Soderbergh Watch: Black Bag (2025)

Watched:  05/10/2025

Format:  Peacock

Viewing:  First

Director:  Steven Soderbergh

So, this was the movie I meant to watch in the theater, but we walked out.  And, given the film's style and the necessity of following every line of dialog, I am very glad we made that decision.

I am unshocked that a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh and starring Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender was very much my jam.

I don't want to get too much into the details of this espionage/ counter-espionage thriller.  Part of the joy is going in knowing very little other than that Fassbender and Blanchett are playing a pair of agents for an Mi6 sort of set-up, and seeds of doubt are planted.  

Because it's Soderbergh, you know the writing, direction, cinematography, art direction and music are all as finely honed as the gears in a Rolex.  Nothing is wasted.  It's cool and sexy and dangerous, the cast is cool and sexy and dangerous.  It's not overly complex, but it's also not slowing down if you're looking at your phone.  In some ways, it works like a traditional mystery where you bring all the suspects together to do the reveal, and in many ways it's a very traditional LeCarre-type thriller, and, you know what?  There is nothing wrong with that.  I'll take some Soderbergh injecting some life into spycraft stories.

Fassbender and Blanchett are phenomenal, of course.  I don't think either is stretching to play their roles, but it is not a crime to find roles that fit veteran actors like a glove.  

All in all - it's a fun movie.  I was *in* from the start and was along for the ride.  Sometimes you just want a movie that works, is not out to change the world - just execute at a higher level, and, if you're visiting this site for the first time, this is very much going to do it for me.

It's possible when I rewatch this, which I want to do, I'll be willing to talk in more specifics - but for right now, take this as my rec for a good watch.

SPOILERS

And for those who've seen it - it's kind of a delight to see a movie in which a marriage is shown *working* in a movie like this, and, in fact, the way the two have found to make this work, is maybe one of the most buyable takes on the trust and work it takes to make a marriage work that I've seen in a while.  It's kind of nice to see a movie that doesn't cast loving one's spouse or partner as the problem.

Look, I don't know what the deal is with Cate Blanchett, but she is somehow getting sexier