Before Taylor Sheridan
dominated the streaming landscape with his riveting television series such as Yellowstone, Landman, and various other projects, the writer would be best known for several of his enthralling screenplays taken on by talented filmmakers. Perhaps the best-known film from Sheridan’s body of written work is Sicario, which Denis Villeneuve directed. Before the acclaimed filmmaker helmed the adaptation of Frank Herbert’s novel Dune, it was 2015’s Sicario that would further establish Villeneuve as a powerhouse director with an eye for powerful storytelling. Now, the film will have a new streaming home on Netflix this March.
Sicario will be hitting the streaming platform on March 1st, allowing Netflix subscribers to check out one of the earlier mainstream films in Villeneuve’s career. Starring Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Daniel Kaluuya, Sicario explores the complex inner workings of the war on drugs and the morally ambiguous federal operatives that find legal loopholes to complete their clandestine missions. The director’s subtle approach to filmmaking pairs surprisingly well with Sheridan’s script, as much of the story and sinister nature of the operation is more inferred than explicitly shown.
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Like the television projects Sheridan would write and shepherd over the years, Sicario takes place in a frontier setting, creating an ironic sense of lawlessness in the Federal Organization at the movie’s center. Blunt’s character, FBI Special Agent Kate Mercer, is a strait-laced lead whose pursuit of justice costs her the morality she has proudly tried to uphold throughout the film. With an incredible cast, sharp direction, and a tightly wound script from Sheridan, this is a film that you’ll want to revisit or experience for the first time on Netflix.
‘Sicario’ Was a Winning Combination of a Talented Writer and Director
Sicario was originally released on October 2, 2015, to critical acclaim, with the film earning an impressive 92% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the film’s story, Villenueve’s ability to create tension with what audiences don’t see, and Roger Deakins’s breathtaking cinematography. The film is also a technical marvel, earning three Oscar nominations in 2016 for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Score.
After the movie’s success, Villeneuve would direct projects such as Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and eventually the Dune films that would make him a household name. As for Sheridan, the writer would team up with David Mackenzie for 2016’s Hell or High Water, eventually directing one of his own scripts with 2017’s Wind River, starring Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner. Of course, the rest is television history, with Sheridan projects like Yellowstone becoming incredibly popular within the pop culture zeitgeist.
Sicario eventually received a sequel (albeit without Denis Villeneuve’s involvement), Sicario: Day of the Soldado, which was released in 2018. Stefano Sollima directed the movie, and Sheridan returned to write the script. Although Day of the Soldado focused more heavily on del Toro and Brolin’s characters from the first movie, it failed to reach the heights of the original film. It proved that Sicario succeeded due to the rare combination of Sheridan’s and Villeneuve’s skill sets and now Netflix subscribers will get to experience the powerful collaboration when Sicario hits the streaming service on March 1.
Sicario
- Release Date
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September 17, 2015
- Runtime
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122 minutes
