Black Bag 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.5

Black Bag 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

"It's been a while since we've had a traitor to dinner."

Reviewed by Justin Dekker May 18, 2025

Director Steven Soderbergh's ('Oceans Eleven' (2001), 'Contagion' (2011)) spy thriller 'Black Bag' arrives on 4K UHD disc courtesy of Universal. The stylish film stars Michael Fassbender ('Assassin's Creed' (2016), 'X-Men: First Class' (2011) ), and Cate Blanchett ('The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring' (2001), 'Borderlands' (2024)), and features Pierce Brosnan (TV's 'Remington Steel', 'The World is not Enough' (1999)) in a supporting role. Boasting excellent technical merits, the release is accompanied by a modest assortment of on-disc supplemental material. A Blu- ray disc, Digital Code redeemable through Movies Anywhere, and a slipcover are also included.

Michael Fassbender's George Woodhouse is as organized and fastidious a person as one could ever hope to encounter. It's this heightened organization and attention to detail, no doubt, that makes him exemplary in his role in the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) intelligence agency. He's married to Kathryn St. Jean, who works there as well and is incredible in her own right, and exudes sophistication accompanied by an icy detachment. The couple's personal and professional lives are thrown into disarray, however, when George receives an important bit of intelligence from Philip Meacham (Gustaf Skarsgård); there's a traitor in the division who has their sights set on a program called Severus, which, in the wrong hands, could result in a devastating nuclear disaster with a substantial loss of life. George has compiled a list of five people with all of the right security clearances, motives, and capabilities who could be the potential traitor, but troublingly, George's wife, Kathryn, is one of them. Adding to the tension, in order to prevent the worst from happening, George has just one week to flush out and apprehend the traitor.

In order to expedite George's investigation and differentiate Black Bag from any number of other spy films focused on uncovering the rat in the house, David Koepp's script conveniently connects these potential culprits, in Kathryn's words, "a data scraper, two agents, and the in-house shrink", in romantic relationships with each other: Kathryn is married to George (and doesn't immediately know she is a suspect), Marisa Abela's Clarissa Dubose is seeing Tom Burke's Freddie Smalls, while Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris) is seeing Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page). As a result, George arrives at the unusual idea of inviting them all to dinner and lacing the food with a substance called DZM 5 to kickstart his information gathering. This notion of having the five potential suspects all being romantically connected also allows for a fair amount of melodrama to enter into the mix as the investigation unfolds and the invitees react to what was revealed and what transpired at the dinner. Further, it sends a signal that while tension is high and the stakes are higher, this is going to be a very different type of spy movie. Based on the set-up and the mix of characters, there won't be pulse-pounding chases and elaborately staged shoot-outs mixed in with massive explosions and incalculable property damage. It's going to be a more methodical process of information gathering, testing theories, and careful consideration to arrive at the truth.

Those weary of spy films where stunts, action, and gadgets drive the story and, in some instances, serve as a substitute for a plot, will generally be intrigued with the results. As the viewer spends much of the runtime experiencing the events of the week from George's point of view, no one is above suspicion, not even Kathryn. While George's personality makes him the perfect person to conduct this sort of investigation, Kathryn's makes her a perfect suspect. Her demeanor makes it difficult to asses where her loyalties, and even her affections, lie. The others gathered around the table are likewise suspicious. Each is flawed to varying degrees and in different ways. Persistently tense and sometimes confounding, Black Bag is not a typical game of cat and mouse, where suspects are slowly exonerated until only one remains. Instead, based on the information gathered, in the tradition of the finest detective stories, each seems to be potentially guilty, having both motive and opportunity. It's not until George finally gathers the suspects at the end in a manner not inconsistent with Hercule Poirot's modus operandi that the truth is revealed and the audience can breathe.

The Hercule Poirot reference translates well enough to Fassbender's George in other ways. As an agent, he's an astute observer of those around him. He listens. He remembers. He mulls over all of his observations to understand the suspects relative to their behaviors, habits, strengths, weaknesses, and motivations. As Poirot is exceedingly particular with his appearance, so too is George, where just a few small spots on the cuff of his shirt, which most would probably never notice, cause him to excuse himself and change. Also similar to the famed fictitious Belgian, he's an interesting mix of proper yet slightly socially awkward, and both hold the virtually unswerving commitment to the truth as being paramount above all else.

Beyond the spy caper and a direct result of the interconnectedness of the main characters, Black Bag spends a great deal of time focusing on relationships; what it takes to make a monogamous relationship work successfully, and the impact of infidelity and lies. Within the first moments of the film, we learn that George's contact Philip is already in trouble with his wife for his infidelity. But he doesn't learn or seemingly desire to change. When George pulls him away from his evening's indiscretions, despite George counseling him to go home to his wife Anna so that he may make amends and diffuse Anna's anger, Freddie almost chastises George instead. Freddie comments that not everyone can aspire to his and Kathryn's almost unreasonable (in his opinion, at least) monogamy, not when being in the spy game makes cheating so easy. All an agent has to say to their romantic partner is "black bag" to shield themselves from any unwanted conversational topic. By uttering those words, it's made clear that their whereabouts and their actions are related to a mission and therefore cannot be discussed. An agent can lie about and deny anything. The same holds true with the couples George gathers around the dinner table. All of them are engaged in spy work in one way or another. Each has elements of their work and therefore their lives, which they, in the interests of security, cannot discuss. While some can maintain a commitment to their relationships, others cannot, happily using the "black bag" phrase to keep their suspected infidelities secret. While George and Kathryn explicitly discuss their devotion to each other, thereby insulating themselves from the pain that comes with infidelity, the others in their orbit are not so lucky. Some relationships cannot handle the strain and break as a result, while others find ways to excuse and/or tolerate it. But in George's world, that commitment to his partner and to the truth is of the utmost importance. A necessity, even. And he demands it in return. His perceived rewards for those commitments make every action and decision toward that end more than worthwhile.

