Leave it to the consistently inventive Steven Soderbergh to craft a dialogue-driven, seventies-style British spy thriller for the modern age. Written by David Koepp, “Black Bag” is an old-fashioned tale of intrigue and duplicitous characters that feels like a Joseph Losey film, given a slicker design and spiced with a splash of Michael Winner. These two unique craftsmen created patient thrillers where the suspense came from sharp dialogue and skilled actors who delivered their lines with precision. While moviegoers may need to research those references, Soderbergh’s second film of 2025 is infused with respect and homage to their respective filmmaking styles. In this tense and involving thriller, the director has designed a world where love, marriage, espionage, and betrayal walk hand in hand.

A little over a decade ago, Steven Soderbergh announced his retiring from filmmaking. In the time that followed he directed eleven movies. The maverick director’s forty-year career includes some of the finest films of their decades. Acting as his own cameraman and often his own editor, Steven Soderbergh has journeyed across genres, taking many actors to Oscar nominations with a couple of wins (including a few trophies for himself), pleasing critics and audiences, and consistently staying one step ahead of expectations. It is always a treat to experience a new Soderbergh picture, as he is a true nonconformist. Even when working for the big studios (the “Ocean’s 11” franchise, the “magic Mike” trilogy), he stays defiantly independent. A Soderbergh popcorn movie is still clever and artfully designed.

It has been some years since moviegoers were gifted with such a smart adult thriller. “Black Bag” will be a welcome test for today’s attention-challenged audiences. Koepp’s screenplay and Soderbergh’s direction hinge on glances and pointed dialogue deliveries. There is a good deal of plot, but the filmmakers refuse to spoon feed it to the viewer. One must pay close attention to every word; a rare treat for a modern movie.

“Black Bag” strides comfortably and confidently a John Le Carré-inspired world of double-crosses and high-stakes MI6 duplicity. A precision-tuned Michael Fassbender is George Woodhouse, a British agent who is the modern doppelganger of Michael Caine’s “Harry Palmer”, complete with side-part and black glasses. George discovers there may be a traitor in his London office. The double agent has stolen a device called Severus, a cyber-worm that is poised to cause geopolitical hell, as a drone strike on a Russian target is imminent. More shocking a revelation is how his wife and fellow agent, Kathryn St. Jean (Cate Blanchett), is one of the five suspects.

What is special about Koepp’s screenplay is how the spy caper is equally matched with a smart cinematic sonata on marriage and the secrets we keep. The titular black bag serves as a symbol of what we choose not to share with our loved ones. Every couple has secrets, with some being darker than others. In the spy business, if work secrets spill into the home, lives are at stake. For George and Kathryn, all cards must be laid on the table, and trust will be the bond that keeps them together. Fassbender and Blanchett find the right beats and show impeccable timing. Husband and wife are in a constant state of suspicion, as their union has now been compromised by accusations and the spark of deceit. The two seasoned actors solidify the believability of two people in such a dangerous job trying to keep a marriage sustainable. With undeniable chemistry and a palpable sexual charge, their spicy interactions are a more restrained Hepburn and Tracy, with the dry wit of Nick and Nora Charles. It is something of an intellectual thrill ride to watch George piece it all together in the hope of saving both the world and his marriage.

The other four suspects are invited to a dinner party at George and Kathryn’s home. George carefully sizes up his colleagues in the hope of getting closer to uncovering the turncoat. The moment is a precursor to a scene late in the film where the four are tricked into returning for another dinner, only to be subjected to an intense Agatha Christie interrogation where George and Kathryn force everyone to reveal all.

The suspects/fellow agents are a unique lot. Freddie Smalls (Tom Burke) is a serial womanizer. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) is the agency’s resident psychiatrist. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page) is an overly confident personality who believes himself to be the coolest in the room. Clarissa Dubose (Marisa Abela, giving the film’s best performance) is a surveillance expert who is attracted to George. The head of the agency (Pierce Brosnan, classy as ever) seems to be just outside of being involved.

Freddie and Clarissa are a couple. James and Clarissa are a couple. With the exception of George and Kathryn, all are mismatched. Each one dishes out untruths and bullshit to one another, but secrets will be revealed as George oversees a party “game” where each person must make a personal resolution. The catch is that it cannot be their own. They must speak for the person to their right, who is, of course, their significant other. The scene breathes with an inescapable tension that leads to verbally violent confrontations worthy of Dorothy Parker.

Manipulation is the name of the game in George and Kathryn’s world, but it is a tactic that they will not allow to infect their commitment to one another.

Soderbergh gives the film a polished look but doesn’t let style overtake substance. This is one of David Koepp’s most accomplished screenplays, and the director knows the value of character. The two worked together on this year’s “Presence” (and 2022’s “Kimi”) and have created their own fruitful partnership, complementing one another’s talents in their three collaborations. As best experienced in his films “Sex, Lies, and Videotape”  and “Traffic”, Soderbergh is adept at capturing emotion through carefully chosen lighting and color schemes and getting to the intensity of human emotion with proper framing and a steady camera. His mastery of the craft once again serves him well, as he has directed a spy picture that is as smooth as a good scotch.

“Black Bag” is as stylish as it is thrilling. While Phillip Messina’s production design subtly dazzles, viewers’ minds are stimulated by the screenplay’s intricately designed counterspy head games. Sexual tension, suspense, and subterfuge, in the intelligence world and in a marriage; all existing in an artfully designed motion picture injected with a crafty undercurrent of humor.

Cinema done right.