The Secret Agent | Film Review

 

In 1977, technology expert Armando (Wagner Moura) flees a troubled past and returns to his hometown of Recife, where he is forced to fight against corruption and political turmoil.

And the last Best Picture nominee I needed to see! This was the film I knew the least about, and one of the only ones I could go into completely blind. The premise didn't give me as much as I wanted so I went in a bit apprehensive.

I ended up really liking this movie, which I didn't expect!

One of the first notes I wrote was that both the scenes and characters are given space to breathe. At 2hrs 40, this is one of the longer Best Picture nominees, but that time is used really well because the audience gets the chance to sit, breathe and live with these characters.

And with that, the pacing it great, it doesn't feel nearly as long as it is.

That being said, at the beginning it feels like characters are thrown at you every two minutes with no introductions, despite the clear importance they're given. You do get to know the characters eventually, but at the beginning, it feels like you've been thrown in at the deep end.

Thankfully, the characters are great. All of them feel incredibly authentic, and part of that is down to how great all the actors are, and how well they completely embody the people they're playing.

I specifically have to talk about Moura, who is absolutely fantastic in this role, and I'm really glad he's receiving recognition for it. Having now seen all the Best Actor nominees, if it was up to me Moura would definitely be getting that Oscar.

The story itself is a lot more interesting than the description suggests, which was such a pleasant surprise.

I typically tend to be quite wary of political thrillers for a variety of reasons, but this is such a great example of how the genre can be done well. The characters themselves are so engaging that you're automatically interested and invested in their world.

My only issue with the characters is that I would have liked to know them all a bit better. There's one scene in particular where a group of characters are connecting and sharing things and I wanted so much more of this because the whole group worked well together, and I wanted to really know them.

I really liked the way the past and present connected - having the students included in the story, listening to the things that were happening in the 70s was fascinating, and shot in a really interesting way. It also adds a lot more heart to the ending.

The third act was great, particularly the tension it created.

When deciding on a rating, once the film finished I realised that as much as I enjoyed it, I didn't have the tightest grip of the overall story, so that worked against it.

But on the other hand, this film touched me in a way that a lot of the other nominees haven't, so I had to give it an extra half star for that alone.

So overall, I would definitely recommend this movie. It's probably going to be the least watched Best Picture nominee, but it's one of the best and I hope it walks away with some awards on the night - particularly Moura!

8/10