The cinematography perfectly supports the on-screen action. The film opens with a long shot, following a man walking through London streets and alleys, into a club where he makes contact with a man entertaining two women before the gentlemen relocate outside. At this point, we're not sure of who he is, his destination, or his purpose; we just ascertain from his gait and unceasing forward momentum that he's capable, confident, and that what he is up to is important and time-bound. It's rather reminiscent of the opening shot of Conclave where the camera, from behind, tracks Ralph Fiennes' Cardinal Lawrence as he determinedly but nervously makes his way through the streets and hallways to the dying Pope's chambers. Here, as there, it works to bring the viewer immediately into the world of the film and the character through whom we'll experience much of the action. Frequent close-ups and hand-held shots help to increase the tension and suspense, with the softness stemming from diffusion filters keeping the viewer slightly off-balance, ever continuing the notion that there are things we should be seeing that are just beyond our ability to perceive. But George, with his black-rimmed glasses, well, nothing seems to elude him. At least not for long.

Black Bag 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Shot with RED V-Raptor [X], the image on display in Black Bag 4K is as sharp and crisp as it's intended to be when it's intended to be so. The production makes extensive use of a softer focus and diffusion filters for its stylish and distinctive look. Though rather than being employed to make shots of cast members more glamorous or timeless, it instead generates a look that is both familiar and unsettling. The softness lingers around the edges of most shots, and in some it threatens to overtake them entirely, making us work harder to process and take in all of a given shot's visual information. Skin tones are typically healthy and realistic, save for the moments, as when seated around George and Kathryn's table, which is bathed in a flood of amber lighting elements, when certain stylistic lighting choices impact them substantially. Colors are richly saturated within the film's color palette, which generally runs a bit cooler and preventing primaries from having a bold pop. Lighting elements, both manmade and natural, can at times be blown out, impacting color and detail. Blacks are deep and inky, but given the intentional soft focus and lighting choices, fine detail can suffer a bit. Though again, to be clear, this, and everything else the viewer sees, isn't the result of a defect or anomaly; it's the product of Soderbergh's choices regarding lenses used, filters, lighting, and the like. And given that Soderbergh served as both the director and, under the Peter Andrews pseudonym, his own DP, one must believe the film looks precisely as he intended.

Please note that all accompanying screenshots are sourced from the included 1080p disc.

Black Bag 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Black Bag is given a very pleasing, capable, and competent Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio track that is an excellent partner for its stylish and attractive video presentation. This being an exceedingly talky spy film where there's scarcely any shouting, shooting, or exploding to document, much of what the track needs to handle is simple dialogue, and it does so very well. Even the most hushed words in the quietest moments are clean, clear, and intelligible. It's typically front and center focused. Directionality, when needed, is strong, and sounds can move fluidly through the stage, though they are not frequently called upon to do so. The showiest moments of the track are the musical interludes and underscoring. In both instances, the instrumentation is rendered very precisely and perfectly, with delicate and tense moments handled with equal aplomb as more boisterous ones. Surrounds are most frequently leveraged in support of music, but they are also pressed into service for ambient and environmental sounds. Bass is booming when it needs to be, and barely there when that suits the needs better. An early impressive moment is the long opening tracking shot as George moves from the street environments into the club. The transition is seamless and realistic and perfectly pulls the viewer into the film's world and places them into the middle of the action, with voices and music thumping around them. More delicately, the echoing lobby when George gets a security badge and his own kitchen in the morning with Kathryn creates an interesting and rich sense of space. The track is well balanced, nuanced, and occasionally surprising. Viewers should be pleased with it.

Black Bag 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Black Bag 4K has been afforded a rather modest selection of extras as detailed below.

• Deleted Scenes - Three deleted scenes are included: George and Freddie Have a Chat (1.54): George shares a critical piece of information; Anna Calls Kathryn (3.16): Just as she is returning Zurich, Kathryn receives a call from Anna who divulges what she knows; and Clarissa Meets with Dr. Vaughan (1.12): Clarissa and Dr. Vaughan have an awkward first meeting.

• The Company of Talent (10.12) - Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett, Pierce Brosnan, and others share their thoughts regarding the project, their preparation for their roles, and the other members of the cast.

• Designing Black Bag (5.28) - Star Michael Fassbender, Costume Designer Ellen Mirojnick, Cate Blanchett, and Pierce Brosnan discuss the clothing and locations used in the film with the intent to make London "cool" again and simultaneously elevate the spy movie genre. Information about various production design elements is relayed, as is detail about the construction of the large set that serves as George and Kathryn's apartment..

Black Bag 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Gunshots are few, as are explosions in Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag, but make no mistake, there is plenty of tension and excitement to be found. The cast is excellent. Fassbender's quirky George Woodhouse is the perfect investigator; cunning, observant, and able to compartmentalize his emotions when he needs to in his pursuit of the truth and the mission. Blanchett's Kathryn embodies the best elements of the European femme fatales of the 1960s and 70s, crafting a character audiences want to like but never quite know exactly if they should. Adding to the star power is Pierce Brosnan, and though his Arthur Stieglitz inhabits a management role, he's lost nothing of what made him a memorable and believable 007. Combined with the cast, it's the DNA it shares with detective stories that makes Black Bag work as well as it does. The film incrementally builds suspense and leaves the audience guessing until the suspects are assembled for the final reveal. Stylish, taut, and boasting an excellent audio and video presentation, Black Bag 4K comes highly recommended.