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The Secret Agent poster

Movies that feel likeThe Secret Agent (2025)

Brazil, 1977. Marcelo, a technology expert in his early 40s, is on the run. Hoping to reunite with his son, he travels to Recife during Carnival but soon realizes that the city is not the safe haven he was expecting.

If you loved The Secret Agent, the closest films we have are Neighboring Sounds (2012), Elize: Shadows of a Woman (2026) and Holy Spider (2022). All three share The Secret Agent's tense and contemplative feel, which is what we rank on before quality.

Seen the big three already? The under-the-radar pick below is Hyena (2015).

🍅 98% Rotten Tomatoes★ 7.2 IMDb ↗TMDB ↗dir. Kleber Mendonça Filhotensecontemplativegritty
6 of 12 streaming nowNetflix · Kino Film Collection

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If The Secret Agent hit the spot, these will too

Neighboring Sounds poster
Neighboring Sounds
2012 · dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
🍅 91%★ 7.1thriller · drama · crime

Kleber Mendonça Filho working the same nerve twice

An independent private security firm arrives at a middle-class neighborhood in Recife, Brazil.

Elize: Shadows of a Woman poster
Elize: Shadows of a Woman
2026 · dir. Vellas
★ 7.4thriller · crime · dramaNetflix

Tense where it counts, contemplative underneath

In this retelling of a real case, a former escort discovers her wealthy husband's infidelity and struggles to cope as betrayal poisons their marriage.

Holy Spider poster
Holy Spider
2022 · dir. Ali Abbasi
🍅 82%★ 7.3thriller · drama · crime

Both lean on grit more than on thriller

A journalist descends into the dark underbelly of the Iranian holy city of Mashhad as she investigates the serial killings of sex workers by the so called "Spider Killer", who believes he is cleansing the streets of sinners.

Bacurau poster
Bacurau
2019 · dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho
🍅 93%★ 7.3mystery · western · thrillerRent or buy

Both are Kleber Mendonça Filho's work, and they rhyme

The difference: Takes it somewhere less contemplative than The Secret Agent does

Bacurau, a small town in the Brazilian sertão, mourns the loss of its matriarch, Carmelita, who lived to be 94. Days later, its inhabitants notice that their community has vanished from most maps.

The Wild Goose Lake poster
The Wild Goose Lake
2019 · dir. Diao Yinan
🍅 91%★ 6.7crime · drama · thriller

Tense drama in both cases

A gangster ends up making a mistake that causes every gun on both sides of the law to point at him. While on the run, he comes across a mysterious woman who might get him out of trouble or make things worse.

Emily the Criminal poster
Emily the Criminal
2022 · dir. John Patton Ford
🍅 93%★ 6.7crime · drama · thriller

Crime built on stillness, twice over

Desperate for income, Emily takes a shady gig buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a charismatic middleman named Youcef. Seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills, they hatch a plan to take their business to the next level.

The Yellow Sea poster
The Yellow Sea
2010 · dir. Na Hong-jin
🍅 88%★ 7.3drama · thriller · crime

Both are built on the same subject: police

A Korean man in China takes an assassination job in South Korea to make money and find his missing wife. But when the job is botched, he is forced to go on the run from the police and the gangsters who paid him.

The Unjust poster
The Unjust
2010 · dir. Ryoo Seung-wan
★ 6.5crime · thrillerNetflix

Gritty thriller, and it commits to that

The difference: Easier on the stillness than The Secret Agent

An honest cop has to compromise with his principles when he is told to find a scapegoat for a high-profile serial killer case in exchange for a big promotion.

The Traitor poster
The Traitor
2019 · dir. Marco Bellocchio
🍅 86%★ 7.1drama · crime · thrillerRent or buy

Drama with a pulse of tension, in both cases

Palermo, Sicily, 1980. Mafia member Tommaso Buscetta decides to move to Brazil with his family fleeing the constant war between the different clans of the criminal organization. But when, after living several misfortunes, he is forced to return to Italy, he makes a bold decision that will change his life and the destiny of Cosa Nostra forever.

Hyena poster
Hyena
2015 · dir. Gerard Johnson
🍅 78%★ 6.2crime · drama · thriller

Contemplative crime in both cases

Good policing doesn't necessarily mean doing everything by the book. But as the business of crime in London turns to favour the Albanians and Turks, how does a "good" policeman survive?

The Silence poster
The Silence
2010 · dir. Baran bo Odar
🍅 87%★ 6.9crime · thriller · drama

Thriller built on grit, twice over

13-year-old Sinikka vanishes on a hot summer night. Her bicycle is found in the exact place where a girl was killed 23 years ago. The dramatic present forces those involved in the original case to face their past.

Easy Money poster
Easy Money
2010 · dir. Daniel Espinosa
🍅 85%★ 6.7drama · thriller · crime

Both are drama through and through

When JW becomes a drug runner in order to maintain his double life, his fate becomes tied to two other men: Jorge, a fugitive on the run from both the Serbian mafia and the police, and mafia enforcer Mrado, who is on the hunt for Jorge.

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The best-reviewed films that share The Secret Agent’s defining feeling.