Steven Soderbergh’s “Black Bag” isn’t your typical espionage thriller, but more of a slow-burn character study wrapped in a sleek, stylish spy drama. While it’s well-made and filled with strong performances, it’s also a bit too talky and deliberately paced to be truly gripping. If you’re expecting high-octane action or pulse-pounding twists, you won’t find them here. Instead, Soderbergh delivers a measured, adult-oriented drama that prioritizes emotional depth over spectacle.
The film follows George and Kathryn Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett), both legendary intelligence agents whose marriage is put to the ultimate test when Kathryn becomes a prime suspect in the theft of a top-secret (and highly dangerous) government weapon. Known for his uncanny ability to detect lies, George is assigned to investigate his own wife. This forces him to choose between loyalty to his country or the woman he loves, and it’s going to get messy.
Soderbergh takes a simple premise but develops his characters well. Within minutes, you feel like you know these people, their history, and their unspoken conflicts. The supporting cast of characters add a bit of spicy intrigue to the proceedings, especially as George begins to run his notorious polygraph tests on them one by one. Nothing will prepare you for his more unorthodox methods, which leads to a whole lot of tension and shocking confessions.
Despite great performances, the film’s pacing can drag, and it feels painfully slow at times. While the dialogue is sharp, wickedly written, and delivered with precise doses of scathing, stinging verve, it also feels a little too self-indulgent for the majority of the film’s runtime. This is more of a cerebral drama than a thriller, and it could easily be adapted for the stage given how much of it is driven by conversation rather than action.
Despite it not being the most exciting film, it’s undeniably well-crafted, with strong performances and Soderbergh’s signature sleek style keeping things visually engaging. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to know exactly where and how he wants his story to end, which makes the abrupt finale all the more startling.
Personally, I wish I enjoyed “Black Bag” more than I did, but I can’t deny its craftsmanship. It’s an intelligent, well-executed film that respects its audience, even if it doesn’t always thrill them.
