Sicario: Our Dark Pleasure

Rating: 10/10 (20 October 2015)

From director Denis Villeneuve of "Prisoners" (2013) notoriety comes an equally if not more claustrophobic and thickly tension drenched feature in 'Sicario'.
Presenting a simplistic if not often clichéd genre in a 'Tossing up the Mexican gang lords like a salad" situation, you already know (or should know) going into this movie that it's not the story your strapping yourself in for, it's the characters, performances and near perspiring atmosphere.
The first thing the film does expertly is prime the small world you and the characters are stuck in for the next two hours. The brilliantly shot cinematography and camera angles by Roger Deakins direct your vision often into impossibly tight spaces, keeping a constant pressure on your pulse points and restricting your field of view where in most movies you've come to expect more control.
Praise to Jóhann Jóhannsson and the sound editing team for delivering a deep, grinding score, roaring gunfire and a muffled almost disquieting ambiance, leaving the audience with the feeling of being unable to wash off the invisible grit creeping under the skin.
Not enough could be said for the films three leads; Emily Blunt is regal, consistent and unrelenting as her character of Kate Macer. She utilizes the best of her skills some of which were seen in last years Edge of Tomorrow. Josh Brolin's Matt Graver is the epitome of a man obsessed with the success of his ventures whether they be legal or not. He indulges in his outgoing narcissism and knows how to use his human tools, to what end this is in the film is what solidifies Brolins' on point portrayal of this character. Alejandro is someone that could have turned out very different, if not for the fact that Benicio Del Toro saw that the mysterious character needed to be set free. In the last 1/3rd of the film Del Toro mentally flips a nuclear launch switch that left myself and others trembling in the theater.
As heavy and unhappy as this film is described, in the end it is unwilling to shove any one particular ideal or point down your throat. It stays truthful to what is written in the script, not what the audience thinks it wants in the process. You want quality film- making, memorable characters, sets, script and the best performances that are surely Oscar nomination worthy, there is simply no reason you shouldn't go and see Sicario