‎Sicario (2015) directed by Denis Villeneuve • Reviews, film + cast • Letterboxd

Sicario

2015 Directed by Denis Villeneuve

The border is just another line to cross.

A young female FBI agent joins a secret CIA operation to take down a Mexican cartel boss, a job that ends up pushing her ethical and moral values to the limit.

Emily Blunt Benicio del Toro Josh Brolin Victor Garber Jon Bernthal Daniel Kaluuya Jeffrey Donovan Raoul Max Trujillo Julio Cedillo Hank Rogerson Bernardo P. Saracino Maximiliano Hernández Kevin Wiggins Edgar Arreola Kim Larrichio Jesus Nevarez-Castillo Dylan Kenin Sarah Minnich Matthew Page Lora Martinez-Cunningham John Burke John Trejo Vic Browder Eb Lottimer Marty Lindsey Alex Knight Rio Alexander Eric Steinig Matthew Tompkins Show All…

121 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Mike D'Angelo ★★★★½ 35

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

83/100

Second viewing, no change. Having now professionally reviewed this film four times (for The Dissolve from Cannes, and then for the A.V. Club, the Nashville Scene, and the Las Vegas Weekly), I thought I had nothing left to say, especially since I made a point of addressing the most common criticisms. But since a bunch of folks are praising Adam Nayman's takedown for Reverse Shot, let me quickly address a few of his points.

“I have to know,” Kate tells her pal Reggie (Daniel Kaluuya), but there’s little urgency in the role or the performance—and almost none of the obsessive fervor that bled through Jessica Chastain’s porcelain features in Zero Dark Thirty.

A couple more paragraphs about Zero Dark…
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 25

91/100

Sicario, not unlike its translation into "hitman", revolves around the act of stealth and the aura of tension it creates. Denis Villeneuve, teaming up again with master DP Roger Deakins, conjures up images of supreme darkness, but the true accomplishment comes not from horror within the now but from the foreboding blare of escalating dread.

It's nothing less than a sublime concoction, but one that decays as soon as familiarity is presented. With Deakins' soul-searing cinematography, Johann Johannsson's heart-exploding score, and Villeneuve's tracking mindset of "firecracker" pops and splattering eruption; Sicario is an experience that will enthrall any fan of artfully presented gloom, but its subtext and interconnected view of political systems will be even harder to shake.

Emily…
Review by Matt Singer ★★★★ 6

Remember the scene in BOOGIE NIGHTS where Alfred Molina is randomly tossing firecrackers at Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly? SICARIO is like that scene for two straight hours with no “Sister Christian.” It is intense.

TIFF '15 Review #2: screencrush.com/sicario-review-tiff/
Review by Evan ★★★★½ 4

Sicario might mean Hitman in Mexico. But in my world, Sicario means intense as fucking shit!

Also, that night scene is the best video game movie we will ever get.
Review by gabriel guimarães ★★★★★

The best episode of Narcos I have ever seen.
Review by bree1981 ★★★★★ 8

This was absolutely epic, a lot better than I was expecting it to be, I was all set to give it 4 and a half stars then I thought, what could it have actually done any better? The answer I came to was nothing, from the first scene to the last this is a white knuckle ride full of tension and suspense, there were a few scenes where I was actually holding my breath.
Emily Blunt stars as Kate Macer, the leader of a FBI team kicking down doors in Phoenix, Arizona fighting a loosing battle against the ever expanding Mexican drug cartel's when she is manipulated into volunteering for a shadowy government task force lead by Josh Brolin's cocksure…

Recent reviews

Review by Luke Creasy ★★★

(Dir.) Denis Villeneuve creates an exceptionally well crafted film with Sicario. Whether it is in the performances, characters, or even the story and setting everything is good.

However nothing is great.

That’s where this film lacks, it feels like every film you’ve seen that’s about a cartel in Mexico. Although there were twists and turns - it just felt the same.

Overall I would recommend the film, and I did enjoy it - it just wasn’t fantastic and feels like one of the weaker additions to Denis Villeneuve’s filmography.
Review by stphnsrvn ★★★★★

Thought this will be like an average action movie, because of the hype back then.. But this is different, I feel the tension not just because of the action but because of my curiosity about the plot, it's very good.
Review by deboeldieu ★

Pretty boring and extremely predictable suspense thriller. Nothing was at stake to even create a sense of tension, which is vital to writing this genre of film.
Review by Gozu ★★½

Tolle Bilder, geiler Sound und... das war's dann eigentlich auch schon. Emily Blunt's Rolle hätte zu Beginn des Films einfach kündigen sollen. Dann wäre dem Zuschauer ihr ständiges rumgenerve erspart geblieben. Schade.
Review by ConnyKramer ★★★★½

Brutal, spannend und brutal spannend. Schicke Bilder und eine dichte, unheilvolle Soundkulisse gibts noch obendrauf.
Review by Jóckisan ★★½

Chato.
Review by Werewolf23 ★★★★

N차 관람 (극장&집)
Review by Jackson Gary ★★★½

Sicario is a solid action flick, but goes little farther than that in my book. Once it starts, it moves, and keeps that intensity for the majority of the movie. It's the third act that I feel really kind of falls short, including the ending.

None of the characters were developed too well. I hardly know anything about any of them, and that makes it a lot harder to watch.

For me, personally, when there's much more though out movies available, I'd go for those. I won't be watching the sequel.
Review by custron ★★★★★

Fuck.