Worthy of several Academy Awards

Rating: Null/10 (10 October 2015)

If you know nothing at all about this film, then the enigmatic title is hardly going to be a draw (in the opening moments, it is explained as Spanish cartel slang for hit-man). But the promotion for the movie puts British actress Emily Blunt - playing FBI agent Kate Macer - as the central attraction and she gives a terrific performance as someone tough and brave, but vulnerable and principled. It's good to see her being used more in action roles, following the success of "Edge Of Tomorrow". However, although Blunt gets top billing, Josh Brolin as an unorthodox CIA agent and Benicio Del Toro as a Columbian adviser on the drugs trade both offer superb support roles.
This immensely stylish thriller is wonderfully crafted by (first time) Texan-born screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, Oscar-nominated, Quebec-born director Denis Villeneuve and (long-time) British cinematographer Roger Deakins. From the very opening, we have tense music and an action sequence that sets the tone for the whole movie. For quite some time, Kate - and the viewer - have little idea what's really going on, but plot-wise things gradually become clearer, while the moral ambiguity of the whole operation is never resolved. As with the film "Traffic" (which also starred Del Toro), this is all about American law enforcement agencies efforts to contain - if not combat - the smuggling of drugs in the face of widespread corruption and violence.
In another recent film "Good Kill", a policeman asks a member of the military how the war on terror is going and receives the sardonic response that it's going as well as the war on drugs. At the conclusion of this thoroughly absorbing and hard-hitting film, you won't disagree.