Gabriel Leone Archives

November 26, 2025

by Carla Hay

Wagner Mauro in “The Secret Agent” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

“The Secret Agent” (2025)

Directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho

Portuguese with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Brazil, primarily in 1977, the dramatic film “The Secret Agent” features a predominantly Latin cast of characters (with some white people and black people) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A widower father, who has worked as an academic scientist/technology researcher, changes his identity and moves to another city because he fears his life is in danger for his political activities against the authoritarian Brazilian government that is ruled by the Brazilian military.

Culture Audience: “The Secret Agent” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners, filmmaker in Kleber Mendonça Filho, and artistically made movies about people living in political turmoil.

Italo Martins, Roberius Diogenes, Wagner Moura and Igor de Araújo in “The Secret Agent” (Photo courtesy of Neon)

“The Secret Agent” is a sprawling and absorbing drama about a man trying to escape his past while living in resistance of an oppressive Brazilian government in 1977. The movie is gritty and unpredictable, with a few unexplained bizarre moments. The biggest drawback to “The Secret Agent” is the movie’s uneven pacing, because it takes a while (at least 30 minutes) before this 160-minute movie really gets to the heart of the matter and delivers considerable suspense. Viewers with patience will be rewarded by an impactful turn of events, with a poignant epilogue.

Written and directed by Kleber Mendonça Filho, “The Secret Agent” had its world premiere at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the prizes for Best Director, Best Actor (for Wagner Moura), and the FIRPRESCI Prize, an award from film critics. “The Secret Agent” also screened at other festivals in 2025, including the Telluride Film Festival and New York Film Festival. The movie, which is told in three chapters, takes place in various cities in Brazil, was filmed in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil. “The Secret Agent” is Brazil’s official entry for Best International Feature for the 2026 Academy Awards.

“The Secret Agent” begins by showing a 43-year-old man named Marcelo Alves (played by Moura) driving in a rural area to a gas station in his yellow Volkswagen Beetle. The first thing that Marcelo notices is that there’s dead man (played by Italo Barbosa) on the ground near the gas station pumps. The man’s body has been covered over with some fabric, but the decomposed nature of the body indicates that this man has been dead for at least a few days. Flies surround the body, and feral dogs come out of the bushes to try to get to the body.

The gas station attendant who’s on duty (played by Joálisson Cunha) casually tells Marcelo that the dead man was caught trying to steal gasoline and “the bastard got what he deserved.” The attendant says that the body has been there since Sunday, and police told him that they’re too busy to collect the body because of Carnival, but they will pick up the body on Ash Wednesday. The attendant also mentions that he can’t leave the gas station unattended, or else he’ll lose his job.

Marcelo is at the gas station when two highway patrol officers drive up and inspect Marcelo’s car and asks if he’s carrying guns or drugs. Marcelo says no. One of the cops tells Marcelo that he has a balding tire, but Marcelo says the tire in in good-enough condition to use.

The way that the cops are lingering around Marcelo makes it obvious to him that they’re looking for any reason to arrest or detain him, unless he can give them a bribe to go away. Marcelo doesn’t have enough cash, since he already spent what he had on gas, so he offers one of the cops a pack of cigarettes instead. This bribe does the trick, and the cops drive away.

All of this happens within the first 15 minutes of “The Secret Agent,” which reveals from the start that this Brazilian government and law enforcement are corrupt. It’s revealed much later in the story that Marcelo (who is a widower) isn’t this man’s real name. His real name is Armando Solimões, and he desperately wants to leave Brazil with his son.

“The Secret Agent” goes back and forth between telling what life was like for Armando before and after he changed his name to Marcelo Alves. When he was living as Armando, he was an academic scientist/technology researcher, who developed a patent for lithium battery technology. A corrupt political minister named Henrique Ghirotti (played by Luciano Chirolli) tried to steal this patent for a private company, so that Henrique could personally profit. Armando resisted this corruption and refused to willingly give up this patent.

Armando’s life and the life of his family (his wife and underage son) came under threat, when he was put under surveillance and began getting menacing messages. Armando’s wife Fátima Nascimento (played by Alice Carvalho) died of pneumonia. Armando made the difficult decision to change his identity and make enough money to leave Brazil with his son Fernando (played by Enzo Nunes), who’s about 5 or 6 years old when the main story takes place.

