Sicario

You think it's easy dealing with drug cartels? Leave it to director Denis Villeneuve and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan to prove you wrong with Sicario. Their collaboration is one of the darkest crime films you might ever see.

The film opens with FBI Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) and her team raiding a cartel house. There are bodies stuffed inside the walls, one of which is attached to an explosive booby-trap. The trap leaves two officers dead and Kate with a score to settle. Her boss, Mr. Jennings (Victor Garber), transfers her to a DOD team in El Paso headed by Agent Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and Colombian Operative Alejandro (Benicio del Toro).

Their mission, which they chose to accept, is to track down Cartel Kingpin Manuel Diaz (Bernardo P. Saracino) and his boss, Fausto Alarcon (Julio Cedillo). Their journey takes them across the border to Juarez, Mexico and back again. Kate assumes the operation will be simply by-the-book. Naturally, she's unnerved by Matt and Alejandro's unethical tactics. They say it's for a good cause, but Kate's not sure, especially after she hears what cause it is.

The film hits the ground-running with Jóhann Jóhannsson's creepy, booming score playing over studio logos. Jóhannsson, and editor Joe Walker, build up the uneasiness when the film begins proper, up to when the FBI comes knocking. Their work continues when the agents fight the cartel henchmen. The sound designers and cinematographer Roger Deakins add to the film's tense atmosphere.

What about the people in the story? The highlight of Sicario is Benicio del Toro as Alejandro. He barely speaks, but his brutal interrogation tactics get to the point. His calm demeanor barely wavers. He might be an awesome character in another movie, but here, he's unpredictable and frightening. The cartel crooks let their brutality speak for them. The Federal higher-ups, including Matt, aren't that nice. And Kate just keeps getting stonewalled at every turn.

Sicario is a film some people might want to see just once, while others won't want to see at all. I'd be fine with seeing it again under different circumstances. That is, if I'm in the mood for a pitch black, tense crime thriller where the lawful break the law to uphold it. And that's the kind of mood you'll have to be in to withstand this movie, or even its first scene.