BLACK BAG (2025) review

written by: David Koepp
produced by: Casey Silver and Gregory Jacobs
directed by: Steven Soderbergh
rated: R (for language including some sexual references, and some violence)
runtime: 94 min.
U.S. release date: March 14, 2025

Two prolific creators reunite for the third time in three years with “Black Bag” a smart and sexy spy thriller that relies more on dialogue than any impressive stunts. Director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp collaborated on 2022’s “Kimi” a Hitchcockian thriller, and “Presence,” a unique take on the haunted house subgenre, that was released just two months ago. The pair focus on different aspects of relationships: marriage, dating, and work, all within the realm of surveillance and subterfuge, with characters often gathered at a dinner table – call it, “My Dinner with Spy Games”. Soderbergh and Koepp deftly handle the storytelling with deliberate measurements, preferring to let all elements gradually simmer rather than quickly come to a boil. Trusting the audience to get pulled in by their own suspicions, the pair guide a game cast that thankfully relies on wits and personality over weaponry and gadgets.

George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn St. Clair (Cate Blanchett) are a devoted married couple, both employed by Special Intelligence Service (SIS) in London, who hold different top-ranking roles in the spy game. A highly-important situation arises in the U.K., as a special viral program code-named Severus has come under threat, and the goal is to find out who is behind it without causing panic or suspicion. George is handed a list of five colleagues by higher-up, Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård) that could be connected, including his wife. While he’s used to keeping things from his wife, this is the first time he’s had to consider her a suspect, not to mention ordered to spy on her. Still, they are a couple who implicitly trust each other, yet he must search thoroughly for doubt.

The other four suspects are colleagues and friends working for Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), whom he decides to invite over for dinner at his and Kathryn’s fabulous child-free flat. Satellite imagery specialist, Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela) brings her older boyfriend, Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) an loutish agent who resembles a hybrid of Orson Welles and Richard Burton, with the reputation of Oliver Reed. Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page) will also be in attendance, along with NCSC psychotherapist Dr. Zoe Vaughan (the always on-point Naomie Harris), who likely knows more about them than they’d be comfortable with. The four of them meet up in a nearby tavern beforehand, hoping to glean from each other why they’ve been invited to dinner.

Known as the human lie-detector, the obsessive-compulsive George takes charge as the consummate host, responsible for dinner prep (including a dash of truth serum in the chana masala) and ready with a specific game for his guests to play. He lets Kathryn in on the goal for the evening without telling her that her name is on the list of traitors. As the three couples eat and converse, suspicions gradually build under the surface, finding their overall coolness replaced with uncertainty. When George finds out Kathryn will be traveling to Zurich, he works closely with Clarissa to reposition a satellite on his clandestine spouse, a move that’s frowned upon by her glowering superior, Arthur Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan).

From the start, there’s a seductive allure to “Black Bag” that stems from the rock-solid marriage that George and Kathryn have, in roles impeccably embodied by gorgeous actors that we either want to be or want to be with. Fassbender and Blanchett move together fluidly, displaying a sly synchronicity with an envious knowing unspoken language. It’s no surprise that both actors are convincing in their roles, but what’s quite fun is how we could also believe there’s a chance that either of their characters could be deceiving the other – all for the job at hand, of course. While the material allows almost every character to play their card close to the vest, Fassbender and Blanchett are obvious aces at the game.

Soderbergh allows each character that Koepp has crafted enough time to flesh out interesting characteristics and personality traits away from the dinner party table. While Severus is the hot potato, “Black Bag” is more concerned with the who of the storyline than the what of it all. The plot has some tense and wryly clever moments such as a sequence where George uses a lie detector on everyone but his wife, as well as a taut countdown clock scenario that gives the film a pressure cooking jolt without succumbing to the kind of viewer expectations of the spy genre.

In a refreshing move, Soderbergh and Koepp steer clear of chases or shootouts, keeping physical activity to a minimum, knowing the sophisticated dialogue and the psychological warfare is more than sufficient to keep viewers involved. Neither are concerned with letting us know what’s happening, but these characters are so enjoyable you won’t even care. That being said, if you’re looking for an action-packed spy flick, you’ll have to wait till summer when Tom Cruise & Co. returns with another impossible mission.

Like his other films, Soderbergh has his hands in other areas of the filmmaking process here, famously (and amusingly) using pseudonyms to hide that he is editing (aka Mary Ann Bernard) and lensed (aka Peter Andrews) “Black Bag”. His skills in these areas are aligned with sly precision that accentuates the mood and tone, matching perfectly with composer David Holmes’ (a longtime collaborator) smooth synth-jazz score.

One line in the film captures the overall draw of the story, and it is inspired by an actual conversation Koepp had with a real-life spy during his research: “When you can lie about everything, how do you tell the truth about anything?” Imagine maintaining a marriage where lying to your spouse is effortless and part of your job. It’s easy to have an affair when your spouse knows they cannot ask where you’re going for the next three days. That kind of confidential information plays into the film’s title, which is slang for the place where secrets are kept, and where married people find the truth about their spouse is hidden.

“Black Bag” is sneaky and sexy without pandering to viewer expectations. It showcases a stellar ensemble and a keenness for intellectual acuity.

RATING: ***1/2