The Rewatchables 'Sicario' With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey
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Mar 3, 2026 They dissect the film's tense set pieces and Villeneuve's image-first direction. They debate who truly drives the story and the moral ambiguity at its core. They unpack casting choices, career arcs, and standout performances. They trace production trivia, controversial scene readings, and why certain sequences still provoke discussion.
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Chris Ryan's Grantland Origin For His Sicario Take
- Chris Ryan wrote a Grantland piece linking Sicario's structure to Apocalypse Now and later defended that comparison on the pod.
- He describes the opening shock as the film's visceral peak akin to the Valkyries sequence, then shifting to contemplation.
Bill's One-Line Lessons From Sicario
- Bill lists pithy lessons from Sicario like 'There is no right, only degrees of wrong' as thematic takeaways.
- These encapsulate the film's moral ambiguity and the idea that ends sometimes justify means, shaping how viewers interpret characters.
Less Dialogue Makes Alejandro More Powerful
- Villeneuve and Benicio del Toro intentionally stripped Alejandro's dialogue to keep him mysterious and let images carry meaning.
- Sean Fennessey notes the cuts shifted the film from a procedural into Alejandro's quiet, tactile study where gestures replace exposition.