“The only true test of loyalty is fidelity in the face of ruin and despair.” - Eric Felten
It can be exciting to see a filmmaker operate outside of their comfort zone, their wheelhouse, if you will. A favorite of mine, Mike Flanagan, is well-known for horror - The Haunting of Hill House, a masterpiece. Oculus, Hush, Ouija: Origin of Evil - all exceptional. Midnight Mass? Perhaps his magnum opus. Doctor Sleep, a sequel to one of the greatest horror films of all time and it’s also fantastic? It’s clear in the realm of horror, Flanagan knows what he’s doing. So it’s exciting to see what he has in store with The Life of Chuck, a film many have seen and I am in no way jealous of them (note heavy sarcasm). It is his first film exploring themes outside of horror and being tied to Stephen King only heightens the excitement.
As exciting as it can be to see a beloved filmmaker explore beyond their usual parameters, there is something warm and embracing about seeing them operate well within those confines of what most would consider to be their forte. To be within one’s domain, it would imply a certain amount of expertise in that area. While it can feel safe, something often related to boring, it can also birth content that is masterfully executed. This is Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag. It is calm, cool and collected. It is sexy, suave and sophisticated. It is effortlessly, undeniably, Soderbergh. There is an almost neutral quality to this film primarily because every corner of it feels like Soderbergh and it’s all simply a ninety minute flex of what he’s really capable of when left to his own devices. What’s most remarkable about Black Bag is that it feels like Soderbergh just wanted to make a movie “real quick” and it just so happens to be stellar across the board.
Imagine a more intimate, dialogue oriented Mr. & Mrs Smith, world altering implications still intact, and insert a wonderfully cultured Cate Blanchett and a polished Michael Fassbender with Soderbergh’s influence over every inch of it and you have yourself a perfectly concise, contained spy thriller appropriately titled, Black Bag. The style choices from costume to dialogue to lighting and cinematography, this film is brimming in his influence making it one of my favorite Soderbergh films to date.
Cate is Kathryn. Michael is George. They are a married couple with a unique dynamic, both are knowingly spies. When work comes up, they lovingly declare, “Black Bag” indicating to the other what they’re up to must remain unspoken between them. But make no mistake, despite secrets surrounding their relationship, within it remains an absolute kind of honesty and loyalty that comes into question when their work life and personal life begin to clash. As it becomes obvious that something may arise forcing action by one of them against the other, their agency begins to question where their true loyalties lie, with their marriage or with their country. George remains resolute despite red flags beginning to emerge. Kathryn is sporadic but completely willing to demonstrate her allegiances to George. As obstacles begin to form between them, they look outward suspecting manipulation and nefarious motivations by so-called friendly faces. But the question remains - Can they truly trust each other?
Black Bag is about remaining true to what you know. To trust who you’ve always trusted and remove the outliers of a question revealing nothing left but what must ultimately be the truth, however implausible or unimaginable. George and Kathryn’s path to the truth is riddled with misconceptions, mistruths and ill-intent but the mystery of which direction it’s coming from is beginning to unravel in ways that may be irreversible should they come to fruition. Time is ticking and the liars, killers and opportunists are starting to swarm the couple who know to solve this must remain true to one another.
Blanchett and Fassbender are a power couple as Kathryn and George. They are elegant between them and conniving beyond them. They are endlessly watchable, delivering insatiable dialogue that is dripping with sophistication and intrigue. They deliver these words with an ultimate kind of panache that is deliriously engaging from the words themselves to their alarming implications, it’s all a salivating kind of word exchange, particularly between the two leads. Despite so much of the film being designated to conversation, it is no less mesmerizing. The innuendo of spy-talk is entrancing and complicated, tenacious and undeniably entertaining.
Despite its intimate nature, Black Bag is brimming with excitement and wicked characters. This is espionage as Soderbergh would have it and it’s wonderfully precise and unceasingly charming while remaining constantly duplicitous, promising and delivering a fantastic culmination of lies falling to the absolute nature of truth. Ocean’s Eleven has gone spyware and it’s an exhilarating experience in all endeavors.
Rated R For: language including some sexual references and some violence
Runtime: 93 minutes
After Credits Scene: No
Genre: Drama, Romance, Thriller
Starring: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Regé-Jean Page, Pierce Brosnan
Directed By: Steven Soderbergh
Out of 10
Story: 9/ Acting: 10/ Directing: 10/ Visuals: 8.5
OVERALL: 9/10
Buy to Own: Yes.
Check out the trailer below: