Steven Soderbergh is giving Ridley Scott a run for his money by showing how quickly a big-named director can whip up a consistent number of movies in a short space of time. After the intriguing experiment that was the supernatural drama Presence, a film only released two months ago thanks to distribution issues, Soderbergh and his collaborator, writer David Koepp have followed up with a stylish, stripped-back spy drama. Following two married spies in a sleuthing game testing their loyalties and relationships, Black Bag is a slick, flirtatious chamber piece where secret agents, espionage, and thrillingly catty tête-à-têtes are de rigueur.
In a refreshingly brisk 94 minutes, Black Bag builds off one key idea: how can a marriage endure and flourish when both partners are involved in a world that encourages them to deceive? The film shadows George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and wife Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett): two devoted agents working for a London-based intelligence agency who would do anything for each other, perhaps even kill.
George is an intelligence officer who prides himself on a perfect record of observance and polygraphy; he really hates liars. Kathryn oversees special operations, an agent who carries herself with the confident swagger of a seasoned spy. Every conversation between them deemed covert by work relegates itself to the eponymous 'black bag'. The film's tantalising hook arrives when George has five names of those who may have stolen top-secret techno McGuffin 'Severus' handed to him by contact Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård) in a tense, well-framed opening tracking shot. The big kicker: Kathryn's name is one of the five.
How does George go about solving this mystery and catching the mole? He invites everyone over for dinner at his and Kathryn's London flat. And what a dinner it is. Having to suspect his wife as equally as everyone else, George is also shaping up the other suspects: office shrink Dr Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris), her boyfriend and over-confident agent Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page), as well as young data analyst Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela) and her shady, womanising older boyfriend (who is also an agent) Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke).
George spikes the food with a truth-revealing drug to ascertain clues. Unknowingly assessed as equally as the others, Kathryn receives a debrief from George about the food. He proclaims that the dinner is like a rock thrown in a pool, and now they must watch the ripples —but how can his word be fully trusted? An evening of quick-witted remarks, messy interpersonal relations, and the constant vices of all laid bare ensues with yelling, deception, and even a little bit of violence. It's all delightfully zippy and corrosive stuff that shapes the rest of the film and its mysteries.
Despite a misleading trailer as to the film's action beats, as with Presence not being precisely a horror film, Black Bag is no 007 affair, even with the cheeky additions of Bond veterans Naomie Harris and Pierce Brosnan (in a scene-stealing role as their grumbling boss Arthur Steiglitz). While there's a dash of global surveillance, a vague international threat, and a sprinkle of action and murder, the intention of Black Bag is simple – a drama where the espionage resides in the romantic, emotional, and distorting actions of human behaviour. Watching the agents fight it out over Koepp's airtight screenplay is a joy; it's lean, to the point, and leaves no fat on the edges of its playful, unwinding script.
Michael Fassbender is channelling his recent chilly performances from David Fincher's excellent The Killer and Paramount spy show The Agency to make George as captivating as he is calculating to watch. In everything he does, a tiny glance, a goodbye kiss, or a slowly delivered statement is an act of precise orchestration. Blanchett matches and often surpasses Fassbender's cunning qualities, making Kathryn's chemistry with George intoxicatingly steamy as their spy-trained skills are compared and competed in the bedroom. For all its delicious spitefulness, the film is at its best when the audience gets a glimmer of hope these two matrimonial agents can find a sleuthing unison.
David Holmes' score is an orchestral infusion of percussion, jazz and everything in between, successfully evoking the mischievous tone and pulsating revelations that the cast's fantastic performances equally match. Regé-Jean Page is arrogant yet alluring, Tom Burke is delightfully secretive and rat-like, but Marisa Abela continues to be the gift that keeps giving from HBO's Industry, playing Clarissa with a sense of infectious overconfidence that masks insecurity. She makes a polygraph test seem like a rollercoaster ride. Naomie Harris provides a sense of faith and reverence as the cross-bearing psychologist despite having just as many skeletons in her closet as everyone else. These are all grubby, acrimonious people; the fun is watching them unravel.
Take explosions, gadgets, and bullets out of this bag and instead be fulfilled by lies, sex, deceit, and very juicy double speak. Black Bag is an entertaining, taut human drama, and a thriller about the loyalty tested in operative matrimony – a perfect date-night movie. It is a slick, sexy, feature competently shot, edited, and directed by Soderbergh under a tight budget. With suave costuming, moody lighting, a lively score, and an A-list cast, it's got a breakneck pace that never outstays its welcome, always keeps the intrigue, and unfailingly feels seductive. Cheers to the marriage of espionage and unwavering love.
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Tom Burke
Writer: David Koepp
Producers: Gregory Jacobs, Casey Silver
Music: David Holmes
Cinematography: Peter Andrews
Editor: Mary Ann Bernard
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