4 out of 5
Spoiler-free review
Maybe it' s because I grew up watching James Bond or reading John LeCarré or Frederick Forsythe, but I'm a sucker for a good old fashioned twisty, turny spy romp replete with missions within missions, double-crosses and big reveals. So when I read that director Steven Soderburgh was assembling a stellar cast and bringing a script by David Koepp to the screen, I was eager to see it and Black Bag does not disappoint.
Like classic spy films such as Tinker Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Black Bag is essentially a mole hunt, a search for a traitor in the organisation. When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband – also a legendary agent – faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.
At one point during the espionage mole hunt, one character says, “It’s about us.” and that’s the key to getting substance out of director Steven Soderbergh’s stylistically riveting film. He once again pulls double duty as cinematographer which means he gets the shots he wants. The film is written by David Koepp, the writer of the first Mission: Impossible film, meaning that this feels like a more authentic window into the spy world, stripped-down of explosive action set pieces which enables it to focus on something much more character driven.
While the narrative concerns Michael Fassbender’s George Woodhouse, who is given a list of five suspects, which includes his romantic partner, Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), potentially up to no good with a deadly virus called Severus -capable of melting down nuclear reactors and killing thousands – it’s more tantalizingly a look at how toxic it would be to have a relationship in a profession where deception is one of its most required skills. The other suspects include another pair of couples, Tom Burke’s Freddie Smalls seeing Marisa Abela’s Clarissa Dubose since, even though he thinks she is unhinged and loco when it comes to distrusting his faithfulness, she has a rough backstory and doesn’t expect much from him. Then there is the intelligence agency therapist Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) dating gaming-obsessed Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page).
George has arranged for a dinner get-together where he can spike everyone’s food with a truth serum and, hopefully, begin to get to the bottom of this. There is also a ticking time counter, with him having roughly a week to label the traitor before something disastrous happens. George has also been chosen because he is the best at detecting lies. This dinner party is strikingly shot with glowing yellow lights emitting from candles spread across the table, as if to illuminate the face of each lie for effect. Nevertheless, it doesn’t take long for George to get inside their heads, and before the night is over, the situation escalates into violence.
That’s only the first dinner of two in the film. For good measure, there is also an uproarious polygraph montage that cuts between characters and questions.
Dating a civilian while being part of the espionage world is naturally challenging. However, Black Bag implies that it might be just as difficult, if not more so, to date someone whose job not only requires loyalty but also involves training in deception, surveillance, and remaining unnoticed during dubious activities. The narrative also explores gender roles, with a supporting character pondering why men in this field find it easy and tempting to engage in infidelity.
The film title amusingly refers to a commonplace excuse of job confidentiality to slip away from talking about the truth and, as everyone gets back to work, with George continuing his investigation, more duplicitous layers of these characters are revealed, sometimes in tandem with revelations regarding Severus. This often comes across as an information overload, yet it is stimulating due to the screenplay’s wit and the characters’ bite when going in on the verbal attack.
Like the emotionless assassin Michael Fassbender recently played in David Fincher’s The Killer, George is a laser-focused individual who will put the mission above anything else. This means he does take the suspicion of his wife seriously, which also turns out to be ironic since the other characters assume they are the perfect couple. In some ways, they are, especially for co-workers within this inherently snaky profession.
Their sex life is also relatively healthy, at one point culminating in some erotic talk about how much they trust one another and if they would kill for each other. As George assures Kathryn that his loyalty to her comes first and that he would kill for her, Steven Soderbergh’s camera frames and cuts between the eyes of each character, appropriately capturing their lust and passion.
There are several ways to interpret what is happening, each character’s goals, and the endgame. Steven Soderbergh also knows that the spy games must be fun to make the catty, double-crossing relationship aspects compelling. Fortunately, Black Bag is also a blast, finding excitement and clever twists within what feels as close to as accurate as an intelligence agency such as this could be depicted. That also doesn’t mean the story surrounding Severus is enthralling, because truthfully, it’s not. However, Steven Soderbergh and David Koepp leverage that to maximize the personal relationship surprises.
Pierce Brosnan is a blast, bringing the suave caché that spy film fans will love. His role is brief but joyous to watch.
The second dinner felt forced, in an Agatha Christie-type reveal as all six characters assemble and the traitor is revealed and what’s left to ponder is the thorny exploration of love and whether or not even the seemingly happiest characters here can express that healthily. Maybe that also doesn’t matter. As another character puts it, the extreme behaviour taken by each partner could also be seen as hot. Fittingly, Black Bag sizzles with tight, brisk pacing and exhilaration. I loved it.
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