BLACK BAG movie poster | ©2025 Focus Features

Rating: R
Stars: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Gustaf Skarsgård
Writer: David Koepp
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Distributor: Focus Features
Release Date: March 14, 2025

The title of BLACK BAG refers not to a physical object, but rather to the catch-all phrase spies use when there’s a topic they can’t discuss with each other. This can be an issue when spies are romantically involved with one another, such as devotedly married George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett).

The two work in different departments at MI-6, the British equivalent of the CIA. While George vows to Kathryn that he would never lie to her and even kill for her, he still has his black bag secrets. He doesn’t dissemble, just doesn’t disclose. Kathryn seems to be the same, albeit she tells George she would lie to him if it was necessary.

George’s boss Philip Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård) tells him there’s a problem with something called Severus and treachery is suspected. One of the possible traitors is Kathryn. George tells Meacham that he can be impartial, but is that a lie?

In any event, George tells Kathryn that the reason for the gathering they’re hosting tonight for two other couples – agent Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) and his tech department girlfriend Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela), and MI-6 Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page) and division psychiatrist Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) – is part of a black bag operation.

It’s one hell of a dinner party, but it’s only the beginning, not the climax, of the ever-turning plot.

David Koepp’s script is genuinely clever and unpredictable. We easily believe that the characters are as smart and slippery as they are meant to be, especially Blanchett’s Kathryn. Blanchett conveys formidable mental acuity and sureness of purpose. No wonder George loves Kathryn so much, and no wonder no one should want to get on her bad side.

One highlight of the script is that Severus, the story maguffin, isn’t just some random object (and no, it’s not a person), which is often the case in this genre. Here, the characters who know about it have definite, if conflicting, opinions that shape their actions.

Steven Soderbergh’s direction is surehanded, while allowing for some bracing tonal shifts. We get environmental changes, from chilly offices to cozy home interiors to tranquil lakes, so that we don’t feel claustrophobic. Humor (sometimes very dark) comes up at the most unexpected moments. The pace is brisk without being confusing, and all the actors are on the same page.

These include Pierce Brosnan as the spy unit’s brusque boss, who is wholly comfortable with his power. Fassbender ably puts across George’s ambivalence, anguish and skill. Burke and Abela are wonderfully mercurial, Page is every inch duty incarnate, and Harris suggests hidden depths even when Vaughan is at her most professional.

There are many pleasures to BLACK BAG, but chief among them is that it actually is what it purports to be. It’s not an action movie using espionage as a pretext for shootings and explosions (it has a few, but they’re not the main attraction) or for actors to appear in formal dress. Nor is it an unrelentingly grim tale of ground-down souls dealing with existential crises.

BLACK BAG is, rather, a smart tale made by smart folks who maintain a near-perfect balance of drama, comedy and surprise, with some characters we enjoy getting to know.

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