As film fans, there’s always a handful of films that we allow to pass us by. This usually isn’t at all indicative of their quality – sometimes, like with Sicario, we’re just a little Late To The Party.
Despite considerable hype surrounding the film, Sicario proved elusive to us here at Corner of Film. It’s a widely celebrated and multiple Oscar-nominated movie with a stellar cast, but somehow it found itself lost on our watchlist for nine years. Better late than never, as they say, particularly as a film of Sicario‘s stature doesn’t have an expiry date.
Starring Emily Blunt as FBI Special Agent Kate Mercer, the film follows a government task force brought in to take out the leader of a Mexican drug cartel. Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Daniel Kaluuya, and Jon Bernthal all feature as part of SIcario‘s ensemble cast. With a screenplay written by Taylor Sheridan and directed by Denis Villeneuve (Dune, Prisoners), the pedigree of Sicario‘s talent is abundantly clear.
The story sees Mercer become entangled with efforts to topple the Sonora Cartel after an investigation into a hostage situation uncovers dozens of corpses. Brought in to join CIA officers Matt Graver (Brolin) and Alejandro (del Toro) in the task force hunting the cartel, Mercer finds herself in a world of moral ambiguity that challenges her perceptions of what the law truly means. Despite being an action-heavy crime thriller, Sicario‘s story is also deeply layered with more cerebral moral questions, enriching the experience and earning it its impressive reputation.
Sicario Paints A Bleak Picture Of America’s War On Drugs & Crime
The way in which the film introduces the audience to both the Cartel and the associated task force is one of its smartest moves. Having an idealistic newcomer enter among the seasoned veterans of the ongoing war on drugs puts the audience in the perfect position to behold Sicario‘s story with just the right amount of horror and awe. In this, it’s a film that so slowly reveals there’s no true “good guys” to root for that it lures the audience in with its bleakness, expertly performing a moral gut-punch in its final act.
Emily Blunt is truly exceptional throughout. Much as in movies like A Quiet Place or Edge of Tomorrow, Blunt further proves her astounding acting range, perfectly plays the tough but naïve hero who serves as an unwitting patsy all along. Brolin and Kaluuya also impress in their roles, and del Toro’s familiar quiet and edgy role is employed to great effect by Villeneuve.
Sicario‘s visuals are striking, and its score perfectly accents the tone and atmosphere of the film. Other than one or two lulls in its pacing, Sicario is a tense and brilliantly presented insight into one of the world’s most fascinating ongoing conflicts. The film’s acknowledgement of wrongdoing on all sides is commendable, forcing uncomfortable questions of moral responsibility in a hostile society.
Rating: 80%
Summary: Sicario taps a rich vein of complex themes, then conceals them under a relentlessly tense action thriller that is likely to live long in the memory.
Highlight: The film’s highway shootout scene is nerve-wracking for all the right reasons, with Blunt’s performance in particular making it a powerful piece of cinema.
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