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Black Bag

Black Bag

Drama · Mystery · Thriller · 2025

When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband – also a legendary agent – faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.

Movie details

Black Bag

“It takes a spy to hunt a spy.”

2025 Drama · Mystery · Thriller 1h 34m

Critical arithmetic

The consensus, allegedly.

IMDb

6.7 / 10

92.7K votes

Rotten Tomatoes

96 %

Tomatometer

Metacritic

85 / 100

Metascore

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

External scores via OMDb · CC BY-NC 4.0. Values normalized for display; availability varies by title.

When intelligence agent Kathryn Woodhouse is suspected of betraying the nation, her husband – also a legendary agent – faces the ultimate test of whether to be loyal to his marriage, or his country.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Black Bag?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The Deadly Affair

The Deadly Affair

Thriller · 1967

Charles Dobbs is a British secret agent investigating the apparent suicide of Foreign Office official Samuel Fennan. Dobbs suspects that Fennan's wife, Elsa, a survivor of a Nazi Germany extermination camp, might have some clues, but other officials want Dobbs to drop the case. So Dobbs hires a retiring inspector, Mendel, to quietly make inquiries. Dobbs isn't at all sure as there are a number of anomalies that simply can't be explained away. Dobbs is also having trouble at home with his errant wife, whom he very much loves, having frequent affairs. He's also pleased to see an old friend, Dieter Frey, who he recruited after the war. With the assistance of a colleague and a retired policeman, Dobbs tries to piece together just who is the spy and who in fact assassinated Fennan.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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The Firm

The Firm

Drama · 1993

Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't refuse. Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he is totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his company. Then, two Associates are murdered. The FBI contact him, asking him for information and suddenly his life is ruined. He has a choice - work with the FBI, or stay with the Firm. Either way he will lose his life as he knows it. Mitch figures the only way out is to follow his own plan...

Shirley

Shirley

Drama · 2020

A famous horror writer finds inspiration for her next book after she and her husband take in a young couple.

Triage

Triage

Drama · 2009

The wife of a photojournalist sets out to discover why he came home from a recent assignment without his colleague.

Reptile

Reptile

Crime · 2023

Following the brutal murder of a young real estate agent, a hardened detective attempts to uncover the truth in a case where nothing is as it seems, and by doing so dismantles the illusions in his own life.

Deep Water

Deep Water

Drama · 2022

A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid a divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.

Frantic

Frantic

Mystery · 1988

The wife of an American doctor suddenly vanishes in Paris. To find her, he navigates a puzzling web of language, locale, laissez-faire cops, triplicate-form filling bureaucrats and a defiant, mysterious waif who knows more than she tells.

Gone Girl

Gone Girl

Mystery · 2014

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

Crime of Passion

Crime of Passion

Drama · 1956

Kathy leaves the newspaper business to marry homicide detective Bill, but is frustrated by his lack of ambition and the banality of life in the suburbs. Her drive to advance Bill's career soon takes her down a dangerous path.

Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Steven Soderbergh

Written by

David Koepp

Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett

Kathryn St. Jean

Michael Fassbender

Michael Fassbender

George Woodhouse

Tom Burke

Tom Burke

Freddie Smalls

Marisa Abela

Marisa Abela

Clarissa Dubose

Regé-Jean Page

Regé-Jean Page

Col James Stokes

Naomie Harris

Naomie Harris

Dr Zoe Vaughn

Gustaf Skarsgård

Gustaf Skarsgård

Philip Meacham

Court is in session

Put Black Bag on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Form is the argument.”

Every composed frame and deliberate cut is evidence that control can be thrilling in its own right.

The prosecution The Popcorn Loyalist

“Technique in search of a pulse.”

Immaculate construction is still construction. The film may be too busy proving its craft to feel alive.