Sicario

2015 Directed by Denis Villeneuve

The border is just another line to cross.

An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

Emily Blunt Benicio del Toro Josh Brolin Daniel Kaluuya Victor Garber Jon Bernthal 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…

Alternative Titles

Borderline, Sicario the Mexican Hitman, 시카리오, Sicario 1, 시카리오-암살자의 도시

crime thriller action

122 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 Erik Nordgren ★★★★★ 5

god said let there be light and roger deakins said wait for my cue
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 brat pitt ★★★½ 5

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

ok i'm sorry but one of my least favorite tropes in the whole world is the Woman Who Holds a Man at Gunpoint But Can't Bring Herself to Shoot Him so She Slowly Lowers Her Gun and He Walks Away ..
#LetHerShoot
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 gabriel guimarães? ★★★★★ 1

The best episode of Narcos I have ever seen.
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 Amy Andrews ★★★★½ 2

A collection of real time thoughts:
~ I totes know all about this, I've seen Narcos.
~ Well, season one of Narcos anyway...
~ Damn less that two minutes in and this cinematography is already SICK.
~ Oh shit this is gonna be good.
~ Emily Blunt in uniform makes me feel things.
~ This is not my dream job.
~ INAPPROPRIATE FLIP FLOPS ALERT.
~ The least romantic surprise trip to Mexico ever.
~ Look at all these lads with their lads banter.
~ This cinematography though.
~ Am I supposed to be suspicious of Benicio del Toro?
~ Blunt is about to be extra woke.
~ Wow, I can't wait for Trump's big old wall to come down…
Review by davidehrlich ★★★ 12

as violent, horrifying, and unfocused as the drug war itself. this is muscular filmmaking from the first frame (and man is that prologue ghastly, even for a HELI veteran such as myself), and the runaround storytelling is obviously part of the idea here... getting a clear view of the drug war is like trying to hold water in the palm of your hand, and it ain't subtle...
but DV only has one instrument: a hammer, and that JJ score is in a pissing contest with Hans Zimmer. throw in Brolin's smug spook charm to soften things up a bit and you've got yourself a real hazy border between a wake-up call narrative and a deep need to entertain (don't even get me started on the Mexican police officer). and then Benicio Del Toro goes full Metal Gear Solid and... yeah, it's potent, but it ain't great.
#LegalizeBlow
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…
Review by SilentDawn ★★★★½ 11

90/100
The Police Officer subplot fails tremendously on a rewatch, mainly because Villeneuve only glances back at it when necessary, leading to a supposedly heart-wrenching conclusion that feels resoundingly false in the grand scheme of the narrative. Everything else, however, works like gangbusters. A sickly cinematic experience that surrounds the viewer in blackness before sending them right into the thick of it. Its eerie mood, showcasing a continuous contrast between horror and sunny dustiness, is petrifying from the first image of a SWAT unit lumbering in plain sight along a landscape of cul-de-sacs, leading to countless set-piece explosions of tension. Heart-stopping cinema.
Review by katie ★★★★½ 2

Denis Villeneuve just became my favorite director. The things this man can do with a camera, I will never stop praising him.

Recent reviews

Review by sebasmovie ★★★

Medellín es el fucking orden
Review by Tim Maloney ★★★★

Well...a deal with the Devil always ends with it going South, the same with replacing one evil with another evil.
Review by Farahandfilms ★★★★

Apologies to Mr Denis Villeneuve for taking so long to finally watch this movie. It’s awesome. That night scene shot was amazing.
Review by KimX

Thrilling. Tense.
Review by Just Liz ★★★★½

Praise be for Denis V ❤️
Review by morikrygel ★★★

La primera mitad está muy bien, después decrece.
En mi cabeza solo sonaba soy tu sicaria me pongo fina echale agua
Review by scott marvel ★★★½

Rewatched in 4K
Looks great, sounds amazing.
This movie is a must watch.
It’s brutal and doesn’t pull any punches on what’s really happening with the cartels in Mexico
Review by zachzobary ★★★★

Great action thriller, that’s all I’ve got to say
Review by Andrew_007 ★★★★½

Sicario is definitely my second favourite Denis Vilieneuve movie (Arrival is my first). The way he levels up the tension without large amounts of action was excellent. Throughout the whole film I felt myself on the edge of my seat even on my second viewing. Part of that was due to the directing and script but the main key element was the score. During the boarder seen when the music picks up I felt myself shaking in tension. Props to Jóhann Jóhannsson the composer who passed away a few years ago.
Another great thing I enjoyed about the film was it's sheer after effect. I feel like this is a movie I'll be thinking about for my whole life because…
Review by wootangclan ★★★★½

"Go ahead, finish your movie."
Review by Margmtz ★★★★

I didn’t want to watch this because I thought it was going the same racist thing as all Mexican narco films made by gringos but this was insaaane. So good
Review by galfo ★★★½

Well this is one depressing film.