Every once in a while something will come around in your life that feels like it was tailor-made for you. This could be a movie, a song, a piece of clothing, a car, or any other number of things. For me, that thing is a person, and that person is Denis Villeneuve, the director of Sicario. Denis first entered my life on April 10, 2023 when I watched his film Arrival for the first time. I was a late-comer to his movies, but I was instantly hooked. Everything about Arrival worked for me – the cinematography, the acting, the directing, the story, all of it – it felt like it was a movie made specially for me. I was pleased to then realize about a month later, after my first viewing of Dune, that it wasn’t just the one movie. It was all of Denis’ movies. I still have quite a few movies in his catalogue left to watch, but with every new viewing experience, I am further and further hooked on his directing.1
Sicario had been on my watchlist for quite some time, but it kept evading me as none of the streamers I subscribed to ever carried the film – until now. I finally had some time to myself and the ability to watch it for free, and boy did it exceed any expectations I could have had for it. Denis teams up with Roger Deakins once again, and if you’ve read anything on this website before, you know how huge of a fan I am of Deakins’ craft. Villeneuve also joined forces with Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson for the original score, their third such collaboration. The combination of work between these three always leads to something beautiful, and Sicario is no different.
One of the first things that stood out to me about Sicario was the look of it. Villeneuve and Deakins have relatively specific looks you can always come to expect of their work. We get the typical masterclass of cinematography from Deakins (more on that later), but it was the colors of this film that really caught my eye. Other Villeneuve films like Arrival or Prisoners have much darker, cooler color palettes to them – they are more saturated and feature more blues and greens and purples. Conversely, Sicario has a much warmer palette with more yellows and oranges heavily featured throughout. Notice how much more muted and washed out the colors are for the below shots in Sicario (first three pics) compared to the darker, saturated, cooler colors in Arrival (pics 4 and 5) and Prisoners (pic 6).
That is not to say that there aren’t any “cool” scenes within Sicario, there are plenty – it just features more staunchly bright and washed out colors of the Arizona, Texas and Mexico deserts that we’re not entirely accustomed to seeing in Villeneuve’s work.
As is becoming customary on Multiplex Confidential, we must take a few minutes to talk about the original score that Jóhann blessed us with. It is so simple, yet so incredibly important. The motif of the score is just the orchestra gliding from one note down to another – obviously there is so much more to it than that, but I’m just trying to get at the simplicity of it. There are no fanfares2 or wailing guitars3 or any overly complicated orchestrations, but that makes it that much better. The pounding drums in the background echo the sound of your heart as the convoy crosses the border into Mexico and you, along with Kate Macer, realize that this mission isn’t exactly what we were told it was going to be. It builds tension, keeps you on your toes, and has you waiting for the inevitable crescendo of both the score and the scene itself. Jóhann does such a great job of encompassing the terror and confusion of Kate Macer and the audience, while simultaneously ramping up the no-hold-barred attitudes of Alejandro and Matt Graver. It doesn’t overstay it’s welcome or unnecessarily add clutter, but it always adds instant emotion to a movie that focuses so heavily on the dehumanization aspect of the war on drugs (and war in general). It is a true travesty that we lost Jóhann at such a young age and won’t be able to hear his scores so wonderfully complement the movies he worked on anymore.
We now turn our focus to the stars of the film – Emily Blunt, Daniel Kaluuya, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Jon Bernthal. Each one of them does an incredible job with their roles, but special notice needs to be given to Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro. I noticed what seemed to be a bit of a turf war in the review section of this movie on Letterboxd, with people stating that either Blunt or del Toro deserve more attention or praise for their performance in the movie. I say, why can’t it be both? They both killed it, and both deserve equal attention, as their characters are practically the antithesis of each other, so one doesn’t really work without the other carrying their weight.
