Enthralling, tense and immersive. A masterpiece.

Rating: 10/10 (25 September 2015)

Federal authorities carefully and silently approach a suburban home in Phoenix. They raid the house looking for a hostage; instead they find dozens of dead bodies packed inside the walls. This is Mexican drug cartel business, and it has now crept well over the border. Opening with this superbly crafted sequence, Sicario is an unrelenting portrayal of the seemingly unwinnable war against drugs and, more crucially, the ruthless cartel bosses who will do anything to strike fear in the people. Emily Blunt's FBI agent is our eyes and ears into this world, as she's pulled into a legally and morally cloudy task force supposedly given free reign to strike off the snake's head by any means necessary. Blunt is amazing, striking the perfect balance between the-way-it-ought-to-be idealism and the-way-it-actually-is practicality; never completely giving away which side she'll ultimately land. It's a ferociously gripping and uncompromisingly bleak story, as written by Taylor Sheridan, with Denis Villeneuve's direction raising the stakes even higher through taut, immersive and potent set pieces. There are at least three high-stakes sequences that are utterly exhilarating thanks to Villeneuve's unique vision and Roger Deakins' remarkable cinematography, yet the quieter moments are equally powerful due to a trio of scintillating performances. Along with Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro command the screen, the former as a charismatic but shady federal agent with a deep conviction, the latter as a mysterious "contractor" who is riddled with torment and anger. Sicario is a psychologically bruising film that offers no easy answers; it's also tense, enthralling and, quite simply, a masterpiece.