For many a movie lover, the promise of the ever-elegant Cate Blanchett and the ruthlessly debonair Michael Fassbender co-starring as spies should be enough to cough up ticket money. That’s a powerful pairing of performers who are very well-suited to the sleek and sexy subgenre of espionage thriller. But props to director Steven Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp for subverting expectations with the distinctly exciting Black Bag.
As they have with the psychological thriller Kimi and the mysterious haunted house movie Presence, this terrific pairing of writer and director has cherry-picked elements of a genre, without submitting to its expectations.
In this case, Black Bag will satisfy spy fans who demand a cast of suave rogues, sexual allure, intense interrogations, exotic globe-trekking, dubious allies, and a powerful MacGuffin that must be kept out of dangerous hands. However, what makes Black Bag a sensational standout is the husband and wife at the heart of it.
Black Bag is a sexy, smart, and cool movie about marriage. Seriously.
Credit: Claudette Barius / Focus Features
In movies and TV, marriage is often painted as the death of excitement. Romance-centered comedies frequently end in marriage, suggesting the story of the young lovers is essentially over as soon as they settle down. In dramas or thrillers, marriage is usually only of interest if it is under threat by infidelity, divorce, or murder. But Koepp finds a unique way to explore the thrills of marriage through the spy angle.
Fassbender and Blanchett star as George and Kathryn Woodhouse, a married couple who are not only spies but also a subject of envy and awe in their circle of colleagues because of their “flagrant monogamy.”
From their first shared scene together, Fassbender and Blanchett capture this almost egregiously functional marriage by displaying an easy intimacy — but not a dull one. Their hunger for each other is apparent in the steady but intense way George watches her undress; she smiles at his continued attention as she drops her silky clothing to the floor. Where he is stiff and buttoned-up, she is fluid and unbound. They are an odd couple that really clicks, not by chance but by mutual appreciation for each other’s quirks. So when a secret mission threatens to come between them, the tension comes less from the potentially catastrophic loss of life and more from the possible ruination of this successful marriage, riddled with steaminess, shared history, and secrets.
Black Bag is a spy movie for grown-ups.
Credit: Claudette Barius / Focus Features
Unlike the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith, this married couple knows each other are spies, and as such, that each carries secrets that must be kept from the other. Their code word for “I can’t talk about that” is simply “black bag.” But how do you build a romantic relationship of trust when lies are part of your business?
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This is the crux of Black Bag, as George is assigned to investigate Kathryn, and whether or not she has turned traitor by stealing the aforementioned deadly doodad. In an unconventional move that plays perfectly to Koepp and Soderbergh’s strengths as storytellers, George’s first move in his mission is to invite Kathryn and the other four suspects over for a dinner party. Their guests just happen to be a pair of young, hot-blooded couples who all met at the agency. While the main plot is George tracking down the traitor, the subplot focuses on these three romantic relationships, and how each copes with the pressures of each other’s secrets.
Explosions, chases, and subterfuge will all play a part in Black Bag, satisfying some genre expectations. But the biggest thrills come from George, in his even-handed, almost monotone delivery, slyly pushing his guests’ buttons to see who will blow up. This becomes not just one deliciously manipulative dinner scene but a trio of sequences set across tables, each amping up the stakes and suspense as George toys with his prey.
A crackling supporting cast adds to Black Bag’s shine.
As one might expect. Blanchett is a vision as a sophisticated spy who can wear a silk gown with the same grace she can curse out a workplace antagonist. Fassbender is her perfect scene partner, playing a foil to her slinking certainty with a firm but not wooden resolve. Though outwardly austere, he projects an intensity of thought so rigorous, you can practically hear the gears churning in his mind.
To this dynamic, the supporting ensemble of Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, and Regé-Jean Page are sublime additions. Playing peers and rivals, Burke carries a world-weary swagger as an agent battling his demons, while Page has a dashing carriage and a sharp tongue. Harris, who portrays the agency’s in-house therapist, oozes with intellect but appears weighed down by the burden of dealing with clients trained to lie expertly. Then there’s Abela.
The youngest and greenest of this spy group, her character is a technician who still finds the spy game a romantic thrill, even when the realities hit her like a knife to the heart. She’s the sharpest contrast to the others, as they all have varying degrees of a cool facade. She’s a gorgeous nerd who craves a life of excitement and love, and she looks desperately to George for guidance on how to achieve both. But how that plays out is not by the book.
A terrifically in-tune cast brings together Koepp’s rigorous dialogue with a vicious veracity and vulnerability. Soderbergh smartly embraces an almost chilly visual aesthetic, similar to Kimi‘s, which reflects the atmosphere at an agency where lovers are pitted against each other. The cool color palette and static camera angles make the sizzling performances practically explode off the screen, whether characters are fighting, flirting, or going in for the kill — metaphorical or literal.
In the end, Black Bag comes together cleanly and compellingly, offering an engaging spy thriller that’s about much more than global dynamics or stealthy stunt scenes. At its core, it’s a story of two people who are still madly in love and fighting for each other. That gives Black Bag an edge. Koepp and Soderbergh have built a rare movie marriage that’s exciting because its spouses still excite each other, and yeah, they’re also spies.
As soon as Black Bag was over, I felt that dizzying high one gets from a proper spy thriller, the rush of vicarious adrenaline from the case cracked and the day saved. But I also had the deep urge to see this movie again immediately. Because as generous as the filmmaker and stars are with slathering this story in George and Kathryn’s mutual attraction, I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to go back to feel the thrill of their love for each other all over again.
Black Bag opens in theaters nationwide on March 14.
