Mild SPOILERS for Black Bag are ahead. You can check out this 2025 movie schedule entry in theaters now.
When I heard about Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag, I never could’ve anticipated it would end up being one of the more unique new action movies I’ve seen in awhile. Yes, it involves an all-star cast including the likes of Michael Fassbender, Cate Blanchett and Regé-Jean Page. However, the core “action” element doesn’t involve big, choreographed fight scenes or globe-trotting set pieces. It’s reliant on the superb performances of the cast, And CinemaBlend had to ask the stars about one particularly tense scene involving an intimate dinner.
The movie opens with Fassbender and Blanchett’s characters, are husband and wife and also happen to be spies, inviting their co-workers over to their home for a meal The scene ends up feeling like a bit of theatre rather than a typical 2020s spy movie, as Fassbender’s George Woodhouse starts to get under his cohorts’ skin. The whole scene concludes with Marisa Abela’s character, Clarissa Debose, stabbing her partner’s hand with a knife. When CinemaBlend interviewed Fassbender, Abela and Page, they reflected on the scene with the following comments:
Michael: “It was a one take thing. We only had the one take.”
Marisa: “Tom only has the one hand!”
Michael: “He said, ‘You can do it to me one time.’”
Regé-Jean: “Deeply into the method, Tom.”
Marisa: “Like, it’s boring to unpack because obviously it does turn into like kind of a technical thing, but also I was really excited to do it. We always love a little bit of violence like that on set. You know? Also, Tom had quite a lot of fun with the hand.”
Regé-Jean: “He’s a playful guy, Tom.”
It must have been an absolute blast for Abela to get to do in the movie. I know when I saw it in theaters, there were squeals among the audience, especially regarding how sudden the moment was. While I might not have the gall to stab my man if I had learned he was cheating on me, I can understand the kind of catharsis that would result from what any woman might want to do in that situation. (Hey, not all of us can be spies!) Michael Fassbender also said this about shooting those long dinner scenes:
They were the only scenes that we rehearsed, and I think Steven really wanted to figure out how he was gonna differentiate the two scenes with the camera. What sort of angles he was gonna use, how he was gonna sort of find the tension in the scenes visually…it was nice for all of us to actually be together in a scene. And like the first scene was 12 pages long. And we actually got to run the 12 pages, a couple of times. And I think Steven did that for the benefit of us. And then, it was just nice to be sitting down all day.
Hey, that’s a major plus for the cast of this excellent film. They were able to make a solid spy film without having to be on their feet all day. Now, that’s the kind of practical element we just don’t think about when we see movies like this.
In CinemaBlend’s Black Bag review, our own Mike Reyes gave the movie a 4.5 out of 5 stars, stating he’s “already ready for seconds from this deliciously duplicitous dinner party.” For the most part, critics are also loving Steven Soderbergh’s latest. So you don’t have to simply take our word for it.
What I really loved about this film upon my viewing is how it caught me off guard and twisted my expectations in regard to what a thriller like this could be. I also appreciate the layered characters, who can be entertaining in any scenario, I’d say. The dinner scene is a testament to that notion, and I’m going to be thinking about it for a while. On that note, do yourself a favor and see Black Bag in theaters now.