Festival de Cannes 2025, The Secret Agent and The Phoenician Scheme

festival cannes 2025 the the phoenician scheme

The Phenician Scheme team ©YesICannes.com

At the 5th day of competition, the Cannes Film Festival presented O Agente Secreto by Kleber Mendonça Filho and The Phoenician Scheme by Wes Anderson.

Benicio del Toro ©YesICannes.com

The Phoenician Scheme: the fifth day of the competition saw the entry of Brazilian director, screenwriter, and sound engineer Kleber Mendonça Filho with O Agente Secreto (The Secret Agent) after Bacurau and Aquarius, which won the Jury Prize in 2016. Wes Anderson, who presented the excellent Asteroid City in 2023 (alas, returned without an award…), is back in competition with his twelfth feature film (and new eccentricity!) The Phoenician Scheme.

O Agente Secreteo ©Victor Juca

The Secret Agent, satire and contemporary paranoia

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s return to the official competition at the 78th Festival de Cannes with O Agente Secreto was eagerly awaited. True to his unique style that blends sharp social critique, dark humor, and a sometimes surreal atmosphere, the Brazilian filmmaker delivers a bewildering and fascinating work that questions the prevailing paranoia and the fragility of institutions in a contemporary, tense Brazil.

O Agente Secreto ©YesICannes.com

Brazil under military dictatorship

In 1977, in a Brazil then under military dictatorship, Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a man in his forties fleeing a troubled past, arrives in the city of Recife where he hopes to build a new life and reconnect with his family. An unexpected and potentially threatening event disrupts his routine, plunging him into a whirlwind of suspicion and Kafkaesque bureaucracy. Convinced he is the target of an obscure machination, Marcelo embarks on an obsessive quest to uncover the truth, navigating through incompetent authorities, strange neighbors, and his own growing anxieties. Mendonça Filho excels at creating an atmosphere that is both familiar and strange

©CinemaSco’pio – MK Production – One Two Films – Lemming

Loss of trust in institutions

The Secret Agent takes place in a vibrant Recife but also one marked by underlying tensions. The staging is meticulous, favoring long takes that allow one to immerse oneself in the protagonist’s daily life and feel their growing discomfort. The use of space, whether it be the intimacy of his apartment or the anonymity of the streets, contributes to reinforcing the feeling of isolation and vulnerability. O Agente Secreto is a singular and thought-provoking work that confirms the filmmaker’s talent for blending social critique and a disturbing atmosphere.

O Agente Secreto ©YesICannes.com

Dark humor

Dark humor is omnipresent, often tinged with a grating irony in the face of the absurdity of the situations encountered by the protagonist. The film constantly oscillates between the realism of everyday life and more dreamlike, even surreal moments, reflecting the paranoid state of mind of the main character. Wagner Moura’s subtle and nuanced performance makes the psychological fragility of this ordinary man, confronted with events beyond his control, believable. The secondary characters (Udo Kier, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Cândido), often eccentric or ambiguous, contribute to the overall strangeness.

The Phoenician Scheme ©DR

The Phoenician Scheme, cinematic treat

Wes Anderson’s return to the official competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival with The Phoenician Scheme is an event in itself, and the result is enchanting once again. True to his unmistakable aesthetic and deadpan humor, the American filmmaker offers us a new fable that is visually sumptuous and narratively inventive. Based on a story conceived with Roman Coppola, it brings together an all-star cast under his inimitable touch: Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, and Hope Davis. No less !

©YesICannes.com

Dark espionage comedy

Wes Anderson’s trademark in this dark espionage comedy is more present than ever. The art direction is obsessively precise, each shot is a pictorial composition worthy of a painting. The colors are vivid and saturated, the symmetries omnipresent, and the fluid, choreographed camera movements create an immediately identifiable and deeply immersive visual universe. One delights in the richness of the details, from the eccentric costumes to the meticulously recreated sets.

©DR

Emotional depth that touches the heart

Zsa-zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), a wealthy businessman, designates his only daughter, a nun, Sister Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as the sole heir to his fortune. As the Kordas embark on a new venture, they quickly become the target of scheming tycoons, foreign terrorists, and determined assassins. The humor, typically Andersonian, is expressed in a subtle blend of irony, sarcasm, and absurdity. The dialogues are often dry and punchy, the situations comical, and the characters, despite their eccentricities, deeply human in their weaknesses and aspirations. Each actor embraces their character with palpable delight, contributing to the uniqueness of this universe. The Phoenician Scheme is a new cinematic treat. The film sensitively explores the themes dear to the director, often underpinned by a bittersweet melancholy and a reflection on the passage of time and the bonds that are formed and broken. A mix of classical pieces, indie pop, and original compositions highlights the key moments of the story with impeccable precision. Behind the eccentric facade and the stylized veneer lies an emotional depth that touches the heart.