Emily Blunt’s Kate Macer acts as the moral compass throughout the entire film – she is an FBI Special Agent who leads the Hostage Rescue Team and she does everything by the book. After the opening scene, Macer is asked by one of her team members, “U.S. Attorney wants a statement. What do you want me to say to her?” to which she simply responds, “The truth.” Those two words right there not only make up the backbone of Macer’s character within the movie, but also the performance by Blunt as Kate Macer. She is in search of the truth the entire film – who was responsible for all of the bodies in that house they raided? Who are Matt Graver and Alejandro, really? Why are her and her partner (Kaluuya) being added to this task force, and what is their objective? This all culminates right before the climax of the film, where Macer tells her partner, “I need to know what they used us for.” Macer is being dragged into something she didn’t (knowingly) sign up for, but her endless pursuit of the truth won’t allow her to walk away. The combination of Taylor Sheridan’s script with Blunt’s performance allows Villeneuve to tell this story without over-saturating it with dialogue or exposition. We get everything we need from Blunt’s physical acting, along with the cinematography and directing provided by Deakins and Villeneuve.
Opposite of Kate Macer, we have Benicio del Toro’s portrayal as Alejandro, a former Mexican prosecutor whose role in this entire story is up in the air until the last third of the film. Once again, the acting performance is only made possible by the writing of Sheridan and the directing of Villeneuve – we’ve seen del Toro play this kind of character quite a few times, and it’s what he’s made a career out of.4 This time is slightly different however, because we are kept in the dark (much like Kate and Reggie) about his true intentions and his actual role in this task force until it slaps us in the face. Throughout the film, del Toro exemplifies “less is more”, while simultaneously giving us 130 cents on the dollar for every line he delivers. He creeps you out, but you also feel safer with him around. You don’t trust him at all, but you know he is essential to taking the Sonora cartel down. You love him, but you hate him; and that is where del Toro excels as an actor.
We could spend so much more time diving into all of the other facets that make this movie so incredible but for now, let’s dive into some categories!
By the Numbers
- Release date: September 18, 2015
- Budget: $30 million
- Box office: $85 million
- Run time: 121 minutes (2 hours, 1 minute)
- Letterboxd rating: 4.0 ★
- My Letterboxd rating: 5.0 ★
- Rotten Tomatoes: 92% (Certified Fresh ?)
- Accolades: 77 total nominations, 8 total wins
- 3 Academy Award nominations, 0 wins (Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing)
- Seven: This was Denis Villeneuve’s seventh feature film that he directed
Best Scene
There were some really good scenes throughout, but let’s narrow it down to just a few nominees:
- The Opening Scene: What a way to start this movie off. We are immediately thrown into an FBI raid on a cartel safe house in Arizona, where a mass of bodies are discovered hidden within the walls and crawlspace. This scene provided a great introduction into Kate and Reggie’s characters: they are consummate professionals who do things by the book. We see this (along their other morals and innocence to grisly situations) on display as they have to run out of the house and wretch due to the ghastly sight and smell of the rotting bodies.
- The Border Crossing: While the previous nominee may have introduced us to our main character, this scene introduces us to what this movie (and the mission, for Blunt’s character) is really about. This isn’t about bringing some criminals to justice or building a case; this is, as Josh Brolin’s character chummily states, about “dramatically overreacting”, and stirring the pot. Their job is to incense the cartel boss so much that he makes a mistake and shows a weakness for the US to capitalize on. This was recently described on The Big Picture (a movie podcast) as one of the best action set-pieces of the 2010s, and I’d have to agree. The action itself is intense, but it doesn’t hit the same without the tense buildup that leads up to a gunfight on foreign soil in the middle of a freeway.
- The Tunnel Raid: This won’t be the last time we discuss this scene, so I won’t dwell on it too much in this category. The real juice here is the cinematography provided by Deakins, assisted by Villeneuve’s adept directing. This scene, similar to the border crossing, relies heavily on the buildup that leads to the actual “action” within. We have perverse tension between Kate/Reggie and the Spec Ops team, leading to some infighting and arguably the most classically dramatic scene of the entire movie.
