Tag: steven-soderbergh

Black Bag (2025)

  • Director: Steven Soderbergh
  • Screenplay: David Koepp
  • Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, Pierce Brosnan
  • Cinematography: Steven Soderbergh
  • Editing: Mary Ann Bernard
  • Score: David Holmes
  • Genre: Spy thriller
  • Runtime: 94 minutes

Many couples enjoy a little gossip about the neighbours in bed. Or discuss suburban trivialities: “Did you remember to put the bins out?”

But what if the pair are special agents? I can imagine the conversation going along the lines of: “And who did you take out today?” – “Oh, just some Iranian terrorist clutching a hand grenade. Nothing wild.”. An interesting dynamic; more undercover, less under the covers.

A few topics are off-limits. They can’t share everything with one another. The code words for terminating such conversations: ‘black bag’. The only way they could operate as a couple is by a rule of silence when any questions should arise and a foundation of faith in their relationship.

There’s a mole in the organisation. Intelligence agent George (Michael Fassbender) has 5 suspects to sort through to find the traitor. One of these people is his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). Does she have in it her to betray her country? To deceive her husband? She’s loyal to him; she’d kill for him. But would she tell him the truth?

A stellar lineup of supporting players; Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page. Each of them is a flawed character – though it’s worth noting how Kathryn’s devotion to her partner is not so much an asset as a weakness. Ripe for exploitation.

Amazing camerawork from director Steven Soderbergh, especially the dinner scene near the start where George assembles the group around the table to ‘throw the stone and watch the ripples’, with the lighting adding a touch of intimacy. ‘Black Bag‘ is twisty like a serpent with plenty of bite. Bitesize too, at 94 minutes. I’m planning on seeing it twice; a single viewing wasn’t enough to absorb all the dialogue and nuance.

My rating: 8 / 10

Presence (2024)

  • Director: Steven Soderbergh
  • Screenplay: David Koepp
  • Cast: Lucy Liu, Chris Sullivan, Callina Liang
  • Cinematography: Steven Soderbergh
  • Editing: Mary Ann Bernard
  • Score: Zack Ryan
  • Genre: Supernatural thriller drama
  • Runtime: 85 minutes

Director (and cinematographer) Steven Soderbergh takes the ‘haunted house’ tale and puts his spin on it. The entirety of the film is shot from the first-person perspective; the POV of an apparition wandering around; walking down the stairs, retreading those steps back upstairs – we’re getting a guided tour of the property complete with 360 degree panoramic shots of the rooms. The scenes are brief and end suddenly, darting forwards in time by a short interval.

A new family move into the suburban abode; a detached mother (Lucy Liu), an agitated father (Chris Sullivan), their swimming champ son and a daughter who’s recently lost her best friend and is struggling to cope with the pain. There’s a fifth member of the household, an unwelcome guest, a ghost in the machine…’the presence’, which only the daughter has the ability to sense.

We’ve got the usual poltergeist shenanigans; objects moving supposedly of their own accord, doors closing etc. yet this has more intrigue to it than the standard spooky fare. It’s quietly engrossing – what is going on exactly? Who is this mysterious spectre? Are they a manifestation of the girl’s grief perhaps? What do they want?

Points off for not fully exploring the premise – for example, the parents’ crumbling marriage could’ve been fleshed out and we don’t necessarily get answers to every question raised. Intriguingly filmed, ‘Presence‘ will continue to haunt after the screen fades to black.

My rating: 6 / 10