Soderbergh was known for the initial success of his 1989 independent film Sex, Lies, and Videotape and, in later years, taking on blockbuster subject matter with an arthouse lens, with the Oceans franchise and hit 2010 virus epic Contagion.
The first thing I noticed in his latest offering, the spy thriller Black Bag, was how crisp and "movie-like" the film looks.
They really do not make them like this any more.
The auteur has a strict preference for natural light, giving his films a rich quality.
The slick spy thriller is set in a British intelligence agency, where the small cast all work, and when an important piece of software goes missing they are all left pointing the finger.
Michael Fassbender plays the central character, who at the beginning of the film is given a list of suspects including his wife, played by Cate Blanchett.
The couple, in their gorgeously decorated townhouse, debate how to find the leak, settling on a dinner party with a drug-laced chana masala to get their guests confessing.
What follows is an at times wordy whodunnit with an elegant twist on the genre showing off a who’s who of young Hollywood with Industry’s Marisa Abela and Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page.
I recommend catching it at the St James if you feel like slipping into some well-lit luxury or have a keen interest in spies.
