FILM · 2015 · USA
Sicario
- Directed by
- Denis Villeneuve
- Runtime
- 122 min
- Studio
- Lionsgate, Black Label Media, Thunder Road
30 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
30 Interesting Facts About Sicario
Interesting Facts (18)
- #001
The crew built a full-scale replica of the Juarez border crossing at Albuquerque Studios, so the complicated convoy sequence could be staged without closing roads at the real international border for days. It took twelve weeks to build, using high-density materials to mimic the concrete of the Bridge of the Americas.
- #002
Josh Brolin first turned the role down after wrapping Everest (2015). Cinematographer Roger Deakins then emailed him to talk him into it, and that unusual personal appeal changed Brolin's mind.
- #003
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the underground tunnel raid, Emily Blunt keeps a hand on the tunnel ceiling. Director Denis Villeneuve kept that detail because it made the claustrophobic setting feel more real. The tunnels were real, narrow passages that limited how much the actors and camera operators could move.
- #004
In early meetings with composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, Denis Villeneuve asked for a sound that would carry a constant sense of threat. His main reference for that tension was Jaws (1975), directed by Steven Spielberg with music by John Williams, and the comparison guided the recording sessions toward a minimalist, relentless rhythm.
- #005
Emily Blunt came down with severe food poisoning while shooting in Mexico City. To get through the scheduled shoot, she was put on IV fluids between takes, with medical staff on set all day to treat her and monitor her vital signs.
- #006
Emily Blunt built Kate Macer through long conversations with four female FBI agents during pre-production. The serving agents gave her key traits, such as a certain social reserve and a self-reliant professional manner, and she drew on them for her physical choices throughout the shoot.
Sicario (2015): Kate MacerImage: Wikimedia Commons · greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0 - #007
Contains a major spoiler — show
Jon Bernthal used his boxing experience to choreograph his fight with Emily Blunt. Before Blunt threw full-contact punches in the scene, he had to assure the production he could defend himself.
- #008
Contains a major spoiler — show
The final raid was filmed with a FLIR thermal camera. Over the radio, the aerial surveillance operator tells Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro) that six men remain before he enters the main house. After taking out the last guard in the hallway, Alejandro finds four family members and a servant in the dining room and confirms that every threat has been eliminated.
- #009
The Juárez scenes were shot mostly on the outskirts of Mexico City and at several locations around Albuquerque, New Mexico. Aerial footage of Ciudad Nezahualcóyotl stands in for the crowded border city; signs in those shots carry the local abbreviation Cd. Neza, along with political campaign banners from the 2014 shoot.
- #010
Contains a major spoiler — show
Josh Brolin briefly forgot his lines in the scene after the tunnel, where Alejandro explains himself and Kate Macer is redirected. He paused to remember them, then carried on with the take. Denis Villeneuve kept the accidental hesitation in the final cut because he felt the silence added to the tension.
- #011
In the motel sequence, the drone monitors show the coordinates 31 15 25.9N, 110 53 23.5W. They point to a desert area near Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, even though the story places Manuel Diaz's house in the United States.
- #012
Contains a major spoiler — show
The fictional cigarette brand Indian Creek recurs throughout the film. Kate Macer smokes it in one scene, and the props department put the same pack in the bedroom of Silvio, deliberately linking the American heroine to the corrupt Mexican police officer.
- #013
The interior and exterior bar scenes were filmed at the Wild Pony bar, 1548 Main Street SW, Los Lunas, New Mexico, about 46 miles south of Albuquerque. In the story, the scene with Kate Macer and Reggie Wayne takes place in Tucson, Arizona, 425 miles away.
- #014
The look of Steve Forsing was modeled directly on retired Delta Force operator William F. Cronin III. To resemble Cronin III, who once served on General Norman Schwarzkopf's security detail, Jeffrey Donovan wears Smilen Eyewear frames and keeps a deliberately understated style.
- #015
Johann Johannsson's track "The Beast" plays as the tactical convoy crosses into Juarez; over the radio, Steve Forsing calls the city itself "the Beast."
- #016
The bar scenes were shot at the Wild Pony Bar on NM-314 in Los Lunas, New Mexico. In 2015, a violent clash there between the outlaw motorcycle clubs the Bandidos and the Poor Boys closed the bar for good. The building was later renovated into a public meeting space called the Horseshoe.
