Black Bag

Universal

It may be hard to find the motivation to get out to the theater these days, especially in these few years post-COVID where many of us may have gotten used to fully staying home. And for a non-superhero, non-blockbuster film no less. But for this one, you might want to make an exception.

Black Bag, the new spy drama, currently has a stunning 97% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, which is even more impressive when you consider it’s from a full 148 reviews. Black Bag is directed by the famed Steven Soderbergh, who has been behind a wide range of projects from Traffic, to 20 episodes of The Knick to Contagion to even The Magic Mike trilogy. Here, it’s another new direction.

Black Bag boasts an impressive cast, led by Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender, also alongside Pierce Brosnan, Rége-Jean Page, Naomie Harris and others. It was written by David Koepp who also worked on the original Jurassic Park, Panic Room, Sony Spider-Man, Mission Impossible and more. What’s Black Bag all about? Here’s the official synopsis:

“BLACK BAG is a gripping spy drama about legendary intelligence agents George Woodhouse and his beloved wife Kathryn. When she is suspected of betraying the nation, George faces the ultimate test – loyalty to his marriage or his country.”

This is not based on either a book or a true story, but an original production and collaboration from all those involved. For high concept spy dramas, that’s not usually true. It also escaped being released for streaming or being chopped up into a miniseries to be released on a platform. It is fully in theaters in an era where that might not normally happen for this kind of movie.

Black Bag

Rotten Tomatoes

As for its potential for success, it is releasing alongside Novocaine, the well-reviewed action comedy starring The Boys’ Jack Quaid as a man who cannot feel pain and fights as such in an effort to save his girlfriend. It does seem likely that film may be more accessible and earn more money. Past competition would be Mickey 17, or another week of Captain America: Brave New World.

Black Bag reportedly has a budget of only $50 million, putting it far below other widely-released films in this day and age, focusing on intrigue rather than flashy action sequences. Who knows if it will earn that back, but at the very least, it seems we all have a stellar film to potentially run out and see.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.