George Woodhouse doesn’t like liars. Shame he works with so many of them.
You see, George is an intelligence agent for the British government. A spy. And spies are in the business of keeping secrets—often lying to do so. But a spy’s job isn’t just about keeping secrets. It’s also about discovering them.
George is on the discovery side of spy craft. He’s become something of a legend for his skill in digging up dirty little secrets. He seems to know vices of everyone within his world, be they an intelligence target, a coworker or a family member.
All except Kathryn. She’s a formidable spy in her own right. A master of deception. An adept at espionage.
She also happens to be George’s wife.
Kathryn and George have a happy and committed marriage. They artfully navigate the relational pitfalls that accompany a profession such as theirs. Pitfalls that many of their colleagues have fallen into headlong. (George has the evidence to prove it.)
George adores Kathryn and trusts her implicitly. That’s why when a top-secret government weapon is stolen, and Kathryn is on the list of potential traitors, George hardly gives it a second thought. She wouldn’t betray her country, he thinks. More than that, she wouldn’t betray him. And there are plenty of other suspects.
But as the methodical George scrupulously searches for the truth, all evidence points to Kathryn as the culprit. Everything is called into question. Could his wife be a traitor? If so, does he even know her at all?
“When you can lie about everything,” George’s coworker muses about the effect of their clandestine profession, “how can you tell the truth?”
George Woodhouse doesn’t like liars. Shame he might be married to one.
George and Kathryn love one another and are committed to their marriage. (How far this commitment extends is one of the questions of the film.)
When a new weapon falls into the wrong hands, intelligence agents work to prevent that device from being used, which would result in the deaths of innocent people.
Zoe, the intelligence team’s psychologist, is Catholic. She takes her faith seriously in some ways, less so in others—for example, she doesn’t let it stop her from hopping in and out of bed with a few different men.
When someone is asked if God exists, that character responds in the affirmative. A reference is made to a “velvet Jesus.” A woman’s faith is mocked.
Unfaithfulness, it would seem, is simply standard-operating procedure for the intelligence agents in Black Bag. Nearly all of the characters we meet are cheating on their romantic partners, in some cases with multiple people. (Not to mention that the individuals who are romantically involved are unmarried, as well.) It’s a tangled web of infidelity that the film is, thankfully, content to reference rather than show. But it references those infidelities a lot and, at times, in unpleasant detail.
George and Kathryn kiss passionately, and we see them in bed together. George watches his wife as she stands in her underwear. When he apologizes, she replies, “I like it.” Someone crassly recounts a story about George, who surveilled his cheating father (also a spy) and played the recordings of the affairs he captured at a family dinner—ruining his father’s marriage and career at the same time.
Zoe and James, an intelligence agent, are involved romantically and discuss their sexual history. Two other agents, Freddie and Clarissa, are also involved while carrying on other affairs. Clarissa is attracted to George and does little to hide that fact, even in front of Kathryn. (George is not interested.)
A man says he wishes it wasn’t so easy to cheat on his wife. Another person tries to justify his affair. During a breakup, one character reveals that he’s been seeing another woman.
We see women in underwear and formfitting nightgowns. We also see a man without his shirt. References are made to sexual acts, including masturbation. There are mentions of “dirty talk,” lap dancing and erotic fiction.
The top-secret weapon that has been stolen from the government is designed to cause nuclear-reactor meltdowns. Someone tries to do just that which, in the process, would kill tens of thousands of people.
A man is shot in the head. The camera lingers on the resulting bloody mess on the wall behind him.
A woman stabs someone through the hand with a dinner knife after an intense argument. A man is poisoned and begins convulsing, and we learn later that he died. A drone strike destroys a vehicle, killing its occupants; we briefly see one of the corpses burning in the fiery wreckage. A man disposes of a body. Characters threaten each other with physical harm or death.
Kathryn asks George if he would kill for her. Without hesitation, he answers, “Yes.” She shares that she would kill for him, as well.
More than 40 f-words are uttered throughout Black Bag. Additionally, we hear the s-word 12 times. God’s name is abused six times, once paired with “d—.” Jesus’ name is abused twice. Other language includes “d—,” “h—,” “b–ch” and “son of a b–ch,” “pr–k,” “d–k” and “p-ssing.”
To foster a more “honest” discussion with his dinner guests (one of which may be a traitor), George spikes some masala with a drug. Zoe, as part of her job, inquires about the medications Kathryn is taking, including sleep aids and herbal remedies such as ashwagandha. It is revealed that one intelligence agent has used ecstasy. People drink whiskey and wine. Some take shots. A bartender prepares a cocktail. We hear that a man divulged operational details while drunk. Someone vapes.
People lie and manipulate each other constantly. George essentially blackmails a person to get their assistance with reconnaissance. He remarks that some things are “best swept under the rug.”
When someone admires George and Kathryn’s luxurious home, Kathryn tells her that it is one of “the joys of not having children.” Someone has made bad decisions that landed them into debt. It is noted that a person is tightening a part of her backside to help deceive a polygraph. A man orders an illegal dish at a restaurant, which consists of a still living fish.
Black Bag is a taut, smartly crafted thriller. The acting is convincing, the directing is sharp, and the plot is properly twisty without becoming overcomplicated. If you squint, you can even glimpse a pro-marriage, pro-monogamy message amid the deception and guile.
George and Kathryn’s sincere commitment to their marriage is viewed by their peers with equal parts admiration and bewilderment. Because of their marriage, they’re the only people appearing in Black Bag whom you could say are genuinely happy or content. Not only that, but the film shows us plenty of bad fruit resulting from their colleagues who treat fidelity and honesty as virtues to be avoided at all costs.
But while that appreciation for marriage is welcome, George and Kathryn’s shared devotion is not without red flags. When Kathryn asks George if he would kill for her, it’s not a rhetorical question. And the film is mired in pervasive sexual content that, while mainly restricted to conversation, can be vivid and crass. Speaking of conversation, harsh language litters most of the dialogue. And, as you’d expect from a cloak-and-dagger tale, the dual tensions of betrayal and violence loom large.
The agents in this film are often sent on assignments that are top secret. If someone asks where they are going or what they are doing, the agent replies with two words: “Black bag.” Those two simple words tell the other person that a topic cannot and will not be discussed.
When it comes to the movie Black Bag, parents might be tempted to use the same method with their kids. The film may not be a secret, but it’s certainly not for families.
Bret loves a good story—be it a movie, show, or video game—and enjoys geeking out about things like plot and story structure. He has a blast reading and writing fiction and has penned several short stories and screenplays. He and his wife love to kayak the many beautiful Colorado lakes with their dog.
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