Sicario Is The Timeless Taylor Sheridan Crime Thriller That Launched A Franchise

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Taylor Sheridan first gained recognition a decade ago with a critically acclaimed work, and now his writing skills have led to the success of Landman. This new series plunges viewers into the competitive and often cutthroat world of the oil industry, portraying both office dealings and drilling locations as intense and unpredictable environments. Sheridan is well-suited to this subject matter, having established a talent for creating realistic settings filled with underlying tension.

As a movie and TV fan, I’ve noticed a really consistent thread running through everything Taylor Sheridan does. From films like Hell or High Water and Wind River to the Yellowstone universe – 1883, 1923, Tulsa King, Mayor of Kingstown, and now Landman – he’s got a distinct style. He’s fascinated by power dynamics and characters who aren’t simply good or evil, and he tells these stories with incredibly sharp, realistic dialogue. His scripts really need a director who knows what they’re doing. He’s drawn to these big, sweeping landscapes and knows how to build tension until it’s almost painful, and honestly, you could see the beginnings of it even in some of his earlier, really successful work.

Sicario Is The Perfect Modern Crime Thriller

Sicario Deserves All The Praise It Received When It Came Out

Before creating Landman, Taylor Sheridan wrote the crime thriller Sicario, a film that has become even more impactful over time. The story centers around an optimistic FBI agent who joins a secret task force focused on taking down Mexican drug cartels. However, Sicario is incredibly suspenseful, thanks to its sharp writing and direction. Villeneuve masterfully builds tension in every scene, and the haunting, rhythmic score by Jóhann Jóhannsson makes even calm moments feel frightening.

Although it’s a very violent movie, Sicario‘s most powerful quality is how realistically it portrays violence – as something disturbingly commonplace. The actions shown feel frighteningly authentic, emphasizing that the film’s horrors are based on real-world events. Sicario doesn’t try to explain or excuse the drug war; it simply reveals how damaging and dehumanizing it is, especially for those who expect clear-cut wins.

While not filled with huge explosions or elaborate stunts, Sicario is a surprisingly intense action movie. Its well-written script and deliberate, suspenseful pace create a more gripping experience than many similar films. The movie doesn’t rely on frequent gunfights, instead building tension through a constant sense of unease and quiet moments. Sicario plunges viewers into a harrowing and seemingly endless conflict, offering a stark and realistic depiction of widespread violence. The film avoids portraying anyone as a clear hero or villain, showing that everyone involved is flawed and makes questionable choices.

Sicario Has Aged Better Than Expected

Sicario Is Both A Standalone Classic & The First Installment In A Successful Franchise

Even ten years after it came out, Sicario still feels incredibly powerful and disturbing. Its realistic style and believable acting make it a film you can watch again and again, and its exploration of corruption and endless violence sadly remains timely. It’s impressive that Sicario worked so well as a single movie that it inspired a series of sequels, including Sicario: Day of the Soldado and the forthcoming Sicario: Capos.

While later movies in the series introduce interesting concepts and characters, none capture the intense, unsettling atmosphere created by Denis Villeneuve and Taylor Sheridan in the first film. In many ways, Sicario is both the beginning and the best of the franchise – a remarkably complete and polished story that its sequels struggle to top.

The film Sicario proved to be a pivotal moment in the careers of both Taylor Sheridan and Denis Villeneuve. Sheridan would go on to explore themes of power and America’s involvement in complex situations in films and series like Hell or High Water, Wind River, Yellowstone, and Landman. Villeneuve continued to demonstrate his skill in building suspense and creating immersive atmospheres in films such as Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Dune. Even now, almost ten years later, Sicario remains the model for a truly gritty and unflinching crime thriller.

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2026-02-12 00:59