''Sicario'' (, Spanish for "
hitman
Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may be ...
") is a 2015 American
action thriller film
Action film is a film genre in which the protagonist is thrust into a series of events that typically involve violence and physical feats. The genre tends to feature a mostly resourceful hero struggling against incredible odds, which include life ...
directed by
Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve (; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) for Best Direction, winning for '' Maelström'' in 2001, '' Polytechnique'' in 2009, ''Incendies ...
, written by
Taylor Sheridan
Taylor Sheridan (born May 21, 1970) is an American filmmaker and actor. Sheridan portrayed David Hale (Sons of Anarchy), David Hale in the FX (TV channel), FX television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' and Danny Boyd in ''Veronica Mars'' (2005–2007 ...
and starring
Emily Blunt
Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awar ...
,
Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen A ...
, and
Josh Brolin
Joshua James Brolin (; born February 12, 1968) is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''The Goonies'' (1985), ''Mimic'' (1997), ''Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Grindhouse'' (2007), ''No Country for Old Men'' (2007), '' American Gangste ...
. The film follows a principled
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agent who is enlisted by a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal
Mexican drug cartel. ''Sicario'' was selected to compete for the
Palme d'Or
The Palme d'Or (; en, Golden Palm) is the highest prize awarded at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festival's highest prize was the Grand Prix du Fe ...
at the
2015 Cannes Film Festival
The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...
. It began a
limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the United States on September 18, 2015, followed by a nationwide release on October 2, 2015.
''Sicario'' received praise for its screenplay, direction, musical score, cinematography, and the performances of Blunt, Brolin and del Toro. The film was nominated for
Best Cinematography,
Best Original Score, and
Best Sound Editing
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awa ...
at the
88th Academy Awards
The 88th Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2015 and took place on February 28, 2016, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles, 5:30 p.m. PST. Dur ...
. It also earned BAFTA nominations for
Best Supporting Actor,
Best Cinematography, and
Best Film Music.
Its sequel, ''
Sicario: Day of the Soldado'', was released on June 29, 2018. A third film, titled ''Sicario: Capos'' is in development.
Plot
In
Chandler, Arizona
Chandler is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and a suburb in the Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). It is bordered to the north and west by Tempe, to the north by Mesa, to the west by Phoenix, to the ...
,
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
Special Agents Kate Macer and Reggie Wayne lead a raid on a
Sonora Cartel
The Sonora Cartel, also known as Caro Quintero Organization, was a Mexico based criminal cartel. Upon the cartel's disintegration, its leaders were incorporated into the Tijuana Cartel and Sinaloa Cartel.
By 2007, Sonora Cartel, Colima Cartel ...
safe house where they discover dozens of decaying corpses hidden in the walls. Outside, an explosive
booby trap
A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...
kills two police officers. Following the raid, Kate is recommended for and joins a
Joint Task Force overseen by
CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
operative Matt Graver and the secretive Alejandro Gillick. Their mission is to apprehend Sonora lieutenant Manuel DÃaz.
The team, which includes
Delta Force
The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment–Delta (1st SFOD-D), referred to variously as Delta Force, Combat Applications Group (CAG), Army Compartmented Elements (ACE), "The Unit", or within Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), Task Fo ...
operators,
U.S. Marshals
The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The USMS is a bureau within the U.S. Department of Justice, operating under the direction of the Attorney General, but serves as the enforce ...
, and CIA personnel, travels to
Juárez, Mexico to
extradite
Extradition is an action wherein one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, over to the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...
