• Release year: 2025
• Director: Steven Soderbergh.
• Producers: Gregory Jacobs and Casey Silver.
• Screenplay by: David Koepp.
• Cinematography by: Steven Soderbergh.
• Music by: David Holmes.

Shotgun Commentary: sexy and engaging.

Review

Black Bag is the new, demure version of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). Only this time the duo of perfect spies is European and played by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. Oh, and they do know that the other one is also a spy since they work for the same agency. That is, it is almost as sexy, but not really as fun.

Onion mystery

The film focuses almost entirely on George (Michael Fassbender) and his point of view. This limits your abilities to deduce what the whole picture is and who might be the culprit behind the strange conspiracy that looms over the agency. Despite the easy misdirection thanks to this lack of an objective point of view, the narrative is still pretty straightforward. The ending being quite obvious thanks to who is cast where and a simple process of elimination.

Still, that gives you part of the story, but none of the other bits and bobs that are related to the main issue. As such, it maintains just enough mystery for you to want to keep watching even when you know who the bad guy is. A drive that is further enhanced by an incredibly charming cast.

Emmental plot

Nevertheless, the obvious issues with the story are also worth noting. From the very beginning, it is quite clear that the film needed at least one more general check before execution. A spy, stylish as he might be, would never wear the hipster getup that George sports in the very first scene to a club.

Everybody, drunk and sober, will stare at you in a club if you dress like you’re going to an Ingmar Bergman screening, and that is the last thing a spy would want. You are not supposed to attract any attention, so why on Earth would George, a supposedly amazing spy, compromise that invisibility for the sake of sporting his new turtle-neck?

Still, this situation is just one of many that make you go, “wait, what?”. Some of which are so obviously out-there that you can smell the trap from your seat, and others so over-the-top that you just know they chose style over substance.

A banquet of stars

The highlight of the film is definitely its cast and wardrobe, nonsensical as the last might be at times. Fassbender plays George. If you’ve watched The Killer (2023) you more or less know what he is about, only George is a more 007 version of that. Essentially, better clothes and better ability to hide his psychopathic tendencies, although not by much.

As for George’s wife Kathryn, played by Cate Blanchett, she is the promise that never got to be fulfilled. Yes, she is gorgeous, frightfully intelligent, murderous, professional, and stylish, but her character isn’t developed at all. Despite being miles better than George, she is still a supporting role in her husband’s life. Somehow incapable of noticing what he does in their house, even though she is portrayed as smarter than him.

The rest of the characters are charming enough to be interesting and singular enough to be recognisable, easing the process of the memorising who is who for those of us with a goldfish memory.

The sprinkles

René-Jean Page and Naomi Harris play colonel Stokes and Dr. Vaughan, an ambitious couple with clear issues that makes half of the protagonist’s friends from work. The Bridgerton (2020-present) star could not run away fast enough from the show that gave him his current fame, yet he seems intent on putting himself as the go-to actor for any a-hole character you might have in your script. As for Harris, she delivers a great performance as a slightly-twisted psychiatrist, setting her character in between Calypso (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, 2006) and Moneypenny (Skyfall, 2012) in the scale of mental health.

The supporting cast is closed off with Pierce Brosnan as the boss his 007 would’ve hated, Clarissa Duboise as the relatable newbie of the agency, and Tom Burke as the agent who thinks he can manipulate the aforementioned newbie. The three of them have great characters to work with, and they don’t miss their chance to make the most of them.

All in all, Black Bag is a fun spy movie with no comedy per se but great comedic moments. The cast is wonderful. Each actor nailing their role for better or worse, and their costumes are simply to die for. Whether you like intriguing mysteries or are simply in the mood for watching stylish people doing things that make them look cool, this is a great choice for you.

Thanks to Universal for big-screen access! Black Bag will be released the 14th of March in the US and in the UK.

Advice to take from this movie:

• If you can’t trust your spouse, you shouldn’t have married them.
• Sometimes you need to sacrifice your high-class getup for the sake of the mission.
• Never write a review hungry, your subheadings will be weird.

What’s your take? Have you watched Black Bag? Don’t hesitate to let me know your thoughts in the comments section below, or leave a message in my contact page! For more reviews and cinema-related articles, check out the rest of my blog! 😀