The War on Drugs is the term, which refers to the ongoing campaign led by the United States federal government to limit and eliminate the selling of illegal substances and drugs. While there are local operations to take down drug dealers in each American city, the operations of bigger scales are also happening on the border with Mexico, where drug cartels are trying to get drugs across the border. Mexican cartels are associated with violence and massacres of civilians. Therefore, federal operations involve working undercover and can involve SWAT and military interventions.
The film Sicario by Denis Villeneuve is built around the federal investigation of Sonora Cartel. After finding nearly 30 people who suffocated in plastic bags and whose corpses were found inside the building walls. When the main hero, agent Kate Macer, finds out that the owner of this house is a Mexican businessman, she was invited to participate in the special operation involving the CIA and Defense Department of the United States. This paper analyses the depiction of War on Drugs in the movie to identify what does the film “does right” and what is it lacking.
On the positive side of things, the depiction of the War on Drugs in the movie is built around violence associated with it and the corruption of federal agents involved in the operations. Mexican cartels’ main source of income is the American market, which is estimated to bring $12-15 billion per year. In addition, the Mexican and the US governments cooperate to combat drug trafficking and Mexico has received $1.6 billion in assistance to deal with the issue in 2017. The film realistically depicts the scale of federal operations, which indeed involves a lot of money. Secondly, the aspect of corruption involved in drug trafficking is also overwhelming. In the movie, Kate Macer was not aware of the complex schemes that she became a part of. The issue of drug trafficking itself is possible for so many years solely due to corruption and illegal schemes between cartels and governmental or private structures in the United States. Additionally, all the money earned from drug trafficking need to enter the legal system, hence money laundering is another aspect of corruption.
The aspect of violence and homicide associated with cartels is presented realistically as well. Particularly, the city of Juarez is known for its brutal and ongoing femicide. Due to cartel operations, women and girls are often victims of gang violence as in 2011 almost 200 murders of women were reported. In the movie, Juarez is depicted as a chaotic place and there is a scene with dead bodies hanging from the bridge. The rivalries between gangs and cartels are turning out to be the reason for the whole operation with the tunnel. The competition for zones of influence between cartels is one of the main sources of violence and brutality in the War on Drugs.
On the other side, some aspects of the movie may seem too exaggerated for the sake of drama. As such, it was hard to believe in the scene, where federal organizations had to open fire near the border, where many civilians in traffic could see the event. There is no such example in the real life. Secondly, the scene when Alehandro comes to Kate’s house and demands to sign the papers seems artificial and meant to symbolize that double agents that work for the government and drug cartels remain unpunished for their actions and usage of federal resources.