DÃaz's brother, Guillermo. While crossing the
El Paso–Juárez
El Paso–Juárez, also known as Juárez–El Paso, the Borderplex or Paso del Norte, is a transborder agglomeration, on the border between Mexico and the United States. The region is centered on two large cities: Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexic ...
border, the team is ambushed by cartel hitmen who Delta Force swiftly kills. During the gunfight, Kate is forced to kill a
Federale and is left visibly disturbed by the violence. Back in the U.S., Alejandro tortures Guillermo and learns that the cartel uses a tunnel near
Nogales, Sonora
Heroica Nogales (), more commonly known as Nogales, is a city and the county seat of the Municipality of Nogales. It is located on the northern border of the Mexican state of Sonora. The city is abutted on its north by the city of Nogales, Arizo ...
to
smuggle drugs. Meanwhile, Kate confronts Matt, who reveals that the real mission is to disrupt DÃaz's drug operations so he will lead them to his boss,
drug lord
A drug lord, drug baron, kingpin or narcotrafficker is a high-ranking crime boss who controls a sizable network of people involved in the illegal drug trade. Such figures are often difficult to bring to justice, as they are normally not directly ...
Fausto Alarcón. Unnerved, Kate asks Reggie to join her for support.
The task force raids a bank used to
launder DÃaz's money. After finding financial evidence, Kate and Reggie want to start a legal case against DÃaz but are ordered to stand down to avoid jeopardizing the operation. At a bar, Reggie introduces Kate to Ted, a local police officer. Kate and Ted become intimate at her apartment, but she realizes Ted is working with the cartel. In the ensuing struggle, Ted strangles Kate before Alejandro appears and subdues him. Alejandro and Matt reveal they used her as bait, knowing the cartel would target her after seeing her face on the bank's
CCTV
Closed-circuit television (CCTV), also known as video surveillance, is the use of video cameras to transmit a signal to a specific place, on a limited set of monitors. It differs from broadcast television in that the signal is not openly t ...
. Alejandro and Matt brutally beat Ted to coerce him into revealing the names of other officers working for DÃaz.
After the team learns that DÃaz has been recalled to Mexico, they prepare to raid the tunnel near Nogales. Matt reveals to Kate and Reggie that their involvement is a
technical necessity as the CIA is not allowed to operate alone within US borders. An angered Reggie tells Kate they should leave, but she insists on staying to learn about the mission's true purpose. As a gunfight with the cartel begins, Kate follows Alejandro into Mexico. She sees him abduct Silvio, a
corrupt Sonora police officer working as one of DÃaz's
drug mules
A mule or courier is someone who personally smuggles contraband across a border (as opposed to sending by mail, etc.) for a smuggling organization. The organizers employ mules to reduce the risk of getting caught themselves. Methods of smuggling ...
. Kate attempts to arrest Alejandro, but he shoots her in her
Kevlar
Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...
vest before driving away with Silvio at gunpoint. On the U.S. side of the border, Kate confronts Matt, who explains the mission is part of a broader operation to consolidate the cartels into a single entity that the U.S. can more easily control. Alejandro, who previously worked for the
MedellÃn Cartel
The MedellÃn Cartel ( es, Cartel de MedellÃn) was a powerful and highly organized Colombian drug cartel and terrorist organization originating in the city of MedellÃn, Colombia that was founded and led by Pablo Escobar. It is often considered ...
in
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, was hired to assassinate Alarcón, the man responsible for ordering the murder of Alejandro's wife and daughter when he was a prosecutor in Juárez. Alejandro kills Silvio after he stops DÃaz's vehicle and forces DÃaz to drive to Alarcón's estate. On arrival, he quickly kills DÃaz, Alarcón's guards, his wife, two sons, and Alarcón.
The next day, Alejandro appears in Kate's apartment and forces her at gunpoint to sign a statement attesting that the entire operation was legal. As he leaves, she aims her pistol at him and Alejandro looks to her with acceptance, but she cannot bring herself to pull the trigger. In Nogales, Silvio's widow watches her son's football game, which is briefly interrupted by the sound of distant gunfire.
Cast
Production
In December 2013, it was announced that
Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve (; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) for Best Direction, winning for '' Maelström'' in 2001, '' Polytechnique'' in 2009, ''Incendies ...
would direct a Mexican border drama, ''Sicario'', from a screenplay by
Taylor Sheridan
Taylor Sheridan (born May 21, 1970) is an American filmmaker and actor. Sheridan portrayed David Hale (Sons of Anarchy), David Hale in the FX (TV channel), FX television series ''Sons of Anarchy'' and Danny Boyd in ''Veronica Mars'' (2005–2007 ...
