Black Bag (2025)

Black Bag is a slick, slow-burn spy thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh, starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as George and Kathryn, a married couple tangled in the high-stakes world of British intelligence. Their carefully curated life starts to crack when George is tasked with uncovering a mole, and all signs start pointing to his wife.  

From the start, the film pulls you into a world of quiet paranoia. The bulk of the story revolves around an intimate dinner party with George and his colleagues—any one of them could be the traitor, and the tension in the room is suffocating. It’s the kind of spy movie that leans heavily on psychological warfare rather than shootouts and car chases, feeling more like Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy than a James Bond flick.  

Fassbender is great as George—meticulous, controlled, and slowly unravelling under the weight of his suspicions. You can see the wheels turning behind his eyes as he tries to hold everything together. Blanchett is just as captivating, making Kathryn an unreadable enigma. One moment, she’s the devoted wife; the next, she’s coolly distant, and you start to wonder—does she even know whose side she’s on? Their chemistry is the film’s strongest asset, with every interaction charged with uncertainty.  

Soderbergh’s direction is tight, and the cinematography has that muted, shadowy aesthetic that suits the genre perfectly. The film moves at a deliberate pace, layering in tension with each carefully worded conversation. The soundtrack, by David Holmes, adds a jazzy undercurrent that keeps things feeling sleek and stylish. But for all its strengths, there’s something missing.  

It’s hard to shake the feeling that the movie never fully lets you in. The setup is brilliant, the performances are gripping, and yet, by the time it ends, you’re left wondering… Wait, did I miss something? The final act doesn’t quite pull all its threads together, and instead of that satisfying “aha!” moment, it feels like a crucial piece of the puzzle has been left just out of sight. Maybe that’s intentional—espionage is messy, after all—but it also makes the film feel slightly incomplete.  

If you love cerebral spy dramas and don’t mind a bit of ambiguity, Black Bag is well worth a watch. Just don’t expect it to hand you all the answers on a silver platter.