A line of black SUVs streak across a rugged southwestern landscape. The rough looking men inside the vehicles hold assault rifles, ready for violence as they weave in and out of traffic. This is one of many stark images from director Denis Villeneuve’s new drug war fable, “Sicario.”
The film stars Emily Blunt, a relatively straight-shooting FBI agent who runs a hostage recovery team. After discovering a house full of bodies on a raid, she is drawn into a series of shady operations on the U.S./Mexico border.
Villeneuve’s films usually have a muted, everyday sort of tension to them that's very appealing. “Sicario” takes a different approach by emphasizing mysterious external forces that intertwine conflict and violence into people's lives. This is a complex look at the war on drugs that goes beyond the ”good guy versus bad guy” street crime that we and Blunt’s character are familiar with, the conflict is more abstract and political.
The plot is mostly an ambiguous push-and-pull conflict with an even more ambiguous drug cartel. This conflict is instigated by two morally ambivalent Department of Justice advisors played by Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin.
The actors of “Sicario” all flowed smoothly into their roles, resulting in a good performance. Del Toro in particular gives a creepy performance, though it is low key. While Kate Macer (Blunt) is underutilized in the plot as just a tag along, Blunt excellently gives the subtle reactive performance of someone who is wrapped up in events beyond their control and unsure how to proceed. Her interpretation of this role fits well into the movie’s structure.
Almost everyone in “Sicario” has ulterior motives, and the film maintains a solid level of tension throughout by never making it clear who our protagonist can trust.
Not only do the actors portray their roles well, the movie itself is beautifully photographed. The immaculately composed aerial shots of the desert terrain in particular give the film a rugged sense of mystery. Cinematographer Roger Deakins will often linger on an abstract landscape, disorienting the audience before revealing the subject. There are also several great examples of his signature high contrast imagery and color. The climax of the film, which involves a gunfight in and around a border tunnel, is particularly effective and claustrophobic.
“Sicario” is about the struggle between morally ambiguous powers vying for control, but Villeneuve never loses sight of the human motivation that ultimately drives the conflict. The film is a tense film portrayed well that gives an all too salient look at the border region.
Nathan Reynolds is a freelance reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @yayap001.
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