Jair Bolsonaro Biopic ‘Dark Horse’ Under Police Probe
Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, the leading opposition candidate in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election, is under investigation for alleged corruption and money laundering tied to the financing of a film about his father, the country’s disgraced former President Jair Bolsonaro.
A Brazilian Supreme Court judge unsealed court documents related to the case late last week. The documents revealed that the investigation was opened in July 2026.
Justice Flávio Dino, a Jair Bolsonaro appointee, said in his ruling that there was a credible hypothesis that a sophisticated scheme was executed by the involved parties to divert funds from the public purse to pay for the production of Dark Horse. Local police have seized documents from the film’s production company and Mário Frias, who served as Brazil’s Secretary of Culture under Jair Bolsonaro, according to AP, which first reported the story. Frias is accused of sending around 2 million reais ($400,000) to a nonprofit linked to the film. The judge said last week that there are strong allegations that Frias played a central role within the alleged criminal network. Frias has denied all wrongdoing.
“I never allocated any congressional budget funds to finance or benefit the production of the film in any way,” Frias said Sunday in a statement.
Jair Bolsonaro was Brazilian president between 2019 and 2023. The so-called “Trump of the tropics” is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence for leading a criminal conspiracy to stop his rival, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, from taking power. Dark Horse stars American actor Jim Caviezel and tells Jair Bolsonaro’s life story.
Co-starring opposite Caviezel in Dark Horse are Esai Morales, Lynn Collins, Camille Guaty, and Jeffrey Vincent Parise. Producers are Karina Ferreira and Michael Davis for Go Up Entertainment, and Ryan O’Quinn.
The film’s screenplay was written by Mark Nowrasteh and Cyrus Nowrasteh from a story by Frias.
Deadline has reached out to the production for comment.
