Sicario (2015)
“Nothing will make sense to your American ears, and you will doubt everything that we do, but in the end you will understand.” – Alejandro.
Sicario (2015)
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Written by: Taylor Sheridan
Starring: Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benecio Del Toro
This is an amazing film, no other way to put it. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and if anything it further solidifies the fact that Denis Villeneuve (also directed Prisoners, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and the upcoming Dune blockbuster) is one of the best directors working today.
The premise for Sicario is quite simple on the surface, but gets murkier and more complex the further you get into the film. Emily Blunt plays Kate Mercer, an idealistic FBI agent trying to prevent drug trafficking at the border between Mexico and the U.S. When the violence in the war on drugs begins to escalate, Kate is enlisted by mysterious duo Matt Graver (Brolin) and Alejandro (Del Toro) to join a government task force tasked with ending the war.
There are a lot of positives to unpack here, but in summary Sicario just does everything better than other films in the ‘crime action drama’ genre. Not one thing. Not ‘a few’ things. Almost every aspect of this movie is elite for the genre. Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins made it abundantly clear in interviews that they didn't take direct inspiration from any other films, but I think you can draw parallels to other gritty crime thrillers such as Heat and Drive (other dark films with heavy content matter, great character development, and gorgeous cinematography). However, it’s also somewhat unique for a crime thriller with a female as the lead character – a topic of extreme contention, with the production company asking the character to be rewritten as a male lead multiple times (…seriously, Hollywood?). Luckily Villeneuve stuck to his guns and backed the female-led script, as the film received considerable critical acclaim, including three Academy Award nominations.
So what works in the film? Funnily enough, the first thing – a really entertaining opening scene. This seems like a no-brainer, but there are soooo many movies that take far too long to get to the point and lose you within the first fifteen minutes. Instead, Sicario bodyslams you with a thrilling opening scene (the raid of a drug den), and gives you a lot of information really quickly. This draws you into the film, and helps relay the plot without having to rely on extremely heavy dialogue.
Second thing – a killer cast. The success of the film revolves around the acting talent of the big three – Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benecio Del Toro. Luckily they’re all world-class actors, with Blunt and Del Toro in particular putting in outstanding performances. This talent combined with a great script leads to characters that are well fleshed-out, multidimensional, and ‘real’. What I mean by this is that the plot is believable due to the flaws of the characters. Kate is clearly a fierce, intelligent FBI agent – she’s a classic ‘tough’ female character. But as the movie progresses you get to see the more human side of her, as she reveals she is also vulnerable, damaged, and morally conflicted with the realities of her job. I feel that the ‘reality’ of the script is what makes the films themes so dark, as you are able to relate to these insecurities and flaws within the characters. As a tail-note to the celebration of casting, the supporting cast includes other talented heavy hitters such as Daniel Kaluuya (of Skins and Get Out fame), and Jon Bernthal (Wolf of Wall Street, The Walking Dead, Baby Driver).
Third thing – stunning cinematography. I don’t talk about cinematography much in these reviews, because 1. I’m not a cinematographer and so don’t truly appreciate the effort it takes to make a movie, and 2. The cinematography of a film is so integral to the finished product that sometimes I just don’t think about it in isolation. However…believe me when I say that Roger Deakins’ cinematography in Sicario stands out. While a lot of cinematographers like to throw in extremely pretentious thirty second cut scenes to show how ‘arty’ they are, Deakins avoids this, and instead relies on a combination of impressive sweeping aerial shots and some great point-of-view camera work during the action scenes. These shots never drag, and provide the audience with a meticulously filmed first-person-shooter feel that makes you feel like you’re part of the action. It’s worth mentioning that this isn’t surprising as Deakins is one of the world’s best cinematographers, winning Oscars for another Villeneuve collaboration Blade Runner 2049 in 2018 and war epic 1917 in 2020. He also has a bonkers iMDb page, with credits in other stunning movies such as The Shawshank Redemption, No Country For Old Men, Fargo, and Skyfall. Bravo Roger!
The final piece of the impressive puzzle here is the story. Feels remiss of me to take so long before discussing the plot, so apologies to writer Taylor Sheridan. It’s a strong crime drama, with unclear alliances, confusing moral boundaries, and multi layered characters. Part of the genius of the script is you get to navigate the story along with Kate, who is as clueless as us and has to discern information and other character’s motives along the way. I would highlight that the ending of the movie is great, but the whole movie is great so there’s not really any point.
Highly, highly recommend Sicario to anyone who loves a crime thriller, good acting and good cinematography. The only red flag is that it’s not a particularly cheerful movie, with the movie focused on drug trafficking and violence, but how many crime dramas leave you feeling warm and fuzzy? Promise you won’t be disappointed!
Rating: 8/10
P.S. There’s a sequel to this that I haven’t seen yet, so you might to do review for that soon.