. It is the first installment in Sheridan's neo-western trilogy exploring crime on "the modern-day American frontier". Black Label Media financed and co-produced with
Thunder Road Pictures
Thunder Road Films is a film and television financing and production company founded by Basil Iwanyk. It is based in Santa Monica, California.
Management
Producer Basil Iwanyk founded the film and television financing and production company ' ...
.
Basil Iwanyk produced the film along with Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill, and
Thad Luckinbill
Thaddeus Rowe Luckinbill (born April 24, 1975) is an American actor and producer best known for playing J.T. Hellstrom on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', from August 1999 to November 2010. He reprised the role of J.T. in Dece ...
.
Emily Blunt
Emily Olivia Leah Blunt (born 23 February 1983) is a British actress. She is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for three British Academy Film Awar ...
became involved with the film in April 2014,
[ shortly followed by ]Benicio del Toro
Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer. He has garnered critical acclaim and numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, two Screen A ...
. Jon Bernthal
Jonathan Edward Bernthal (; born September 20, 1976) is an American actor.
Beginning his career in the early 2000s, he came to prominence for portraying Shane Walsh on the AMC horror series '' The Walking Dead'' (2010–2012; 2018), where ...
and Josh Brolin
Joshua James Brolin (; born February 12, 1968) is an American actor. He has appeared in films such as ''The Goonies'' (1985), ''Mimic'' (1997), ''Hollow Man'' (2000), ''Grindhouse'' (2007), ''No Country for Old Men'' (2007), '' American Gangste ...
joined the film in May, and cinematographer Roger Deakins
Sir Roger Alexander Deakins (born 24 May 1949) is an English cinematographer, best known for his collaborations with directors the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes and Denis Villeneuve. Deakins has been admitted to both the British Society of Cinema ...
was also hired. Daniel Kaluuya
Daniel Kaluuya (; born 24 February 1989) is a British actor. Prominent both on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and nomin ...
, Maximiliano Hernández
Maximiliano Hernández (born September 12, 1973) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying Agent Jasper Sitwell in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and FBI Agent Chris Amador in the first season of ''The Americans''.
Early life
A nati ...
, and Jeffrey Donovan
Jeffrey Donovan (born May 11, 1968) is an American actor. He played Michael Westen in the television series ''Burn Notice'', and appeared in films such as '' Hitch'', '' Believe in Me'', '' Changeling'', and ''Come Early Morning''. He played Ro ...
were then cast, and Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jóhann Gunnar Jóhannsson (; 19 September 1969 – 9 February 2018) was an Icelandic composer who wrote music for a wide array of media including theatre, dance, television, and film. His work is stylised by its blending of traditional orchest ...
was hired to compose the film's musical score in August 2014.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...
began on June 30, 2014, in Albuquerque
Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding in ...
, New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
.
Music
Jóhann Jóhannsson was selected to write and compose the score for the film, making ''Sicario'' his second collaboration with director Denis Villeneuve.
Release
In May 2014, Lionsgate
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian-American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquartered ...
acquired the U.S. rights to the film, while Lionsgate International handled the foreign sales with Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
's Buena Vista International
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It ha ...
distributing the movie in Russia as the first film in an output deal with Lionsgate. On February 23, 2015, Lionsgate set the film for a limited release
__FORCETOC__
Limited theatrical release is a film distribution strategy of releasing a new film in a few theaters across a country, typically art house theaters in major metropolitan markets. Since 1994, a limited theatrical release in the Unite ...
in the United States on September 18, 2015, and a wide release on October 2, 2015. The film had its world premiere at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival
The 68th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 24 May 2015. Joel and Ethan Coen were the Presidents of the Jury for the main competition. It was the first time that two people chaired the jury. Since the Coen brothers each received a separate ...
on May 19, 2015. It was then selected to be shown in the Special Presentations section of the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
The 40th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 10 to 20 September 2015. On 28 July 2015 the first wave of films to be screened at the Festival was announced. Jean-Marc Vallée's ''Demolition'' starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Naom ...
on September 11, 2015.
