'Black Bag' review: Ace cast lead Steven Soderbergh’s slick spy caper
Courtesy of Focus Features
A whip-smart, sexy, and slick spy thriller, “Black Bag” showcases Steven Soderbergh at his most efficient. The fastest 90 minutes you'll spend in a movie theater all year, “Black Bag” sees Soderbergh—who thankfully did not retire in 2011—working at a breakneck pace. The film is an air-tight, adult-targeted drama that puts its foot on the gas and never looks back.
Working from a script by David Koepp (his best in decades), Soderbergh wastes no time. Every sequence is crafted with meticulous attention to detail. Nothing is extraneous; every character and moment has purpose. And what a cast Soderbergh has assembled. Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender shine as two married spies who still long for each other. The entire movie revolves around whether one of them is lying about being a mole within their small team at the British intelligence agency, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Blanchett and Fassbender ooze charisma as Kathryn and George Woodhouse, who use the code term “black bag” whenever someone gets too close to their agendas—essentially signaling, “off-limits.” But speaking in spy jargon only goes so far when NCSC’s boss, Arthur Steiglitz (Pierce Brosnan—happily challenging his 007 persona), reports that a nuclear macguffin capable of destroying the world, nicknamed Severus, has gone missing.
Who’s behind the recent turn of events? I’ll plead "black bag" on this one and say there are plenty of characters to consider. There's Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris), the agency’s resident shrink, who’s having an on-again, off-again fling with George’s confidant, Colonel James Stoke (Regé-Jean Page). Then there’s tech guru Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) and his partner, cyber expert Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela).
Koepp’s script, combined with Soderbergh’s taut direction and editing, ensures that even at a brisk 90 minutes, each character is fully fleshed out. This is remarkable, especially when you compare it to movies that stretch on for three hours and still leave you feeling incomplete. In contrast, Black Bag is a complete experience—one of 2025’s early standouts. It’s such a blast and so well-crafted that when the end credits rolled, I was genuinely shaken it was already over. You’ll leave buzzing.
Grade: A-
BLACK BAG is now playing in theaters.