Shadows on the Wall

Black Bag

dir Steven Soderbergh
scr David Koepp
prd Gregory Jacobs, Casey Silver
with Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, Marisa Abela, Rege-Jean Page, Pierce Brosnan, Gustaf Skarsgard, Kae Alexander, Bruce Mackinnon, Ambika Mod, Alex Magliaro
release US/UK 14.Mar.25
25/US Focus 1h33

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With a lush visual sensibility and engagingly arch performances, this London spy thriller purrs through the twists and turns of David Koepp's smart script. Steven Soderbergh and the terrific cast playfully indulge in prickly British reticence to deepen the intrigue and create witty entanglements between a collection of secretive people. It's a wonderfully nuanced film that has fun with a whole series of amusingly jargonistic MacGuffins.

Seeking a mole among his colleagues at a spy agency, George (Fassbender) cooks a Sunday roast for his wife Kathryn (Blanchett) and their cohorts: Freddie (Burke) and bright young Clarissa (Abela) are a couple, while team psychiatrist Zoe (Harris) is seeing James (Page). But George's inability to abide lying causes secrets to emerge. He also begins to suspect Kathryn might be the double-agent. As they watch each other, things begin to get murkier and messier, triggering anger from their short-tempered boss Arthur (Brosnan). And the fate of thousands of innocent people hangs in the balance.

Spies can't have relationships with outsiders for obvious reasons, so they turn to each other, with the usual repercussions. George and Kathryn are passionately loyal, which is something their fellow spies admire, especially since their own connections are rolling disasters. Soderbergh tells this story through various razor-sharp perspectives that continually uncover secrets. And the film is punctuated by set-pieces that are both hilarious and heart-stopping.

One of the best is a montage involving lie-detector tests, played to perfection by actors who are superb at being dismissive, duplicitous and believable at the same time. Fassbender and Blanchett anchor the film with wonderfully pinched chemistry that sizzles beneath the surface. These are strongly individualistic people who remain tightly connected. Harris, Burke, Abela and Page each bring attitudes that make their characters involving on various levels: funny, likeable and scary. And Brosnan simmers brilliantly in a scene-chewing role.

It's always refreshing when film resists talking down to us, allowing us to prowl the frame for information we need while ignoring gibberish discussions about technology. There are drones, satellite surveillance, fake identities, secret bank accounts and a device that can cause a nuclear meltdown, but none of that really matters. Much more fun is the film's exploration of trust and love even in the face of contradictory evidence. So this becomes a surprisingly spicy depiction of people who aren't very good at trusting people or expressing love.

themes, language, violence 11.Mar.25

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