Sicario (2015, dir. Denis Villeneuve)

I missed "Sicario" in its initial run in my local theater.  Luckily, I found a screening in a city half and hour away in a little 40-seat theatre whose walls were so thin you could hear the movie in the adjacent room playing quite clearly.  That didn't deter from my enjoyment of this dark thriller from director Denis Villeneuve.

Emily Blunt plays Kate Macer, an FBI agent who is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs in the vicinity of the border between the U.S. and Mexico.  I've enjoyed Blunt's performances in previous films, specifically the Tom Cruise vehicle "Edge of Tomorrow" and she embraces this role as Macer with a mixture of vulnerability and vitriol in a way that makes her character sympathetic and charismatic.  Her moral compass is put to a test in this film and she does her best to maintain a sense of courageous righteousness in the face of unspeakable acts of law-bending and violence.

Benicio Del Toro has rarely been stronger.  He plays a character whose complex, conflicting poles of morality and treachery are fueled by the tragic fate of his family in the past.  Josh Brolin is also good as an unwavering CIA operative.

The film does a great job of painting a visceral portrait of the violent climate in Mexico and around its border with the U.S.  The drug war is so rampant you get the frustrated sense that it can never be brought under control.  There is a convoluted, twisted nature to the film's portrayal of the intricacies of power structures in the drug cartel that can be disorienting but compelling. 

This is one of the best films I've seen in 2015.  It will challenge you and hold your interest.