- #017
Contains a major spoiler — show
Benicio Del Toro plays the adviser Alejandro Gillick, who confronts Fausto Alarcon in the final scene. He had recently played the real-life Pablo Escobar in Escobar: Paradise Lost (2014), which creates a meta link between two portrayals of the upper levels of the North American drug trade.
- #018
Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro had already appeared together in Inherent Vice (2014).
Production Story (4)
- #019
For the night tunnel scenes, the crew used a FLIR SC8300 thermal imaging camera to capture high-resolution infrared footage. It records heat signatures straight to the sensor, so no thermal effects had to be faked in post-production. The technicians ran it alongside the main Arri Alexa XT cameras to keep the look consistent.
- #020
The propeller banners hanging along the Juarez overpass bear the Spanish phrase "Los Estamos Observando." The production team used specific typographic weather-resistant techniques to simulate regional cartel intimidation tactics. The translation of the phrase confirms its English equivalent as "We are watching you."
- #021
The title "Sicario" comes from the Latin name "sicarius," meaning "dagger man." The term historically describes members of a radical Jewish group who used the "sica," a curved dagger concealed within their clothing, to assassinate Roman citizens. Roman authorities codified these acts around 81 AD in the "Lex Cornelia de Sicariis et Veneficis" to address the rising murder rate in the province of Judea. These etymological roots extend to the Latin verb "secare," translated as "to cut" or "to slice."
- #022
Cinematographer Sir Roger Deakins used Alex Webb's photographs as a primary visual reference during pre-production. The production specifically referenced the 2003 publication "Crossings: Photographs from the U.S.-Mexico Border" to establish the film's color palette and composition. This stylistic choice informed the technical application of wide-angle exterior shots throughout the border sequences.
Behind the Scenes (3)
- #023
Early in production, Emily Blunt asked for a scripted nude scene to be cut, and Benicio Del Toro backed her. The two had built a working rapport while shooting The Wolfman (2010).
- #024
Emily Blunt started principal photography four months after giving birth to her daughter. The schedule meant she had to begin physical training and weapons drills soon after her maternity leave ended. She did most of her stunt work during the New Mexico shoot.
Sicario (2015): Kate Macer, at an evening eventImage: Wikimedia Commons · greg2600, CC BY-SA 2.0 - #025
Cinematographer Roger Deakins used two different camera systems to tell night-vision shots apart from thermal ones. The production had the FLIR SC8300 infrared camera for a single day to capture high-resolution thermal footage, and fitting its distinctive images into the regular footage took careful planning.
Characters & Cast (1)
- #026
Taylor Sheridan's original script gave Benicio Del Toro's character a lot of dialogue, including many scenes where he told the heroine about his past. During production, Del Toro and director Denis Villeneuve cut about 90 percent of those lines to keep him enigmatic, letting his physical performance and movement, rather than explanation, carry the story's depth.
Easter Eggs & References (1)
- #027
In the tarmac scene at Luke Air Force Base, Boeing C-17 Globemaster III and Lockheed C-5 Galaxy transport planes are parked in the background. Luke is mainly a training base for the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II, and it has neither the hangars nor the strategic mission to host large transport fleets permanently.
Deeper Meaning (3)
- #028
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the original script, Alejandro killed Fausto Alarcón while his wife and children watched. During production, screenwriter Taylor Sheridan changed the scene so that the whole family is killed at the dinner table, underlining the cycle of violence and the character's complete break with conventional morality.
- #029
For the tunnel sequence, the crew warmed the soles of the actors' shoes with heat sources. The extra heat kept the footprints visible throughout the shoot and clearly picked up by the thermal cameras, making up for how quickly body heat fades underground.
- #030
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the private jet scene, distorted screams are buried in the hum of the engines. Sound designer Alan Robert Murray added them to suggest the distress Alejandro feels in his sleep. Taylor Sheridan's original script had a graphic dream sequence showing the murder of Alejandro's family: tied to a chair, he watches his daughter being lowered into acid and his wife being beheaded. The trembling hands seen in the theatrical cut are what remains of that deleted scene, in which he struggles against his restraints.
Related pages
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier — Sicario comes up in the facts on that page
- Dune: Part One — Sicario comes up in the facts on that page
- Emily Blunt — Sicario comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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