Slow and steadily dark

Rating: 8/10 (3 October 2015)

Being familiar with Denis Villeneuve's work, I wasn't expecting an action-packed thriller but a slow, tense, mounting drama that leaves questions long after the viewing. I was not disappointed. Emily Blunt is one of my favorite actresses and her character was great. She should probably get nominated for her descent into the dark underbelly of CIA and Juarez. I also enjoy seeing both Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin in any film so their duo of CIA contractors (or whatever) was fun to see on screen. The violence starts early and I can't remember another film since Traffic that has depicted the violence of the drug war so explicitly. The extraction of the key witness and the resulting highway shoot out was intense. Jon Bernthal makes a surprising cameo,which was one of the best parts. The cinematography was beautiful, such amazing shots. However, I do think Benicio stole the show and it is more about him than Emily's character despite what I picked up from the previews. This will be in the top ten movies of the year unless some surprises. Another great part was the subplot of Silvio with Maximiliano Hernandez (who I recognized from the Marvel Univers). It really showed the drugs wars effect on families.