Are you tired of franchises? Are you the kind of person who says, “They don’t make them like they used to…”? Are you looking for something to go see in a theatre that’s above a half-baked straight-to-streaming release, but below a 100 million dollar blockbuster? Well, Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp have the film for you. Black Bag is exactly what we all want. It is a tight, exciting, and funny spy murder mystery film loaded with great performances and tied together with an excellently written script. This Soderbergh x Koepp combo is lighting that strikes more than twice, as this is their third film together after the HBO MAX exclusive Kimi and the wildly underrated Presence.

The plot is a pretty standard spy cliche, “There’s a mole in our operation and we got to find out who is before they can enact their wicked, immoral plan.” This directive is given to agent George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender), one of the U.K.’s most capable spies who is somewhat famous in the spy world for investigation skills, especially when it comes to uncovering liars. The suspects include fellow agents Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) and Col. James Stokes (Regè-Jean Page), the agency shrink Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris), and a lower-level analyst Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela). However, the kicker is that not only are all the suspects couples (Freddie with Clarissa and James with Zoe), but the fifth suspect is in fact George’s wife Kathryn St. Jean, another well-known spy in their agency. What follows is a genuinely captivating mystery where clues and revelations come piece by piece as George dives deeper into this case. 

Now if the names listed didn’t already excite you, well I don’t know what will, because this is a royal flush of a cast. Soderbergh knows how to get the most out of an ensemble and this can be seen especially in the dinner sequences in which the entire cast bounces and crashes into each other like a game of pinball. Michael Fassbender might be one of our most capable and compelling actors working right now. While he’s already proven to be a franchise player with roles in the X-Men and Alien franchises, his performances found in smaller films are where we really see how talented this man can be. If you loved him in David Fincher’s The Killer as a bumbling assassin, then you’ll love this more polished and refined follow-up. Opposite of Fassbender is Cate Blanchett, who effortlessly conveys the cool air of confidence and mystery that can be found in any great spy story. 

The dynamic between these two can be best described as “What if Mr. and Mrs. Smith, the 2005 comedy starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, but more espionage and less action.” Additionally, they are HOT together, I mean an absolute couple goals here. Not to ruin the professionalism of this review, but this is one of the sexiest couples I’ve seen in a film in years. These two have soo much chemistry that you should get school credit for witnessing it. This chemistry plays into the theme of the film which could be bluntly described as “How do you make a marriage work after years of being together?” This core idea is expanded through how these two navigate their relationship fearing that the other might be a mole, and how the other characters navigate, or fail to navigate, their relationships.

Speaking of the other characters, WOW! Tom Burke has easily risen to “Must-See” status as this guy simply does not miss. After putting on a very entertaining impression of Orson Wells in Fincher’s other Netflix exclusive film Mank, and being one of the best dudes in 2024 Praetorian Jack in George Millar’s Biblical Apolocyptic epic Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Burke reels himself in as a playful rogue type spy, who loves to drink and get laid while on assignment. Freddie Smalls is a sort of realistic James Bond type, where he’s less a world-saving debonair and more of a shitty adulterer with a silver tongue. Col. James Stokes is equally grounded as he gives the impression of being a by-the-books agent but is still a guy who goes home and plays Call of Duty. Regè-Jean Page imbues this character with some “bad-boy” energy showing in some choice scenes making Stokes a firecracker that could go off at any point. Naomie Harris, whom I know best as Shriek from Venom: Let There Be Carnage, is an equally interesting character with lots of layers that slowly reveal that even therapists can have problems. The last suspect, Clarissa Dubose, is the greenest of the bunch being a desk analyst who is in awe of her fellow agents but also sees through all the lies and deception they bring with them outside of work. Marisa Abela plays this naivety well, with Dubose being a mix of star student and fangirl. There is one more player in this story, Pierce Brosnan as Arthur Stieglitz, the head director of these agents. Brosnan’s inclusion reads as an homage to his time playing James Bond, which is appreciated and makes for a fun addition to the cast. 

There’s an interesting visual choice to have all the light sources be blown out in the camera, and I think I liked it? It’s not the greatest look, but it allows for a distinct visual style to scenes that convince you to stick to the shadows and away from the light, much like our spies. The set design is sleek, with well-dressed apartments, high-rise office buildings, and clinically clean-looking cafes, theatres, and restaurants, which help to build this classic spy vibe to every location. Every aspect of the film production enhances the script’s theme and visual style. It’s hard to say this any other way, but this is simply an extremely well-crafted film top to bottom. 

ALSO FUNNY. Black Bag got numerous chuckles and straight-up laughs out of me. This film is very witty and the natural charisma of the cast enhances the banter to an Ocean’s Eleven out of ten. Not to mention this film is filled with obvious homages and cliches of the espionage genre which further enhance how much this story is a love letter to classic spy thrillers. Comedy helps the flow of the film by providing some levity between dramatic scenes, as well as acting as small jots of excitement to reward you for paying attention through the serious exposition. 

The only possible critique could be that the film feels small, as there are no massive setpieces or expensive visuals. However, in this era of everything trying to be the biggest spectacle of the year, a modestly budgeted “medium-sized” film proved to be rather refreshing. To be blunt, Black Bag could not and should not be anything more than a 93-minute, 60 million-dollar R-rated original film. The film hits a long-forgotten sweet spot for moviegoers that has been replaced by 2-hour long franchise films and lackluster remakes. 

Look, it was stated earlier, but to reiterate from a few paragraphs ago, “This is simply an extremely well-crafted film top-to-bottom.” Soderbergh and Koepp prove to be a dynamic duo again with Black Bag, an entertaining throwback to classic spy cinema with a captivating cast and an entertaining script filled with exciting twists and turns. 

4 out of 5 stars

Go see this with someone! Friends, family, romantic partners, whoever you can drag along. You’ll thank us later. 

From the creative partnership of writer David Koepp and director Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag is a contemporary spy thriller set in London, England, where a spy named George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) must uncover a mole within his agency to prevent a national crisis. However, George discovers that his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) is among the list of possible suspects, forcing him to confront the unsettling possibility that his wife may be his target. This spy thriller also stars Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Rege-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan. Black Bag is produced by Focus Features and is set to release on March 14th.