In the meantime, Fernando has been living in Recife with Fátima parents: Alexandre Nascimento (played by Carlos Francisco) and Lenira Nascimento (played by Aline Marta, also known as Aline Marta Maia), who are loving and protective. Armando/Marcelo visits them in secret when he can. Alexandre is a projectionist at a movie theater named Cinema São Luiza, which plays a pivotal role in the story. A mysterious woman named Elza (played by Maria Fernanda Candido) is recommended to Armando/Marcelo as someone who can provide him with fake immigration documents for him and his son Fernando

During the course of the movie, Armando/Marcelo crosses paths with several other people who have a role in what happens to him. Some of them know his true identity, while others don’t but they might find out. He meets other people who are in the resistance movement or are political refugees, including some who live in the apartment where he is hiding out. These allies include Dona Sebastiana (played by Tânia Maria), who acts like matriarch; a married couple named Antonio Vitória (played by Licínio Januário) and Tereza Vitória (played by Isabél Zuaa), who are Angolan immigrants; a middle-age woman named Claudia (played by Hermila Guedes); and a young man named Haroldo (played by João Vitor Silva).

Other characters in “The Secret Agent” include a police chief named Euclides Oliveira Valvacandi (played by Roberius Diogenes) and his two co-worker sons Arlindo (played by Italo Martins) and Sergio (played by Igor de Araújo); resistance political activists; a gangster named Augusto Burobu (played by Roney Villela) and his partner-in-crime stepson Bobbi (played by Gabriel Leone); and an assassin named Vilmar (played by Kaiony Venâncio). Udo Kier has a small role as a German-speaking immigrant named Hans, who is harassed by Euclides because Euclides mistakenly assumes that Hans used to be a former Nazi. Hans is actually a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust.

The movie takes a few strange detours in showing what happened to the dismembered body of an unidentified man, whose body parts were found in a dead shark. Euclides, Arlindo and Sergio become involved in investigating this man’s death. One of the man’s legs ends up in a university’s scientific lab. And in a very surrealistic scene, the leg is shown going on killing rampage at night in a park where several men are having sexual hookups.

Although “The Secret Agent” shows some indications that Armando/Marcelo has post-traumatic stress disorder (he has difficulty sleeping, and his dreams are often nightmares), the movie is more of a political thriller than a psychological thriller. Amid the explicit violence and undercover schemes, “The Secret Agent” shows with disturbing clarity how a society can rot with complacency when an oppressive government is accepted as too powerful to stop.

Moura’s acting is top-tier talented in “The Secret Agent,” where he has to play three roles: Armando, Marcelo and (in the movie’s last few scenes) an adult Fernando. “The Secret Agent” can be recommended for anyone who wants an insightful look at how an authoritarian government can affect everyday people. Although “The Secret Agent” is a fictional movie set mostly in 1977 Brazil, this searing story tells many unfortunate truths about what life has been and is currently like for untold numbers of people in many countries.

Neon released “The Secret Agent” in select U.S. cinemas on November 26, 2025. The movie was released in Brazil on November 6, 2025.

October 14, 2023

by Carla Hay

Adam Driver (standing in center) in “Ferrari” (Photo by Eros Hoagland/Neon)

“Ferrari” (2023)

Directed by Michael Mann

Some language in Italian with subtitles

Culture Representation: Taking place in Italy, in 1957, the dramatic film “Ferrari” (based on the non-fiction book “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races”) features an all-white cast of characters portraying the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: Enzo Ferrari deals with various challenges in his career and personal life, including financial problems for his family-owned Ferrari car company and juggling his volatile marriage to his wife with his other family that he has with his mistress.

Culture Audience: “Ferrari” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and biographical dramas about powerful people.

Penélope Cruz in “Ferrari” (Photo by Lorenzo Sisti/Neon)

“Ferrari” goes down many familiar roads that biopics take when they’re about egotistical business moguls with messy personal lives. Adam Driver gives a capable performance as Enzo Ferrari. The movie fares better on a technical level than an emotional level. Some of the movie’s scenes look authentic, while other scenes look overly contrived for drama’s sake.

Directed by Michael Mann and written by Troy Kennedy Martin, “Ferrari” is based on Brock Yates’ 1991 non-fiction book “Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races.” In the “Ferrari” movie, the story is condensed to the year 1957, when Enzo Ferrari was going through various crises and challenges. “Ferrari” had its world premiere at the 2023 Venice International Film Festival and its North American premiere at the 2023 New York Film Festival.

“Ferrari” begins by showing black and white footage of Enzo as a young man in a racing car. The movie then abruptly jumps to 1957. Enzo is now 59 years old and leading a double life that will put his marriage in jeopardy. Enzo wakes up in bed next to his mistress Lina Lardi (played by Shailene Woodley), who has a semi-secret son with him named Piero.

It’s morning, and Enzo rushes out of the house to drive quickly back to the home that he shares with his fiery-tempered wife Laura Ferrari (played by Penélope Cruz), who is very angry because she knows that Enzo has spent the night with another woman. Laura won’t find out how serious this extramarital affair is until much later. And this revelation will affect her decision on what to do about her marriage to Enzo.

