Sicario (2015 Denis Villeneuve)

I remember now - Incendies in 2010 about twins who go to the Middle East to find out their identity - nominated for Oscar and BAFTA. He's Canadian. Now we're in Mexico. A place of donkeys, burritos and dismembered corpses hanging from bridges. Roger Deakins catches an arid washed out desertscape into which Emily Blunt and Daniel Kaluuya are recruited by the CIA to track down drug cartel boss. Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro are the professional trackers.

I think the problem here lies with a lack of concern for Emily's character who's not given any depth and thus we don't care enough about her. The plot anyway wanders into Benicio's story and the fate that has befallen his family which fuels his vendetta. The side story about the Mexican cop doesn't feel integrated. Taylor Sheridan wrote it (his debut). The music is by Jóhann Jóhansson (The Theory of Everything) and it's edited by Joe Walker (12 Years a Slave, Shame, Hunger, Sword of Honour).

Poor Emily looks thin and hungry. Film could have done with some humour. Roger's lighting in night / twilight scenes is just amazing. There are a couple of terrific tense scenes such as the attempted ambush in a traffic jam.