Steven Soderbergh‘s third collaboration with David Koepp in two years (Kimi and Presence), and already the second to be released in 2025, proves to be the charm for both. Black Bag is an exceptionally sophisticated and adult spy thriller that’s also the story of a marriage made more complicated by the fact both husband and wife work in the same spy agency. With an A+ cast at the top of their game, a tight 93-minute running time and dialogue with wit and bite, this finds the director with one of his best opportunities to do what he does so well and give that older audience a reason to go back to the movies.

Set in London, Michael Fassbender plays George Woodhouse, an intelligence operative for the National Cyber Security Center, a kind of opposite of MI as it deals more in the technology side of things and crucially has a mole working to get hold of their cyber worm known as Severus, which has the ability to integrate itself into nuclear facilities and wreak havoc. As the film opens, George is given a list of five key suspects all with similar security clearance who might be acting as a double agent.

It gets instantly complex when one of them happens to be his wife, Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), with whom he shares a truly healthy and passionate married life. But now he must wonder if there are even greater, world-beating secrets she is keeping from him. The film’s title derives from the idea that due to the nature of their shared profession, some secrets are figuratively put in that “black bag,” never to be discussed.

In no time, however, the film becomes a wickedly funny take that is closer to Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and there even is a sly reference to that film’s famous ad line, “You are cordially invited to an evening of fun and games at George and Martha’s,” only the names are changed in this instance to George “and Kathryn’s.” That evening turns out to be a dinner party George has devised, inviting all five suspects on his list including Colonel James Stokes (Rege-Jean Page), a cagey colleague involved in an affair with another guest and colleague, Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris), who is the staff psychiatrist.

Also at the table is the once-promising but troubled womanizer Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) and his girlfriend Clarissa (Marisa Abela), who isn’t sure what she has gotten into with this gang. The “fun and games” part comes when George asks each guest to make a resolution — not for themselves but for the person sitting to their right. It turns into a bit too much of a truth-or-dare moment, ending the dinner abruptly on a rather shocking turn of events.

The fun of it all becomes also a sort of Agatha Christie-style cat-and-mouse game as George zeroes in individually on his suspects and becomes especially alarmed by a movie ticket tossed in the trash that leads to suspicions Kathryn is keeping things from him. He also likes to sort things out while bass fishing, something he invites Stokes to join him on his boat, setting bait other than on his line. Koepp’s meticulously crafted whodunit proceeds as George tries to solve the mystery.

In the mix also is NCSC’s senior leader, Arthur Stieglitz, played by Pierce Brosnan in superb form and with no trace of his own cinematic history as you-know-who. It all is all bookended by another dinner, a delicious piece of plotting for a movie Soderbergh makes remarkably cinematic despite the large amount of talking that makes you think this all could work beautifully on stage too.

Fassbender, rarely showing his cards as a spy who hasn’t yet come in from the cold, is perfectly cast as the inquisitive George, a man on a mission but so deeply in love with his wife that his job is nearing a Mission: Impossible moment he dreads discovering. Blanchett is vivacious and smart as Kathryn, a devoted wife and top spy who is in for more than she bargained for. Page, losing his Bridgerton persona completely, is an enigma with an ego, Burke is outstanding as a man in decline, and the always-great Harris is very fine as well. Abela, so impressive last year as Amy Winehouse in the underrated Back to Black, gets to shine here as the reluctant Clarissa.

As usual, Soderbergh edits in style using his Mary Ann Bernard pseudonym and his Peter Andrews pseudonym as well for the fine cinematography.

Producers are Casey Silver and Gregory Jacobs.

Title: Black Bag
Distributor: Focus Features
Release Date: March 14, 2025
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Screenplay: David Koepp
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Rege-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, Pierce Brosnan
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hr, 33 minutes