‘Hamnet’ and the 10 Best Performances of 2025. Plus: Kleber Mendonça Filho on ‘The Secret Agent.’

December 12, 2025

AI Summary

5 min read

🎙️ The Voices & The Context

The Format: This episode is a casual yet insightful discussion among film critics and hosts, exploring the intricacies of cinema, particularly focusing on the films "Hamnet" and "The Secret Agent." The tone is reflective and engaging, with a blend of humor and earnest analysis.
The Key Players:
- Sean Fennessey: Host and film critic, providing a structured narrative to the discussions.
- Amanda Dobbin: Co-host, bringing humor and a relatable perspective on the films discussed.
- Joanna Robinson: Guest critic, adding depth and nuanced insights into the performances and themes of the films.
- Cleber Mendonça Filho: Director of "The Secret Agent," contributing a unique perspective on filmmaking, storytelling, and the personal narratives interwoven in his works.

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What you'll learn

1 (00:00) **🎙️ Introduction: Joanna Robinson**
2 (00:14) **Hamnet Discussion**
3 (02:16) **The Secret Agent Introduction**
4 (03:38) **Film News**
5 (10:50) **Trailer Reactions**
6 (17:01) **Hamnet's Themes**
7 (21:00) **Filming Techniques in Hamnet**

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Sean and Amanda are joined by Joanna Robinson on today’s show to cover Chloe Zhao’s adaptation of ‘Hamnet,’ starring Jessie Buckley and Paul Mescal. They unpack their complicated feelings by highlighting the film's incredible emotional power, and also criticize aspects they found totally confounding (12:28). Next, they briefly discuss Kleber Mendonça Filho’s ‘The Secret Agent’ and celebrate Wagner Moura’s wonderful performance at the center of the film (48:46). Then, they share their individual top 10 favorite performances of 2025 (55:47). Finally, Sean is joined by Mendonça Filho to explain how some fiction work can discover even more truth than documentary, his thought process behind utilizing split diopter shots, and why he wrote the lead role of the movie specifically for Moura (1:45:46).

Hosts: Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins

Guests: Kleber Mendonça Filho and Joanna Robinson

Producer: Jack Sanders

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