Black Bag (United States, 2025)

Black Bag belongs on an Endangered Species list – a spy thriller that relies on uncovering motivations and unraveling narrative knots to generate suspense. There’s nary a car chase to be found nor a shootout to dodge during the course of this lean, mean yarn from director Steven Soderbergh and his recent collaborator, screenwriter David Koepp (they also worked together on Kimi and Presence). More than anything, Black Bag requires attentiveness from its viewers. It demands a level of mental engagement audiences might no longer be accustomed to in a theatrical environment where distracted viewing has become the norm.

Soderbergh, who typically functions as both cinematographer and editor on his films (using the pseudonyms of “Peter Andrews” and “Mary Ann Bernard”), employs shot selection to establish a slow-burn moodiness that starts from the very beginning – a long tracking shot following Michael Fassbender from the benighted streets of London into the belly of a nightclub. The director slow-walks the story without allowing the pace to flag using dialogue and atmosphere as his primary weapons. Specifics generally aren’t spoon-fed, although there are a couple of occasions when brief flashbacks remind us of a relevant detail or two.

The two lead actors flesh out their characters perfectly: Cate Blanchett as the sensual, enigmatic Kathryn and Michael Fassbender as the implacable, unreadable George Woodhouse. Despite being diametrically opposite in the personality department, they are devoted to one another with a love that transcends their jobs. In most spy stories, it’s about putting country above people. In this one, it’s the other way around. Their chemistry is palpable as they cross verbal swords in conversation, with every remark seemingly having multiple layers.

Black Bag owes a debt to Len Deighton’s Berlin Game. Both feature British operatives who are tasked by their bosses to uncover moles in their inner circle and, in both cases, their wives are listed among the suspects. In this case, George is given a list of five names during a clandestine meeting with fellow agent Philip Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgard). In addition to Kathryn, the other potential traitors are Colonel James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page), who was recently posted to his new job; his lover, psychologist Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris); Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), who wanted the job Stokes got; and his volatile paramour, Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela). And what better way to begin the unmasking than by inviting all the suspects to a dinner party where George does what he’s best at: observing and analyzing? But even a master manipulator can be played and the stakes here (involving a MacGuffin called “Severus”) are bigger than a few messy secrets coming to light.

Although Deighton may have influenced plot elements, the 007 connections are hard to ignore. Two of the main actors have appeared in Bond movies – Naomie Harris as Moneypenny in the Daniel Craig arc and Pierce Brosnan as the superspy during his own era. (His role here is distinctly un-Bond-like.) Then there’s Regé-Jean Page, who has frequently been cited as a possible Craig replacement. While Fassbender never joined the Bond franchise, he has used this same cool, coiled persona for several recent performances: as the title character in David Fincher’s The Killer and as David the android in Ridley Scott’s Alien prequels. Blanchett hasn’t been this seductive since Carol.

Black Bag has its share of big moments and bigger reveals but many are presented in a decidedly low-key manner that works perfectly because it rewards the attentive viewer for figuring things out in sync with the characters. One of the benefits of having smart protagonists is that there’s never the feeling of being one step ahead of them. That can be frustrating, especially in a movie that deals in secrets and mysteries. Anyone who enjoys a good mystery will affirm that the best part of the experience isn’t learning whodunnit? but seeing how all the pieces are fit together to form the puzzle. (This is why even some of the best mysteries are anticlimactic.)

Despite the short running time (a skinny 93 minutes), this is an experience to savor; movies like this come along far too infrequently. Hollywood’s decision to abandon this kind of storytelling is one reason why cinema in the 2020s has fallen into the doldrums and, when something like Black Bag arrives, it’s a bittersweet reminder of the potential of the big screen experience.

Black Bag (United States, 2025)