Black Bag

Released 2025. Director: Steven Soderbergh

SIX SPIES AT A DINNER TABLE, ONE OF THEM is a traitor. Guess who.

Classy, stylish, taut and trim, Black Bag is a spy thriller to satisfy audiences who enjoy watching how people behave and pick apart what they say to solve a puzzle. If you have an itch for psychological games, this one is for you.

Leading the cast is Michael Fassbender as a British cyber-security agent by the name of George Woodhouse. George has been tasked to uncover the identity of a mole in their ranks suspected of leaking a malware to the Russians to initiate a nuclear meltdown. He invites the suspects over to his house for dinner and a bit of chit-chat. Problem for George is, one of them is his wife Kathryn, played by an inscrutable Cate Blanchett. Suppose you can’t just ask your wife casually if she’s Judas, could you? What’s a husband to do?

The other suspects – played by Tom Burke, Rege-Jean Page, Marisa Abela and Naomie Harris – know one another incredibly well (or do they really?), but there are secrets among them and vulnerabilities to exploit. I should also point out that their boss – played by Pierce Brosnan as James Bond with a desk job – could throw a spanner in the works.

George is given one week to solve the mystery and no sooner has he begun, his chief drops dead. A warning shot, maybe? Whoever is behind this, they’re already on to the game. With national security at stake and the Russians involved, George is pressed for time but first, he’s going to the movies with Kathryn. Not to see what’s on the screen, but to catch his wife out on a lie.

Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett make an elegant spy couple. Suave, refined and lethal when necessary, Mr and Mrs Woodhouse are the epitome of grace under pressure. The actors bring an understated urgency to the cloak-and-dagger interplay between the two. How much can you reveal to your spouse? Do you trust without reservations? What would you do if you find out a Swiss bank account worth millions is linked to your wife? Reroute the satellite surveillance and zoom in on her, that’s what George would do.

The nature of their job dictates that there are things they know and do they don’t tell each other. As one character puts it, “When you can lie and deny about anything, how do you tell the truth about anything?” Make no mistake, George and Kathryn have a solid relationship and everyone in their circle knows that. Which is why someone is deliberately and elaborately setting them up against each other, using their marriage devotion against them. 

Their interactions seduce you into a false sense of security. The clock is ticking and something dastardly is happening out of sight but mostly it’s just people talking and going about their work (with a spot of fishing). At the appropriate moments a burst of action would raise the stakes, whether it’s someone pulling out a gun, another collapsing from a poisoned drink or a dinner knife plunge through the hand.

Soderbergh is never one to waste a line or a shot. His direction here is precise, his scenes are smartly composed and his actors are right on the mark, yet there’s never a moment when it feels studied or planned. Soderbergh deserves triple credit being the cinematographer and editor as well (under the pseudonyms Peter Andrews and Mary Ann Bernard). The movie looks polished and sophisticated and flows effortlessly. The script by David Koepp is succinct and sharp, no fluff, no padding.

This little gem transpires over an economical 93 minutes, which feels even shorter given how smoothly and breezily it’s paced. Any time you feel like kicking back with a grown-up procedural of discovery without superheroes and special effects, like something aged in an oak barrel and not pumped with fizz, this will be a great choice. 

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