Black Bag
Hey everyone, and welcome, today, we will be talking about the film Black Bag. Fun Fact: The title comes from Black Bag Jobs, which are covert or illegal operations to gather info for human intelligence. The term black bag is in reference to the black bags burglars were said to carry. This film came out in 2025 and stars Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, and Rege Jean Page, and was directed by Steven Soderbergh. So, without further ado, let's get right into it.
Black Bag follows intelligence agent George Woodhouse on a mission to figure out who is leaking confidential information, which could have catastrophic consequences for the world.
Black Bag is a Suspenseful spy thriller. It has similar vibes to Mr & Mrs. Smith, Skyfall, or Salt.
Black Bag has an amazing cast, which caught my eye, and from the trailer, it seemed like an interesting premise, and I really wanted to see how it would unfold. The movie is short and keeps a nice pace to keep the plot moving along, I was dying to know if his wife committed the crime, and if she didn't, how would he help to prove that? Soderbergh managed to make a spy thriller that was not action-packed like Mission Impossible or the 007 movies but instead focused more on the people in the office, behind the scenes, more senior, and addressing issues at home to prevent a bigger issue outside the office. The film is very dialogue-heavy and encourages the viewer to try and figure out who did this crime, but if you can't figure it out, George will let you know at the end.
Michael Fassbender was great as George, whose job at the intelligence agency is basically to read people and figure out if they are moles or lying about something. He did such a good job with his facial expressions when he wasn't saying anything verbally, but he was expressing a lot with his very small expressions, letting you know he was connecting pieces. I was really impressed to see Michael’s acting when George realized he was wrong and was freaking out, which led to a dangerous man escaping because of the camera going offline. You could tell he was stressed about getting in trouble, but it also seems to be the moment where he realized his wife wasn't the problem and it was someone else who set him up, even though I just thought it was his wife who set him up. I do feel a bit biased to liking his character because it seemed like a job I'd be interested in because his ability to form a story from questions he asks, information given up by other people, and just paying attention to his surroundings made him the perfect person to figure out who leaked the info and I found fascinating.
I love how the polygraph was mentioned early on, and when we finally get to it, we see a master at work. It's funny to see Clarissa lying because she practiced how to trick a lie detector and him catching her. This scene is also interesting because he asks very personal questions and questions that shock them and make them think it's inappropriate, and then you realize it may be a part of the polygraph. I think the goal is to use the shocking questions as a way to see how you will react, which might affect how they understand your answer to other questions. I guess that would be like a baseline reaction. I thought the scene was intense, but it was also very interesting to see the process.
Cate Blanchett is George's wife, Kathryn, and for most of the film, I did think she was guilty and thought she was the one who left hints to make him do something that would ensure that the leaked info got into the wrong hands and I was wrong. The one thing is that she is a great agent, and even though George is her weakness, he is also her strength because them together are an intense team. I love how she looked calm under pressure and gave this don't mess with me attitude because I will ruin you, which she did.
I loved to see the marriage between George and Kathryn and how they respected each other's jobs and knew how to balance the relationship. Throughout the movie, there were times that made me doubt the marriage and made me question if it was a good idea to have them be in this relationship. There was a scene with Clarissa where she said how can you have a relationship when the job is to lie, how can you ever know the truth? Then you have people bringing up how Kathryn is a great agent and only really has one weakness, which is her husband. This was interesting because we see how the others don't know how to navigate a relationship in this line of work they are in but also don't realize how, for some, it could be a weakness, but not for George and Kathryn. In the end, they show just how well they work together when George gets the group together and announces what he discovered in the beginning, Kathryn says you can either die or go in front of a court, and James picks up the gun and tries to shoot George, but its a blank and Kathryn pulls out a gun and kills him, keeping her word. She reminds the rest who are alive not to mess with her marriage again, which they should know to listen to, considering what just happened.
Marisa Abela kind of shocked me as Clarissa who is the least experienced in the group and is in a relationship with Freddie. I have watched Marisa in industry and thought she did phenomenally, and I was wondering how she would be outside of that, and this proved that she could hold her own. I loved how flirty she was but also how she clearly was worried about everything going on and was uncertain whom she should trust because she really didn't want to go to jail. She also added in a bit of laughs with how she was kind of unserious in situations where everyone else was too serious but then she could do something shocking like stab Freddie in the hand. She trusts George, which is a good call, but with everything going on, she seemed like she really just wanted to do her job and not get too involved.
The plot twist in this movie, when we figure out it's not his wife, was so well done, and in the final scene, we see how it all comes together. I love how most of the people have a connection, but not all of it seems to relate to the mole, but it does. From all the discussions with the others, he is able to get an understanding of what is going on from a variety of stories and know when people aren't being truthful. It's an interesting character study because you start to realize some of his questions and actions when he is explaining things in the end and realize it's not just about the surface stuff, look deeper, and you find the true motive behind it all. George saw how Dr. Zoe was struggling to balance her job and her religion, Freddie was sleeping with Dr. Zoe even though he lied earlier about cheating, Clarissa was doing ecstasy and hooking up with men, and James was getting drunk and telling Dr. Zoe stuff, knowing she can't say because of confidentiality and we realize that he's the one that stole the intelligence. It was so interesting to see how all these things connected the pieces for George to be able to figure out who the mole was.
By the end, when the story comes together, you see how these people who were so high up were a part of this whole situation. It made me think that there could always be someone bad, no matter how long you've known them or what level of seniority they have. Some people are greedy for money, some for power, and really, the only thing to do is bring that into the light if it's a situation like this and handle it so innocent people don't get killed.
Whoever did the costumes for the movie did such a great job with something I think often gets overlooked, but I noticed it almost immediately. I think the main thing was that everyone dressed so well. I was constantly in shock because like I assume people dress professionally when they're in the type of office they are in, but this film took it to the next level. I first saw it with Kathryn because she just looked so regal, but then it was person after person looking good, and then we get a break from meeting significant new players, and we meet Arthur, played by the legendary Pierce Brosnan, wearing this breasted suit who seriously had me questioning if I need a suit like that.
My favorite part of Black Bag was the first dinner scene, which really helped lay the foundation of how George works and also is a test run for the dinner scene at the end. The scene starts off with the guests a bit stressed because they are wondering why they have been invited to dinner, and then when they get to dinner, their nerves are calm for a second until George wants to play a game, and they go around the table, basically giving a resolution for the person next to them. It starts off pretty light-hearted til we get to Clarissa, who talks about Freddie cheating, and Freddie calls out her daddy issues while denying the cheating. George eventually chimes in and catches Freddie off guard by telling him the exact details of this affair but conveniently leaves out who it is; he tells them at the end of the film at the second dinner, so we still find out. Clarissa stabs Freddie in the hand, and half the table freaks out. it was so interesting to see George start all this and the people at the table not really understanding the full extent of what he was doing.
Black Bag is an exciting thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat and wondering who the culprit is while also learning info on each of the characters. I feel the bigger story is finding this mole which is super interesting, but the small personal stories really drive this film home and really help to kept me invested.
