Black Bag: Tinker, Tailor meets The Thin Man

I really needed a smart and entertaining 90-minute genre film, and Steven Soderbergh delivered.

Mar 17, 2025

Black Bag | Steven Soderbergh | USA | 94 minutes

Viewed at Marcus Palace Cinema, Sunday, March 16, 2025

I was actually a bit shocked by the ending of Black Bag. Not because of anything to do with the story. I was shocked that it ended.

It ends where most genre films should end, around the 90-minute mark. That’s the shock. I was preparing myself for another thirty-minutes or so where the lead characters, George and Kathryn Woodhouse (Michael Fassbinder and Cate Blanchett) would have to deal with the consequences of what they had done within the politics and power structures of British intelligence. Nope. Instead, writer David Koepp and director Steven Soderbergh end it right when it feels like it should end. And they left me wanting more.

I have been negligent. I haven’t kept up with Soderbergh. I think the last film of his I saw was Logan Lucky, and that was 2017. He has released eight features since then!

In my defense, several of those were released on Netflix or HBO Max in periods when I was not a subscriber. But still, I’m ashamed. Is there a more adventurous American filmmaker since 2000? His unique run-and-gun production methods allow him to make the smaller feature films and actor-centered dramas that no one seems to want to make anymore. Or, if they do want to make them, they turn them into prestige television series.

Black Bag follows six intelligence professionals as they play cat and mouse in pursuit of a stolen program code (“Severus”), and work out their tangled interpersonal relationships. Sure, Black Bag is more complicated than that summary, with some twists, turns, and betrayals expected in any spy drama. But with the exception of the occasional satellite imagery or face recognition software, the whole affair is refreshingly low tech. Two veterans of Bond films are in the cast, Pierce Brosnan (the fifth Bond) and Naomie Harris (Eve Moneypenny in the most recent Bonds). Here they have a chance to act, in scenes with alternating power dynamics between the characters and more than one dramatic beat, rather than provide connective material between action set pieces.

The staging is simple, but the cinematography is fascinating. Once again, Soderbergh serves as his own cinematographer (using the pseudonym Peter Andrews). Here he seems to be exploring how far he can push dark and light within a scene. Several scenes have areas in deep shadow, contrasted with bright, almost washed out highlights. The image below is not the best example. When experiencing the film, the highlights wash out in a haze even more than they do in this still image.

Pushing the dynamic range is not limited to scenes without daylight. A mandated therapy session between agency psychiatrist Dr. Vaughn (Harris) and Kathryn is shot against large windows in Dr. Vaughn’s office. But the blown out widows allow Soderbergh to shoot with minimal interior lighting, leaving the dark side of both women’s faces to fall into shadow. There are adventurous choices like this in scene after scene, adding a layer of interest to an already entertaining film.

The central conceit of the film seems to be this: What if John le Carré’s George Smiley, instead of having marital problems, had a wife who was his equal (or superior) in the intelligence field? Or, what if Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man films were ruthless, uncompromising intelligence experts who were willing to die (or kill) for each other?

The first half emphasizes the George Smiley angle, as George Woodhouse has to figure out if Kathryn is involved in the theft and sale of Severus. The second half seems to take the Nick and Nora angle, but one is never quite sure who can be trusted, including George and Kathryn. They are not charming and flighty like Nick and Nora, they’re quite the opposite, with obsessions and neuroses to spare. But the intensity of their relationship matches their abundant skill and professionalism.

Despite the high stakes (tied into today’s headlines) there’s a breezy sense of fun and the joy of spinning a good yarn here, firmly rooted in genre filmmaking. It reminds me of the playful effortlessness of Ocean’s Eleven, in contrast to Soderbergh’s more self-indulgent moments like Ocean’s Twelve. Almost any other Hollywood filmmaker would have weighed Black Bag down with a two-hour, thirty-minute running time. If more filmmakers follow Soderbergh’s lead, perhaps a wider range of audiences would return to seeing movies at the theater.

Next week at Mills Folly Microcinema: Experimental films by Richard Tuohy and Dianna Barrie

Now Playing In Madison: User’s Guide

Check the venue’s website, especially after Wednesday for weekend openings.
Brief notes under titles of interest to me are not endorsements unless noted.
At least one title each week is completely made up.

Rachel Zegler in the live-action Disney remake of *Snow White*, opening this week.

UW-Cinematheque

DINNER IN AMERICA
- Madison premiere of 2020 film that has gained a following via TikTok (or so they say).
LA VISITA
PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID

WUD Film

KIM JIYOUNG, BORN 1982
- Update after email edition: Robin Schmoldt updated me that after Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, WUD Film will be on break through April 11 due to Spring Break and the Wisconsin Film Festival. Thank you, Robin!

AMC Fitchburg

A24 X IMAX PRESENT: SPRING BREAKERS
- Wow, Harmony Korine in IMAX? I like the film quite a bit. But where’s the demand for this?
AMC SCREEN UNSEEN: MARCH 17
- Mystery movie tonight!
ANORA
ASH
- Sci-fi directed by record producer Flying Lotus, starring Eliza Gonzalez and Aaron Paul.
BLACK BAG
- See review, above.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD
DISNEY'S SNOW WHITE
- Watch out for trolls! I’m serious, the internet trolls are gunning for this one.
DOG MAN
HEART EYES
LAST BREATH
LOCKED
- Horror from producer Sam Raimi, starring Bill Skarsgard and Anthony Hopkins.
LUNCH FOR THE BALLOON HERO
MICKEY 17
MY DEAD FRIEND ZOE
NE ZHA 2
NOVOCAINE
ONE OF THEM DAYS
OPUS
PADDINGTON IN PERU
RULE BREAKERS
THE ALTO KNIGHTS
- Robert de Niro stars as not just one, but two crime bosses. Written by Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas) and directed by Barry Levinson.
THE ASSESSMENT
- Elizabeth Olson and Himesh Patel play a couple who want to have a child, but they must prove they are worthy of parenthood to evaluator Alicia Vikander.
THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE
- This is getting better reviews than I expected.
THE DIPLOMAT
- Hindi-language political thriller.

Marcus Point Cinema or Marcus Palace Cinema

ANORA
BLACK BAG
CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD
DISNEY'S SNOW WHITE
DOG MAN
HANS ZIMMER & FRIENDS: DIAMOND IN THE DESERT
IN THE LOST LANDS
LAST BREATH
LOCKED
MAGAZINE DREAMS
- Bodybuilding drama.
MICKEY 17
NATIONAL THEATRE: NYE
NOVOCAINE
OPUS
PADDINGTON IN PERU
RAD DAY 2025
- Celebrating the anniversary of the BMX racing film Rad (1986)
THE ALTO KNIGHTS
THE DAY THE EARTH BLEW UP: A LOONEY TUNES MOVIE
THE GODFATHER
THE LAST SUPPER
THE MONKEY
TOP GUN