Review of Sicario (2015) by Jared H — 04 Nov 2018

"Your asking me how a watch works" is what Alejando (Benicio Del Toro) says to Kate (Emily Blunt) when she asks him about the cartels in Mexico. Clockwork is a perfect analogy for the events that take place in this film because nothing is simple or clear cut, yet everything is connected. Denis Villeneuve the director does a fantastic job of pulling the viewer in and painting a vivid picture of life on the U.S. Mexico border.

Sicario is a gritty suspense filled action film that doesn't sugarcoat much. The film itself is shot almost like a documentary in a sense because there is nothing very dramatic or far fetched about the storyline itself. One might say it almost feels like an AE special about the cartels and law enforcement featuring A-list actors Benicio Del Toro, Emily Blunt, and Josh Brolin. Kate, played by Emily Blunt, is the main character of the film and Cinematographer Roger Deakins and Writer Taylor Sheridan do a brilliant job of putting us in her shoes.

Kate is appropriately the main character because she is a textbook FBI agent who always seeks justice but never likes to stray from the rule of law. The film quickly takes us into a world that couldn't be further from the rule of law when Emily Blunt's character agrees to join a task force to dismantle a cartel. We follow Kate's character as they venture into Mexico, to the lion's den that is cartel territory.

Roger Deakins gives us plenty of aerial and panned out shots of the grim and unforgiving terrain of Mexico and the Southwestern United States. Overall the Cinemaphotography feels organic and authentic to the world the story takes place in. Character scenes are shot up close and personal so the viewer sees, hears, and feels every piece of dialogue and emotion. The emotional acting of our main character Kate can be felt at every twist and turn and reaches a pinnacle when she realizes some of Alejandro and Matt's ulterior motives. Kate then faces some hard moral dilemmas that might cost the agent her life.

Sicario is a must see, and begs to be viewed a second time to be properly understood. Gripping and suspenseful with no happy ending, this film is not for the faint of heart. Alejandro sums of the film perfectly in the end when he says, "This is the land of wolves now".