Review: Sicario

Directed by: Denis Villeneuve

Written by: Taylor Sheridan

Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, Daniel Kaluuya, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal

Rating: [5/5]

Perfect solutions for complex issues only exist in an ideal world where all parties can agree on how to fix them. As many of you know, we do not live in an ideal world and special interests exist making every problem so difficult to solve. One issue in particular that presents no easy solution sits right at the United States-Mexico border, which Sicario sets its eyes on exploring. Make no room for a good guy in this story as none exists. 

Following a drug raid, a discovery of dozens of dead bodies tied to a Mexican cartel makes national headlines putting pressure on the American government to do something about the influx and drugs from Mexico. This puts FBI Special Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) in the position to join this new task force dealing with the problem head-on. The deeper she gets into this situation the more dangerous and dubious it gets. 

Utterly devastating can aptly describe the feeling of watching Sicario in the way it tells this incredibly brutal story but does so by giving us small nuggets at a time as the bigger picture begins to clear up to show the entire horrifying image in front of us. It looks at the issue at the border with the horrific reality of who seeks to gain from the crossing of undocumented individuals and how much the United States government cares about actually shutting down the inflow of drugs. This particular unraveling gets seen through the perspective of Macer as she operates as the audience surrogate. Just as she feels in the dark about all of the developments of this task force, we’re right there with her trying to figure it all out. This story will change the idealist and optimist into a cynic and realist very quickly but in turn, makes for such a riveting story. 

Building tension in a story requires skill and tremendous collaboration in all facets of the filmmaking process from the score to the writing. A type of tension where your hands begin to perspire, you are half-looking at the screen, and your heart rate begins to elevate. This feature delivers this in so many scenes that you’ll probably need to change your shirt afterward and this occurs because we have a character we care for in Macer but also because of the fantastic score by Jóhann Jóhannsson. My goodness, a piece of music has never caused more stress in my life than what gets achieved here. It causes this sense of unease never leaving my mind knowing the stress going through Macer’s mind as she processes everything but also the physical danger this task force has put her in. Never has a cello been used to introduce more stress in your life. 

On a technical level, Sicario provides quite a feast for the eyes as well, especially the cinematography by Roger Deakins. Listen, he’s a living legend for a reason and the shots he manages to capture in this film left my jaw on the floor on more than one occasion. The zenith of his work in this film appears in a particular covert night mission that captures a sunset in such a picturesque and haunting way. It demonstrates the beauty as well as their descension into the darkness of what they will seek to accomplish with their objective. 

As much as this issue focuses on the issue at the United States-Mexico border, it also creates a healthy juxtaposition of showing the motives and intentions of individuals as well as the entities in how each of them contributes to the problem at hand. We see this not only through Macer and her experience as an FBI agent stuck in quite the mess but also as a Mexican police officer trying to put food on the table for his family. It makes these small character moments so important to explore the dire consequences later in the film while also contrasting them with the impersonal and callous decision-making of the individuals at the top. In the end, this battle at the border turns into a perceived battle between order and lawlessness but more so about who can control all of the disorder. People here don’t matter unless they can serve as an asset and even then the second you no longer serve the purpose your clock begins to tick. 

Taking on a story with this much gray area in the interpretation and the final conclusion finds Denis Villeneuve right in his wheelhouse. Releasing this feature shortly after Enemy and Prisoners with their own struggle in dubious morals, he follows it up with yet another devastating film not meant to make you feel good by the time the end credits roll. He always manages to capture the more cynical areas of life with such an emphatic style that can hit you over the head with its intensity. He can be unrelenting in that way, which makes each of his films so unique even if a common thread can become prevalent when looking at his filmography as a whole. He does a fantastic job tackling such a difficult subject matter, especially with the aid of Taylor Sheridan’s script but man he sure does get some great assistance from this cast. 

With Blunt’s Macer serving as the audience surrogate, we get to spend plenty of time with her, which gives the actor so much time to wow us with her exceptional work here. Capturing the energy of this tired woman who must confront the reality of what she has involved herself in, which pairs her well with her antithesis in the film, Josh Brolin’s Matt Graver. Brolin completely knocks it out of the park as this mysterious operative will smile at you while ordering a drone strike that takes out your family. An absolute scumbag but one deemed necessary to win this supposed war, which then brings in Benicio del Toro’s Alejandro, who says so much by not emoting much. Very much a character who no longer contains a heart and simply exists for one objective as revealed later in the plot. Benicio maintains this menacing persona throughout making him such a captivating figure as he becomes much more important than you could ever imagine. 

In no way a pleasant or enjoyable watch in regard to your feelings, Sicario delivers in exuding pure excellence as a film in tackling this polarizing subject matter. Instead, this feature hits you with the reality of the players involved in this game and exactly what it takes in order to succeed. It serves as such a stressful experience and demonstrates Villeneuve just refuses to disappoint with the films he crafts as he continually surrounds himself with excellent talent both in front and behind the camera to make something undeniably impactful.