Prime Video movie of the day: Sicario stars a magnetic Emily Blunt in a brutal crime thriller from the director of Dune
Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt light up the screen in this dark and involving thriller
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Every day, we cut through the bottomless list of streaming options and recommend something to watch. See all ourNetflix movie of the daypicks, or ourPrime Video movie of the daychoices.
Emily Blunt is having a bit of a moment right now: she’s superb inThe Fall Guyalongside Ryan Gosling, and once again shows her action chops as well as her acting ones. But fans of the actor knew about those action chops already from films such asEdge of Tomorrowand – most relevantly –Sicario, a complex and thought-provoking thriller where Blunt plays an FBI agent who begins to question her part in the war on drugs. With a cast that also includes Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro it’s absolutely one for yourPrime Videowatchlist.
Is Sicario worth streaming?
Yes. The performances are superb and it’s a real edge-of-the-seat thriller. Blunt is an FBI agent sent to the US/Mexico border as part of an elite task force, part of the never-ending war on drugs, and the team intends to use one cartel boss to flush out a bigger and more dangerous one. But as Blunt soon discovers, wars are messy and there are only shades of gray rather than black and white.
Empiregave the film the full five stars: “A beautifully murky, hard-edged thriller. Quite simply, one of the best films of the year.“RogerEbert.comfelt it was a little too self-indulgent, but had a “flawless ensemble” and “that it falls short of greatness could be considered a disappointment, but there’s still much to like here.”
NMEsaid that it was a “thriller wound so tight that you’ll probably need a lie down and a sizeable drink afterwards”, whileFlavorwiresaid: “It’s a thoughtful film, but also a visceral and affecting one, capturing the intensity of these raids and encounters.” And according to theSouth China Morning Postit’s “a textbook piece of thriller filmmaking. The script is labyrinthine and credible, the locations look realistic, and the acting is uniformly superb.”
It’s arguably among thebest Prime Video movies, though it will definitely be a bit too bleak for some. But it was directed by Denis Villeneuve, who made theDunemovies, so it looks stunning, as you might expect – but it’s definitely a more tight and frenetic version of his style, so is well worth exploring if you liked Dune and want to see more of his range.
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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
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