THE STORY – When his beloved wife, Kathryn, is suspected of betraying the nation, intelligence agent George Woodhouse faces the ultimate test — loyalty to his marriage or his country.
THE CAST – Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abella, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke & Pierce Brosnan
THE TEAM – Steven Soderbergh (Director) & David Koepp (Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 101 Minutes
2025 just started, but Steven Soderberg has already made his mark with only three months into the year. “Presence,” his ambient, haunting and emotionally stirring horror film, might’ve been some of the best filmmaking Soderberg has displayed in quite some time. That’s saying much for someone whose chameleonic nature as a filmmaker has led to fascinatingly varied entries in his filmography that are constantly expanding at a rapid rate. So the fact we’re not only getting another Soderbergh film less than two months from his latest success, but it’s an efficiently constructed spy thriller is just the cherry on top. It’s been a while since Soderbergh has tapped back into the world of spies and lies since 2011’s “Haywire.” And with “Black Bag,” he hits another stride, crafting his most delightfully entertaining film in years.
Seeing how “Black Bag” is a brisk ninety-four minutes long, Soderberg wastes no time as he immediately thrusts viewers into the shoes of intelligence agent George Woodhouse (played by Michael Fassbender). It appears George has been in the espionage game for a while now; we quickly pick up on how he’s overly observant, teetering on cautious paranoia, and meticulously compartmentalized. George’s disdain for liars is also quite prominent, which is ironic considering the profession he has chosen to commit his life to. His commitment to his career is almost as strong as his commitment to his wife and fellow agent, Kathryn (played by Cate Blanchett). So when George is tasked with snuffing out a potential mole in the agency who is suspected of selling a weapon that could end thousands of lives, to his dismay, he learns that his wife Kathryn is on the list of potential suspects. George embarks on a game of deceit and death that peels away not only those closest to him but also the relationship that keeps him centered amongst the chaos of it all. Screenwriter David Koepp, who has collaborated with Soderbergh multiple times, including his previous film “Presence,” returns to pen this script. On the surface, “Black Bag” is an entertaining studio film filled with attractive spies trying to deceive one another. Still, it’s a well-constructed (and often hilarious) examination of the basis of faith in a relationship. How does testing the durability of one’s love make it endure, especially when both partners are beholden to a life built upon duplicity?
George and Kathryn’s relationship isn’t the only one explored in the film, but they are considered the dream team among their romantically involved colleagues. Others yearn for what they have, but when you peel back the curtain, is it all that desirable? This desirability, whether the integrals of their relationship or their often commented physical attraction, is effortlessly conveyed to viewers due to Blanchett and Fassbender’s simmering chemistry with one another. Sure, they’re both gorgeous, but beyond physicality, they often talk to one another through dancing around each other’s true thoughts. There’s a telepathic nature to the way they communicate, almost as if it were a dance and the two actors were more than fluent. After starring in David Fincher’s “The Killer” and the recent spy series “The Agency,” Fassbender has stealthily entered a typecast of Eurocentric hitman or spy roles. It’s something he can easily move on from to whatever he works on next, but man, it’s something that never gets old whenever he taps into it. At least in “Black Bag,” Fassbender is putting somewhat of a spin on it, almost channeling into a very Colin Firth-esque way of speaking (and also with his appearance, mainly with those large glasses he dons throughout the film). Compared to his work in “The Killer,” there seems to be no apparent cynicism that coats this performance or character, yet there is a decisiveness that’s almost essential of any great spy character. Blanchett is also fantastic, as hypnotic as she is indecipherable. Audiences like George himself are constantly going back and forth with every word Blanchett says, trying to find the truth in every interaction. It’s a testament to how good Blanchett is whenever there is a script worthy of her talents.
It’s also comical that both Soderbergh and Koepp, both American artists, have made a film that’s so inherently British. The entire ensemble, most of whom are actors from the United Kingdom, gets to revel in waggish dialogue that not only lends itself to investigate what debaucherous traits motivate them but also lends audiences to have plenty of well-earned laughs.
Whether we’re watching a tense dinner party-turned-experiment or a well-edited sequence of polygraphs take place, the entire supporting cast honestly gets plenty to work, whether it’s a sexually charged surveillance agent Clarrisa Dubose (played by Marisa Abella), a disgruntled agent Freddie Smalls (played by Tom Burke) whose held back but infidelity and substances, or a straightlaced agent James Stokes (played by Regé-Jean Page) who might think of themselves to highly. The only member of the cast who really doesn’t get much to worth with is Pierce Brosnan, and that’s saying something, considering every time he pops up on screen, he’s certainly making the most of every minute with his glances alone.
As mentioned earlier, Soderbergh keeps it lean as he did with “Presence.” “Black Bag” glides through its runtime with slick confidence, and the cinematography fits the film it wants to be, taking a completely different form from Soderbergh’s last project. All of this is backed by David Holmes’s invigorating score, which is comprised of techno jazz. “Black Bag” rocks in every way. It’s so appreciative to see a filmmaker as influential and capable as Soderbergh occasionally dipping into his bag of old tricks for something that delivers in every way we’d hope and then some.
