Steven Soderbergh takes on the spy genre with Black Bag, a thriller more concerned about rooting out the truth than scaling tall buildings or sexual exploits. Although, there’s plenty of sexual tension.
Sifting through the Black Bag
Writer David Koepp and Soderberg’s impressively tight 90-minute spy thriller finds ideal, inquisitive leads in Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett.
George and Kathryn are married spies, but this is not Mr. & Mrs. Smith. They work for the same MI-6-style spy agency overseen by Arthur Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan, underutilized) but in different departments. Being spies, they live compartmentalized lives, but when an essential technology with dire geopolitical consequences is released into the world, George must deduce who stole the technology. One of the main suspects is his wife, Kathryn.
To deduce the culprit, George and Kathryn invite two additional couples from the agency to their home. There’s Freddie (Tom Burke) and Clarissa (Marisa Abela, terrific), whose age difference and cheating allegations serve as the main course. The other couple is James (Regé-Jean Page) and Zoe (Naomie Harris). Zoe is a therapist at the agency who works with everyone at the table as their therapist.
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George is a man with a notorious reputation at the agency. Kathryn loves him. Clarissa idolizes him. The others know his reputation. George despises liars. He hates them so much that he even has his father removed from the agency. Circumstantial evidence points the finger at Kathryn, but anybody married to George wouldn’t be so sloppy.
I love Fassbender and Blanchett together. Every other character in the movie exchanges dialogue in a fast-paced clip. George and Kathryn communicate in a very measured way and every word matters. They are also great listeners who hone in on the smallest of details.
Spies and Relationship
While the investigation is well done, I was most taken by how Black Bag shines a light on the complicated nature of relationships between spies. The only healthy relationship is between George and Kathryn; even that relationship makes George suspicious.
George strong-arms Clarissa to help him spy on his wife using her access to satellite imagery. During this sequence, Clarissa asks how he makes a relationship work. He answers by being willing to do whatever is necessary for Kathryn.
George’s satellite spying triggers an alert at the agency that appears to implicate him as the person who stole the technology. Freddie reveals this information to Kathryn, believing she will investigate her husband. That’s not what happens.
Geroge reveals to Kathryn he’s being set up. Kathryn believes she’s being duped as well. The husband-wife spies work together to this time to uncover the real culprit.
While Page, Harris, and Burke shine at various times. However, it’s Abela who shines brightest. Abela’s scenes with Fassbender are electric. Abela’s Clarissa has almost no filter, and everything Fassbender’s George says is considered.
Black Bag Final Thoughts
Black Bag is the best film of 2025 so far. Sorry, The Gorge. The performances by Fassbender and Blanchett are full of small moments of greatness that draw you in throughout the film. The focus on how impossible relationships are in the agency and how George and Kathryn are different from the other couples is incredible.
There are a couple of issues, though, that hold Black Bag back. As incredible as Blanchett is in the film, often in scenes opposite Fassbender, Kathryn doesn’t get much to do as a character. She has a couple of scenes with Brosnan and meets with a contact to gather intel, but that’s about it.
While I love Mission Impossible and James Bond films, it’s nice to see a spy movie that dives deeper into the complicated lives of spy relationships.
Black Bag
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Outstanding - 9/109/10
