Sicario is a film that reveals the realities and the hidden deception of corruption and violence of the war on drugs and the tension between the U.S-Mexico border. One of the key message that Sicario conveys is the inevitability of choosing between the lesser of two evils. The rampant violence in Juarez and drug trafficking by the Sonora Cartel spills over to the U.S border and the response of the U.S. government is using CIA operative tactics to dismantle the cartel by any means necessary. Excuse my bias opinion but, I believe what the CIA/U.S task force did in the movie was somewhat justified and necessary but of course, the result came at a price. Although I cannot deny that the tactics and manipulation used by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) was terrible and horrendous, the end justified the means for Graver and the leader of the Sonora Cartel was killed. The line between good and evil are obviously faded in the film and all i could think of was that sometimes one has to fight fire with fire (cliche but true).

The three principal characters Macer, Graver and Alejandro all had different motives and traits that seemed to conflict one another (especially between Macer’s sense of duty/code of law and Graver’s manipulative means and Alejandro’s desire for revenge and brutality).  Agent Macer was obviously a tool used by Graver to gain access and jurisdiction in order to carry out his mission, regardless of Macer being used and told to “sponge everything in”, her sense of duty and her strong will to finish what has started ends in the results in Macer ‘sponging’ in the corruption of the system. Alejandro is obviously a “bad guy” who is out for revenge against another “bad guy” this, obviously, fits the narrative of fighting fire with fire. I would say Alejandro is a tool for Graver much like Macer but is corrupt and has little regard for morals and laws. Graver is an interesting character, his gung-ho attitude combined with his laid-back charm sort of made me think Graver is completely desensitized by the violence and his little regard for following the rules (which probably makes him the perfect CIA agent). One thing that really caught my attention was the scene where he subdues Macer after her discovery of Alejandro’s true motive and background, Graver says this: “Medellin refers to a time when one group controlled every aspect of the drug trade, providing a measure of order that we could control. And until somebody finds a way to convince 20% of the population to stop snorting and smoking that shit, order’s the best we can hope for. And what you saw up there, was Alejandro working toward returning that order.” This statement opens the true motive behind the operation in dismantling the Sonora Cartel by the CIA: the U.S. government knows that the overall goal to eliminate drug trafficking is impossible and the only thing they can do is minimize the drug market and damage controlling the violence. I believe this message is greatly reflected into today’s problems of illegal drugs, in which no matter how hard the law tries to stop the drug trade, only the supply and demand of the market can truly make a difference. This also reflects on the America’s campaign of War on Drugs and the consequential aftershock that brought upon society.

Sicario portrays the conflict among the U.S-Mexico border involving drugs and this long battle has left many innocent lives lost as well as dehumanizing those who once tried to fight for what is right. The border between the two nations is tangible and clear but the border between good and evil is near non-existent. Rather then seeing the conflict as a battle of good vs. evil, the conflict is a never-ending attrition of slaughter and collateral loss of innocence.