Film ● Review: Black Bag
- Very Average Joe
- 5 days ago
- 2 min read
Title: Black Bag
Director(s): Steven Soderbergh
Screenwriter(s): David Koepp
Studio: Casey Silver
Released: 2025
Runtime: 1h 33m
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean Page, Naomie Harris
My Verdict: A counter-intelligence officer tries to find a mole. His wife is on the short list. Sounds boring but is a tight film with decent dramatic tension.
● Set in London, the film takes place over a week as George (Michael Fassbender), a counter-intelligence officer, is notified of a short list of potential moles in the NCSC which he has to sift. One of them is his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). This is tied to “Severus”, something that can cause mass casualties.
● The opening act has George inviting his colleagues (who are on the list) to his house for dinner. It is his intent to observe and then take it from there. Kathryn knows his intent regarding the group, although it is unclear to what extent she suspects it is also about her. The colleagues assume George is up to something. Either way, everyone plays along.
● From there, George proceeds with his investigation, sneaking around and checking computers and satellite feeds. Not surprisingly, many hints incriminate Kathryn which suggests she may have nothing to do with anything.
● The narrative structure is linear, going day by day until the end.
● Although not an action film in the usual sense and despite having an American director and screenwriter, it mildly feels like a British film with the quiet suspense without being pretentious. The pace is steady, consistently maintaining the tension.
● There is always something going; every scene, however long and/or quiet, reveals something and progresses the plot. The mystery and George sneaking around contribute much of the tension.
● One of the themes is obviously loyalty. This is not just regarding George and Kathryn’s marriage, since the other characters are involved with each other as well. The latter, however, can come across as a bit forced at times. The relationships are the other factors that contribute to the tension.
● Visually, it is nicely lit, shot and edited. Like many films by Soderbergh, there is the liberal use of tight shots that contribute to the intensity. There is the moderate use of different angles with good effect. The film starts with a long tracking shot and although some shots are held longer, this is not something used throughout. Perhaps it is to avoid being pretentious, but more would be cooler.
● The score composed by David Holmes avoids the conventional or classic orchestral approach. Instead, it uses jazz (or something like it) which is at times quite bare. It is presumably to convey the sense of improvisation (typical of jazz) to reflect what George is doing—everything is calculated but, in a way, he has to respond to whatever is happening on the fly.
● The film sounds boring when described but it is decent. This approach would not work if it is any longer but is fine at a tight one and a half hours, especially when you have a solid cast and it is shot and edited well.
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