Fresh Fork

  Challengers   is a movie that's actually "hard" to review because there are elements I truly loved and others... not so much. And while it's fair to say it isn't a perfect movie, it sure is a solid one. It's sexy, vibrant and fueled by its charismatic three leads -   Challengers   is a winning match for director Luca Guadagnino. Guadagnino is no stranger to complex characters and plays with three depicable people in this film by creating an intriguing love triangle between an alpha woman, an unapologetic bissexual and a cute guy who proves to be a manipulative mastermind... and I believe this is giving a lot away already. While explaining the nature of their connections might be too much of a spoiler since the movie's narrative is exactly a study about how these three characters connect and have connected before, it's no crime to say that the narrative goes in two main lines and a secondary one, made mostly of flashbacks. That's the way Guad...

Director:  Kleber Mendonça Filho Writer:  Kleber Mendonça Filho Starring:  Wagner Moura, Alice Carvalho, Gabriel Leone, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Isabél Zuaa, Udo Kier  and  Tânia Maria I was fortunate for having Kleber Mendonça Filho presenting the film himself in my session, because he recalled some aspects of the movie he wanted the audience to be aware of: this movie represents an act of resistance and an ode to the importance of the press and cultural spaces (like a theatre) as powerful weapons against authoritarian regimes. So,  The Secret Agent  is actually some kind of parable about acts of resistance in the form of a political thriller - it's a slow burning film that is smartly balanced with truly funny comedic scenes and some moments of pure human joy that show the movie's true heart beneath its disguise - it's more of a satire to a corrupt system than a manhunt film. It's some kind of cinematic marvel in its own right. The story presents itsel...