Disclaimer: I’m a blind film critic. Neon chose to not create an audio description track for this film.

Winner of two Golden Globes, Secret Agent is another tour de force from Brazil, as it enters this years Oscar race as the official selection from their country. Last year, Brazil’s I’m Still Here managed to get a Best picture nomination, as well as win the International Feature category. Can they repeat? i say, I think it is a tour de force, because while I’m Still Here was distributed by Sony Pictures classics, Neon snapped up Secret Agent after it won two prizes at the 2025 Cannes International Film Festival.Don’t let anyone gaslight you into believing that there wasn’t enough time. Other films were picked up at Cannes, and given audio description. They just didn’t want to. But, since the one thing that makes me unique is my perspective, let’s take a look at why this gambit does and does not work.

Wagner Mora, who was last seen in Apple TV’s Dope Thief,anchors this feature. I couldn’t comment on his performance as it is nearly impossible to follow the actual through line without being able to read the subtitles. And, you know, try as I might, I really did try to get my eyes activated, but blindness didn’t just go away so I could read the subtitles. But I sat through a film not in my language, simply because this has just enough heat on it to warrant that discussion. After winning the Golden Globe for Actor, what is the threshold here?

right now, I can tell you there was an American pop song that playe, and maybe 90 minutes in there was a scene with English. Some people met, from different areas, and for a few seconds, totally out of context, I understood the film. in absence of any plot structure, I will say that Secret Agent has an absolutely killer score. regardless of how I feel about the access, I really enjoyed one of the more underrated scores of the year. It felt like it had several different themes pushing us through, like the film was changing genres or time periods, and it was somewhat paying homage to things before it.In all the awards I vote for, while Secret Agent has failed to get the ones it would prefer from me, I have nominated the score. It does feel like an incredible achievement, and I look at the Oscar shortlist, and I can see one glaring title that could easily swap, no questions asked. but that doesn’t justify a ticket, and I can listen to the score online through a soundtrack.

it is hard to find specifics as to how much we’re not worth it to them, but from what I can find, Neon spent 18 million on their Oscar campaign for Anora. Neon spent 20 million on Parasite. Granted, that is on the high end for campaigns, and probably kicked in fully once Anora had a shot at winning. This year Neon is juggling five International titles, so it might be less per titles, especially until the nominations take hold. regardless, we’re talking about a major distributor, releasing a film made for a few million. Last year, I’m Still Here had audio description. Denial is a choice. they may believe accessibility is not a right, but denial certainly is a choice.

You can get a well produced audio description track for around $75 per finished minute. If Secret Agent, which is a longer film at 161 minutes, were to get a track, we’re looking at about $12,075, which when you consider they gave far more to Shelby Oaks to clean it up, feels attainable. Once this description is made, it can be used theatrically, passed down to video on demand services, and follow the film to an eventual streaming home (likely Hulu). It will also be there if Neon makes a physical disc. It’s reusable, and makes this film accessible across all platforms.

Especially considering last year’s entry, I’m Still Here had audio description and did rather well for itself, it begs the question of why not secret Agent. It really comes down to they didn’t see value in doing so, believing that blind and lo vision users aren’t interested in their films. Except, that changes quite a bit when awards start coming their way, and the Golden globe for Mora, and the suggestion of some Oscar nominations beyond International Feature really do support the idea that World Cinema is for everyone. Last year, the Latvian animated film Flow started out with the lack of a major distributor, and had no English Audio Description. However, WBD eventually sstepped in and brought description to the film, in time for the Oscar’s. i reviewed Flow when it didn’t have audio description, and I’m told my review was instrumental in helping to get that ball rolling.

I’d like to think that the special sauce in their win for Animated Feture was their newly acquired audio description track. However, I’ll deviate, and point out that Flow, a non-American title, ended up winning the American Council of the Blind’s Audio description project award for excellence in description for Film. It was one of only five nominees, as voted on by the blind members of ACB, and it won the prize. The little Latvian film that could ended up with an award it certainly never planned on getting when it started its journey.

We’re real people. We enjoy the same things. we often live with sighted people, have sighted spouses, or kids, or family and friends, and we don’t live on blind island on a commune. Those in our orbit are aware when our access isn’t granted, because they see what it is like to not have it, and they can tell when we do. So, branching out from that, when you make a choice to not put description on a title, not only are you gambling against the loss of a blind and low vision community, but also those we would have gone to the theaters with, or sat home and rented on demand.

Sadly, there are still three more of these I ahve to write, and if I’m being honest, there are other titles I can reach too. But not everyone is backed by a distributor fully capable of landing wide releases. So, while no International Oscar entries have audio description this year except 2000 Meters to Andriivka, Netflix and Amazon did at bare minimum dub Left Handed Girl and Belen, making them somewhat more intelligible. this isn’t that. I should be tackling Sentimental Value soon enough, and the debate over whether or not the film is watchable enough to warrant a fresh score the others aren’t likely to receive.

It lives up to its name perhaps a bit too much, as Secret Agent has no accessibility, thus remaining a mystery, however the score here is stunning, and surprising it hasn’t been more widely acclaimed this season. The score is arresting, and I wish the whole film was.

Rotten: No grade.