‘Black Bag’ review: Fassbender, Blanchett spy up a storm for Steven Soderbergh

Dir: Steven Soderbergh. US. 2025. 94mins 

Steven Soderbergh’s icy spy thriller is populated by knowledgeable operatives working on the high of their sport — an acceptable milieu for a director whose cool intelligence and stellar craft are at all times a spotlight of his photos. Black Bag stars Michael Fassbender as a seasoned British agent who fears his spouse (Cate Blanchett), a fellow agent, could also be double-crossing their authorities. However his investigation opens the door to different potential suspects as Soderbergh ratchets up the suspense and deploys one intelligent twist after one other.

Trendy and good

Black Bag involves UK and US theatres on March 14, solely a few months after Soderbergh’s psychological horror Presence, which has grossed roughly $9.1 million worldwide to this point (and premiered at Sundance in 2024). His newest is a way more star-studded affair, with Blanchett and Fassbender joined by Tom Burke, Rege-Jean Web page, Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan and Marisa Abela. Trendy and good, Black Bag ought to draw robust critiques and strong grosses.

Set in London and spanning the course of about 10 days, the image introduces us to George (Fassbender), a high-ranking spy who learns that there’s a mole inside his company, the Nationwide Cyber Safety Centre (NCSC). Like George Smiley in his Tinker Tailor time, George is clandestinely given the identify of 5 operatives who may very well be the mole — together with his spouse, the well-respected Kathryn (Blanchett) — and requested to do some digging to find out who the perpetrator is. Uncertain that she might betray her nation, George informs Kathryn of the accusation, inviting the 4 different suspects – spies Freddie (Burke) and James (Web page), psychiatrist Zoe (Harris) and new recruit Clarissa (Abela) – to a cocktail party at their dwelling, with out revealing his motives. Over the following week, George will attempt to pinpoint the mole, whereas hoping that his religion in his spouse is just not misplaced.

In recent times, Soderbergh has jumped from style to style with every new mission, displaying a playfulness as he immerses himself in, say, the claustrophobic horror of Unsane or the crime-thriller trappings of No Sudden Transfer. However the Oscar-winning director’s enthusiasm for these disparate types has not at all times translated into absolutely satisfying experiences. Black Bag is a contented exception. Extremely entertaining from begin to end, the movie advantages from David Koepp’s ingenious screenplay and Soderbergh’s storytelling swagger.

Fassbender and Blanchett make for a riveting married couple, their duplicitous line of labor including intrigue and spark to their relationship. George and Kathryn’s foreplay entails flirty interrogations — “Would you kill for me?” “Would you ever deceive me?” — and Black Bag has monumental enjoyable with the truth that, as a lot as they love each other, they can not completely belief one another. Blanchett radiates chilly reserve, her darkish eyes immediately sizing up anybody she encounters, whereas Fassbender exudes the identical poised detachment he wielded in David Fincher’s The Killer. The actors are dangerously seductive as George begins to imagine that his spouse may very well be masterminding a plot inside the company.

Not that Black Bag ever lets us really feel sure who the mole is. After a charming, prolonged dinner-party opening sequence by which we get to know the 5 suspects — particularly, Freddie’s romantic infidelity, Zoe’s kinks and James’ ambition — George begins the meticulous strategy of searching for clues. However as quickly as George thinks he may be on the fitting path, a stunning flip of occasions modifications his thoughts, and unexpectedly locations him within the crosshairs of the  investigation.

The characters discuss in dazzlingly dense jargon, the back-and-forth dialogue at all times snappy, even when we solely perceive the naked bones of what’s going down. And the ensemble is rarely overwhelmed by the manufacturing’s smooth, witty tone. (Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick attire these characters in gorgeous fits and beautiful nightwear.) As a substitute, the actors play their roles with stiff-upper-lip professionalism in step with profession spies who know the destiny of the nation hangs within the steadiness.

As soon as once more serving as his personal editor, underneath his typical pseudonym Mary Ann Bernard, Soderbergh delivers a punchy thriller that runs to solely 90 minutes — and options only one explosion and one fired gun. And but Black Bag electrifies, all of the whereas evincing a sly sense of humour about, amongst different issues, the issue of creating love final when your associate is hiding secrets and techniques. Soderbergh additionally appears to be having a chuckle casting Brosnan, the previous 007, because the company’s gruff boss — to not point out bringing aboard Harris, that franchise’s most up-to-date Moneypenny. Black Bag presents not one of the blockbuster escapism of a James Bond image, however when Soderbergh is working with this stage of confidence and management, he’s simply as deadly.