--- title: "Sicario: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/sicario/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/sicario" critics_score: 79 critics_reviews: 17 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Sicario (2015): what the critics said Critics' score 79 from 17 reviews: 14 positive, 3 mixed, 0 negative. Most critics greet Sicario as a tense, forceful thriller, with praise clustering around Denis Villeneuve’s control of suspense and Roger Deakins’ cinematography. The reviews repeatedly single out the carefully staged action and the atmosphere of uncertainty along the US–Mexico border, where violence is anticipated as keenly as it is felt. Emily Blunt’s combination of defiance and vulnerability earns particular praise, while Benicio Del Toro also draws strong notices for his unsettling performance. The spread runs from considerable enthusiasm to qualified approval, with even the less persuaded critics admiring the technique. The main disagreement concerns how much the film has to say about the drug war beyond its bleakness: Little White Lies finds political depth and context lacking. Time Out questions whether the tension holds and finds the nihilism self-impressed. Blunt is another point of disagreement, with The New Yorker judging her miscast where most critics find her convincing. ## Radio Times — Damon Wise Rating 5/5. The critic calls it a dark, gripping narco-thriller that brilliantly conveys paranoia through Villeneuve's direction as the FBI agent is drawn into a world of bloodshed and duplicity on the US-Mexico border. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-9kfbs2/sicario/) ## Empire — Dan Jolin Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2015. The critic calls it an entirely brilliant thriller that keeps the audience in the dark alongside Blunt’s character while delivering intense shoot-outs and interrogations. He singles out the gorgeously crepuscular cinematography by Roger Deakins and its powerful visual metaphors for praise. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/sicario-review/) ## Total Film — Matt Glasby Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 5 October 2015. The critic hails a border-line masterpiece that mixes cerebral and visceral thrills with A-game contributions from stars, director and screenwriter. He singles out one of the most exciting action sequences of the year and the film’s polygraph-test tension for particular praise. [Read the review](https://www.gamesradar.com/sicario-review/) ## Vulture Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 18 September 2015. Villeneuve delivers a stupendously unnerving descent into moral chaos and the compromises of the drug war, with praise for Blunt's reactive performance, Deakins' visuals, and the director's pained but clear-eyed gaze. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2015/09/movie-review-sicario.html) ## Screen Daily Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 19 May 2015. Festival review. Sicario is described as a low-slung, challenging and engaging film about the dirty drugs war that is very dark yet exciting, with rock-solid upscale filmmaking from Villeneuve. It highlights the strong set pieces, performances especially from Blunt defying expectations, and its awards potential. [Read the review](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/sicario-review/5087432.article) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 70/100 (inferred from the text). 14 September 2015. The film sustains anxiety through set pieces and Deakins' cinematography but feels grim and humorless, with Blunt miscast as the protagonist in a morally murky drug war story. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2015/09/21/dark-places-cinema-lane) ## Evening Standard — Charlotte O'Sullivan Fi1m's normalised score 60/100 (inferred from the text). 12 October 2015. The critic praises the shape-shifting performances, salty dialogue, gripping set-pieces and vivid Deakins cinematography but complains about the one-dimensional soundtrack, an unoriginal and morally dodgy third act, and the film’s reliance on torture. She notes the focus shifts away from the lead character. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/sicario-film-review-a-blunt-approach-to-the-war-on-drugs-a3086776.html) ## Little White Lies — Vadim Rizov Rating 4/3/3. 8 October 2015. The critic finds the film a visceral, suspenseful technical achievement but criticizes its lack of political depth or context on the war on drugs. Villeneuve's direction excels at building menace and tension through visuals and sound. [Read the review](https://lwlies.com/reviews/sicario) ## Time Out — Guy Lodge Rating 3/5. 19 May 2015. Festival review. The review praises the gripping opening and strong technique from Villeneuve and Deakins but notes the film struggles to sustain its intensity over two hours with few revelations. It is an involving, grown-up thriller whose nihilism can feel self-impressed. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/sicario) ## IndieWire — Ryan Lattanzio 17 September 2015. The review describes the film as an impeccably styled but sadistic borderlands horror, focusing on its tense portrayal of the drug war and moral ambiguities. [Read the review](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/denis-villeneuves-sicario-is-an-impeccably-styled-sadistic-borderlands-horror-film-181045/) ## Los Angeles Times — Mark Olsen 17 September 2015. The film is a bracing action picture and examination of moral ambiguity in the drug war, elevated by strong performances from Blunt, Del Toro, and Brolin plus Deakins' cinematography. