Thank God that director Steven Soderbergh and writer David Koepp did not make another “Presence” (2025). Their second film of the year, “Black Bag” (2025), is a taut spy thriller at ninety-three minutes of gorgeous, sensuous and delectable entertainment. Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett respectively play British spy married couple George Woodhouse and Kathryn St. Jean who work at Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre. When George receives several tips that Kathryn is on a list of suspected double agents, thousands of lives may depend on the health of their marriage and his wife’s loyalty. George has a week to discover the truth. Will their love make it to the weekend?
Less maudlin than “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2011) and more elegant than “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” (2025), “Black Bag” is a clever mix of domestic and spy drama. The title is what people say when they do not want to answer a question because it may mean divulging classified information. The cast is stacked with gorgeous and talented actors, which is a sufficient reason to fork over the price of a movie ticket. Fassbender is back and somewhere Colin Firth feels a shiver up his spine as a younger buck threatens to dethrone the gentleman for the title of hottest man in black rimmed glasses and a white shirt. George is a humorless, precise fellow. He is the spouse who stays home, a counterintelligence agent and polygraph examiner. He is a legend for his work, his family history and his devotion to his wife, which means asking yourself if he had to choose, would he choose his country or wife. The movie is clever for not playing that trope in the usual ways.
Kathryn is the field agent and gunning for top job, which Arthur Stieglitz (Pierce Brosnan, who is still a smoke show and gives magnificent side eye for the majority of “Black Bag”) currently occupies. It is such a relief that Blanchett is in a good movie again after back-to-back stinkers, “Borderlands” (2024) and “Rumours” (2025). Her first shot onscreen is shown from George’s perspective as she gets ready to meet their dinner party guests dramatically tossing off her robe, pausing in her silk loose undergarments before changing into a sleek chocolate brown asymmetrical outfit. Is George on the case to save the people or have his wife’s back to ensure that she makes it home every night? If it is the latter, who can blame him. Blanchett is in a supporting role, but when she gets the spotlight, it is obvious that Kathryn is more than capable of taking care of herself and more. Also, when this movie hits streaming, it is long overdue that viewers should be able to see where to get each article of clothing or accessory, the original and the more affordable knockoff. The looks! Chef’s kiss to costume designer Ellen Mirojnick.
Fellow agent Philip Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgard, yes one of thosee brothers and best known from “Vikings”) compiled the suspect list, which includes Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), another desk jockey, his girlfriend with expertise in satellites, Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela), who seems to have a slight crush on George, Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris), the in-house shrink, and Col. James Stokes (Rege-Jean Page), a rising star. It is an excellent ensemble. Burke has a talent for playing rakes, so he fits in nicely here. Abela, whom some may remember as doing her best to play Amy Winehouse in “Back to Black” (2024), gets some of the juiciest moments in “Black Bag” and shares the most screentime with Fassbender. Harris is fine but not given much to do except exchange one scene with Page as they try to best each other with her having the upper hand and another with Blanchett, who ends up taking over anything if allowed to do her thing. Page is pretty, but his character is less interesting than his last role in “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” (2023), which was awhile ago. What is going on?
These characters are introduced in their social capacity then in a professional setting. Because their job is so top secret, they are stuck with each other in all frames of life, and they do not even like each other. Watching their personal dynamic and dysfunction is so riveting because they are a mess as individuals and couples, especially compared to the married couple who do not have a hair out of place. So when George starts to freak out, and his plan unravels, it is easy to get invested.
The pacing is perfect, and at the hour mark, the MacGuffin is finally explained. Some thrillers can be tiresome because they use fictional stakes, or the underlying mystery is so convoluted that it cannot be comprehended enough to raise the pulse so disassociation kicks in. Also, when the mystery is solved in such disappointing thrillers, it feels like the writer just made up a bunch of stuff at the eleventh hour and could not be bothered to make it solvable for anyone watching the movie even if they are taking notes. Koepp keeps all the balls in the air, roots it in real-life conflicts (the Russian Ukrainian war), and ties up all the loose ends in an intelligible fashion at the end. The A story is the marriage, but the B story is equally interesting. Don’t worry if that sounds stressful. It is not. “Black Bag” is not a deep movie aiming to stop World War III. The movie is more optimistic than reality because the US still works with the United Kingdom in this universe.
Do not let the trailer fool you. “Black Bag” is not an action movie. There are a handful of onscreen deaths, but the most satisfying one is more about character development and consummating all the rumors about certain character’s legendary status. All the action takes place in offices, homes and restaurants. Production designer Philip Messina and set decorator Anna Lynch-Robinson managed to make the lighting feel like candlelight, warm, muted and soft, except for the offices which is colder and clinical though not as cheap and harsh as fluorescent. Soderberg, who also wore the cinematographer hat, made a movie that feels as if it belongs in the glossiest of magazines.
It is nice for a change that a spy thriller and domestic drama roots for married childless love instead of an onscreen couple getting authorization to bash each other’s heads in. It is almost as if filmmakers are looking for respectable excuses to depict and cheer for domestic violence to live out their off-screen rage fantasies against the lives that they chose, hate and refuse to change. Here the opposite is true. The hope is that at least one, but hopefully two people managed to work in this job and still come out on the other side no worse from the wear. “Black Bag” makes movies and marriages glamorous again and will leave you wanting more, but please no sequels or prequels that could ruin perfection. Lightning does not strike in the same place twice.
