IMDb RATING
6.9/10
4.7K
YOUR RATING
When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend, as well as a tough, no nonsense, police detective to find the truth.When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend, as well as a tough, no nonsense, police detective to find the truth.When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend, as well as a tough, no nonsense, police detective to find the truth.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 3 nominations
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe 'Six Irishmen,' mentioned by Sir Robert Neil of MI5 (with politician Alec Nevin) to Kerrigan is in reference to the 'Birmingham Six.' In 1974 the pub Tavern In The Town and Mulberry Bush, in Birmingham England, was bombed, killing 21 persons and injuring 182 people. The police picked up the nearest six Irishmen and subjected them to 'in-depth interrogation' to obtain false confessions. Patrick Hill, Gerard Hunter, Richard McIlkenny, William Power, John Walker and Hugh Callaghan all served 16 horrific years in jail until the convictions were overturned in 1991. Hugh Callaghan details his ordeal in the book, *Cruel Fate,* co-authored with Sally Mulready in 1994-1995. The movie In the Name of the Father (1993), was based on the Guildford Four, who were similarly jailed using false confessions, along with members of their extended family living in London. That's how the Brits induced Gerry Conlon, Daniel Day-Lewis' character, to confess, by throwing his father, aunts, uncles, and cousins in jail, too. Members of the Guildford Four ordeal were released in 1989 and 1991, where illegal police tactics and hidden evidence were brought to light. The appeals trials of the Guildford Four paved the way for the release of the Birmingham Six, who were in jail longer, and their pleas for appeals were ignored, and never heard until after the Guildford Four / Conlon Family convictions were finally thrown out. All of the innocent Birmingham Six and Guildford Four were still in jail at the time this movie was released.
- Quotes
Sir Robert Neil: You know Ireland can be a wonderful place... if it wasn't for the Irish!
- SoundtracksJoe McDonnell
Written by Brian Warfield
Re-arranged by Ron Kavana
Performed by Ron Kavana and Terry Woods
Published by Skin Music
Featured review
A twisted, thorny and complex film about a difficult enquiry carried out by a police detective and a human rights activist
When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend (Frances McDormand), as well as a two-fisted, obstinate, no nonsense police officer (Brian Cox) helped by his assistant (John Benfield) to find the truth. They soon discover tracks to be contained in an audio tape which the man had with him, exposing political manipulations at the highest levels of government. But such underlying agendas require careful considerations to avoid worse things than killing. Secret Defense...Murder... Torture... Corruption...The most talked about thriller in years! Murder... Torture... Corruption... The Truth Can Never Be Buried. Every government has one. When a government seeks revenge...nobody is safe.
An explosive new thriller inspired by actual events, including intrigue, thrills, suspenseful, twists and turns. An acceptable and passable film but neither notable, nor extraordinary , but decent. It deals with a a human rights activist and a police detective who pull off a complex enquire and uncover brutality and corruption among the British forces in Northern Ireland. Loach's film has the feel of a Costa-Gavras film political thrille and adding a storyline by controversial Marxist Jim Allen. Despite its something flailing conspiracy-theory narrative and its upstaging by television projects, this deserves to be seen simply because it takes the debate on Ireland further than most such docudramas, asking about the nature of the British presence and its effect on the mainland's justice system. The plot based on both the 'Stalker' and 'Colin Wallace' affairs, concerning mainly the murder of an American civil liberties campaigner and the subsequent investigation by Brian Cox as a tough, stubborn police detective to find the truth, which leads to the heart of the military and political establishment. The Northern Irish dialect is sometimes hard to understand as are the machinations on the British police system. Whatever one thinks of the political line on offer, there's plenty of evidence of Loach's undiminished power as a director and equally ample evidence that something is very rotten in the state of Northern Ireland. The two main actors: Frances McDormand, Brian Cox give stunning performances. They're re well acompanied by a mostly Brit support cast, such as: John Benfield, Maurice Roëves, Michelle Fairley, Brad Dourif, Patrick Kavanagh, Mai Zetterling, Bernard Archard, Ian McElhinney, Jim Norton, among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Ken Loach, following his particular style. Loach is an expert fimmaker of rich human dramas, committed stories and films of social denunciation. In the 90s Loach directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best European filmmakers with ¨Riff-Raff¨, ¨Raining stones¨ and ¨My name is Joe¨ winning several prizes in Cannes, and other international Festivals and , of course , ¨Land and freedom¨ which achieved the Ecumenical Prize and the International critics Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. In the 2000s, Loach went on his special landmark about socialist realism with ¨Bread and Roses¨, ¨The Navigators¨, ¨Sweet sixteen¨, ¨Just a kiss¨, and ¨It's free world¨. And in 2006 directed ¨The Wind That Shakes the Barley¨ and it was winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival The picture appeal to Ken Loach enthusiasts, Frances McDormand fans and political genre buffs. Rating : 6/10. Generally worthwhile.
