Steven Soderbergh is back with his newest spy thriller, Black Bag, which may as well be an espionage whodunit with turns in every direction.

With so many films running two hours or more lately, a 93-minuter thriller is much appreciated. You go into the theater knowing that you’ll be walking out in just over 90 minutes, depending on trailers. What happens in between–well, it more or less depends on how you’re feeling on a given day. The fact that Black Bag is directed by Steven Soderbergh means that one knows to expect something good. Sure enough, it is! It’s rather unconventional than most spy films but it’s worth taking a risk sometimes.

At the core of the film are married British intelligence agents George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn St. John (Cate Blanchett). George learns early in the film that she may have betrayed the country. He must soon answer the question of whether he’s loyal to his country or his wife. There’s also the question of whether one is lying to one another. They can always depend on “black bag” if it’s a work operation.

Both George and Kathryn work for National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). But as much as George is good at his job, his love for his wife is his only weakness. You can imagine his response when he learns that a mole working at the agency has stolen–and perhaps sold–the destructive Severus. Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård) hands him a list of five potential suspects. Never mind that four of them are colleagues at the agency but the fifth suspect is none other than his wife! She’s as legendary at NCSC as he is but we’ll see just how far he’ll go to protect her if that’s the case.

The technology-focused intelligence agency is a division of the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) rather than the more common MI5 and MI6 that audiences see on screen, especially in the James Bond films. Other suspects include Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page), Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris), Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) and Clarissa DuBose (Marisa Abela). Arthur Steiglitz (Pierce Brosnan) heads up the agency.

With Soderbergh at the film, Black Bag offers more of a stylish take than what you might expect in a James Bond movie. I’d say there’s more suspense and tension here than most spy thrillers. Most spy thrillers I watch don’t really go for a whodunit aspect or maybe it just feels that way. This isn’t a film where the main agent or agents are just chasing a MacGuffin for much of the time. I also didn’t watch the trailer before watching the film so I don’t know just how much was given away beforehand.

Black Bag is the first of two David Koepp-penned films–his third with Soderbergh–to hit the big screen this year. Koepp also penned the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth, due in theaters this summer. He’s no stranger to the world of spy thrillers either, having also written Mission: Impossible when it was first adapted for the big screen in the late 1990s. But unlike those films, this one is not heavy on action. In fact, it’s rather light on the action one might expect in a spy thriller. What we have here is a spy thriller driven by spies being really good at their job.

This film might not be a popcorn movie like the James Bond films but they do have some Bond easter eggs. It’s not the type of easter eggs that one would need to frequently look out for on screen. No, the easter eggs in Black Bag come in the form of casting none other than James Bond and Eve Moneypenny themselves: Pierce Brosnan and Naomi Harris. You just have to really appreciate it if you’re a fan of Bond films and spy movies.

Black Bag is a solid espionage thriller with no shortage of laughs.

DIRECTOR: Steven Soderbergh
SCREENWRITER: David Koepp
CAST: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, with Kae Alexander, Ambika Mod, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Pierce Brosnan

Focus Features will release Black Bag in theaters on March 14, 2025. Grade: 4/5

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