Black Bag

Official Australian release date: 13/3/25. Viewed: 16/3/25.
Director: Steven Soderbergh  
Actors: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Tom Burke, Regé-Jean Page
Genre: Thriller / Drama
Rating: M

‘Black Bag’ is a tight, mostly psychological spy thriller. We have George (Fassbender) & Kathryn (Blanchett) who are married, but both work for MI6 of some British Intelligence agency. We start with a seemingly benign dinner party where we meet the other key characters and their co-workers – Freddie (Burke), James (Page), Zoe (Harris) and Clarissa (Abela). All are on the same “side”, but each have their own secrets and agendas.

Fassbender plays a similar, semi-emotionless character to ‘The Killer’ – but he doesn’t have to do any assassin work here. Overall, there’s not much action, or ‘Mission: Impossible’ style spy tropes – has more in common with ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’, as it’s all about who’s manipulating who and why. We eventually get to a potential stolen weapon, with Arthur (Brosnan) making a small appearance.

The film’s score is mostly a catchy synth number and keeps things semi-light, as the stakes seem medium, but never quite end-of-the world. Things move pretty quickly – all done in 90min – and we get to the end of a week at another dinner party, where everything is resolved. Nothing revolutionary, but engaging performances from the 6 lead actors, great London/English scenery and a little twist.

Overall: Fast, psychological spy thriller

Gav's Rating: 3.5 stars