I type this review with bitten fingernails, so tense throughout was Sicario. Idealistic FBI Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) finds herself on the frontline of the war on drugs - a spiralling vortex of violence claiming casualties on both sides of the US-Mexico border. Macer struggles to hold onto her moral compass as she is drafted into a new government task force, while her new colleagues seem to operate with a rule book of their own.
Emily Blunt is an actress who elevates any film she appears in, and so is the case with Sicario. Her role is to guide the audience as we learn along with her about the shadowy world into which she has descended. Often the task of holding the audience’s hand is a thankless one, simply reacting to events, telling us how to feel, and pointing out any important information we might have missed if we weren’t paying attention. In Sicario, Kate Macer is a believable character who never feels as though she is just along for the ride. Blunt excellently plays to both Macer’s strength and vulnerability, she is capable enough that she must be taken seriously, but she never seems invincible.
Alongside Blunt are the excellent Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro. As the enigmatic head of the task force which Macer joins, Brolin gives an almost effortless performance. Brolin’s character Matt seem impossibly cool under the pressure of tackling the hydra that is the Mexican-US drug trade, however under the surface of his laid back personality is the suggestion of malice - he is not a man you would dare cross. Del Toro is on top form as Alejandro, Matt’s right hand man. Alejandro is one of the central mysteries of the film and it is never clear whether he is friend or foe to Kate. Del Toro is brilliantly watchable, and in one scene even makes taking off his coat seem threatening. The whole cast sink into their roles and never seem to be doing anything just in the service of plot, instead they feel like real people caught up in a tense and dangerous situation. We are told at the beginning of the film that Sicario means Hitman, and every cast member puts in such a nuanced performance that they could be the hitman of the title.
While the main story has intrigue to spare, and the cast are superb, what really makes Sicario one of the best films of the year is the cinematography of Roger Deakins -frequent collaborator of the Cohen brothers and BAFTA-winning director of photography on Skyfall. Deakins is a master of the technical side of the craft but has said in interviews it is not his intention to create amazing images - but to tell a story. Perhaps Deakins is being modest, for Sicario is full of amazing images, from the a claustrophobic traffic jam to landscape shots so wide you can almost see the curvature of the Earth. However beautiful the imagery on screen, it is always in service of getting the story across to the viewer; for example a gorgeous nighttime sequence is shot from character point of view, and to make this less confusing Deakins alternated between one character seeing in night-vision and the other in thermal infrared so we can always tell who we’re watching.
Full credit should go to director Denis Villeneuve for managing to craft a film which satisfies on so many levels; as a thriller and a mystery it keeps you guessing, as a character piece it is filled with believable and compelling performances that keep the audience invested, as a piece of cinema it is a sublime marriage of image and story. Sicario never talks down to its audience nor is it inaccessible, it is that rare beast that manages to be art and entertainment, and is absolutely worth your time.
WHO: Emily Blunt, one of the best working actors today.
WHAT: The night-vision raid sequence - pure cinema.
WHY: Watching Sicario is an experience, there is action, tension, emotion, and even laughs.
WHEN: After you’ve been to the bathroom, you don’t want to miss a second.
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