History YMMV / Sicario

* FoeYay / CrackPairing: Alejandro/Kate, [[http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Alejandro%20Gillick*s*Kate%20Macer/works at least according to the fandom]].

* LateArrivalSpoiler: Benicio del Toro's role in the film is pretty small until the third act, where [[spoiler:it becomes clear that he's been the moving force behind the entire plan of the film, and is the titular ''sicario'']]. The [[http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1751313920/tt3397884 original poster]] conceals this development nicely by placing him admist the other characters on a more or less equal ground. The Region 1 DVD case not only puts del Toro directly underneath the title, but makes his picture larger and at the apex of a triangle with the two other mains.

* WhatAnIdiot: The cartel men attempting to free Manuel Diaz's brother on the Bridge of Americas. Not only are they spotted almost immediately, but before one gangbanger can even leave his car they are swarmed instantly by the Security Detail who hilariously outgun and outnumber them. They also appear visibly nervous compared to the cool and calm Deltas and Law Enforcement agents who have their weapons trained on them while the cartel members haven't even properly drawn their own weapons. When they are given an option to lay their guns and back off, the minute one gangbanger raises his pistol they are completely lit up, with the only shots fired back are when one gangbanger gets shot and shoots into his own crew. Even a sicario disguised as a Federale who sneaks up on Kate only gets a single bullet out before she notices and headcaps him followed by some rifle fire by nearby agents
** When this troper saw that scene, it seemed like the gangsters in the other vehicles were only a distraction to get the CIA agents out of their vehicles while the rogue Federale came up from behind. Even with all their training and superior firepower, the only reason Kate wasn't killed was dumb luck.

* FoeYay: Alejandro/Kate, [[http://archiveofourown.org/tags/Alejandro%20Gillick*s*Kate%20Macer/works at least according to the fandom]].

* WhatAnIdiot: The cartel men attempting to free Manuel Diaz's brother on the Bridge of Americas. Not only are they spotted almost immediately, but before one gangbanger can even leave his car they are swarmed instantly by the Security Detail who hilariously outgun and outnumber them. They also appear visibly nervous compared to the cool and calm Deltas and Law Enforcement agents who have their weapons trained on them while the cartel members haven't even properly drawn their own weapons. When they are given an option to lay their guns and back off, the minute one gangbanger raises his pistol they are completely lit up, with the only shots fired back are when one gangbanger gets shot and shoots into his own crew. Even a sicario disguised as a Federale who sneaks up on Kate only gets a single bullet out before she notices and headcaps him followed by some rifle fire by nearby agents

* AwardSnub: Despite ''almost unanimous'' critical acclaim, the film only received three nominations at the Academy Awards (for Roger Deakins' cinematography, Jóhann Jóhannsson's score, and the Sound Editing). The performances of Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro were generally ignored, though the latter did manage to earn a BAFTA nomination.

* AwardSnub: Despite ''completely unanimous'' critical acclaim, the film only received three nominations at the Academy Awards (for Roger Deakins' cinematography, Jóhann Jóhannsson's score, and the Sound Editing). The performances of Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro were generally ignored, though the latter did manage to earn a BAFTA nomination.

* WhatAnIdiot: The cartel men attempting to free Manuel Diaz's brother on the Bridge of Americas. Not only are they spotted almost immediately, but before one gangbanger can even leave his car they are swarmed instantly by the Security Detail who hilariously outgun and outnumber them. They also appear visibly nervous compared to the cool and calm Deltas and Law Enforcement agents who have their weapons trained on them while the cartel members haven't even properly drawn their own weapons. When they are given an option to lay their guns and back off, the minute one gangbanger raises his pistol they are completely lit up, with the only shots fired back are when one gangbanger gets shot and shoots into his own crew. Even a sicario disguised as a Federale who sneaks up on Kate only gets a single bullet out before she notices and headcaps him followed by some rifle fire by nearby agents
** However, the cartel thugs may have only been there as a distraction, with the crooked agent being the real hitman.

* JerkassWoobie: Alejandro is a killer with very little morals and, depending on your interpretation, crosses the [=MEH=] towards the end of the film. But his backstory ([[spoiler: He was once a Lawyer who's wife head was decapitated while his child was ''thrown into a vat of acid'']]) can make him sympathetic. Even his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eap432kU7kI&list= theme]] seems to imply this.

** [[spoiler: Matt also crosses it (if he hadn't done it already) when he reveals to Kate that the real goal of the operation is to exercise control over the cartels and that, to achieve said goal, he has not only manipulated her to give himself an excuse to operate on American ground, but has also willingly unleashed a sicario of the Medellin cartel (that would be Alejandro) to do the dirty work, which ends up getting a lot of people killed, including two children.]]

