Sicario (Spanish for "hitman") follows Kate Macer (Emily Blunt), an FBI woman that volunteers for a Department of Defense task force looking to bring down men responsible for violence on the US side of the border. But Sicario is not really about Macer. We follow her, but it's really about the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).
There's a lot to like here. The cast, led by Blunt, Del Toro, and Josh Brolin, are uniformly strong. Often I forgot I was watching actors, and instead saw the confused Macer, all-knowing Alejandro, and Brolin's casual Matt Graver. These people felt real, and it's a credit to Taylor Sheridan's script that informs about the war on drugs first, and entertains second.
Is Sicario confusing? You bet it is. We can easily relate to Macer because we learn what is going on with her. Especially in the first half, many scenes happen and are explained later. Again, it's short on hand-holding. But it makes Sicario rewarding too. I'm glad Villeneuve found a good halfway between obviousness (which Sicario could have easily been) and impossibility (which made his last film, the 90-minute Enemy a slog). You may not like the movie much at first, but it's undeniably haunting. In the moment it's thrilling, but in retrospect, it's thoughtful too. There were many points throughout the film where I could feel my palms sweating.
I can't not mention Roger Deakins' outstanding cinematography, though. Sicario's violence can make it a tough watch sometimes, but it's made easier by what Deakins does here. Sicario looks incredibly real, especially at night. Nothing looks artificially pretty, which makes it beautiful.
You may leave Sicario with more questions than answers, but that's the point. Early on, Alejandro says to Macer "Nothing will make sense to your American ears." I'm just glad at least some of it did.
8/10
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