In preparation for this review, I looked back at my review for Prisoners, the first film I had seen from Dennis Villeneuve (who is rapidly becoming one of my favorite directors), and I was struck by how similar I felt about the themes of both movies, reflections on the consequences of morally questionable actions when you are reasonably sure about the reasons for those actions. If it's possible, Sicario is even darker than its little brother in terms of scope and tone and took me to very unpleasant places. It is also disturbingly and unflinchingly accurate in its depiction of the drug war raging on our border.
The movie opens up in a small town outside Phoenix, where FBI Special Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) is on a team to investigate a kidnapping. After a brief shootout and bombing, it is discovered there are 42 bodies wrapped up in the house's walls. She is then selected to be part of a special task force to go after the drug lords behind it. She agrees, and thus becomes our eyes and moral center for much of the rest of the film. Throughout the movie, we are then taken on a brief tour of the enormous scope of the drug war on both sides of the border in an operation that becomes increasingly dark and illegal.
It's interesting they chose a woman to be the center of this film. She unfortunately doesn't do very much but watch and become increasingly appalled at the lengths and methods the task force is running. Perhaps they chose a woman to be the antithesis of every man in the film, who, apart from her partner, are all complicitly evil at various levels? In a way, this is very effective as the film's moral ambiguity needs a moral center. This movie is being compared a lot to Steven Soderberg's multiple Oscar-winning film Traffic, not the least being their similar themes. But while Traffic was more of a wake up call based on its timeframe, this movie finds us smack dab in the middle of a war in all but name (i.e. our military fighting the drug lords). The only thing that kept me from giving this four stars is that it degenerates into a little bit of wish-fulfillment, similar to Clear and Present Danger, where we strike at drug lords, but there is no real retaliation or consequences. This smacks a little bit of unreality, but otherwise, everything leading to the climax of Sicario is dead on.
This movie took me to some very unpleasant and dark places I don't normally like to think about, which tells me just how effectively presented this material was. As good as Prisoners was as far as suspense, Sicario makes it look like a garden party. I have rarely seen such a perfect mix of music, angles and subject matter to keep the viewer totally rapt. This film never lets up the tension, and it is both disarmingly blunt in its depictions of the atrocities of the Mexican Drug War and subtle in its use of beautiful composition mixed with evil intent. Every scene is claustrophobic and suffocating, filled with low angles, low lighting and tight spaces to make you subconsciously feel trapped. As I listened to people afterward, that was the recurring element over and over again, the non-stop tension.
I have seen enough of these movies in my life and know the craft enough to know when I am being manipulated, as all movies expressly do to their audiences. So, it is a mark of excellence, to me, when I find myself really being really affected by the events I see on the screen. This movie is excellent in every way, other than it ends a little too cleanly for my taste. However, from what I have seen, there is already a sequel in the works that deals with the outcome of the events set forth in this movie, again to be directed by Villeneuve. I can only hope it is as good as this one. Be warned, this is not the normal actioneer or suspense movie. It hits really close to the bone and will disturb many who see it who are unaccustomed to real violence. There is nothing glitzy about this film. It is exciting, yes, but very cruel an unrelenting, just like its subject matter.
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