George Woodhouse: “I don’t like liars.”
In 2025, dare I say that it’s nice to be highlighting a film made for mature audiences. Avoiding the pratfalls of sequels, remakes, comic book movies, and overly costly bombast, Black Bag, written by David Koepp (Mission: Impossible) and directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic), is most easily described as an old school spycraft feature.
Opening with an extended tracking shot of spy George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) making his way through a happening nightclub in London, his contact soon informs him that there is a rat leaking some sort of tech software named Severus from within the agency. If there is one thing Woodhouse despises, it’s a liar, so he invites all of the suspects to a dinner party to try to get to the bottom of it.
Of course, his crafty wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett) will be there. . . their seemingly perfect relationship the envy of the entire office. Two other couples will also be invited: new it thing agent Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page) and his agency psychiatrist girlfriend Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris), as well as known womanizer and alcoholic Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) with his new gal pal Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela) – who is in charge of satellite imagery at the headquarters. Without giving anything away, the tension straddles the edge of a knife. Providing numerous clues, but no real answers, the evening leaves Woodhouse with many an unanswered question. Though not invited to the party, it is worth noting that the entire group is under the puppet strings of boss Arthur Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan).
With a limited amount of time due to the dangers involving the still unexplained Severus tech, Woodhouse is feeling the pressure, as the clues could lead to any one of them, including both he and his wife.
A clever conundrum of a script, Koepp develops a simple question – ‘who is the liar?’, and makes it extremely difficult to answer. . . as every single character is an unreliable hero, as they are all spies perfectly trained to lie. When met with a controversial question, any one of them can simply claim ‘black bag’, which is basically spy talk for classified intel that cannot be divulged. Further complicating things, as these spies only date other spies, it creates an almost incestuous entanglement, where this person likes that person, or that person might be cheating with this person. . . case in point Dr. Vaughan, whose literal job is to analyze the dark inner workings of each and every possible suspect – meaning she knows things about all of them that no one else knows.
Further enhanced by stellar casting, this is a who’s who of spy actors. Fassbender is somewhat reminiscent of a dark haired version of his Peter O’Toole inspired role as David in Prometheus and Walter in Alien: Covenant – inquisitive yet guarded in an almost inhuman way, he is veritably unreadable while computing behind those stoic eyes. Meanwhile, Blanchett brings forth another almost femme fatale inspired role like in Nightmare Alley, coolly alluring, what lies behind her glossily unreadable mask? Throw in our current Moneypenny (Harris) from the Daniel Craig era; the oft rumoured possible next James Bond in the suave Regé-Jean Page; the former 007 himself in Pierce Brosnan; tv’s formidable private detective C.B. Strike in Tom Burke; and a wholly game Abela, and you’ve got more than any spy lover could ask for.
Written for viewers to cling on every word, watch for any clue in body language – both audio and visuals built to keep us guessing, Black Bag is supremely sleek, slickly stylish, and satisfyingly suspense-filled. . . an ageless experience that could fit into any generation – be in the Cold War or within the complexities of today. So, cash in on this rarity of a new movie, it’s crafted for an entertaining entanglement.