- The Ending: I won’t divulge much here, because I don’t want to spoil the movie for you if you haven’t seen it (don’t worry, everything else I’ve mentioned so far you can get from the trailer so nothing else has been spoiled), but this is one of my favorite ways to end a movie. It’s a cliffhanger, but not in the traditional sense: they leave us without resolution, but we know exactly what is going to happen; Villeneuve respects his audience enough to know that they can infer what happens next without spelling it out for us.
The winner for me is The Border Crossing – it is unmatched compared to all of the other scenes, and that is saying something, because those other scenes rock. There is just something about the way we get to this scene with Kate innocently asking, “Wait, aren’t we going to El Paso?” before we eventually see a street sign for Juárez, Mexico. The way Deakins shoots Blunt from the front, looking back with unease at where she thinks the trouble is leaving behind them, to only then look back forward and see they are completely blocked in by a traffic jam. That’s when the real trouble begins. It is a thing of beauty, of which I will definitely be rewatching on YouTube many times to come.
What’s Aged the Best
For one, the Villeneuve/Deakins/Jóhannsson combination, which we will never get to experience again. Deakins has slowed down his work as he ages, and as mentioned earlier, Jóhannsson sadly passed away in 2018. The three also worked together on Villeneuve’s 2013 film Prisoners, and they were originally collaborating together on 2017’s Blade Runner 2049, before Jóhannsson and Villeneuve mutually agreed to part ways due to creative differences. The three of them really found a groove and you could tell they had found something special between them that led to some incredible films. Their individual performances as well, with a slight emphasis on Jóhannsson’s work, have also aged terrifically. The not-so-patriotic look into what can sometimes happen behind the scenes in order to accomplish a mission has aged well too – it’s something that has become more common, but back in the 80s or 90s you would be hard pressed to find such a big movie showing the Americans being anything other than “say your prayers and eat your vitamins” Hulkamaniacs. The theatrical poster is also pretty sick.
What’s Aged the Worst
The film received a little backlash prior to release5 as the Mayor of Juárez implored citizens to boycott the film, arguing that it showed a false and negative image of the city and that they had made significant progress in restoring peace since 2010. One could argue that bureaucratic oversight hasn’t aged tremendously well either – it’s how things like this can really happen, but most American citizens just don’t know that they are actually happening.
The Jason Clarke Award (What’s Their Name Again?)
We have a three-horse race here between Victor Garber, Jeffrey Donovan, and Maximiliano Hernández. Right off the bat I am going to eliminate Jeffrey Donovan, because I couldn’t even remember what I knew him from – I just knew that I recognized his face. The whole point of this category is for it to be someone that you know as “that person from _______” and not just someone you vaguely recognize. (It was Burn Notice by the way, that’s what Jeffrey Donovan is known for). As much as I want to give this to Maximiliano (known for playing Agent Sitwell in the MCU and Chris Amador in The Americans), I have to give it to Victor Garber. Every single time I see him in anything, it’s always “hey, that’s the guy from Annie!” This one might be more of a bad look on me not remembering his name though, what with him having nearly 150 acting credits to his name along with six Emmy nominations. For whatever reason though, I just can never remember his name. Sorry Victor!
The Jack Nicholson Award (Big Impact, Small Role)
Does Daniel Kaluuya qualify for this category? Because if so, he is absolutely running away with this; I would argue that he is billed too highly and featured just a little too much to qualify, though. In that case, we are going with a solid backup in Jon Bernthal for his role as Ted. He comes in as an absolute swagger machine, buying a round for Reggie and Kate before wooing her in a matter of hours and getting the invite back to her place. We don’t get much time with him, but you absolutely remember his character, and that is in large part thanks to Bernthal’s acting.
The Roger Deakins Award (Best Cinematography)
Hello yes I would like to nominate that one scene that starts at the 0:00 mark and ends at the 2:01:00 mark for Best Cinematography? What’s that? That’s the entire length of the movie? Okay yes please, I guess I am nominating the entire movie for this category then. I’m not allowed to? Fine – I won’t even bore you with multiple nominees, because the winner here made me audibly say “Oh, wow!” as it was happening. The entire scene was discussed earlier for Best Scene, which is the Tunnel Raid. We are treated to some thermal imaging, night vision, and multiple shots in what Denis described as “deep dark.” There was little to no sunlight, and no cinematic lighting used either. We are just as much in the dark as Kate and Reggie, which is truly just a wonderful realization to have as the scene unfolds. To be specific here, I am talking about the below shot taken as the sun is setting over the desert in Nogales. It is stunning, and I love it.
