A deceiving espionage flick, “Black Bag,” Steven Soderbergh’s latest film appears to be a more intellectual “Mission: Impossible” addition. It includes all of the franchise’s elements, including an ominous list scribed with the names of possible traitors who are leaking a cyberwarfare device titled “Severus” to the Russians. Essentially, it plays on the major cliches of 21st-century action movies: moles, mass destruction and a foreign enemy.
When I sat down in the theater, I assumed that was what I was going to receive: a cliché swaddled by Soderbergh’s intuitive cinematography. But Soderbergh’s camera is too sly, too observant to simply chase bullets and betrayals. He’s after something more volatile: the intricacies of marriage.
Positioned in a marriage defined by secrecy and the capacity to compartmentalize truth, “Black Bag’s” leads, George (Michael Fassbender) and Kathryn Woodhouse (Cate Blanchett) are high-ranking British intelligence officers trained to detect and perform deception. Though their careers are defined by the ability to lie, they are portrayed as having a perfect relationship, at least for spies. This all changes when George receives the list of possible traitors, one being Kathryn.
Other possible traitors are Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke), George’s volatile subordinate plagued by infidelity, addiction and resentment towards George stemming from a missed promotion, Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page), a newly promoted operative painted as George’s right-hand man, Clarissa DuBose (Marisa Abela), Freddie’s partner and a young surveillance analyst and Dr. Zoe Vaughn (Naomie Harris), the agency’s therapist who maintains a close proximity to everyone’s inner thoughts.
Operating under the suspicion of a traitor, George invites all of the suspects to dinner. There, he drugs their meal with a truth serum before offering them to play a game, more so a psychological interrogation aimed towards finding the mole. While his subtle questioning slowly breaks the mental fortitude of his guests as discoveries are made, Kathryn remains solemn, likely analyzing George with her own scrutiny. She watches George just as closely as he watches her. Their marriage appears intact on the surface, but the cracks spread. Soderbergh doesn’t force the tension, rather, he masters a slow burning mistrust where the real deception might not be found in treason, but in the marriage itself.
Soderbergh asserts throughout “Black Bag” that George and Kathryn do not lie to each other. Their exchanged dialogue affirms this as George bluntly asks Kathryn about her loyalty, questioning if she is always truthful to him. Kathryn guarantees her word, but through her directorial choices, the audience is left to question the reliability of her narration. This unreliability leaves the viewer in a constant state of confusion as they try to dissect whether Kathryn is a traitor to her country or her relationship.
“Would you kill for me?” Kathryn prompts as she stares into George’s eyes. A question that assumes the absolute trust of the other, as it determines the exchange of life. With the doubt imposed by Soderbergh, the question becomes less about allegiance and more about interpretation: what does loyalty look like in a relationship founded on suspicion? The camera lingers, not for the sake of suspense, but to let the silence speak. George doesn’t answer immediately, because to say yes might mean admitting he still believes her. And to say no would be the only honest betrayal in a world where truth has become indistinguishable from strategy.
“Black Bag” is a covert thriller, decorated with treason, lies and the potential for mass destruction, but its true nature resonates in the intricacies of relationships. Soderbergh crafts an environment where there is a perpetual feeling of distrust. With each frame, the audience gnaws at the dichotomy between truth and lies. Instead of focusing on the mole, the audience is engaged by the suspense of whether George and Kathryn’s apparently perfect relationship can withstand the strain of career pressures. In a world where truth can be concealed, hidden and avoided, “Black Bag” asks what it means to truly know someone, to truly believe in someone.
Liam Nelson can be reached at [email protected].
