# The Secret Agent (2025 film)

18 Hacker News commenters recommended The Secret Agent (2025 film) and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Praised as a vivid, novel-like slice of life under 1970s Brazilian dictatorship, though critics find it slow and hard to follow without knowing Brazil.

## Why people recommend it

- Rich characters and lived-in Brazil (3 comments): "The scenes with the fellow "refugees" are great, insightful glimpses into Brasil, into that 1970s Brasil in particular." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418617)) "It's a slice of life movie about people living under a dictatorship. It's got a lot of heart." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46935022)) "It feels like a good long novel; every character, however minor, is rich, full of life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47416795))
- Strong opening and surreal touches (2 comments): "One of the strongest movie start sequences in a while, it immediately sets the vibe." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47417442)) "the surreal elements being bold, outlandish, and unexpected were great" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47417161))
- Ranked among the year's best (3 comments): "I found it the 2nd best movie of the year, right behind House of Dynamite." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47427006)) "Another incredible one this past year" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47392149)) "Better than Marvel film reworks." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47520963))
- Memory-like style and spy misdirect (2 comments): "the film was very much a high fidelity memory playing on-screen" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47430599)) "I think the spy misdirect helps a lot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47431574))

## What people warn about

- Slow, uneven rhythm (3 comments): "Secret Agent has a slow, difficult beginning (~hour)." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418876)) "just the rythm feels a bit off" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418524)) "After the strong start it is slow, wobbly and incoherent." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47424876))
- Lacks payoff or coherent story (4 comments): "One of the boring and meaningless movies I ever seen. No arc, no coherent story, (almost) no humor, no development, no intrigue, nothing." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47424843)) "this one was too much for whatever the payoff was supposed to be" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47431176)) "felt more like being on a tour than living a narrative" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47421502))
- Hard to follow without Brazil (2 comments): "A lot of the plot makes no sense if you’re not familiar with Brazil." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47421468)) "will always be hard to understand for the non-initiated" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47420835))
- Contrived plot and weak writing (2 comments): "still found this one overly contrived" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418895)) "the writing, dialog, acting (except for Moura), and narrative arc were terrible" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47417128))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Odyssey by Christopher Nolan](https://hackerapproved.com/p/odyssey.md): 50 recommend
- [Perfect Days (2023 film)](https://hackerapproved.com/p/perfect-days.md): 19 recommend
- [One Battle After Another](https://hackerapproved.com/p/one-battle-after-another.md): 17 recommend
- [The Rocky Horror Picture Show](https://hackerapproved.com/p/rocky-horror-picture-show.md): 15 recommend
- [Star Wars original trilogy](https://hackerapproved.com/p/star-wars-original-trilogy.md): 14 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Secret Agent (2025 film)", https://hackerapproved.com/p/secret-agent/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).