The VVitch

Hail, Caesar!

25: It Follows (David Robert Mitchell)

24: Bridge of Spies (Steven Spielberg)

23: Room (Lenny Abrahamson)

22: The Forbidden Room (Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson)

21: Queen of Earth (Alex Ross Perry)

20: The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-Hsien)

19: Kumiko: The Treasure Hunter (David Zellner)

18: The Martian (Ridley Scott)

17: The Gift (Joel Edgerton)

16: Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas)

15: Anomalisa (Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson)

14: Slow West (John Maclean)

13: Brooklyn (John Crowley)

12: Spotlight (Tom McCarthy)

11: Carol (Todd Haynes)

****

10: 45 Years (Andrew Haigh)

9: World of Tomorrow (Don Hertzfeldt)

8: Macbeth (Justin Kurzel)

7: Ex Machina (Alex Garland)

6: The Big Short (Adam McKay)

5: Steve Jobs (Danny Boyle)

4: Phoenix (Christian Petzold)

3: A Pigeon Sat On A Branch Reflecting On Existence (Roy Andersson)

2: The Revenant (Alejandro González Iñárritu)

1: Sicario (Dennis Villeneuve)

The Revenant (2015)

I Saw the Light (2015)

The Danish Girl (2015)

The Lobster

Violent, tense, and above all absorbing, ‘Sicario’ finds French-Canadian director Dennis Villeneuve at the height of his prowess. Led by an emotional and honest performance from Emily Blunt and especially magnetic, ruthless work from Benicio Del Toro; this action juggernaut is a must-see, even if its unflinching visuals may be difficult for some to swallow.

Relentless from start to finish, a somber, looming tone cloaks Dennis Villeneuve’s thriller in risk and secrecy. Aided by Roger Deakins ghostly, majestic cinematography and Jóhann Jóhannsson’s penetrating, ominous, intimidating score. ‘Sicario’ is an exhausting, inescapable experience.

Supported impeccably by Josh Brolin and a slew of precise tactical performances by the film’s gunslingers. ‘Sicario’ might just be the most effective, entrancing piece of war cinema since Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’

Taylor Sheridan’s horrifying, entertaining, narratively-complex story and devastating, memorable dialogue effortlessly elevates the intensity and execution in Blunt, Del Toro, and Brolin’s performances. Additionally allowing Villeneuve and Deakins to truly explore and excel behind the camera.

‘Sicario’ has Roger Deakins in award-season form and features some of the master cinematographer’s finest work. Most notably, a night-vision sequence that gets the heart racing and palms sweating.

The delicacy and boldness in Blunt’s performance cannot be understated. Imperative and determined, Blunt’s Macer mimics the viewer’s terrified, meddlesome mindset, expertly holding their attention as if you sit fastened in the interrogation chair.

Outshining his co-stars’ already blinding brilliance, Benicio Del Toro’s ferocious, smothering, calculated anti-hero is a performance to contemplate and savour. Exercising the actor’s formidable charisma, ‘Sicario’ catapults Del Toro back into the working elite.

Uncompromising, thought-provoking, and brutally straightforward, ‘Sicario’ is unmissable.

Sicario: 9.5 out of 10.

High-Rise (2015)

Room (2015)