Sicario (the Spanish word for hitman), the first English-language film by French Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, landed like a hand grenade in a festival that had dropped down a pace or two after the explosive Fury Road. Starring Emily Blunt, this gripping narco-thriller plays out like a mix of Oliver Stone’s Salvador with a dash of Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic, but with a voice and style all of its own. Shot by Coens collaborator Roger Deakins, Sicario may at least be looking at a technical prize come the awards ceremony on Sunday if the brothers aren’t too concerned by accusations of favouritism.
Emily Blunt is the ostensible star, playing Kate Macy, an FBI kidnap-response specialist based in Arizona who is recruited by Josh Brolin’s funky CIA agent Matt to help with a special ops mission down in Mexico. Kate is concerned at first but soon agrees, believing she is helping her country in the war on drugs. Before too long, however, it becomes clear that agent Matt has a far more sinister agenda and that Kate isn’t simply valuable to the mission for her smarts and capability. She isn’t reassured by the presence of the mysterious Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) either, setting the stage for an ultra-violent battle of wits, not to mention a slew of never less than breathtaking action set-pieces.
Many critics saw the film to be reactionary and some knocked it simply for daring to be mainstream: perhaps they hadn’t seen Villeneuve’s last film, the dynamic and complex Incendies, which dealt with similar issues of war and the cycles of violence it generates. But despite the presence of Hollywood stars, this is an unusually nuanced film that not only questions the state of the world but goes an extra mile by putting a woman into what would normally be a man’s shoes.