“ Black Bag ,” an elegant, quick-witted new thriller that finds Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender playing married spies, isn’t the pair’s first time together on screen. That honor goes to 2017’s “Song to Song,” one of Terrence Malick’s most intangible and head-scratching offerings — though the two stars can barely recall that experience.

A terse, darkly shrewd intelligence officer rocking a black roll-neck is surely the part Michael Fassbender was born to play. Combining macho calm with a coolly appraising gaze, he strides through sexy spy thriller Black Bag knowing he simply can’t afford to trust anyone.

Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender have both worked with director Steven Soderbergh before and craved a return to his speedy, efficient playfulness with 'Black Bag.'