, the tranquility he seeks is illusory. Upon arriving, Marcelo realizes that the city, despite the festive atmosphere, hides a network of surveillance and tension. He begins to suspect that he is being monitored by his own neighbors and finds himself involved in a web of espionage, urban legends and state repression.
Is the film based on real events?
The direct answer is: No, the film is not a biography nor does it report a specific documentary event. Marcelo’s story and the particular events of the plot are works of fiction created by Kleber Mendonça Filho.
However, the film is deeply based on historical reality. The director uses the year 1977 as its own “character”. Although the plot is invented, the political scenario is factual. That year, Brazil lived under the government of General Ernesto Geisel. It was a period of slow transition (“slow, gradual and safe opening”), where the dictatorship still showed strength through the SNI (National Information Service) and civil surveillance, but was already facing the wear and tear of the end of the “Economic Miracle”.
Furthermore, the film incorporates true elements of Recife’s urban folklore at the time, such as the famous legend of “Perna Cabeluda”, mixing real political terror with the popular imagination that haunted the residents of the capital of Pernambuco. Therefore, although Marcelo did not exist, the atmosphere of fear and the city’s architecture are faithful portraits of the time.
Cast and characters
The production brings together one of the most stellar casts in recent national cinema, mixing the director’s usual collaborators with new big names:
- Wagner Moura as Marcelo (the fugitive protagonist).
- Maria Fernanda Cândido (prominent role in the local plot).
- Gabriel Leone (key figure in Recife’s dynamics).
- Alice Carvalho (revelation actress Cangaço Novo).
- Kier’s thigh (German actor who returns after working in Bacurau).
- Isabel Zuaa, Thomas Aquinas e Hermila Guedes complete the main team.
Production curiosities
- Period reconstruction: The film required massive art direction work to transform current Recife into the city of 1977, including changing facades, vehicles and costumes that recall the aesthetics of the 70s.
- Analog technology: With the protagonist being an expert in technology at the time, the film visually explores reel-to-reel recorders, wiretapping and the materiality of pre-digital espionage.
- International success: Even before its wide release in Brazil, the film was successful at festivals, consolidating Kleber Mendonça Filho as one of the strongest names in world cinema today.
Where to watch
Released in Brazilian cinemas at the end of 2025, The Secret Agent continues to be in the spotlight due to the 2026 awards season (including the Golden Globes and Oscars).
- Cinemas: Check the local schedule, as the film usually returns to theaters or holds screenings on art circuits during the Oscar period.
- Streaming: Netflix confirmed the acquisition of the film’s screening rights. After the exclusive cinema window, the film will enter the platform’s catalog (the exact date depends on the end of the awards circuit).
The film reaffirms the capacity of Brazilian cinema to revisit its recent history not just as a document, but as high-quality entertainment, keeping alive the memory of a period that defined the country’s direction.