Home media
''Sicario'' was released on Blu-ray and DVD on January 5, 2016, and on 4K UHD Blu-ray on March 1, 2016.
Reception
Box office
''Sicario'' grossed $46.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $38 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $84.9 million, against a production budget of $30 million.
Released alongside '' The Martian'' and '' The Walk'', ''Sicario'' was projected to make $8–10 million in its wide release opening weekend. On its first day, the film grossed $4.3 million. In its opening weekend, it grossed $12.1 million, exceeding expectations, and finished behind ''The Martian'' and ''Hotel Transylvania 2
''Hotel Transylvania 2'' is a 2015 American computer-animated monster comedy film directed by Genndy Tartakovsky, written by Robert Smigel and Adam Sandler, and it is the second installment in the ''Hotel Transylvania'' franchise and the sequ ...
''. In the second weekend the film made $7.6 million, dropping 38% and finishing fifth.
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, the film has an approval rating of 92% based on 280 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Led by outstanding work from Emily Blunt and Benicio del Toro, ''Sicario'' is a taut, tightly wound thriller with much more on its mind than attention-getting set pieces." On Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
, the film has a weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 82 out of 100, based on 48 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.
Richard Roeper
Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American columnist and film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times''. He co-hosted the television series '' At the Movies'' with Roger Ebert from 2000 to 2008, serving as the late Gene Siskel's success ...
gave the film an A, calling it one of the year's best, and applauded del Toro's performance, saying: "...then there's del Toro, who lurks about the fringes of the action for most of the story, and then springs into action in a handful of scenes in a variety of ways that will leave you shaken—and grateful to have seen such beautifully dark work." Dan Jolin from ''Empire
An empire is a "political unit" made up of several territories and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the empire (sometimes referred to as the metropole) ex ...
'' magazine gave the film 5 stars, calling it "a beautifully murky, hard-edged thriller. Quite simply, one of the best films of the year."
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire''.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educated at Haberdashers ...
of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' praised the acting of Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin. He stated that although her character Kate Macer was implausible, Emily Blunt "brazens out any possible absurdity with great acting focus and front". Chris Ryan of ''Grantland
''Grantland'' was a sports and pop-culture blog owned and operated by ESPN. The blog was started in 2011 by veteran writer and sports journalist Bill Simmons, who remained as editor-in-chief until May 2015. ''Grantland'' was named after famed ...
'' compared ''Sicario'' with the 1979 film ''Apocalypse Now
''Apocalypse Now'' is a 1979 American epic war film produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The screenplay, co-written by Coppola, John Milius and Michael Herr, is loosely based on the 1899 novella ''Heart of Darkness'' by Joseph Conr ...
'' directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five A ...
, noting an analogy between the former's themes with respect to the Mexican Drug War and the latter's with respect to the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
. He also stated that the characters Alejandro Gillick and Matt Graver in ''Sicario'' resemble those of Colonel Walter E. Kurtz and Lieutenant Colonel William Kilgore, respectively, from ''Apocalypse Now''.
Mark Kermode
Mark James Patrick Kermode (, ; ; born 2 July 1963) is an English film critic, musician, radio presenter, television presenter and podcaster. He is the chief film critic for ''The Observer'', contributes to the magazine ''Sight & Sound'', prese ...
said, "What makes this work is that Emily Blunt is terrific, and Benicio del Toro has this eye-catching appearance as a riddle and an enigma... and that the film is very, very well directed."
Controversy
Before the film's release, the mayor of Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez ( ; ''Juarez City''. ) is the most populous city in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. It is commonly referred to as Juárez and was known as El Paso del Norte (''The Pass of the North'') until 1888. Juárez is the seat of the Juà ...
