Neon sets Oscar path for latest Cannes winner ‘The Secret Agent’: Everything to know about the thriller

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Could this be the next Anora for Neon?

Brazilian political thriller The Secret Agent won four prizes at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival: writer-director Kleber Mendonça Filho won the FIPRESCI Prize, the AFCAE Art House Cinema Award, and Best Director, while star Wagner Moura won Best Actor.

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Neon picked it up for North American distribution at the festival, along with Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident and second-place Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value, the latter of which is likely Neon’s strongest awards contender this year (it’s currently sitting at #2 in Gold Derby’s combined odds for a Best Picture nomination). The independent distributor hopes to replicate the success it had with Anora, which went from taking Cannes’ top prize to winning the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Secret Agent appears to be Neon’s third-strongest contender coming out of the festival.

Now, the company has set awards season release dates for the film. It will open in New York on Nov. 26, followed by a Los Angeles release on Dec. 5, with a national rollout to follow, per Variety. It is also set to screen at the New York Film Festival this fall.

Neon is hoping The Secret Agent will continue its streak of turning Cannes hits into major award winners. Here’s what to know about the film as its path comes into focus.

What’s it about?

The Secret Agent is a political thriller set in the waning years of the Brazilian dictatorship. Moura plays a man trying to evade capture by government authorities. Critics describe it as a serious film with a mischievous sense of humor and a digressive narrative structure.

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Here’s the film’s official synopsis: “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.”

Who’s in it?

Moura — who is best known to American audiences for his roles as drug kingpin Pablo Escobar on Narcos, a performance that earned him a Golden Globe nomination in 2016, and as journalist Joel in Civil War — leads a cast that also includes Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leone, and Udo Kier.

What are its awards odds?

The Secret Agent is a longshot contender for Best Picture. It’s currently sitting at 15th in Gold Derby’s nomination odds, but that relatively high ranking doesn’t tell the whole story, as it’s 18 percentage points behind #14, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein. Mendonça Filho is in a similar position in Best Original Screenplay, as he’s at #8 but 18 points behind the next contender. He’s at #14 in Best Director odds, which puts him firmly outside of the ranks of top-tier contenders.

The Secret Agent is a more likely contender in Best Actor and Best International Film. In addition to the Cannes win, Moura has earned the best reviews of his career for his performance. “He’s always been a good actor, but Mendonça Filho makes him a movie star,” The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney wrote in his review of the film. Moura is currently sitting at #8 in the Best Actor odds, which in this race is within striking distance of the top five spots, especially if Neon pushes him hard.Gold Derby doesn’t have Best International Film odds yet, but The Secret Agent is the third-ranked international film in Best Picture odds, behind Sentimental Value and It Was Just an Accident, which bodes well for its chances.

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