The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent

Year: 2025

Runtime: 2 h 38 m

Language: brazilian portuguese

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Echo Score: 90
CrimeDramaMysteryThriller

Set in Brazil in 1977, technology expert Marcelo, in his early forties, is on the run and arrives in Recife during the chaotic celebrations of carnival week. He hopes to reunite with his son, but quickly discovers the city is far from the peaceful refuge he imagined, as danger and violence hide beneath the festivities.

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Timeline – The Secret Agent (2025)

Trace every key event in The Secret Agent (2025) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Armando arrives in Recife during carnival

In 1977, Armando, a former teacher, arrives in Recife during the carnival holiday seeking refuge. He is sheltered by Dona Sebastiana alongside other political refugees Claudia, Haroldo, Thereza Vitória, and Angolan Civil War immigrants Antonio. The atmosphere mixes festive colors with the undercurrents of political tension.

Carnival week, 1977 Recife
2

Armando’s family separated by exile

Armando's son Fernando is being raised by his father-in-law Sr. Alexandre, a cinema projectionist at Cinema São Luiz. The arrangement underscores the personal toll of exile and dictatorship on families left behind. The city becomes both refuge and backdrop for their separation.

1977 Recife
3

The tiger shark leg and policing cover-up

A human leg is found inside a captured tiger shark, triggering alarm among the city authorities. Police chief Euclides and his sons intervene as part of a broader cycle of corruption and cover-ups during carnival week. The leg's disposal in the Capibaribe River leads to a bizarre resurrection that attacks gay men in a park, fueling a sensational public frenzy.

Carnival week, 1977 Recife, Capibaribe River
4

Armando re-registered as Marcelo under police protection

Armando is registered under the alias Marcelo at the city's social registration archive and is warmly welcomed by Euclides, who offers protection. Yet Euclides's protective posture hides arrogance and recurring harassment, even toward Hans, a Jewish Holocaust survivor mistaken for a Nazi fugitive.

1977 Recife
5

Hitmen hired to kill Armando in São Paulo

In São Paulo, hitmen Bobbi and Augusto are hired by a former Eletrobras president to assassinate Armando, driven by political and personal vendettas. The looming threat overlays Armando's exile with a sense that powerful interests will stop at nothing to silence him.

1977 São Paulo
6

Elza recruits Armando to flee

Armando is contacted by Elza, the leader of a political resistance network in the Brazilian northeast, who urges him to flee the country. He receives warning of imminent danger and begins preparing an escape route.

1977 Recife
7

Vilmar hired to locate Armando

Augusto and Bobbi hire Vilmar, a local impoverished gunman, to locate Armando and bring him down. The arrangement sets in motion a tense manhunt through Recife.

1977 Recife
8

Armando says farewell to his refuges

Anticipating escape, Armando bids farewell to Dona Sebastiana and the other refugees who sheltered him. The departure marks a precarious turning point as the city entangles him with shadowed factions that want him dead.

1977 Recife
9

Armando searches for his mother’s documents

The next morning, Armando searches for documents about his late mother, India, clinging to fragments of memory and hoping for clues to his past. The hunt for identity underscores the personal stakes amid political turmoil.

Next morning, 1977 Recife
10

Vilmar finds Armando but fails to kill him

Vilmar locates Armando but fails to kill him, instead wounding Arlindo and a fellow police officer. Bobbi watches from a distance as the pursuit spills through Recife's streets, heightening the sense of an inescapable trap.

Same day, 1977 Recife
11

Bobbi finishes Vilmar in a barbershop chase

In a climactic chase, Bobbi pursues the bleeding Vilmar through Recife's downtown and ultimately kills him in a barbershop. The violent confrontation reveals how the era's vendettas reach beyond the battlefield into everyday spaces.

Same day, 1977 Recife
12

Present-day discovery of Armando’s fate

Decades later, history student Flavia researches Elza's resistance network through audio interviews and newspaper archives, discovering that Armando was assassinated. The revelation reframes the carnival week as a long shadow over Recife.

Present day Recife
13

Flavia visits Recife and interviews Fernando

Flavia travels to Recife and meets Fernando, now a middle-aged doctor, who agrees to be interviewed in the hospital after Flavia donates blood. The conversation delves into Armando's political past and the circumstances of his murder.

Present day Recife
14

Fernando’s memory gaps about his father

During their interview, Fernando reveals he has no memories of his father or his childhood in 1977, underscoring how political violence can erase personal histories and leave surviving relatives with blank spaces.

Present day Hospital, Recife

Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 15:32

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The narrative typically follows a protagonist, often an ordinary person caught in extraordinary circumstances, who must evade capture by a pervasive and powerful antagonist. The journey is one of survival, mistrust, and navigating a landscape where official institutions are part of the threat, not the solution.

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Narrative Summary

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Characters, Settings & Themes in The Secret Agent

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