Black Bag is the latest from the ever-prolific Steven Soderbergh, already responsible for Presence, a first person POV found footage movie from the perspective of a ghost in a haunted house, released earlier this year – and it’s already a buzz. Soderbergh has been in non-stop movie mode unlike anybody else in the industry – Let Them All Talk, No Sudden Move, Kimi, Magic Mike’s Last Dance have all come out this decade so far and that’s not a bad film among them. Not bad for a director who’s allegedly retired.
He’s showing the bloated eight episode natureof streaming services how smoothly you can edit something down into a 90 minute feature, written tightly by David Koepp and starring an ensemble that many would envy: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomi Harris, Rege-Jean Page and Pierce Brosnan, all playing spies caught in a game of tug of war trying to uncover a traitor in their midst – think Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy more than Slow Horses, these people are mostly good at their jobs – but whether this would be released without the success of Slow Horses inspiring a wave of spy-fuelled copycats; it’s anybody’s guess. Fassbender and Blanchett have good, solid, stone-cold chemistry as a super couple – Kathryn St. Jean and the meticoulous, calculated George Woodhouse, who exposed his father’s secrets at an awkward family party at a young age because he hates liars. George is in trouble however as he’s suspect number one of being the traitor – prompting him to go on a mission to root out the real identity of the mole. He knows it’s one of the four he’s invited to his house – and a game of Agatha Christie-like Cluedo plays out as him and his wife try to figure out who has betrayed them.
The meticulous nature of this thriller presents it as a by-the-book, no thrills espionage, removed from the world of James Bond this is more the Homeland-venture, the job of those at the desk operating the drones rather than the ones in the field. Naomi Harris plays a therapist but as the film progresses you learn more about the past of these characters in turn – through both their relationship with her and through each other – as they take the bait laid by George in turn and expose more about themselves. Anyone could be the suspect and Black Bag keeps you guessing right up until they’re revealed – and at the same time it’s suave, sexy and effortlessly cool – able to bring a story to a rapid and fast conclusion that doesn’t overstay its welcome which is a rare beast in an age of streaming television.
Power is revealed; like BBC’s Industry, through sex – everything is about sex except sex which is about power, and the relationship dynamics between St. Jean and Woodhouse is compelling – in an industry of liars how can someone tell the truth?
It cracks people – Marisa Abela’s Clarissa is one of those broken by it. People cope differently from others – relationships are exposed, Tom Burke’s veteran Freddie Smalls is a cocky, very Tom Burkian character – and the perfect foil for the meticulous, always in-control nature of George. This film’s power dynamics feels like something out of a 90s or early 2000s thriller before the advent of streaming, Soderbergh the old guard returning to a field few have bettered since his last streaming venture. It’s a chameleon able to switch between genre and style at every turn whilst keeping what makes a Steven Soderbergh movie a Steven Soderbergh movie intact. The risks in Black Bag are there – the genre tropes are upended and the film as a whole feels very current and relevant. If it were a 90s film it would be a cult classic today; much like Soderbergh’s own Out of Sight – the chemistry between Fassbender and Blanchett as vital to the movie as Clooney and Lopez, the writing as witty and clever as Elmore Leonard at his best.
Spy + marriage thrillers aren’t new combinations – you need only look at The Americans, Allied or Mr. and Mrs. Smith, of varying successes but equally excellent. Can you trust your spouse when their job is to lie? It’s such a humdinger of a premise that it takes a special kind of bad to get wrong yet Soderbergh gets it so right. Both are trapped in their own separate webs and dance on each others’ strings – and opening with an Agatha Christie esque dinner allows them to get to the bottom of all the mysteries enveloping each character. It plays out more like a Christie mystery than a Fleming one – and trust at the epicentre of Black Bag is something that’s toyed with both to the viewer and to the characters at its heart. The risk is the reward – finely tuned, well-oiled and well-drilled to perfection. A very compelling case for streaming television shows is that they don’t know how to edit and it’s only made all the more compelling by the fact that Black Bag exists, a masterclass in keeping things short and swift – Soderbergh the gold standard and one of the few holdouts for the 90 minute film. The entire industry should be following his standard.
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