An explosive new thriller inspired by actual events, including intrigue, thrills, suspenseful, twists and turns. An acceptable and passable film but neither notable, nor extraordinary , but decent. It deals with a a human rights activist and a police detective who pull off a complex enquire and uncover brutality and corruption among the British forces in Northern Ireland. Loach's film has the feel of a Costa-Gavras film political thrille and adding a storyline by controversial Marxist Jim Allen. Despite its something flailing conspiracy-theory narrative and its upstaging by television projects, this deserves to be seen simply because it takes the debate on Ireland further than most such docudramas, asking about the nature of the British presence and its effect on the mainland's justice system. The plot based on both the 'Stalker' and 'Colin Wallace' affairs, concerning mainly the murder of an American civil liberties campaigner and the subsequent investigation by Brian Cox as a tough, stubborn police detective to find the truth, which leads to the heart of the military and political establishment. The Northern Irish dialect is sometimes hard to understand as are the machinations on the British police system. Whatever one thinks of the political line on offer, there's plenty of evidence of Loach's undiminished power as a director and equally ample evidence that something is very rotten in the state of Northern Ireland. The two main actors: Frances McDormand, Brian Cox give stunning performances. They're re well acompanied by a mostly Brit support cast, such as: John Benfield, Maurice Roëves, Michelle Fairley, Brad Dourif, Patrick Kavanagh, Mai Zetterling, Bernard Archard, Ian McElhinney, Jim Norton, among others.
The motion picture was professionally directed by Ken Loach, following his particular style. Loach is an expert fimmaker of rich human dramas, committed stories and films of social denunciation. In the 90s Loach directed a series of award-winning movies firmly establishing him as one of the best European filmmakers with ¨Riff-Raff¨, ¨Raining stones¨ and ¨My name is Joe¨ winning several prizes in Cannes, and other international Festivals and , of course , ¨Land and freedom¨ which achieved the Ecumenical Prize and the International critics Prize at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival. In the 2000s, Loach went on his special landmark about socialist realism with ¨Bread and Roses¨, ¨The Navigators¨, ¨Sweet sixteen¨, ¨Just a kiss¨, and ¨It's free world¨. And in 2006 directed ¨The Wind That Shakes the Barley¨ and it was winner of the Palme d'Or at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival The picture appeal to Ken Loach enthusiasts, Frances McDormand fans and political genre buffs. Rating : 6/10. Generally worthwhile.
helpful•00
- ma-cortes
- Nov 24, 2023
- How long is Hidden Agenda?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $1,030,938
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $49,827
- Nov 25, 1990
- Gross worldwide
- $1,232,210
- Runtime1 hour 48 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content
![Frances McDormand in Hidden Agenda (1990)](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BYmM5YWI3ZDctNGEyYy00NTQ1LWFiOTUtYzlmM2I1Yjk3MzA4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMTAwMzUyOTc@._V1_QL75_UX90_CR0,0,90,133_.jpg)