✅ Deakins’s cinematography and especially his phenomenal lighting techniques should’ve earned him here his about 6th Academy Award, not just nominations.
✅ Jóhannsson’s music is fiercely intense, and so is the sound design.
✅ Superb script, direction, and cut/pacing keep you perpetually glued to the edge of the seat.
Acting is outstanding, and the split between main character and protagonist (Blunt/del Toro) establishes and carries the theme perfectly.
Addendum
Just read the original script, which is, well, considerably more family-friendly if one can call it that—apparently, a lot happened between it and the shooting script.
Sicario by Denis Villeneuve, 2015.
Watched at the Bambi theater on April 7, 2026, in its original language.