STACK #248 June 2025

MOVIE & TV FEATURE

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GENRE: Thriller RUN TIME: 1h 33m

KEEP IT ZIPPED! Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag is the antithesis of most spy movies, offering a sleek, cerebral take on the traditional spy genre - with a twist of marital intrigue.

A gripping tale of passion, deception, and betrayal, Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett play our main protagonists, George and Kathryn Woodhouse, a married couple who are also elite British intelligence agents. The plot thickens when George is assigned to uncover a mole within their agency, and one of the prime suspects is none other than his wife. Marking Blanchett’s third go-round with Soderbergh, she was delighted by David Koepp’s script. “David knows how to make great, propulsive narrative dramas that are also really fun,” says Australia’s two-time Oscar winner. “He understands how to play with audience expectations in a delicious way, and then he delivers something even more satisfying than what you were expecting. “ Black Bag has a truly satisfying thriller aspect. But it doesn’t use any tricks or withhold information to get your attention. The audience

learns things quickly and in unexpected ways. It’s also a psychological study that will make you want to fall into their world,” she adds. The idea for Black Bag first occurred to

Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett

everything, how do you tell the truth about anything?’” Rather than relying on high-octane action sequences, Black Bag opts for a more subdued, tension-filled approach. The narrative unfolds primarily through sharp dialogue and psychological

Koepp during research for the first chapter of the Mission: Impossible franchise. While interviewing several intelligence operatives, he found himself fascinated by their personal lives. “All the spycraft stuff was very cool, but I learned more than I ever expected about the people,” he recalls. “One woman told me that her job made it impossible for her to sustain a relationship. A line in the movie was inspired by my conversations with her: ‘When you can lie about

Director Steven Soderbergh

gamesmanship.

Critics have praised the

palpable chemistry between Fassbender and Blanchett. Their

performances anchor the story, making the audience

question loyalties and truths at every turn. Gill Pringle

• Black Bag is out Jun 18

OTHER FILMS BY STEPHEN SODERBERGH

Oceans Eleven (2001) , Traffic, Solaris, Magic Mike

GENRE: TV drama RUN TIME: Various

TIMELESS LOVE: OUTLANDER SEASON 7 After spending more than a decade together, Outlander ’s time-traveling lovers, Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan, are admittedly a little sad to reach the end of the road. A s Outlander ’s Claire and Jamie Fraser, the screen couple have DYK?

really knowing someone and allowing someone to flourish and grow alongside you,” adds the Irish actress, who is looking forward to perhaps doing some roles in her native tongue. “I think, if anything, I've found my Irish accent again, because I'd spent 13 years in America before I got this show, and before that, I'd been in France for a few years. So, my family used to slag me off that I'd become American. And now I'm very much back to being Irish. But it's funny, I feel like I'm very much an Irish person who's maybe slightly an honorary Scot at this point. Do I get that?” she asks Heughan. “You are absolutely an honorary Scot!” agrees her co-star. Gill Pringle

Fans can get excited for the upcoming prequel series, Outlander: Blood of My Blood ,

spent two centuries traveling through time across Scotland, France and the U.S. in the beloved adaptation of Diana Gabaldon's novel of the same name. But all good things must come to an end, having now wrapped production on Season 8, the final season of the beloved show - not scheduled to air until later this year. “It has been a huge part of our lives, and I think we're beginning to feel the repercussions of saying goodbye to these characters, but there's so much to look forward to,” says Heughan, who relished returning to his Scottish home for the series. For Balfe, Season 7 is possibly the most exciting. “There are many different points of threat in Season 7.

destined for release next year. This love story tells the tales of how the parents of Jamie Fraser came together in 18th

Caitríona Balfe and Sam Heughan

century Scotland and how Claire Beauchamp’s parents met during World War I in England.

Anytime the Frasers are separated, there's always danger. I think the challenges they face as a couple are some of the greatest they've ever had to overcome personally,” she says. “What I love about this relationship is how we've been able to show how a couple and a marriage survives and thrives and it deepens and love goes from those sort of heady first notes of passion and excitement to then something really deep and the understanding and beauty of

• Outlander: Season 7 is out Jun 18

NEW TO OUTLANDER?

Catch up with the Outlander Seasons 1-6 box set on Blu-ray or DVD.

24 JUNE 2025

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