Devil in the Details

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2019)

CONTROL. COMPROMISE. VENGEANCE.
I would credit Sicario as being one of the movies responsible for my deeply-rooted respect and admiration for the medium of film. Directed by Denis Villeneuve and acting as writer Taylor Sheridan's induction into the screenwriting business, Sicario is a tense, thought-provoking thriller that sets the audience on edge and keeps them there until the end credits begin to roll. With each re-watching of the film, one comes to appreciate Villeneuve's moviemaking on a deeper level and the faint subtleties he slips into every scene to enhance the film as a whole. The story follows FBI Agent Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) as she volunteers for a joint government task force to help bring down the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. Heading up the task force is DOD "Adviser" Matt Graves (Josh Brolin), a lifelong soldier hellbent on bringing down yet another threat to his country. Acting as Graves' shadow is the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) a seemingly reserved man of few words. Agent Macer is thrown into the world of espionage and operations that don't technically exist with both feet, serving as a conduit for the audience who have also never been privy to such things. Villeneuve takes advantage of everything from lighting to wardrobe to help subconsciously tell Sheridan's story. From lighting certain characters so that they faces are in light while others are in darkness to the last scene of the film where Macer is wearing a pure white shirt in contrast to Alejandro's dark suit the director used every opportunity to compare and contrast the characters. Emily Blunt plays Kate perfectly, a by-the-book FBI Agent thrust into a world of wolves that has no ruling law. Macer is understandably upset and thrown off balance by the constantly shifting ground beneath her feet and the audience sees the toll it takes upon the character from the dark circles beneath her eyes and picking her smoking habit up again. Both Graves and Alejandro have lived in the world of shadows for so long that they too are shadows and we see two sides of the coin in their handling of the horrors they've seen and/or perpetrated. Although the movie follows the plot through Kate's perspective, it is Benicio Del Toro's performance as Alejandro that steals the show. Taking over every scene that he is in with his intense, silent demeanor, Alejandro carries himself like a predator, always ready to pounce should the situation call for him to. Graves on the other hand, deals with the dark madness around him through humor, smiling and laughing as though he doesn't have a care in the world when in reality, lying just beneath the surface, is a predator waiting to take down its prey. Throughout the film, the musical score by Jóhann Jóhannsson enhances every emotion felt in each scene. With a steady heartbeat of drums and deep thrums of string instruments, Jóhannsson raises the tension level and sets those watching on edge as they wait to see what happens next. Each character comes into the plot with their own objectives and motivations, Kate desires to strike a blow at the cartels killing innocent people, Graves perceives a threat to the United States of America and is willing to do anything and everything to protect his country, and Alejandro wishes to avenge the deaths of his wife and daughter who were brutally slaughtered by the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel. Every step taken leading the climax of the film takes the audience down farther and farther down the very dark, malicious rabbit hole that is the drug trade. This film shows every aspect of how the destructive disease infects and destroys all those it touches and how the United States is searching for the vaccine. Villeneuve and Sheridan craft a masterful tale of the chaos that reigns along America's southern border and all of those it affects, showing that in the face of lawless chaos and evil intentions, one must fight fire with fire or be turned to ash.