Black Bag

"Tidy little spy thriller exploring themes of deception, loyalty, and betrayal. Narrative can be a little complex but worth putting down your phone and paying attention. Went in thinking Atomic Blonde, but it's not action oriented. Fassbender is underrated."

"I really enjoyed this movie. The writing, dialouge, and performances were great. My one issue was the lighting, which was sometimes overwhelming. Awesome film from a great director."

"A British agent is given a job to investigate 5 people suspected of being dirty with one of them being his wife. When the investigation points to her after a dinner party he is forced to follow the leads and see where they go. Is she indeed the one that stole the secrets? This is one of those spy movies with the focus on the investigation and it is expertly done. Everyone is really good and at some points actually feels like a romance story with how good the chemistry is with their relationship. This one will keep you guessing till that final reveal or you can just sit back and watch, and they will lay everything out for you. I had fun trying to guess who the traitor was. It is a bit of a slow burn and is dialogue heavy. You will have to pay attention to the conversations to get the most out of this one. If you enjoy well-acted smart espionage type movies then this is a must see. Please check out my podcast Mostly Low Budget Movie Reviews with Clarence for a more detailed breakdown. On all streaming platforms. Link is in the bio. Thank you!"

"This film completely exceeded my expectations and is one of Soderbergh’s best movies. It is quick witted and stylish like Soderbergh’s classic films (Out of Sight, Traffic, Oceans’s 11) but its dialogue is bitingly caustic. The film is an espionage drama that follows an MI-5 agent (Fassbender) who has ferret out the agent who compromised a top secret piece of software. One of the main suspects is his wife (Blanchett) who is also an agent. This is a tight, 93 minute, self-contained story that is made for adults. It doesn’t speak down to its audience and isn’t trying to spawn a sequel. The script keeps you on your toes and has several of the best dialogue sequences I’ve heard in years. The film also functions as a love letter to the British espionage writers the 20th century with nods to the characters of John le Carre, Agatha Christie, Len Deighton and Ian Fleming. I can’t recommend this one highly enough. I actually considered staying in the theater, to immediately watch it again, after the film had ended. 4.5 out of 5 Stars"