, Enrique Serrano Escobar, urged citizens to boycott it, believing the film presented a false and negative image of the city. He said the violence depicted in the film was accurate until about 2010, and that the city had since made progress in restoring peace.
Accolades
Among other accolades, the film received three Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
nominations, for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing
This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow List of film awards, film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards.
Best Actor/Best Actress
*See Best Actor#Film awa ...
.
Themes
Director Denis Villeneuve said the film was indeed conceived at the height of the violence in Juárez in 2010. According to Sebastian Rotella
Sebastian Rotella is an American foreign correspondent, investigative journalist, and novelist.
Biography
Rotella was born in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated from the University of Michigan. While at the University of Michigan, he won four Hop ...
, an American foreign correspondent and investigative journalist
Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, such as serious crimes, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years rese ...
, ''Sicario'' examines many aspects of the U.S. War on Drugs
The war on drugs is a Globalization, global campaign, led by the United States federal government, of prohibition of drugs, drug prohibition, military aid, and military intervention, with the aim of reducing the illegal drug trade in the Unite ...
against, most generally, drug cartels
A drug cartel is any criminal organization with the intention of supplying drug trafficking operations. They range from loosely managed agreements among various drug traffickers to formalized commercial enterprises. The term was applied when the l ...
in Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, Central
Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object.
Central may also refer to:
Directions and generalised locations
* Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...
, and South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. He noted that the illegal drug trafficking situation in Mexico has remained largely stagnant in the two decades prior to the film's release and that the film asserts that the American War on Drugs is "turning us into the very monsters we are trying to defeat." Rotella asserted that progress has been made in Mexico, and expressed qualms over the depiction of the film's extralegal "black ops
A black operation or black op is a covert or clandestine operation by a government agency, a military unit or a paramilitary organization; it can include activities by private companies or groups. Key features of a black operation are that it i ...
campaign", relative to his experience that most U.S. operations resulted in the legal arrest and prosecution of drug lords.
Sequels
Lionsgate commissioned a sequel centering on del Toro's character, subtitled ''Soldado''. The project was overseen by writer Taylor Sheridan. In April 2016, producers Molly Smith and Trent Luckinbill said del Toro and Brolin would return. In June 2016, Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima
Stefano Sollima (born 4 May 1966) is an Italian director and screenwriter.
He is best known for his gritty crime-drama films such as ''ACAB – All Cops Are Bastards'' (2012), ''Suburra'' (2015), and '' Sicario: Day of the Soldado'' (2018), as w ...
was hired to direct, with Villeneuve no longer available due to scheduling conflicts. Principal photography began on November 8, 2016 in New Mexico. '' Sicario: Day of the Soldado'' was released in the United States on June 29, 2018 to generally positive reviews.
A third film, titled ''Sicario: Capos'', was announced prior to release of the second film, and as of February 2021, producer Molly Smith
Molly Smith is an American theatre director and the artistic director of Arena Stage in Washington, D.C. She was formerly artistic director of the Perseverance Theatre in Juneau, Alaska, which she founded in 1979 and led until 1998.
Biography
S ...
said it was still in development.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sicario
2015 films
2015 action thriller films
2015 crime drama films
2015 crime thriller films
2010s English-language films
American action thriller films
American crime drama films
American crime thriller films
American mystery films
Black Label Media films
Films about the Central Intelligence Agency
Films about Delta Force
Films about drugs
Films about the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Films about Mexican drug cartels
Films directed by Denis Villeneuve
Films produced by Basil Iwanyk
Films scored by Jóhann Jóhannsson
Films set in Mexico
Films set in Texas
Films set in New Mexico
Films set in Arizona
Films shot in New Mexico
Films with screenplays by Taylor Sheridan
Lionsgate films
Sicario (film series)
Thunder Road Films films
2010s American films
2010s Mexican films