Sicario (2015)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Story: Taylor Sheridan

Cast: Josh Brolin, Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro

Music: Jóhann Jóhannsson

Time: 121 minutes

Bottom-line: Superb thriller; deserved a lot more recognition

In Mexico, Sicario means hitman.

One of the splendid films that went unnoticed, Denis Villeneuve’s thriller Sicario is a story about the drug cartels in Mexico. The film stars Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro and Josh Brolin in the lead roles, with Daniel Kaluuya and Victor Garber in the supporting roles. Sicario was nominated for three Oscars: Best Score, Cinematography and Sound Editing (winning none).

 

Blunt as Kate

In Chandler, Arizona, FBI agents Kate Macer (Blunt) and Reggie Wayne (Kaluuya) lead a SWAT raid of a safe house of a Mexican drug cartel. A booby trap kills several police officers. Following this, Kate’s boss, Jennings (Garber) recommends her to a DoD-CIA joint venture – led by CIA officer Matt Graver (Brolin) – to bring down the Sonora cartel lieutenant, Diaz. Determined to find the men responsible for the Chandler incident, Kate accepts. En route to El Paso, Kate meets Matt’s partner, Alejandro Gillick (del Toro). Matt tells Kate their plan is to disrupt the drug trade to such an extent that Diaz is called back to Mexico by his boss, Fausto Alarcón. During the operation, Kate finds several suspicious incidents: Alejandro’s foggy background, the refusal for arrest warrants… but is repeatedly overruled by Matt and her boss. What is the actual mission? What is Kate’s role? And more importantly, who is doing the right thing?

 

Brolin as Matt

I’m surprised none of the actors received any Oscar nods, while all of them deserved one; del Toro did receive a BAFTA nomination though. The way he plays the shady, powerful and cunning “cop” (for lack of a better name; you don’t get to know what he actually is!), with his sudden violent outbursts, is chilling to watch; look out for the dinner table scene towards the end. Josh Brolin’s character is also full of surprises; we are first introduced to him sitting in a conference room wearing a beach shirt with bathroom slippers! Always with a wry smile and casual demeanour, we are deceived a lot when it comes to his true nature.

One main theme of Sicario is that no person is entirely good or entirely bad; every coin has two sides. This is clichéd, admittedly, but the presentation is what makes it effective. The suspense is really good, and the several exchanges between the characters are the highlights: Kate and Matt outside the tunnel, Kate and Alejandro in the climax, to name a few (Blunt’s acting is outstanding in these sequences; a pretty good choice for a female action hero I must say!). There is a lot of violence, and that coupled with Jóhannsson’s chilling score makes a gruelling watch. The cinematography is superb: the aerial shots, a few long takes, the dynamic camerawork, the greyscale and infra-red scenes are quite exciting. 

 

del Toro as Alejandro 

Sicario did not get the popularity or the awards it deserved, probably because of the not-so-famous director and crew, but boy, this is one mind-blowing thriller! The acting, cinematography, score, visuals and the craftily created characters all come together to give one of the best films of the year. Highly recommended!

My Rating: 4/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 94%