Sicario: Day of the Soldado (2018)

Emily Blunt is gone. Her place is taken by two men who have already crossed every moral boundary in the first film — Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and Alejandro (Benicio del Toro). Sicario: Day of the Soldado maintains the moral tension of the original while pushing the story into far darker territory. My rating is ★4.0.

What it’s about — An operation to provoke a cartel war

The U.S. government authorizes a covert operation under the pretext of a possible link between Mexican drug cartels and terrorist organizations. Graver devises a plan to kidnap the daughter of a cartel boss — Isabel (Isabela Merced) — and stoke a war between rival cartels. But things don’t go as planned, and Alejandro is left with the task of protecting Isabel. In a narrative with no clear lines between good and evil, the judgment of the two men collides.

Direction — Tension sustained without Villeneuve

Denis Villeneuve stepped away from the director’s chair, and Italian filmmaker Stefano Sollima took over. The poetic framing that was Villeneuve’s signature is absent, but Sollima minimizes the sense of disconnection from the original through direct, sharp tension. Scenes set along the border and inside Mexico realistically recreate the terrain and atmosphere. The cinematography without Roger Deakins doesn’t reach the beauty of the first film, but it’s more than capable.

Performance — An Alejandro who begins to crack

Benicio del Toro digs deeper into the character he built in the first film. The subtle shift in Alejandro’s behavior toward Isabel — the cold killer showing something unexpected — is the emotional core of the film. Josh Brolin’s Graver has become more nakedly ruthless than before. The stark contrast between the two actors is the film’s main source of tension. Isabela Merced effectively walks the line between victim and active agent.

What the film says — How far to go to survive

If the first film asked “is this war righteous,” this one asks “how far do you have to go to survive it?” It shows how the chain of violence wielded instrumentally by state power swallows individual choice. Graver is only following orders, but something in Alejandro begins to crack at the seam between those orders and his humanity. That crack is the film’s moral center. The ending isn’t complete darkness, but it isn’t bright either. The moment Isabel shifts from a mere tool to an actor in her own right, the film opens the door to the next story — and leaves behind an uncomfortable question about how little room for human choice there is inside the system.

Ratings & reception

TMDB gives the film 6.9. IMDb scores it 7.1. The Rotten Tomatoes score is 63%, lower than the original. Critics acknowledged the direction and performances but pointed out that the shift in narrative direction feels scattered compared to the consistent story of the first film. It is recognized for maintaining the tension of the series even without the original director.

What falls short

With Emily Blunt’s perspective gone — the outsider being dragged into this world — there is no moral anchor. The point of emotional entry for the audience has narrowed. The ending feels held open for a third film, making this one feel less self-contained than the original. There are also stretches in the middle where geography and character relationships become confusing.

Verdict

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is not a direct sequel to the first film so much as a work that explores the same themes differently within the same world. The moral compass the first film handed to the audience through Emily Blunt’s gaze is absent here. That absence makes the film more uncomfortable — and simultaneously more honest. The story is narrower and darker than the original, but the depth Benicio del Toro brings to Alejandro is more than worth watching. If the series continues, the next story will belong to Isabel.

Recommended for

• Anyone who enjoyed the first Sicario
• Fans of thrillers with genuine moral ambiguity
• Viewers who want to see Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro at work