After Enzo arrives at his marital home, Laura then proceeds to shoot a pistol at Enzo, with the bullet hitting a wall near his head. In her rage, Laura reminds Enzo that they had an agreement: He could spend the night wherever he wants, as long as he gets home in time before the couple’s maid brings the morning coffee. The maid has already arrived.

If the maid didn’t suspect that Enzo is having an extramarital affair, she now knows because she is in the room to witness Laura’s ranting. For the rest of the movie, it’s a tug of war between Enzo and Laura over not only their marriage but also control of the Ferrari car empire. Laura has an ownership stake in the company. And she gave a lot of company’s first investment money when it was a fledgling business.

Laura and Enzo have other problems in their marriage besides his infidelity. Their relationship has never been the same, ever since the death of their son Alfredo Ferrari, who died of kidney failure in 1956, at the age of 24. Enzo and Laura are grieving in different ways.

Enzo has poured a lot of his energy into his work to the point where he’s a workaholic who has neglected his marriage. His emotional state is often cold and distant, as if it’s too painful to feel his grief, so he shuts himself off from his emotions. Laura is the opposite: Her grief has consumed her to the point where her emotions are out of control. She lashes out mostly at Enzo, but other people are also the targets of her bad temper.

Enzo’s mother (played by Agnese Brighittini), who doesn’t have a name in the movie, is an opionionated and influential force in Enzo’s life. (In real life, the first name of Enzo’s mother was Adalgisa.) However, Laura fights to maintain her status as the most important woman in Enzo’s life, even if their marriage is breaking down.

“Ferrari” also shows that in 1957, the Ferrari company is spending more money than it is making. Enzo is advised to increase production from 98 different models of Ferraris to more than 400 different models. Ferrari wants to invest more heavily in a different strategy: Win as many high-profile automobile races as possible with racers who will drive Ferraris. The publicity generated from these victories would be expected to boost sales of Ferraris.

Although there are several talented racers who are part of the Ferrari team, one in particular is Enzo’s biggest hope to take the Ferrari brand to a new level on the racing circuit: Alfonso De Portago (played by Gabriel Leone), a Spanish aristocrat/playboy, is seen by Enzo as a rising star who could take the Ferrari brand to new heights. Alfonso is one of the competitors in the treacherous 1957 Mille Miglia race. Piero Taruffi (played by Patrick Dempsey) is an Italian racer who is also competing in the 1957 Mille Miglia race. Peter Collins (played by Jack O’Connell) is a British racer who joined the Ferrari team in 1956. These two characters have supporting roles that aren’t as developed as the character of Alfonso.

In this male-dominated movie, the women with significant speaking roles are usually relegated to the role of wife, girlfriend, mother or employee. Laura is the only female character in the movie who is presented as being involved in business deals. Two of the female characters who appear briefly in “Ferrari” are Cecilia Manzini (played by Valentina Bellè) and actress Linda Christian (played by Sarah Gadon), who are in the movie with “girlfriend” roles. Cecilia is the fiancée of race car driver Eugenio Castellotti (played by Marino Franchitti), and she is a character based on real-life ballerina/actress Delia Scala, who was engaged to the real Castellotti at the time. In real life, as depicted in the “Ferrari” movie, Christian was dating De Portago at the time.

“Ferrari” alternates between Enzo’s worries in his business life and his problems in his love life. Eventually both sets of problems collide when Laura raises the stakes on what she might or might not do about her share of the Ferrari business ownership. Enzo is also facing allegations of Ferrari having faulty cars when one of the Ferrari cars is involved in a fatal accident during a car race.

People who want to see adrenaline-pumping car racing scenes won’t be disappointed in “Ferrari,” because these scenes are among the best in the movie. The direction and cinematography for these scenes give viewers the feeling of being fully immersed in the action. When tragedy strikes during a racing scene, the graphic way in which it is depicted can affect viewers of “Ferrari” on a visceral level.

“Ferarri” stumbles in depicting the love triangle between Enzo, Laura and Lina. Cruz (who is Spanish in real life) does a very convincing portrayal as an Italian and is the movie’s scene stealer. Unfortunately, American actress Woodley is not very believable as an Italian. The Lina character is also underdeveloped. Driver, who is American, is somewhere in between: He’s neither great nor terrible in the role of Enzo. “Ferrari” is ultimately a movie that can appeal to different types of people, even if there’s a lot in the movie that feels like the same old story.

Neon will release “Ferrari” in U.S. cinemas on December 25, 2023. UPDATE: The movie will be released on digital and VOD on January 23, 2024. “Ferrari” will be released on Blu-ray and DVD on March 12, 2024.

Tag: Gabriel Leone

Review: ‘The Secret Agent’ (2025), starring Wagner Moura, Alice Carvalho, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Candido, Isabél Zuaa, Tânia Maria and Udo Kier

Review: ‘Ferrari’ (2023), starring Adam Driver, Penélope Cruz and Shailene Woodley