"He’s an absolute genius": Black Bag stars let their feelings known on collaborating with helmer Steven Soderbergh

Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag has been all the rage as the spy thriller enjoys significant uplifting among fans and viewers with its thrilling presence. Soderbergh's work is well known to have expanded the horizons of the genre of spies and action, having been the mastermind behind the Oceans trilogy and grabbing an Academy Award for Traffic. The film features Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan in stunning roles written by David Koepp, who has previously worked on Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and the Tobey Maguire starrer Spider-Man.

Likewise, Black Bag has also opened to positive views among fans, and the stars of the film have nothing but good things to say about working with Soderbergh. Naomie Harris opens up on working with the director and tells The Hollywood Reporter,

“It wasn’t the role, initially, that drew me to being part of this project it was working with Soderbergh. He’s an absolute genius.”

To which Regé-Jean Page added,

"You trust him to capture those unexpected moments … you feel like he’s in the trenches. Steven has cut a hole in the middle of the table, and he’s sitting there where the turkey would be with the camera.”

Cate Blanchett then looked back on one particular scene and added,

“Steven filmed [Naomie] in the office and me coming in through the door, and I was expecting him to call ‘cut’, but then I sat in the chair and we started the scene. I thought, ‘Can’t we read it first?’ But both of the characters are uncomfortable, [so it made sense.]”

What is Black Bag about?

The film revolves around British spy George Woodhouse, who has a week to find the mole who exposed the classified Severus software. One of the suspects is his wife, Kathryn. He invites four other spies, Clarissa, Freddie, Zoe, and James, over for dinner and gets them drunk to reveal secrets. Although not much is revealed, he does let it out that Freddie has been cheating on Clarissa, resulting in the latter stabbing Freddie.

When their boss, Meacham, is murdered suspiciously, George suspects Kathryn when he comes across a movie ticket stub in her possession, which she does not own. Following her to Zurich, he catches her meeting with a Russian operative. James tells him she also has access to a £7 million account. While George follows up, Kathryn discovers a larger scheme—Stieglitz, their superior, allowed Severus to leak to destabilize Russia. She alerts the CIA, and they get a drone strike.

Another dinner is followed, where more secrets are revealed. The film ends with George and Kathryn eliminating threats, renewing their love, and eyeing the remaining £7 million in Zurich.

Black Bag is available in theaters.