Don’t Be So Political is a monthly film series that engages with films through a political lens. Each screening is preceded by an expert Q&A. Hosted by Zach Wortzman
“Order is the best we can hope for.”
An FBI agent is recruited into the cartel war, unaware of the role she is meant to play.
Emily Blunt stars as Agent Kate Mercer, whose idealism brings her from the FBI’s kidnapping division into the complexities and moral limbo of the cartel wars. Josh Brolin supports as Matt Graver, her handler and the head honcho of the operation. The always brilliant Benecio del Toro turns as Alejandro, an extralegal actor whose own motives are used to other’s benefit.
Ten years after its release, Sicario already feels like an artefact in what has become one of the most incendiary political issues of our day. Yet, it holds the foundation of how we arrived at our present and acts as a microcosm of the effects of a unipolar system splintering into a multipolar system and showcases the chaos that so often ensues.
Director Denis Villeneuve teams up with cinematographer Roger Deakins to create a tightly paced and gorgeously shot film, their second of three films together. Johann Johannson composed the score in one his three collaborations with Villeneuve. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards and the Palme d’Or at Cannes that year. Riddled with heart-stopping set pieces and too many perfect shots to count, Sicario holds an interesting place in the interpretation of a conflict that has come to shape our politics.
