Sicario review

Title: Sicario
Director: Dennis Villeneuve
Cast: Emily Blunt
          Josh Brolin
          Benecio Del Toro
          Jon Bernthal
Certificate: 15
Run time: 121 Minutes

For anyone who had seen any of director Dennis Villeneuve's previous films, including 2013's excellent thriller Prisoners or his mind bending follow up feature Enemy, you should know by now that he is a director who revels in blurring the lines of moral ambiguity, an aspect to his films that is ever present in his latest feature.

Emily Blunt stars as idealistic FBI agent Kate Macy who is dragged into the escalating border war between the US and the Mexican Cartel after a horrific discovery during a raid. Blunt's performance is nothing short of excellent as her character becomes more paranoid and vulnerable as the story progresses and the line separating the enemy from the allies is eradicated.

Helped (although it's not as if she needs it) by a stellar supporting cast, Benicio Del Toro and Josh Brolin also bring to the film two of the most captivating and ruthless performances I've seen all year. Especially Del Toro who plays the ever enigmatic and hard edged (yet softly spoken, creating a truly intimidating mix) Alejandro. A man who "goes where he is sent". It is this character that adds to the ambiguity to the morals of the film, as revelatons and back stories become apparent and the true motivations of the characters are brought to light.

A sort of love child between David Fincher and Christopher Nolan, Villeneuve's films always look beautiful whilsy utilising a dark and dread filled score mixed with an equally horrid story. Villeneuve reunites once again with cinematographer Roger Deakins (who he had previously worked with on Prisoners). Deakins' cinematography looks like he had taken inspiration from his previous work in giving us a film that looks reminiscent of a mix and match of Prisoners, Skyfall and No Country for Old Men.

Deakins' cinematography is matched in tone by a looming score from the Theory of Everything's Johan Johannsenn. The score gives the film an omnipresent feeling of danger and unpredictability, perfectly encapsulating the dread and violent nature of the world these characters live in. In result Sicario is a truly thrilling edge of your seat thriller that doesn't let up and is anchored by three fantastic lead performances.

9/10