Wagner Moura stars in the new trailer for “The Secret Agent,” a new political thriller from writer/director Kleber Mendonça Filho. The film, which takes place near the end of the Brazilian military dictatorship, has been selected as Brazil’s official entry to the Best International Feature race at the 2026 Academy Awards — after it became the most-lauded movie at Cannes 2025.
“Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. He arrives in Recife during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son but soon realizes that the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks,” the film’s official synopsis reads.
“The Secret Agent” has already secured a handful of prizes. “The Secret Agent” had its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival in May, where it took home the most awards of any film this year. Moura won Best Actor, while Filho won Best Director. The film also secured the FIPRESCI Prize (given by the International Federation of Film Critics) and the Prix des Cinémas Art et Essai. Throughout the 2020s, four of the five FIPRESCI winners (“I’m Still Here,” “Poor Things,” “Drive My Car” and “Nomadland”) went on to become Best Picture nominees, with one Best Picture winner among them.
However, “The Secret Agent” is one of a number of films that could win big for distributor Neon at the 2026 Academy Awards. The movie joins “It Was Just an Accident” (this year’s Palme d’Or winner), “Sentimental Value” (Cannes’ Grand Prix winner), “Sirāt” (a Cannes Jury Prize recipient) and “No Other Choice” (the inaugural recipient of TIFF’s International People’s Choice Award) as films for which Neon owns North American distribution.
All five of these films were additionally selected as Academy Awards representatives, with “The Secret Agent,” “It Was Just an Accident,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sirāt” and “No Other Choice” chosen as the official entries for Brazil, France, Norway, Spain and South Korea, respectively. With these already-celebrated films on the lineup, Neon could potentially run the table with North American rights to all five nominations in the International Feature category at the Oscars in 2026.
“The Secret Agent” will release in select theaters on Nov. 26.
