Denis Villeneuve’s film Sicario focuses on the ambiguity of right and wrong in the war on drugs. The film follows FBI agent Kate Macer as she’s assigned to a task force to combat drug cartels in Mexico. There she meets Alejandro, an analyst hired by the government for his knowledge of the cartels. As the film progresses Alejandro’s hidden past and ulterior motives are exposed revealing the actual objective of the task force. Throughout the film, Villeneuve builds a sense of doubt in the audience’s minds. He manipulates the viewer’s uncertainty to topple America’s projected outer shell of innocence and heroism to display its inner murky violent core. Villeneuve is not stating that the US is guilty of all the atrocities of the war on drugs but rather wants to remove the viewers predisposed sense of American bravado to create a sense of uncertainty in America’s methods and if there even can be a “winner” in it’s war. Villeneuve accomplishes this by creating negative associations with the American flag and utilizing dark colors and a stormy setting to create ambivalence over the actions of the US government leaving his viewers susceptible to embracing his message.

Villeneuve first creates doubt by associating the American flag with senseless brutality. While is a common image in the film, Villeneuve puts special emphasis on it before, during, and after scenes of irrational violence. This is most evident in the scene when the group returns from Juarez. In this scene, Kate is arguing with her team leader over the ethics of their mission. Villeneuve chooses to capture this by using a wide angle long shot with everything a muted color except Kate and the American flag. The flag is at the top of the shot above everything. It resides above all of the agents to symbolize the government holding the power and being in control of the actions of the task force. The scene gains added significance from the prior and subsequent shots. The prior scene is a shootout at the US-Mexico border where fifteen hitman, one of which being a corrupt mexican federal officer, were killed. This shootout happened with no regard for the hundreds of innocent civilians around. The scene after is Alejandro torturing a prisoner into disclosing crucial information. Villeneuve deliberately injects this brief argument between the two shots of ruthless violence to implant a negative connotation of the American flag in the minds of the viewer. He employs this to combat the audiences predisposed belief of American heroism and integrity. This causes uncertainty of who the good guys are, if there are any. The lack of certainty leaves the viewers susceptible to doubt America’s actions in similar scenes later in the film. 

A scene that exploits that doubt is when Kate is talking with her bosses at the FBI. Villeneuve uses his established technique of wide angle shots and overhanging shots to emphasize the deliberate incorporation of the American flag into the mise-en-scéne. The board room is dark with with shadowy grey walls forcing the viewer’s eyes to vivid flag in the corner. The darkness surrounding the American flag creates a sense of mistrust in the authoritarian figures in this scene. Villeneuve utilizes this to exploit the previously implanted uncertainty of the American morality causing his audience to doubt the tactics used by the CIA and FBI. He subtly manipulates the emotions of his audience so they succumb to his message.

Villeneuve communicates through color a second time by having Alejandro’s assault gear be all black. At the end of the movie the team raids a drug tunnel to sneak Alejandro through and find the cartel leader. Alejandro’s outfit is all black with a black hooded ski mask creating an allusion to the grim reaper. This is fitting since every character not part of the team that appears from this point on is killed, a large majority by Alejandro. Villeneuve uses this allusion to symbolize the US aligning with death and embracing it as the solution. He’s attempting to subtly portray the CIA as the hands of death. He employs this to exploits the doubt he’s planted in his viewer’s minds, subsequently causing them to foster the belief that this violence is unnecessary and senseless. This bolsters the ammunition in his fight to overcome the audience predisposed bias of American heroism and innocence.

A final rhetorical device Villeneuve utilizes is the stormy setting. At the beginning when America is relatively innocent, it’s sunny. However as the movie progresses and America’s involvement deepens, the setting becomes increasingly stormy. By the end it’s become a violent thunderstorm. Villeneuve blantly and directly correlates this with the escalating violence of the team. He uses it to symbolize the growth of the small initial involvement that eventually becomes out of control and violent. He wants his audience to relate this to the US involvement as a whole. By using the thunderstorm instead of telling his audience his commentary, it allows Villeneuve to subtly guide them towards reaching the conclusion on their own.

Villeneuve attempts to challenge the America’s innocence in the war on drugs by creating negative connotations with the American flag, making allusions to the grim reaper, and comparing their involvement to a growing violent thunderstorm. He uses these strategies to fight his viewer’s pre-existing beliefs about the morality of the US. He subsequently creates uncertainty over good and bad in murderous environment. While he doesn’t believe the US is at fault, he wants his audience to know America’s hands aren’t clean.              