Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Emily Blunt,  Josh Brolin,  Benicio Del Toro,  Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan,  Victor Garber,  Raoul Trujillo,  Maximiliano Hernández,  Lora Martinez-Cunningham,  Daniel Kaluuya,  Edgar Arreola
Rating: 15
Running Time: 121 mins
Release Date: November 6th, 2015

Order – the balance of power – often overshadows the moral triumph of ‘justice’. This is the central theme of Denis Villeneuve’s third mainstream feature, SICARIO. Political realism frames the drug circulation at the US-Mexican border. All sides attempt to confine chaos, partition it into de-civilised zones resembling post-apocalyptic fallout. The city of Juarez, depicted here, isn’t that different from the Scotland of Neil Marshall’s DOOMSDAY. In SICARIO, people pay for letting their guard down in a wilderness teeming with cut throats and vagabonds.

While external threats abound, the narrative teases out internal ones with the introduction of Benico Del Toro’s shady Alejandro (His best role for a while). Kate Macy (Emily Blunt), an idealistic FBI agent, is enlisted by Matt’s (Josh Brolin) clandestine task force. Kate serves as the film’s fulcrum. At first she’s comfortably operating within a clearly demarcated moral sphere, until, utterly head spun by Alejandro’s ambiguity, and lack of mission intel, her character’s integrity is thoroughly tested. This character dynamic persists throughout the film, and Blunt just about carries it off, even though she is starved of the film’s best lines.

SICARIO’s core strength lies in its layered approach. Blunt’s character might be the centre-point of the film’s story momentum (from functional and effective swat member to existentially angst-ridden tag-along), but the uncovering of macro-political intrigue twins with the ‘revealing’ that drives the film’s character arcs. The script isn’t perfect. There is the occasional whimsy platitude and a meandering sub-plot lacking narrative focus. Writer Taylor Sheridan manages to keep things on track for the most part, however.

Villeneuve – taking a cue from his heart-wrenching PRISONERS – combines previous collaborators cinematographer Roger Deakin and composer Johann Johansson to startling effect. Johansson’s work imbues the film with a deep sense of dread and unease, while Deakin’s keen eye constantly finds new ways to present colour and imagery. Soldiers disappearing over a hill, under a polychromatic horizon being a standout shot.

Like his previous offerings, Villeneuve masters the ability to get his audience to commit to the uncanny, off-centre worlds he fashions, emphasising imagination over graphic illustration. Villeneuve directs the action scenes in a similar vein to Eastwood. Understated, realistic gun battles resist the temptation of stretching the plausibility of the mortality of ‘heroes’. This is a refreshing alternative to action-thrillers that err on the side of fantastical.

SICARIO ends on a strong note, bringing the closure of the mission to a satisfying climax. In the grand scheme of things, battlefield operations are ongoing. There is no decisive conclusion to this cross-continent drug war. Corrupt affairs are kept ‘in check’ within a geographically defined space, while governmental agencies and Latin American factions pragmatically grey the waters, bending the rules of conventional intervention.

Verdict

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