It can be a challenge to decide what to watch on streaming services. With that in mind, I consulted several friends for recommendations. The result was decidedly dark.
Secret Agent was a 2025 winner at the Cannes Film Festival. Set in 1977 Brazil, before the revolution, it tells the story of Clovis (award-winning actor Robson Andrade), a widower hoping to reunite with his young son. He soon discovers that life is difficult and dangerous in a country rife with petty crime, bribery, and murder. He becomes caught up in this world and eventually a target for a crime boss.
The narrative is intriguing and often suspenseful, but too often I found scenes difficult to place, as action unfolds without sufficient introduction. At times the result is confusing, even if clarified later. Despite this, director Kleber Mendoza carries the viewer along in a complex narrative crowded with a wide range of characters.
Filmed in Spanish, requiring subtitles, Secret Agent is nonetheless a powerful portrait of a corrupt society, with an engaging hero and a complex but dark storyline.
Even darker is Civil War, a film clearly aimed at the current political situation in the United States. Many will object to its portrayal of a president who has assumed autocratic powers as too politically biased. Others, however, may find themselves drawn into a narrative focusing on war correspondents attempting to cross several states to report on events in Washington. Along the way, they witness savagery that many will find stark and disturbing. It is an ugly account of an uglier situation.
Clearly intended as a cautionary tale for American audiences, Civil War can be accused of adding gloom and doom to what many already see as a critical moment.
The fact that the film, written and directed by Alex Garland, is exceptionally well made and acted may itself frustrate some viewers, depending on their political outlook. Others may simply find it too horrific.
And that brings me back to the concern that so many films are dark. Looking at this year’s Oscar nominations, one may wonder what has happened to escapist comedy and romance. Is this merely coincidence, or a reflection of the spirit of the times in which we live?
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