Best Quote
- “Nothing will make sense to your American ears, and you will doubt everything that we do, but in the end you will understand.” – Alejandro
- “You should move to a small town where the rule of law still exists. You will not survive here. You are not a wolf. And this is the land of wolves now.” – Alejandro
- “You think the people that send you here are any different? Who do you think we learned from?” – Fausto Alarcon
- “These decisions are made far from here, by officials elected to office, not appointed to them. So, if your fear is operating out of bounds, I am telling you, you are not. The boundary’s been moved.” – Dave Jennings
- “You’re asking me how a watch works. For now, we’ll just keep an eye on the time.” – Alejandro
I told y’all – del Toro doesn’t have a ton of lines, but he’s pitching 103 mph when he does.
Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon
- Emily Blunt: 2 (Blunt appeared in Sicario with Johnny Otto, who appeared in X-Men: First Class with Kevin Bacon)
- Benicio del Toro: 2 (del Toro appeared in Avengers: Infinity War with Chris Pratt, who appeared in The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special with Kevin Bacon)
- Josh Brolin: 1 (Brolin appeared in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon)
- I checked all the major acting credits for this movie, and the highest number was two. The theory lives!
Concession Stand
This is a bit of a layered answer here…if it is your first time watching the movie, I recommend going in with nothing. You’re gonna wanna hear everything that’s being said along with hearing the incredible score and sound editing, but eating or drinking can also sometimes distract you from fully focusing on what’s happening. I say go in empty handed for the first viewing. If this is not your first time watching the movie, then I’d say have fun with it, but stick to the classics. A bag of popcorn, a glass of water or a soda, but nothing too crazy here. Even if you’ve seen Sicario already, you’re still gonna have enough times throughout where you want to fully focus and enjoy everything that’s happening on the screen. With a runtime of barely over two hours, you also won’t have enough time to make use of anything more than a light snack and maybe a drink. Stay away from the heavier snacks or meals, because there is too much going on to just be eating a burrito with tortilla chips while a gunfight is happening in the middle of a traffic jam.
Conclusion
I think this may end up being one of Denis Villeneuve’s more underrated films in his catalogue: Arrival had 18 nominations across the Academy, BAFTA, and Golden Globe awards, including Best Picture. Blade Runner 2049 had 13 nominations, including two wins each at the Oscar’s and BAFTA’s, Dune had 24 nominations, including 12 wins across the three shows, and Dune: Part Two will likely see a hefty amount of nominations and wins across the board as well. Sicario didn’t get nearly the recognition that those other films did during awards season, and it also earned significantly less at the box office – but this is what makes it such an underrated gem. It packs a strong punch, but doesn’t knock you out or knock you down too early; it takes you on a clear journey from start to finish, leaving you with a very strong aftertaste of the events that just unfolded; it pulls you in with it’s sightly cinematography and enrapturing sound design, and delights you with the performances from the actors and director alike. As long as you can handle some violence, suspense, and the constant feeling of “well I don’t love how that went down”, then this is a must watch.
- For context, I have now watched five movies directed by Denis Villeneuve, and I have given them an average rating of 4.7 stars on Letterboxd. That’s high praise. ↩︎
- Think John Williams – Star Wars, Indiana Jones, or Harry Potter, that kind of thing. ↩︎
- Think Mad Max: Fury Road ↩︎
- This is not a dig at Benicio del Toro, by the way – some people are just exceptionally talented at playing a certain kind of role, and they are able to build a really successful career off that. ↩︎
- https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/world/americas/portrayal-of-juarez-in-sicario-vexes-residents-trying-to-move-past-dark-times.html ↩︎
