Steven Soderbergh’s new film, “Black Bag,” playing at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, grips us from the opening shot. The fast-paced espionage thriller unfolds day by day over a week. We follow an unknown man through London streets into a teeming nightclub, where he requests to see Philip Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgard). A minute later, we are launched into an engrossing plot of complex espionage as the two speak just outside in a dark alley.
Meacham informs the man, our protagonist George –– portrayed with unsettling calm by Michael Fassbender –– that there is a security leak in an intelligence organization, relating to a deadly chemical weapon. This chemical has the potential to kill tens of thousands, and one of the primary suspects is George’s wife, Kathryn, portrayed flawlessly by Cate Blanchett. During their conversation, we first hear about infidelity, specifically Meacham’s. “Some things are best swept under the rug,” George remarks, supposedly believing in the strength of his marriage. As he walks away, Meacham tells George, “Good luck finding the rats.”
The search for the rats shapes the film’s intricate plot, which is rich with unexpected nuances and complex surprises. Just when you think you might have lost the story’s thread, someone says something that allows you to catch up … until the next turn. And on it goes, with us chasing to keep up with the unfolding plot.
We next meet Kathryn, who is getting dressed for the guests George has invited to dinner. She is coolly seductive, and works for the intelligence agency, separately from George. However, there are secrets the couple isn’t supposed to share — secrets that are meant to go into the “black bag.” Before the guests arrive, George warns Kathryn not to eat one of the dishes he will serve, as he has dosed it with a truth serum.
The four guests gather for a drink before attending George and Kathryn’s dinner. As the conversation unfolds, we realize they are the agents in George’s team. Immediately, we sense a dichotomy between their esprit de corps and the underlying rough edges of conflict. These issues surface at dinner in an unnerving dramatic scene in which George pits the team members against one another in a truth-telling session. Once again, infidelities surface. The only one spared from the fray at dinner is the calmly collected Kathryn.
Later that night, as Kathryn and George fall amorously into bed, Kathryn asks him if he would ever lie. “I would lie, yes, but never to you,” he replies. Kathryn poses, “Would you kill for me?”
With Kathryn as the suspected culprit, their purported bond remains shrouded in mystery. The couple’s marriage — and the intimate relationships within the team — are intricately interwoven with the race to uncover the traitor. The shifting dynamics for each couple raise questions about whether it’s possible to sustain a relationship when both partners are cloaked in secrecy.
The six main actors create a seamless ensemble. Amusingly, Pierce Brosnan, of James Bond fame, makes an appearance as the leader of the intelligence agency.
In this brisk 94-minute film, the tension never flags; nor does the characters’ unease as secrets are kept … and eventually leak out of the “black bag.”
Tickets for “Black Bag,” playing at the M.V. Film Center, can be purchased at mvfilmsociety.com/2025/03/black-bag.