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-0918-sicario-review-20150918-story.html) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez 12 September 2015. The film conjures a relentlessly terrifying realm of despair through its score, cinematography, and existential view of the drug war, though the narrative only half-delivers on its themes of power and compromise. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sicario/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 11 October 2015. A great performance from Emily Blunt makes this well-staged story of FBI operations in the murky world of the US-Mexico borderlands a cut above the ordinary. The expertly choreographed set pieces and Roger Deakins' cinematography lift the action, with Blunt balancing defiance and vulnerability as the film's most believable character. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/oct/11/sicario-review-emily-blunt-star-quality-lifts-thriller) ## The Hollywood Reporter — Todd McCarthy 19 May 2015. Festival review. The critic calls the film one of the most powerful and superbly made depictions of the inter-American drug trade's violence, praising Villeneuve's intensely physical direction, Deakins' cinematography, and standout performances especially from Blunt as the audience surrogate. [Read the review](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/sicario-cannes-review-796598/) ## The New York Times — A.O. Scott 17 September 2015. Villeneuve makes movies about violence rather than merely violent ones, focusing on its preludes, aftermaths, and emotional impacts in the drug war along the U.S.-Mexico border. [Read the review](https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/18/movies/review-sicario-digs-into-the-depths-of-drug-cartel-violence.html) ## Variety — Scott Foundas 19 May 2015. Festival review. Villeneuve delivers a blisteringly intense, suspenseful cartel thriller with expert action, strong performances, and moral ambiguity that forms a loose trilogy with his prior films. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2015/film/reviews/sicario-film-review-cannes-1201494744/) ## Collider — Adam Chitwood Rating A-. 2 October 2015. The critic calls it one of the year's best films for its smart, uncompromising portrait of the war on drugs and masterful intensity as a thriller. They single out the cinematography by Roger Deakins and the performances, especially Benicio Del Toro's complex role. [Read the review](https://collider.com/sicario-review-emily-blunt-josh-brolin/) ## Deadline — Pete Hammond Fi1m's normalised score 90/100 (inferred from the text). 18 September 2015. Sicario is sensational and exceptionally well-made, with timely relevance, outstanding action set pieces, and strong performances that make it far more than a standard action film. A standout scene features Del Toro at a cartel family dinner, adding chilling authenticity alongside brilliant work from Deakins and composer Johann Johannsson. [Read the review](https://deadline.com/2015/09/sicario-review-emily-blunt-josh-brolin-benicio-del-toro-drug-cartel-1201534957/) ## Den of Geek — Ryan Lambie Rating 4/5. 6 October 2015. The critic praises the film's intense suspense sequences and Benicio del Toro's terrifying performance but notes some mid-film slackening in tension. Overall, it is seen as another absorbing and unsettling piece of filmmaking from Villeneuve. [Read the review](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/sicario-review-2/) ## Digital Spy — Ben Rawson-Jones Rating 4/5. 8 October 2015. The critic highlights Emily Blunt's credible and empathetic performance as the idealistic agent, along with the masterful peeling of Benicio del Toro's character layers and outstanding cinematography by Roger Deakins. It is described as a thoroughly engrossing watch that dazzles visually and connects emotionally. [Read the review](https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a672575/sicario-review-emily-blunt-excels-in-a-gripping-cartel-thriller/) ## HeyUGuys — Jo-Ann Titmarsh Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 20 May 2015. Festival review. A tense, booming thriller about the drug war that maintains anxiety through masterful visuals, booming sound design, and strong performances from Blunt, Brolin, and del Toro. The protagonist's extreme naivety feels like a quibble in an otherwise brilliant, rule-breaking film. [Read the review](https://www.heyuguys.com/sicario-review/) ## NME — Olly Richards Rating 4/5. 9 October 2015. The critic commends Emily Blunt's fitting lead role and Denis Villeneuve's masterclass in sustained tension, noting the film's tightly wound thriller elements and moral complexity. It leaves the viewer with plenty to consider about justice in a shifting world. [Read the review](https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-various-artists-16284-309982) ## The Wrap Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 17 September 2015. The film is an effective thriller and examination of shaky morality in the war on drugs, more successful than similar contemporaneous releases at balancing suspense with thematic depth. Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins deliver grimy intensity and vivid night-vision sequences amid the violence. [Read the review](https://www.thewrap.com/sicario-review-emily-blunt-josh-brolin-benicio-del-toro/) ## The Playlist — The Playlist Staff Rating B. 16 September 2015. Superlatively strong in craft thanks to Deakins' cinematography and Jóhannsson's score, but underwhelming in story as a slow-burn procedural that builds to an unsatisfying ironic anticlimax. Excellent performances, especially from Blunt, compensate for familiar material and limited dramatic payoff. [Read the review](https://theplaylist.net/review-denis-villeneuves-sicario-starring-emily-blunt-is-a-slow-building-solid-procedural-20150916/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/sicario.md