Neon Takes North American On Buzzy Brazilian Pic ‘The Secret Agent’; Can Distributor Hit Six Palmes d’Or In A Row? – Cannes

Anthony D'Alessandro

Wed, May 21, 2025 at 5:15 PM UTC

2 min read

Neon Takes North American On Buzzy Brazilian Pic ‘The Secret Agent’; Can Distributor Hit Six Palmes d’Or In A Row? – Cannes

Neon has acquired the stateside rights for Kleber Mendonca Filho’s Brazilian movie The Secret Agent, rumored to be a finalist for the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or, with a theatrical release planned for this year.
If The Secret Agent wins the Palme d’Or at Cannes, it will mark Neon’s sixth consecutive win following previous victories by Anora, Anatomy of a Fall, Triangle of Sadness, Titane, and Parasite, with the latter two going on to win Best Picture Oscars.
The Secret Agent, starring Wagner Moura, Maria Fernanda Candido, and Gabriel Leone, is set in Recife, Brazil in 1977 and follows the story of Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, who arrives in the city during carnival week seeking refuge but finds himself in a violent situation.

Filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Brazilian movie The Secret Agent, which has been rumored to be a finalist for the Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or, is having its stateside rights scooped up by Neon. A theatrical release is in the works for this year.

If the 1977-set political thriller takes home Cannes’ big prize, it will give Neon a sixth consecutive Palme d’Or win following last year’s Anora, Justine Triet’s 2023 winner Anatomy of a Fall , 2022’s Triangle of Sadness, 2021’s Titane and 2019’s Parasite . Out of that bunch, Anora and Parasite won Best Picture Oscars.

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The Secret Agent premiered in competition at Cannes on Sunday to 100% fresh reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. The pic stars Wagner Moura, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leone, Carlos Francisco, Alice Carvalho and Hermila Guedes.

Set in Recife, Brazil in 1977, The Secret Agent follows Marcelo (Moura), a technology expert in his early 40s, on the run. He arrives in Recife during carnival week, hoping to reunite with his son but soon realizes the city is far from being the non-violent refuge he seeks.

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The film was produced by Emilie Lesclaux. Co-producers include Nathanaël Karmitz, Elisha Karmitz, Fionnuala Jamison, Olivier Barbier, Leontine Petit, Erik Glijnis, Fred Burle and Sol Bondy. It is a Cinemascópio, MK Productions, Lemming Film and One Two Films presentation. MK2 Films is repping foreign sales.

The deal was negotiated by Neon’s Sarah Colvin and Jeff Deutchman with MK2 Films’ Fionnuala Jamison on behalf of the filmmakers.

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The Secret Agent is Filho’s third film to premiere In Competition at Cannes following Aquarius in 2016 and Bacurau , which he co-wrote and co-directed with Juliano Dornelles and won the Prix du Jury in 2019. In 2017, he served as the jury president of the Critics’ Week section and his second documentary Pictures of Ghosts premiered in the Special Screenings section at the 2023 festival.

Here at the fest, Neon is world premiering Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value tonight, and premiered Julia Ducournau’s Alpha in competition, as well as Raoul Peck’s Orwell: 2+2=5 , and Michael Angelo Covino’s Splitsville starring Dakota Johnson and Adria Arjona.

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