Mistrust, double-dealing in high-tension spy thriller

Prolific 90s American independent film pioneer Steven Soderbergh turns his gaze to the world of big-stakes global espionage in Black Bag, a tightly-acted chamber piece starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as George and Kathryn Woodhouse, two veteran British intelligence agents. The pair are caught in a web of intrigue, mistrust and double-dealing after suspicion falls on Kathryn as a double agent. Though its setting is the big geopolitical chess board of international espionage, the film — written by regular Soderbergh collaborator David Koepp — keeps its action centred on the dark meeting rooms of upmarket London homes and glistening, glass-encased offices, where the tools of the trade aren’t so much the tech toys of James Bond as they are the sharp intelligence of the quiet, unassuming but good-at-his-job George.

It isn’t really a spy film even as it’s set in the world of spying; rather, as its slowly unspooling but high-tension script reveals, this is a story about a marriage and its internally logical but — when viewed from the outside — absurd workings. Very little Bourne Identity and far more Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, as those looking to get involved in the personal business of the Woodhouses realise far too late.

Tightly directed, shot and edited by Soderbergh — and excellently acted by its two impressive leads and a supporting cast that includes Pierce Brosnan, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean page and Naomie Harris — it’s a solidly intriguing and engaging theatrical style character exploration.

Though it’s obviously using the leverage offered by Fassbender and Blanchett to give it a big-screen release, that doesn’t necessarily do much more for it than a straight-to-streaming release would. That said, its refreshingly breezy 93 minutes allow it to spend just as much time as it needs to do its work — and you can’t help feeling that were it any longer, it might all fall apart.

Smart, witty, thrilling, sexy and to the point, it offers more effective spy caper entertainment satisfaction than many of its overblown, overlong genre competitors, and demonstrates that Soderbergh is still a master of his medium.