** [[spoiler:Kate ''almost'' crosses it when she intended to kill Alejandro after forcing her to sign a document that said what Matt and he did was "by the book", but relents when she realizes that killing him in cold blood would make her no better than him]].
** [[spoiler:On that note, if Alejandro didn't cross the horizon already before the events of Sicario, he definitely vaulted over it when he killed the wife and kids of Fausto Alarcon before killing him.]]

* AwardSnub: Despite ''completely unanimous'' critical acclaim, the film only received three nominations at the AcademyAwards (for Roger Deakins' cinematography, Jóhann Jóhannsson's score, and the Sound Editing). The performances of Emily Blunt and Benicio Del Toro were generally ignored, though the latter did manage to earn a BAFTA nomination.

* Narm: Ok a child being thrown in a vat of acid is tragic but this is not a snidely whiplash cartoon.
* WhatAnIdiot: The cartel men attempting to free Manuel Diaz's brother on the Bridge of Americas. Not only are they spotted almost immediately, but before one gangbanger can even leave his car they are swarmed instantly by the Security Detail who hilariously outgun and outnumber them. They also appear visibly nervous compared to the cool and calm Deltas and Law Enforcement agents who have their weapons trained on them while the cartel members haven't even properly drawn their own weapons. When they are given an option to lay their guns and back off, the minute one gangbanger raises his pistol they are completely lit up, with the only shots fired back are when one gangbanger gets shot and shoots into his own crew. Even a sicario disguised as a Federale who sneaks up on Kate only gets a single bullet out before she notices and headcaps him followed by some rifle fire by nearby agents

* JerkassWoobie: Alejandro is a killer with very little morals and, depending on your interpretation, crosses the [=MEH=] towards the end of the film. But his backstory ([[spoiler: He was once a Lawyer who's wife was wife's head was decapitated while his child was ''thrown into a vat of acid'']]) can make him sympathetic. Even his [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eap432kU7kI&list= theme]] seems to imply this.

* WhatAnIdiot: The cartel men attempting to free Manuel Diaz's brother on the Bridge of Americas. Not only are they spotted almost immediately, but before one gangbanger can even leave his car they are swarmed instantly by the Security Detail who hilariously outgun and outnumber them. They also appear visibly nervous compared to the cool and calm Deltas and Law Enforcement agents who have their weapons trained on them while the cartel members haven't even properly drawn their own weapons. When they are given an option to lay their guns and back off, the minute one gangbanger raises his pistol they are completely lit up, with the only shots fired back are when one gangbanger gets shot and shoots into his own crew. Even a sicario disguised as a Federale who sneaks up on Kate doesn't even get a bullet out before she notices and headcaps him followed by some rifle fire by nearby agents

** [[spoiler:On that note, if Alejandro didn't cross the horizon already before the events of Sicario, he definitely vaulted over it when he killed the wife and kids of Fausto Alarcon before killing him.]]

* ActorAllusion: Alejandro tells Kate "you are in the land of wolves now." Their actors, Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, were romantic leads in Film/TheWolfman2010.
** Not to mention Emily Blunt [[Film/IntoTheWoods starring in a film that has a wolf in it]].

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Kate ''almost'' crosses it when she intended to kill Alejandro after forcing her to sign a document that said what Matt and he did was "by the book", but relents when she realizes that killing him in cold blood would make her no better than him]].

* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Kate ''almost'' crosses it when she intended to kill Alejandro after forcing her to sign a document that said what Matt and he did was "by the book", but relents when she realizes that killing him in cold blood would make her no better than him]].

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Arguably the point of the film (it's something of an AuthorTract about the War on Drugs), but there's ''literally no'' outright good characters other than Kate and Reggie.

* DarknessInducedAudienceApathy: Arguably the point of the film (it's something of an AuthorTract about the War on Drugs), but there's ''literally no'' outright good characters other than Kate.

* ActorAllusion: Alejandro tells Kate "you are in the land of wolves now." Their actors, Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, were romantic leads in Film/TheWolfman2010.

* ActorAllusion: Alejandro tells Kate "you are in the land of wolves now." Their actors, Benicio Del Toro and Emily Blunt, were romantic leads in Film/TheWolfman2010.
* SpecialEffectsFailure: While the movie isn't all thet heavy on special effects and otherwise uses them very well, [[spoiler: Ted's strangling of Kate is quite obviously fake-looking, since you quite clearly see that his fingers aren't actually pressing down on her throat.]]

* NightmareFuel: A fair share of it.
** The bloody, plastic-wrapped corpses in the walls during the opening scene. Made even worse when you realize just how many of them there is.
** The mutilated victims of the cartel in Juarez.
** [[spoiler: Alejandro killing [[BigBad Fausto Alarcon's]] wife and children before his eyes.]]