Usually, director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) knows how to stick the landing. Any nagging dissatisfactions are dispatched with elegance and aplomb by his directorial denoument. Not so, Sicario, his exploration of the brutal violence and moral complication surrounding the war on drugs. Critics looking to get a pull-quote on the poster would likely call it "a stunning visual ride, full of suspense and intensity," and they would not be wrong. But oh, that slip on the landing. This time, it's the opening that really astonishes: an FBI raid on a suburban Arizona home, led by star that's been converted into a cartel outpost and storage facility. Here and throughout, Villeneuve excels at approaching the carnage to come from a great, safe distance, and the message seems clear: here is a problem of vast scope and scale, being engaged by huge and complicated forces, and here are its intimate, bloody effects. And further, while you dare not look away, the looking may serve to render the horrific as commonplace. What can one person hope to do in the midst of such a struggle, especially when she finds herself reduced from elite squad leader to confused observer? Well, she can stick to her guns, literal and otherwise. Villeneuve knows this, but gets distracted by his eagerness to acknowledge the moral muck that stains us when we wrestle with monsters. Starring Emily Blunt, with Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro. (2015) — Matthew Lickona