Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)
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Following a terrorist attack, the U.S. government initiates a high-stakes operation to destabilize Mexican cartels by instigating a war between them.
The story
After a suicide bombing in Kansas City, the U.S. government suspects Mexican drug cartels of smuggling terrorists across the border. CIA officer Matt Graver and operative Alejandro Gillick are tasked with a covert mission to provoke a conflict between major cartels to create a distraction. The operation involves a high-stakes kidnapping of a cartel leader's daughter, Isabel Reyes. The team navigates a dangerous landscape of betrayal and violence as they attempt to execute a complex strategy to dismantle the cartels' influence while maintaining plausible deniability for the United States government.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Following a suicide bombing in Kansas City, the U.S. government suspects Mexican cartels of smuggling terrorists across the border. CIA officer Matt Graver and operative Alejandro Gillick are tasked with instigating a war between rival cartels. They kidnap Isabel Reyes, the daughter of a cartel leader, and stage a fake rescue to create a distraction. After a chaotic skirmish with Mexican police, the team's true motives are exposed. When the U.S. government orders the team to eliminate Isabel and Gillick to hide their involvement, Gillick goes rogue to protect her. The two flee into the desert, eventually becoming targets of a local gang. After a series of violent encounters, Graver finds Isabel and decides to bring her to the U.S. for protection. One year later, Gillick finds a young man named Miguel who witnessed their ordeal, offering him a chance to become a sicario.
- First release year
- 2018
- Runtime (minutes)
- 122
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Stefano Sollima
- Writers
- Taylor Sheridan · writer
- Cast and characters
- Benicio del Toro · Alejandro; Josh Brolin · Matt Graver; Isabela Merced · Isabel; Jeffrey Donovan · Steve Forsing; Manuel Garcia-Rulfo; Catherine Keener
- Genres
- action; crime; thriller
- Themes
- war; betrayal; collusion
- Tone and mood
- tense; ruthless; dynamic
- Premise and plot tags
- action; crime; thriller; sequel; war
- Reception
- The film received generally favorable reviews from critics, being described as a tense and stylish thriller, though some critics criticized its use of stereotypes.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 61 · scale: 100 · review count: 50; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film is dedicated to the memory of Jóhann Jóhannsson.; A third film, Sicario: Capos, is in development.; The film was originally intended to be released under the title Soldado.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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