One of the most remarkable joys of watching Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent is how detailed, immersive and absorbing the setting of 70s Recife, Brazil is. The plot of this political thriller can be disorientating, with fractured identities and timelines. The grounded world of this story allows the viewer to just settle in and go along for the ride. 

Much of this beautiful world-building comes from the interesting faces that people this film. Even minor characters with five minutes of screentime feel like they could walk off frame and be real people. 

This is an impressive achievement as this is such a large cast. The ensemble of The Secret Agent includes an entire apartment complex of political refugees, hitmen, university researchers, corrupt policemen, government employees, and many more characters that populate this layered story. Not a single character can be accused of having “iPhone face,” every single actor feels period-appropriate. In fact, the characters of The Secret Agent have blemished skin and visible aging – they look like real people. In an interview with Indiewire, casting Director Gabriel Domingues notes: 

“In the 1970s, Brazil had even more social inequality than we do now. The economic disparity was even worse. So it was important to find people who looked like the specific types of people who would be working in each job at that time.” (x)

This specific cultural knowledge and context is a skill that a casting director who has primarily worked within Brazilian films brings to the table. To accomplish this goal of authenticity, the film is populated by both actors and non-actors. For example, the apartment owner, Dona Sebastiana (Tânia Maria) had very little acting experience on her resume before The Secret Agent. She previously worked on Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Bacurau, delivering a few lines. Despite her lack of experience, she is magnetic and warm in her role in The Secret Agent. Domingues’ collaboration with his director led to intriguing ideas like bringing Tânia Maria into this world. 

This is the first year achievements in casting are being awarded at the Oscars. As the Academy becomes more international, more open to films that are not in English, to choose a film that does not have any familiar faces of Hollywood would be an amazing choice from the Academy. Casting should be seamless and serve the story – The Secret Agent accomplishes this in droves. With how much love The Secret Agent has been shown by filmgoing fans – look at the social media reaction to Wagner Moura’s recent win at the Golden Globes – rewarding this film an Oscar is a need, not a want. The beautiful work done in populating this film is an apt way to show this film love.

The Secret Agent is currently available in select theaters.