A spy film like no other, ‘Black Bag’ veers away from other espionage thrillers by focusing on the interpersonal relationships of spies working together in one office. While the main plot involves uncovering the leak of a top-secret software program called Severus, the method of discovering the leak delves into the personal lives of six operatives of the British Intelligence. Unlike the tongue-in-cheek professionalism of James Bond or tight-camaraderie displayed in the Mission Impossible franchise, the Steven Soderbergh-directed movie is unafraid to show the massive dysfunction in the world of spies when no one is expected to tell the truth and lying is as easy as breathing.

George (Michael Fassbender) is tasked by his boss to find the leak within the British Intelligence office, and one of the five suspects is his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). George is cold, almost sociopathic is his cleanliness and his stoic demeanor but what is evident is his love for his wife. It’s a rarity in the office, it seems, of a healthy, loving relationship in an office where cheating among partners is almost expected.

Goerge invites to dinner at home the five suspects including his wife: Clarissa (Marisa Abela), her boyfriend Freddie (Tom Burke), James (Rege-Jean Page), and the agency’s psychiatrist Zoe (Naomie Harris), who is also the partner of James. What begins is a game of cat-and-mouse as George plays an intricate game to discover who amongst the five leaked the information and what unravels is a hilarious exploration of messy relationships and an abuse of power.

Yes, the main plot is that of the spy thriller but what is really at play here is how Soderbergh and screenwriter David Koepp untangles the complications of such characters whose very jobs is to keep secrets. To keep work separate from their personal lives, agents just say “Black Bag” – a code that signals they can’t answer any question because it involves a mission or classified operation. It puts to test the bonds of the only two characters who seem to not have an issue with keeping secrets from each other: Kathryn and George. But when Kathryn is implicated, George must figure out whether she really is involved, and the audience is left to wonder if he will try to protect her or will he expose her.

This isn’t your typical spy thriller that’s action-packed and explosive (though there is one explosion in the whole film). But it’s explosive and action-packed in the way that it reveals how these characters work and interact. In fact, it even borders into comedy by how messed up they have become living the lives that they do. Marisa Abela’s Clarissa is one of the funniest as the youngest person in the room, so she’s a little more brazen, a little more adventurous and not realizing how high the stakes can be.

And the movie is funny, but Soderbergh downplays it and doesn’t direct for the comedy, which makes it even more pronounced. It’s from the wonderful performances of the whole cast that keeps it from getting bogged down by all the jargon. Because ‘Black Bag’ can get dense. It never bothers to explain itself or contextualize things and you have to just keep up and understand the basics to be able to follow.

This is not a movie where you can pick up your phone in the middle of it to text someone (not that you should anyway). It’s a film that requires your full attention because when you do, you can see all the ways by which it plays with us.

I miss these small and intimate movies in the cinema. I don’t want to call it a small movie because it doesn’t have big scenes and large set ups but it’s big in how it makes the most ordinary things – problems in relationships, for example – seem so large and impactful in the larger scheme of things. It’s compact but it packs a large punch.

My Rating:

Secrets, spies, and suspense await. Grab your spy gear and catch Black Bag in cinemas on May 7. Check showtimes and buy your tickets here.