Blanchett & Fassbender sizzle in Soderbergh’s stylish spy thriller.

Once aptly described by Roger Ebert as the “poster boy of the Sundance generation”, Steven Soderbergh has dedicated the best part of three decades to the advancement of independent cinema. An auteur to his core, the director has grown to become indie cinema’s chief flagbearer, and despite often operating deep within the Hollywood system, he has always managed to stay true to his filmmaking ideals.

Despite such ubiquity within both indie and mainstream cinema for more than thirty years, there seems to be a startling lack of recognition for Steven Soderbergh’s work and for his importance to the industry. Perhaps it’s his unassuming demeanour or his understated filmmaking style. Whatever the exact reason is, Soderbergh has yet to receive the flowers his extraordinary body of work warrants.

As the second Soderbergh release of the year and a complete tonal 180 from its predecessor, if there’s any film that personifies the filmmaker’s unassuming, undervalued genius, it’s Black Bag.

When his beloved wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), is suspected of betraying the nation, intelligence agent George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is forced to face the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country.

For a man who announced his retirement over a decade ago, Steven Soderbergh has been awfully busy with work of late. Clearly, Soderbergh’s retirement, like so many in Hollywood, always needed to be taken with a large pinch of salt, and the fact that we’re getting a polished Soderbergh spy thriller mere weeks after getting an experimental Soderbergh horror, all while the filmmaker is supposed to be out of the game, sums the perpetually hardworking director up perfectly.

An auteur through and through, Soderbergh simply can’t keep himself away from the filmmaking grind and, as exemplified in his two 2025 offerings, his career has always been on his terms and his terms only. From the sublime (Out of Sight) to the ridiculous (Magic Mike), from nuts-and-bolts indie (Sex, Lies, and Videotape) to high-end heist gloss (Ocean’s Eleven), and everything in between; if the director can’t do things his way, he doesn’t do them at all – and Black Bag is no different.

Somewhat oddly, despite having a hand in fifty-plus films, spread across thirty-odd years, Steven Soderbergh is a director without a singular, definable style. However, while that may sound disparaging, it’s precisely because of this chameleon-like filmmaking flexibility and his ongoing desire to continuously push himself and his art into new and exciting places, that he has gone on to become one of the most important directors of the last few decades.

Having Black Bag follow so soon after the experimental horror of Presence makes for the perfect example of Soderbergh’s two duelling sides. On one side we have low-key Soderbergh – a director deeply connected to his independent roots and someone willing to experiment with form and narrative, even if it alienates mainstream audiences.

And on the other side of things, in which Black Bag is very much positioned, is glossy, commercial Soderbergh. While nowhere near as big or as grand in its ambitions, Black Bag is very much in the same arena as the Ocean’s films – undoubtedly the director’s most commercially successful set of movies to date – as it takes a historically popular, mainstream genre, slaps a decent layer of Soderbergh shine on it, and then just sits back and lets us enjoy it for what it is.

Placing his film firmly within the narrative and thematic confines of the conspiracy/spy thriller, Soderbergh shows little ambition to colour outside the genre lines. However, despite how rigid or formulaic this may sound, the results are far more fluid and playful than one might expect.

Although it very much sticks to the spy genre sandpit, Black Bag has a whale of a time playing in it. There’s always a temptation with a film such as this to spread the bet and incorporate other genres, however, Black Bag is having none of it, as it stays put while allowing itself the freedom to manipulate and play with the spy thriller’s rules, cliches, and conventions.

Playing out with an acute sense of self-awareness, Black Bag has more than a few narrative tricks up its sleeve, as Soderbergh takes great joy in manipulating the spy genre formula in a variety of clever ways. Keeping us guessing throughout, Black Bag knows exactly what we expect of it, and while there are certainly moments that unfold conventionally, there are just as many that delight in toying with our expectations.

The result, despite its rigid genre appearance, is a rather refreshing watch that has you locked in throughout via a script that knows precisely when to manipulate us and when to leave us be. Pieced together with Swiss watch precision, David Koepp’s screenplay is a thing of intricate beauty and an enormous part in what makes Black Bag tick.

Tight, taut, tense, and impeccably paced, Black Bag’s script keeps its ideas simple, yet it doesn’t hold back on its narrative ambitions. Leaning heavily on its dialogue to keep things moving, the script manipulates through its character work in ways that so few likeminded thrillers are able to achieve, ensuring we’re hooked from start to finish.

Somewhat less ambitious, however, is the film’s action. Although it’s certainly not a negative per se, Black Bag’s action is rather sparse, and while it’s certainly admirable that Soderbergh is able to fight the urge to dilute his vision with an overload of overbearing action, for those going into Black Bag wanting or expecting Bond-like spy thrills, you’re likely to leave disappointed.

There are brief snippets of action here and there, but make no mistake, Black Bag is a movie that lets its dialogue, script, and character work do the wowing. With these key components operating in unison, Black Bag is an utterly enthralling watch that gets by on its style and swagger, yet never lets any of it overload the narrative.

Soderbergh’s visual approach here is, like much of his work, simple yet smartly constructed, choosing a stripped back aesthetic with a simmering classiness. While many spy thrillers cave to the temptation of overplaying their style hand, that’s far from the case with Black Bag, and although there’s certainly an undeniable swagger to proceedings, it’s never over-egged.

Playing a huge part in the success of this style, Black Bag’s tightly packed cast are exceptional across the board. With everyone playing their part in what is essentially an expanded chamber piece, the likes of Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean Page, and the exceptionally demure presence of Pierce Brosnan make for a finely formed ensemble that help drive the dialogue-heavy script every step of the way.

Black Bag’s ensemble is a small but exceptional one, however, so much of the film’s success stems from its two leads, not only as individuals but as a pair. Taken on their own, the individual performances from Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett would be enough to elevate any thriller, yet, as a duo, they are simply sensational and lift proceedings to a whole new level.

While never as flashy as something like Mr & Mrs Smith, there’s definitely more than a hint of Brad and Angelina in Fassbender and Blanchett’s onscreen chemistry. Understated yet utterly undeniable, the pair’s chemistry is delicious at times, and even while the plot around them becomes more heightened and fanciful, the on-screen relationship between the two stars feels thoroughly authentic, and the film positively thrives because of it.

Smartly written with intrigue, tension, twists, turns, swagger, and style to spare, Black Bag is a tight and taut conspiracy thriller that appears to revel in the constant manipulation of its simple genre pleasures. Scripted with meticulous precision and elevated by the delicious chemistry of its two leads, Black Bag is a triumph of stylish simplicity and a true latter-career highlight from Steven Soderbergh.

Black Bag is in cinemas now.