At the Movies

Film Assessment: Black Bag (2025)



Style: Spy Drama  

Director: Steven Soderbergh  

Starring: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Naomie Harris, Pierce Brosnan, Marisa Abela  

Working Time: 94 minutes  

Synopsis: British counterintelligence officer George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) has to seek out out which intelligence crew member offered a high secret cybersecurity weapon to enemy brokers. One of many suspects is George’s personal spouse Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), the pinnacle of the indicators division. Different attainable traitors embrace up-and-comer James (Regé-Jean Web page), satellite tv for pc imagery specialist Clarissa (Marisa Abela), workers psychiatrist Zoe (Naomie Harris), and case officer Freddie (Tom Burke). George has to safeguard his marriage whereas deploying thoughts video games and state-of-the-art surveillance to uncover the wrongdoer.

What Works Nicely: An amalgamation of John le Carré and Harry Palmer with a splash of the Smiths, it is a principally grim however generally wry spy whodunnit. Michael Fassbender elegantly channels Michael Caine and creates in George Woodhouse a cold-as-ice agent who made his legend destroying his personal father (deservedly so). He now faces a second of reality along with his spouse, having to depend on deep reservoirs of belief to counteract mounting proof of guilt. All of the suspects are adept at enjoying spy video games, and director Steven Soderbergh will get right into a groove of concurrently presenting and casting doubt on all the mandatory particulars. 

What Does Not Work As Nicely: The tone awkwardly oscillates between severe and absurd, and the dialogue is extra glib than considerate. For a gaggle of supposedly intelligent spies, method too many of those characters are bedding one another and dropping management of their feelings and libido. 

Key Quote:

Clarissa: When you possibly can lie about the whole lot, when you possibly can deny the whole lot, how do you inform the reality about something?

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