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Poster for Hidden Agenda

Hidden Agenda

Every government has one.

1990 · 1h 48m · R Drama, Thriller
Directed by Ken Loach

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Overview

In Ireland, American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her activist partner, Paul Sullivan, struggle to uncover atrocities committed by the British government against the Northern Irish during the "Troubles." But when Sullivan is assassinated in the streets, Jessner teams up with Peter Kerrigan, a British investigator acting against the will of his own government, and struggles to uncover a conspiracy that may even implicate one of Kerrigan's colleagues.

Director and cast

Critics on Rotten Tomatoes

Top critics, in their words

All reviews
83%
Tomatometer
Rotten

Though it attempts to make an acceptable theatrical entertainment out of a complex political saga, Hidden Agenda lacks bigscreen impact.

Variety Staff, Variety
Fresh

There's plenty of evidence of Loach's undiminished power as a film-maker, and equally ample evidence that something is very rotten in the state of Northern Ireland.

Stephen Garrett, Time Out
Fresh

This quietly explosive film comes to resonate more loudly than melodrama.

Caryn James, New York Times
Fresh

Ken Loach's Hidden Agenda must be the most buttoned-down movie about a conspiracy theory ever made.

Hal Hinson, Washington Post
Fresh

Its own terms and for much of the way, this is a superior thriller.

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

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