In recent years, I’ve really been missing spy thrillers (I know, very specific). These films were all the rage in the early 2000s and included classics like The Bourne Identity and Salt, with some, like Mr. and Mrs. Smith, adding romance to keep things interesting. But since the 2010s, we haven’t seen many of these films getting made. That was until today, because the new film from Steven Soderbergh, Black Bag, marks a return to those 2000s spy thrillers and boasts a stacked cast to boot. Has this film redefined the genre, or should it have been left in the past?
George (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn (Cate Blanchett) are your typical husband and wife. They cook for each other, go on movie dates, and even host dinner parties for their work friends. What makes them different is that they don’t have any children… and both work for British intelligence (basically spies). When word gets out that a deadly virus named Serverus has been stolen by one of his colleagues, George is tasked with tracking down who has betrayed their country. But to throw a spanner into the works, Kathryn is a suspect. Now, with his beloved wife under suspicion, can George find the culprit and prevent a global catastrophe, or will love blind him to the truth?
A story with a mystery component is always tricky. With every trailer they drop, more and more could be potentially spoiled to eagle-eyed viewers, but you need the trailers for people to know why they should watch. It’s a fine line, and I think Black Bag does a damn fine job walking it. It does this by having us follow George’s perspective almost exclusively throughout the film, so it feels like you’re piecing things together alongside him.
By doing this, it keeps you guessing throughout the film, even if you think you’ve figured it all out. The tension builds after every piece of information is uncovered, and there’s one scene in particular that will have you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the needle to drop. If I were to criticise it at all, the MacGuffin of the film is a bit uninspired, and the twist reveal felt like it could’ve been built up to more. However, these are relatively minor complaints in an otherwise great story.
I’m a sucker for Michael Fassbender. If he’s in something, I'll more likely than not watch it. And if I’m being honest, seeing him in the trailer for this film was one of the biggest reasons I wanted to check it out, and he did not disappoint. I adored his performance and was fully engrossed in every scene he was in, which was a lot. The subtle mannerisms when he talks to people, his calm demeanor during an interrogation, and those few moments when he starts to panic are all expertly portrayed. Cate Blanchett is then able to play off this perfectly with her suave persona, balancing out George’s more methodical attitude. Similarly to George, those few moments when she starts to feel the pressure are glorious.
The supporting cast are no slouches either, with each turning in a fantastic performance. The standouts amongst them are Marisa Abela as Clarissa Dubose and Rege-Jean Page as James Stokes. Marisa is, for lack of a better term, the zoomer of the cast, and her personality bounces off these hardened spies, which is very enjoyable to watch. She also has one of the funnier moments in the film and helps provide some levity to the tension. Rege-Jean Page killed it as the stereotypical cool spy who has it all figured out, but who also has some trouble in the dating scene. His relationship with Naomie Harris’s Zoe was an interesting parallel to George and Kathryn, with one spy couple making it work while another is a bit more turbulent.
Pierce Brosnan is also in the film as Arthur Stieglitz, the head of British intelligence, and he’s probably the weakest character in the film, not due to Brosnan’s performance (he was excellent), but because he doesn’t get enough screen time to truly flesh out the character. It makes sense, given that George doesn’t interact with him much over the course of the story, but it would have been nice to spend a bit more time with him.
Black Bag has a 94-minute runtime, far shorter than most films nowadays, but it makes the most of it. While short, the film makes every second count and wastes nothing. Each scene, each piece of dialogue, and even the set design all play a part in crafting the mystery. The opening scene, where George walks through a club to find an informant, the dinner party scene where George talks with all the suspected betrayers, and the handful of times when characters go to therapy are all stellar. This also extends to the soundtrack, which, while subtle, further adds to the mysterious vibe.
The film had a modest $50-60 million budget (modest, at least in this day and age), which limited what they could do, mostly with any big action set pieces. However, Black Bag circumvents this problem by avoiding big action spectacles and instead doubling down on the spy thriller vibe. The film doesn’t need to be bombastic with a massive shootout over the stolen virus; all it needs is for all the characters to sit in a dining room and talk.
Black Bag is one of the biggest surprises of the year. I went in almost exclusively because of Fassbender, and I left having seen what could end up being in my top three films of the year. The story was engaging, the characters were fantastic, and the way the whole film was shot was magnificent. Do yourself a favour and go and see Black Bag if you have the opportunity. I assure you, you won’t regret it.
Have you seen Black Bag? What did you think? Did you guess the traitor? Let us know in the comments below where we can talk about our favourite spy thrillers.
