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Black Bag opens with spy George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender, following soon after another spy role in The Agency) going into a nightclub, during a brief one-take shot, then getting word from Philip Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård – Air) that there’s a potential rat in the house, which includes his wife – Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett – Disclaimer), and he’s given one week to flush them out.
She’s also a spy, but since they go on separate missions, these include information that cannot be divulged to the other, and if one was to ask about it, they’d just have to reply, “Black bag“.
If the rat spills the beans, the Severus weapon – for which we’re given little information – could kill thousands of people, but who’s to blame?
And why’s George dressed like he’s Michael Caine in The Ipcress File, with the same glasses? A few people know about that attire in advance of watching the film. For the rest…. not a lot of people know that.
Everyone suspected – which, oddly, includes all their friends – is invited over for dinner, namely: Freddie (Tom Burke – Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga), Clarissa (Marisa Abela – Back To Black), James (Regé-Jean Page – Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves) and Zoe (Naomie Harris – No Time To Die). They also must undergo a lie detector test, as well as a psychiatric evaluation with Zoe, where she asks very personal questions, so I wanted to hear her say (in a call back to Dear John), “Were there any…. sexual problems?”
Pierce Brosnan takes the role of their boss, Arthur Stieglitz, and with a godawful attempt at a Scots accent – coming across even worse than he did in Mobland. Given given the top-secret govt dept, he should’ve had a straight English accent, as if he was James Bond 30 years on, especially since Goldeneye was one of the greatest films in the series!
However, whoever is dodgy has transferred £7m to a particular bank account, but then most of them act suspiciously, anyway, especially as this is carried out like a stage play, with hushed voices and clandestine meetings between everyone.
Plus, who’s responsible for the office having very hollow floors as people walk about?! (other than the film’s Foley artist, of course)
One person who deserves ratting out is whoever commissioned Black Bag, though, since all too often, and despite the cast, it’s surprisingly dull! It should’ve lasted no longer than 45 minutes, and you could doze off for your own self-imposed interval and miss nothing! I expected better from Steven Soderbergh (Presence)
NOTE: There are no mid- or post-credit scenes.
Black Bag is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release date TBA.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 94 minutes
Release date: March 28th 2025
Studio: Focus Features
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 (Anamorphic Hawk Scope)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 4/10
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Producers: Gregory Jacobs, Casey Silver
Screenplay: David Koepp
Music: David Holmes
Cast:
George Woodhouse: Michael Fassbender
Kathryn St. Jean: Cate Blanchett
Freddie Smalls: Tom Burke
Clarissa Dubose: Marisa Abela
Col. James Stokes: Regé-Jean Page
Dr. Zoe Vaughan: Naomie Harris
Philip Meacham: Gustaf Skarsgård
Anna Ko: Kae Alexander
Arthur Stieglitz: Pierce Brosnan
The Major: Bruce Mackinnon
Andrei Kulikov: Orli Shuka
Vadim Pavlichuk: Dan Dow
Angela Childs: Ambika Mod
Mr. Green: Alex Magliaro
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.