Black Bag (2025)

Dir: Steven Soderbergh

Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Rege-Jean Page, Pierce Brosnan

Human lie detector Michael Fassbender is tasked with finding a traitor within British Intelligence in this slick and sexy espionage caper from Steven Soderbergh

Despite having officially announced his retirement from filmmaking in 2014, Steven Soderbergh appears to have become more prolific than ever in the years that have followed, with the versatile American director helming an impressive ten feature films since 2017. Only a couple months ago we were treated to Soderbergh’s first foray into psychological horror territory, with the voyeuristic supernatural drama “Presence”.

Despite being marketed as a terrifying cinematic event, “Presence” saw Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp explore every day household dramas, but through the eyes of a sentient entity, that remains blissfully unaware of its own origins. This unique spin on the supernatural subgenre may have disappointed horror fans looking for a good scare, but the surprisingly intimate and understated drama showcased how dynamic Soderbergh is as a filmmaker, as he continues to explore multiple genres, visual styles and storytelling structures 35 years on from his directorial feature, “Sex, Lies and Videotape” (1989).

For his second cinematic release of 2025, Soderbergh once again mixes things up, despite reteaming with Koepp once again, this time on British-based espionage thriller “Black Bag”. Boasting an impressive ensemble cast, including the likes of Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rege-Jean Page, Naomie Harris and Pierce Brosnan, I was expecting Soderbergh’s latest feature to be a much flashier and explosive spy thriller, however, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Soderbergh continues to show an incredible amount of restraint in producing incredibly intimate motion pictures.

The spy genre has been long associated with high-octane, action-heavy thrillers, with Hollywood stars Matt Damon and Tom Cruise overcoming the odds thanks to sheer brute force in the “Jason Bourne” and “Mission: Impossible” franchises respectively. Even the most famous spy franchise of all-time, “James Bond”, hardly sees the suave protagonist demonstrate the art of subtlety when saving the world, and the inclusions of a former Bond (Brosnan), and a former Moneypenny (Harris) in the ensemble only further highlights how far removed most spy thrillers are from the real world.

Unlike most major Hollywood espionage thrillers, “Black Bag” features very little action, however the constant tension throughout makes us fully aware of the likely political fallout that may occur if our protagonist does not succeed in his mission, without the need to explicitly depict the threat itself on screen.

The mysterious title “Black Bag” refers to a turn of phrase often used by British intelligence officers when questioned about an ongoing mission they may, or may not be, involved in. The incredibly blunt and secretive terminology is seen as a cause for concern by Intelligence officer George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender), when he is met with it in the face of asking his wife, and fellow intelligence officer, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), as to why she is travelling to Zurich. George’s suspicions arouse having recieved information from his superior that there is a traitor within British intelligence, and he is tasked with investigating the leak of a top-secret software code-named “Severus”.

With one of the five suspects being Kathryn, George invites the other four suspects, also MI6 operatives, over for dinner, only to engage them in psychological games in an attempt to have the real traitor expose themselves. Those under suspicion from George include two managing agents, James (Rege-Jean Page) and Freddie (Tom Burke), and their respective partners, agency psychiatrist Zoe (Noemie Harris), and satellite imagery specialist Clarissa (Marisa Abela).

We follow George as he uses his contacts within British intelligence, including some of the suspects themselves, to determine who is responsible for the leak and prevent the potentially catastrophic “Severus” from falling into the hands of a wanted Russian operative who has escaped house arrest in Liechtenstein.

Despite being incredibly understated in its delivery, “Black Bag” may be Soderbergh’s most complete film to date. It may only clock in at 90 minutes, but Soderbergh and Koepp manage to keep the taut and surprisingly witty espionage caper as tight as a drum from start to finish. They make every moment of the short runtime count, with a sprawling and twisty narrative that a less efficient filmmaker would have easily spread out over two hours. It is a rarity in modern cinema to get such a gem, with so much going on, playing out in little over an hour and a half. While “Presence” seemed to be a departure from the visual style that has become synonymous with Soderbergh over the years, “Black Bag” sees the Oscar-winning director incorporate several elements from some of his greatest hits.

Having experimented with low-budget, independent films in recent years such as “Kimi” (2022), “No Sudden Move” (2021) and “High Flying Bird” (2019), its is great to return to form with yet another slick feature, with the undeniably attractive cast of characters understandably struggling to keep their hands of one another in the workplace. We have to remember that this comes from a filmmaker that has produced stylish and sexy features such as “Out of Sight” (1998), “Ocean’s Eleven” (2001) and “Magic Mike” (2012). The amount of deception on show is slowly unpacked as the supporting cast begin to crumble as they find themselves face-to-face with Michael Fassbender’s human lie detector, George. As table manners go out in the window in two explosive dinner party scenes that bookend the narrative, we see how subtlety can be equally as engaging as all out action when it comes to espionage thrillers, look no further than the excellent 2011 adaptation of John le Carre‘s “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”. There are times when “Black Bag” could easily be mistaken as one of le Carre’s many works of espionage fiction following his years of service in MI5 and MI6, which is a testament to both Soderbergh and Koepp who have done an excellent job in creating all realistic caper, that also manages to have the hallmarks of a domestic drama, filled with lies, secrets and extramarital affairs.

The performances from the cast are outstanding, and while it is Fassbender who occupies the majority of the screen time, the supporting cast all make their limited minutes count, as each scene seeks to provide the audience with more information than the last.

There will be those who see the cast list and expect your typical Hollywood action affair, and more than likely they will be disappointed that “Black Bag” does not provide the adrenaline pumping action they may be expecting. I highly recommend that anyone planning on checking out “Black Bag” goes in with no expectation as to what to expect, and I assure you will be pleasantly surprised by how effective its intimacy, combined with plenty of dry humour, is at upping the stakes in what is otherwise a pretty low-key spy drama.

Black Bag is now showing in UK Cinemas

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