; ) is a 2015 American action thriller film directed by Denis Villeneuve, written by Taylor Sheridan and starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin. The film follows a principled FBI Special Agent who is enlisted by a government task force to bring down the leader of a powerful and brutal Mexican drug cartel. Sicario was selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. It began a limited release in the United States on September 18, 2015, followed by a nationwide release on October 2, 2015.
Sicario received praise for its cast performances, action sequences, writing, direction, musical score and cinematography. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, and Best Sound Editing at the 88th Academy Awards. It also earned BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Film Music. Its sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldado, was released on June 29, 2018. A third film, titled Sicario: Capos, is in development.
Plot
In Chandler, Arizona, FBI Special Agents Kate Macer and Reggie Wayne lead a raid on a Sonora Cartel safe house, where they discover dozens of decaying corpses hidden in the walls. Outside, an explosive booby trap kills two police officers. Following the raid, Kate is recommended for and joins a Joint Task Force overseen by CIA Officer Matt Graver and the secretive Alejandro Gillick, a Mexican ex-prosecutor turned CIA-trained assassin. Their mission is to flush out and apprehend Sonora lieutenant Manuel Díaz, currently operating hidden in the US.
The team, which includes Delta Force operators, Deputy US Marshals, and CIA personnel, travels to Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, to extradite Díaz's brother, Guillermo. While crossing the El Paso–Juárez border, the team is ambushed by low-level cartel hitmen, whom the Americans swiftly kill. During the gunfight, Kate is forced to kill a Federal Police officer, and is left visibly disturbed by the violence. Back in the U.S., Alejandro tortures Guillermo and learns that the cartel uses a tunnel near Nogales, Sonora, to smuggle drugs. Meanwhile, Kate confronts Matt, who reveals that the real mission is to disrupt Díaz's drug operations so he can lead them to his boss, drug lord Fausto Alarcón. Unnerved, Kate asks Reggie to join her for support.
The task force raids a bank used to launder Díaz's money. After finding financial evidence, Kate and Reggie want to start a legal case against Díaz but are ordered to stand down to avoid jeopardizing the operation. At a bar, Reggie introduces Kate to Ted, a Phoenix Police officer. Kate and Ted become intimate at her apartment, but she realizes Ted is working with the cartel. In the ensuing struggle, Ted begins to strangle Kate before Alejandro appears and subdues him. Alejandro and Matt brutally beat Ted to coerce him into revealing the names of other officers working for Díaz.
After the team learns that Díaz has been recalled to Mexico, they prepare to raid the tunnel near Nogales. Matt reveals to Kate and Reggie that their involvement is a technical necessity as the CIA is not allowed to operate alone within US borders. An angered Reggie tells Kate they should leave, but she insists on staying to learn about the mission's true purpose. As a gunfight with the cartel begins, Kate follows Alejandro into Mexico. She sees him abduct Silvio, a corrupt Sonora police officer working as one of Díaz's drug mules. Kate attempts to arrest Alejandro, but he shoots her twice in her Kevlar vest to subdue her before driving away with Silvio at gunpoint. On the U.S. side of the border, Kate confronts Matt, who explains the mission is part of a broader operation to consolidate the cartels into a single entity that the U.S. can more easily control. Alejandro, who previously worked for the Medellín Cartel, was hired to assassinate Alarcón, the man responsible for ordering the murder of Alejandro's wife and daughter when he was a prosecutor in Juárez. Alejandro kills Silvio after he stops Díaz's vehicle and forces Díaz to drive to Alarcón's estate. On arrival, he quickly kills Díaz and Alarcón's guards; finding the family seated to dinner, he kills Alarcón's wife and two sons, and then Alarcón.
The next day, Alejandro appears in Kate's apartment and forces her at gunpoint to sign a statement attesting that the entire operation was legal. As he leaves, she aims her pistol at him and Alejandro turns to face her, but she cannot bring herself to pull the trigger. In Nogales, Silvio's widow watches her son's football game, which is briefly interrupted by the sound of distant gunfire.