'The Secret Agent' Wins Best Non-English Language Motion Picture at the Golden Globes

19 hours ago 2

Ryan O'Rourke is a Senior News Writer at Collider with a specific interest in all things adult animation, video game adaptations, and the work of Mike Flanagan. He is also an experienced baseball writer with over six years of articles between multiple outlets, most notably FanSided's CubbiesCrib. Whether it's taking in a baseball game, a new season of Futurama or Castlevania: Nocturne, or playing the latest From Software title, he is always finding ways to show his fandom. When it comes to gaming and anything that takes inspiration from it, he is deeply opinionated on what's going on. Outside of entertainment, he's a graduate of Eureka College with a Bachelor's in Communication where he honed his craft as a writer. Between The IV Leader at Illinois Valley Community College and The Pegasus at Eureka, he spent the majority of his college career publishing articles on everything from politics to campus happenings and, of course, entertainment for the student body. Those principles he learned covering the 2020 election, Palestine, and so much more are brought here to Collider, where he has gleefully written on everything from the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes to Nathan Lane baby-birding sewer boys.

In a stacked year for international features headlined by Park Chan-wook's No Other Choice and Jafar Panahi's Palme d'Or winner It Was Just an Accident, Brazil's political thriller darling The Secret Agent continues to be the stand-out in awards season. Following up on its awkward victory at the Critics' Choice Awards, Kleber Mendonça Filho's acclaimed film, starring Narcos and Civil War alum Wagner Moura, has continued its winning streak at the Golden Globes with a nod for Best Motion Picture - Non-English Language. It came out on top of not only Park and Panahi's latest, but also Spain's Sirāt, Tunisia's The Voice of Hind Rajab, and Norway's Oscar contender, Sentimental Value, from Joachim Trier.

The Secret Agent entered the night up for three honors, including Best Motion Picture - Drama and Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama for Moura. Both of those nominations marked the first time in Golden Globes history that a Brazilian production and actor were nominated for those categories. With the film's international win, though, it continues to gain momentum for the Oscars. The sheer number of highly acclaimed projects in 2025 has sparked questions about how many foreign films would make the cut for Best Picture and which would ultimately take home the top prize in the International Feature category. Sentimental Value, starring Renate Reinsve and Stellan Skarsgård, has seemed like a safe bet for a while to do both, but it's starting to look all the more possible that the increasingly international electorate could end up favoring the historical hit when the time comes.

Mendonça Filho has been building up a reputation as one of Brazil's premier filmmakers for years now, previously helming critical darlings like Bacurau and Aquarius. However, The Secret Agent marks his most internationally successful feature to date, even beyond his Critics' Choice and Golden Globe wins. At the Cannes Film Festival, where it made its world premiere, it was the most awarded film of the entire event, with Best Director honors for Mendonça Filho and a Best Actor nod for Moura. The same happened at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, where the feature tied Paul Thomas Anderson's Best Picture favorite One Battle After Another for the most honors. Combining surprising and surreal humor with a deeply serious story based on the dark, authoritarian history of Brazil, The Secret Agent has found a way to win over critics and audiences just about everywhere it has appeared.

What Is 'The Secret Agent' About?

Mendonça Filho not only helmed The Secret Agent but also penned the screenplay and produced alongside Emilie Lesclaux. Set amid the Brazilian military dictatorship in 1977, the film follows Marcelo (Moura), a technology expert seeking out his son and trying to flee the country. His search takes him to Recife in the middle of Carnival, where he takes shelter with other political refugees while devising an escape plan, though it soon proves to be no safe haven. Hitmen hired by a corrupt government official narrow in on him, as he's forced to reckon with his violent past and navigate the absurd realities of the authoritarian state. Moura is joined by an extensive supporting cast, including Carlos Francisco, Tânia Maria, Robério Diógenes, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Gabriel Leone, Alice Carvalho, Hermila Guedes, Isabél Zuaa, and the late Udo Kier.

The Secret Agent has yet to arrive on digital or streaming, but it'll eventually arrive on Hulu like other Neon-distributed films. Stay tuned here at Collider for more coverage throughout awards season.