“Where were you last night, honey?”
“Black bag.”
In other words, I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you. And I love you. So best not go there.
That is, in essence, the dilemma that plays out in Black Bag, a twisty spy drama directed by Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich, Magic Mike’s Last Dance). The story centers around two elite, elegant and erudite British intelligence agents committed to both each other and their top-secret work.
Complications arise when husband George (Michael Fassbender) is tasked with ferreting out a mole that is jeopardizing the spy agency’s plans to activate a destructive cyber worm called Severus. George is handed a list of five suspects— one of whom is his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). Ouch.
The plot unfolds in a very Agatha Christie, dialogue-driven whodunnit kind of way as the suspects are all introduced at an intimate dinner party hosted by George and Kathryn. Which one is betraying their country? Is it Kathryn? Or perhaps the dashing Colonel James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page of Bridgerton fame). Or maybe it’s the charming but self-destructive Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) or his quirky colleague and girlfriend Clarissa Dubose (scene-stealer Marisa Abela). Or the agency’s shrink, Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris). I aint tellin’.
Black Bag is smart and stylish, filled with ambiguity and intrigue and a dash of comedy. For fans of the genre (heavy on psychological drama, light on action), there’s plenty to unpack here.
Black Bag opens exclusively in theaters March 14.