There’s something so satisfying about a good spy thriller, and we’ve seen many instances over the years of spouses being turned against each other in the name of espionage. That will be the case again in Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag when it hits the 2025 movie calendar, and with this director and a stacked cast, audiences should be in for a treat. Critics have screened the movie ahead of its March 14 release, and while they agree it’s fun, some are saying it’s forgettable.
Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender star as Kathryn and George Woodhouse, two spies who are turned against each other when the former is believed to have gone rogue. In CinemaBlend’s review of Black Bag, Mike Reyes says the film defied his expectations, and movie-goers are in for fun, games and some dark and witty humor. He gives it 4.5 out of 5 stars, writing:
I absolutely did not expect Black Bag to be as cleverly funny as it is, and that’s honestly my own fault. Steven Soderbergh is a director that loves to experiment with the line between comedy and drama… I cannot complain about how the balance was struck in writer David Koepp’s third teaming with the Ocean’s Eleven director. My expectation of a terminally moribund dissection of marriage, trust, and duty gave way to a well-dressed spy story that also possesses the wit of that heist movie.
Jeremy Mathai of SlashFilm gives it an 8 out of 10, praising Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett for providing a sizzling good time in what the critic calls one of the smartest and most laser-focused spy movies in recent history. Mathai continues:
Black Bag stands out as a throwback that actually manages to feel fresh and unique at the same time. Fassbender and Blanchett certainly share their fair share of sizzling chemistry, making it entirely believable that the two would do anything for the other. But theirs is an old-school type of star power… I can count on one hand the number of movies this century — spy, romance, or otherwise — that understand the true power of a couple in love. With Fassbender and Blanchett in full control of every scene they're in, a film with old-fashioned inspirations suddenly comes alive with the sense of style and modernity that only Soderbergh can bring.
Siddhant Adlakha of IGN also rates Black Bag a “Great” 8 out of 10, writing that Steven Soderbergh turns “all the right screws with impeccable timing” in Black Bag, resulting in a “slick, self-assured, wildly entertaining” spy thriller. The critic says:
Despite its mounting complications, it remains far more about its characters and their interpersonal dynamics than the larger geopolitics at play. These are practically an afterthought, making room for one of Soderbergh’s most clockwork films to date: a snappy, self-assured, compact, and delightfully pulpy drama in the body of something slick and prestigious.
David Rooney of THR is slightly less enthused with the final product but agrees the director and his cast give Black Bag a “consistently pleasurable buoyancy,” even if the movie is mostly forgettable. In Rooney’s words:
Following the taut, Hitchcock-meets-De Palma suspense of the tech thriller Kimi and the masterfully shivery ghost story Presence, this third consecutive collaboration between Soderbergh and ace screenwriter David Koepp is a mild disappointment. It’s witty, stylishly crafted and boasts a stellar ensemble, led by especially toothsome work from Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender. It keeps you glued, even if the movie ultimately feels evanescent, a slick diversion you forget soon after the end credits have rolled.
Mark Hanson of Slant agrees, giving the film just 2 stars out of 5. This kind of “cool cucumber” film is easy for the Ocean's Eleven director to throw together, and that works against the project, Hanson says. The script shows its hand too early, and after its 93-minute runtime, it feels like nothing much happened. The critic continues:
Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag is the kind of old-fashioned caper that the filmmaker can make in his sleep, and unfortunately in this case, it feels as if he did just that. Like the Ocean’s series, the film seeks to pay tribute to a bygone era of genre cool... That it ultimately comes to feel so inconsequential may be partly by design, but it’s hard not to wish that the newly prolific Soderbergh had woken up a bit to give the routine plot machinations in this London-set spy yarn the same spark that he’s brought to similar genre throwbacks in the past.
Only 29 critics have clocked into Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing, but they seem mostly impressed, as Black Bag holds a 90% Fresh rating. It seems like everyone agrees there’s something to enjoy in this film, even if it doesn’t leave the strongest impression once the credits roll. If this sounds like one you’d like to check out, Black Bag hits theaters on Friday, March 14.