Before creating a television empire, Taylor Sheridanbegan as a screenwriter for the big screen. Prior to Yellowstone, 1883, Landman, and countless other Paramount shows, Sheridan’s signature screenplay came in 2015 under the direction of Denis Villeneuve, who, like the writer, has become a creative titan on his own as the visionary behind Dune. A critical darling and surprise box office hit, Sicariohas only grown in public adoration over the 10 years since its release. Villeneuve’s unnerving crime drama, featuring the star-studded cast of Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro, is a familiar genre exercise told with the highest level of artistic and thematic precision. For those who haven’t been exposed to the power of Sicario, you’re running out of time, as the film leaves Netflix at the beginning of May.

Taylor Sheridan’s Crime Movie ‘Sicario’ Is a Visual Masterclass by Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins

With Villeneuve and Sheridan embarking on such seismic and accomplished careers,Sicario has taken on an even greater legacy, and it’s exciting to see these faces of pop culture in the 2020s working together and laying the groundwork for their futures. Grossing $84 million and earning three Academy Award nominations (but none for the major above-the-line categories), Sicario follows idyllic FBI agent, Kate Mercer (Blunt), who joins a covert government task force targeting the Mexican cartel, headed by Matt Graver (Brolin). Her upstanding view of the law runs headfirst into the shady, illicit practices of the task force, aided by the ominous fixer/CIA assassin, Alejandro (del Toro). The film, shot by legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, also features supporting turns by Jon Bernthaland Daniel Kaluuya.

While Sheridan’s Westerns on television are painterly and handsomely crafted, his work has never looked more gorgeous than in Sicario, which was under the control of visual poets in Villeneuve and Deakins. The horizons and vistas on the US-Mexico border are both picturesque and haunting, emblematic of Mercer’s crossroads as a dutiful FBI officer and corrupt fixer. The slew of immersive wide landscape shots and extended long takes is nothing short of hypnotic. Right as the beautiful photography of the environment and the actors’ faces lulls you in, a sudden burst of violence shakes you back to reality. The action, enhanced by a sharply tuned sound design and tactile stunts and effects, never feels glorified despite its stylized nature, and all the spectacle is well-earned.

‘Sicario’ Helped Kick Off Taylor Sheridan’s Fascination With the Modern Western

Sicario marked the first entry in Sheridan’s “American Frontier” trilogy, later followed by Hell or High Waterin 2016 and Wind River in 2017. A year after its conclusion, Yellowstone hit the airwaves, and his modern Western enterprise was off to the races. While consistently entertaining and ripe with the best acting talent in the industry, Sheridan’s latest shows have felt more recycled than before, perhaps an indicator that he’s simply working too much. In Sicario, his ideas were fresh, advancing the archetype of the revisionist Western by creating the modern template of the contemporary Western. This subgenre tackles present-day fears and angst about the nation’s stability and trust in established institutions. Many scenes in Sicario, notably the highway shootout, play as a horror movie, with Blunt perfectly capturing the dread of being thrown into a terrifying world of lawlessness.

The trifecta of Blunt, Brolin, and del Toro elevates Sicario from a gritty, visceral genre film to a prestigious meditation on crime and punishment. All three Oscar nominees (Oscar winner, in del Toro’s case) give some of their finest work as they upend the conventions of cops and crooks, blurring the line between good and evil in their decisions to pursue the deadly cartel. Villeneuve, coming off the grim psychological thrillers Prisonersand Enemy, ascended to new heights with Sicario, proving his chops at directing high-octane action with a sense of verisimilitude and grounded style. Watching these dour, oftentimes bleak, crime dramas would never make you guess that Villeneuve would be on par with Christopher Nolan as a blockbuster filmmaker, but his formalist bravura is perfect for an event-worthy cinematic experience.

Sicario is a must-see for any viewer out there, as it offers everything for casual audiences and film buffs. The nerve-wracking intensity will leave you on the edge of your seat, while the dedicated cinephiles will find something new in the script or mise-en-scene to admire on each re-watch.