12 Best Movies Like Sicario

Before Denis Villeneuve and Taylor Sheridan became behemoths in the entertainment industry (for the "Dune" and "Yellowstone" franchises, respectively), the pair collaborated on a little thriller called "Sicario." This innovative 2015 film examined the fight against drug cartels from a refreshing angle and took moviegoers on one heck of a ride. "Sicario" helped boost the careers of both filmmakers and kicked off a franchise.

While you're waiting for news on the newest movie in the "Sicario" franchise (whose working title teases a compelling possible plot point), here are some other films that will scratch the same itch for you. Some of these movies star actors from "Sicario," while others share the same writer or director. Genre-wise, they run the gamut from political thrillers to neo-Westerns to heist movies to horror movies. However, they all have the same elements that made "Sicario" such an unexpected hit. If you liked "Sicario," then you should give these movies a try.

At the risk of pointing out the obvious, the first movie you should watch if you liked "Sicario" would be its sequel: 2018's "Sicario: Day Of The Soldado." The movie is less nuanced than "Sicario" but no less enjoyable. Although Kate Mercer (Emily Blunt) doesn't return for the sequel, you get to see plenty of Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and especially Alejandro Gillick (Benicio del Toro). Matt and Alejandro are once again enlisted to "stir the pot," this time trying to turn two rival cartels against one another by kidnapping the kingpin's daughter (Isabela Merced) and then pinning it on the other cartel. However, the kidnapping goes wrong, and Alejandro decides to protect the girl instead.

Even though director Stefano Sollima replaces Denis Villeneuve at the helm, screenwriter Taylor Sheridan returns to deliver a twisty neo-Western, in which Benicio del Toro is given the opportunity to show a softer side. Meanwhile, Brolin once again exudes so much charisma that you can almost let his character's moral bankruptcy slide. If you can forgive the film's ending, which was clearly intended to set up a sequel, then "Sicario: Day Of The Soldado" holds up as a stylish thriller.

Fans of "Sicario" will eat up "Training Day," a gritty look at crime in Los Angeles. In this 2000 film, Jake Hoyt (Ethan Hawke) is an eager rookie cop training under narcotics officer Alonzo Harris (Denzel Washington). Jake wants so badly to join the team that he'll do anything Alonzo says — a quality that Alonzo shamelessly exploits. Over the course of a single day of training, it starts to dawn on Jake that his mentor may not have his best interests in mind.

In "Training Day," Jake faces a dilemma much like Kate Mercer's: how to uphold your principles when it seems like the only way to stop the drug cartels is to beat them at their own game. (In fact, "Training Day" even drops a quote about wolves that mirrors what Alejandro says at the end of "Sicario.") Just as Alonzo keeps Jake on his toes, the Antoine Fuqua-directed movie keeps viewers on their toes. 

You can never be sure whether or not Denzel Washington's character is joking, but Alonzo commands your attention either way. In that respect, he has a lot in common with Josh Brolin's crooked cop from "Sicario." It's no wonder that Alonzo Harris is considered one of the most charismatic villains in movie history. King Kong may have nothing on Denzel Washington, but the characters from "Sicario" come awfully close.

Want to see another morally ambiguous exploration of the drug trade? Look no further than Steven Soderbergh's "Traffic." This 2000 film follows multiple parallel storylines. In one, a politician (Michael Douglas) campaigning as "hard on drugs" discovers that his daughter (Erika Christensen) is addicted to them. In another, two Mexican police officers (Benicio del Toro and Jacob Vargas) try to stop a drug cartel. Meanwhile, a woman (Catherine Zeta-Jones) learns where her wealthy husband (Steven Bauer) really gets his money.

If you liked Benicio del Toro in "Sicario," you'll love him in "Traffic." In fact, his performance in this film ranks right up there with "Sicario" as one of the best Benicio del Toro movies ever. What's most impressive about "Traffic" is how it manages to be so sweeping in scope without ever losing sight of the little details. It covers every aspect of the drug trade — dealers and users, drug lords and their families — and weaves together these separate storylines to show how, on a systematic level, they are all connected. Without once stooping to didacticism, the film illustrates just how futile the "war on drugs" can be. "Traffic" is not an easy film to watch, but it is a powerful one, and in that respect it is just like "Sicario."

On Wind River Indian Reservation, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent named Cory (Jeremy Renner) finds the body of a woman (Kelsey Asbille) in the wilderness. With the help of rookie FBI agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), Cory tries to get to the bottom of this crime, which runs way deeper than it seems.

From the haunting opening image to the shootout near the end, there's plenty here for "Sicario" fans to like. 2017's "Wind River" is written and directed by "Sicario" scribe Taylor Sheridan, while the two leads of the film share a dynamic similar to Kate and Alejandro. Jane will remind viewers of Emily Blunt's character; she will stop at nothing to catch the person responsible, but has no idea what she is in for. Meanwhile, Cory has traces of Alejandro in him, as shown by his razor-sharp survival skills and his pragmatic outlook. 

Although this film is set against a totally different backdrop than the hostile deserts and claustrophobic city streets of "Sicario," it still has very much the same atmosphere, with its characters just trying to survive in a harsh world.

In "Prisoners," two children go missing from their Pennsylvania suburb in broad daylight, leaving their families devastated. The father of one of the girls, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), feels like the police investigation led by Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) isn't doing enough, so he decides to take matters into his own hands. Before long, Keller has kidnapped a possible suspect (Paul Dano) in hopes of interrogating him, but his attempts at vigilante justice soon spiral out of control.

If this 2013 movie feels familiar to you, that's because it came from the same auteur as "Sicario." Both movies were directed by Denis Villeneuve; you can see the similarities in their twisty plots and their moody cinematography. Hugh Jackman's desperate father may remind viewers of Alejandro, who is willing to do anything (even the morally questionable) to avenge his wife and daughter. Few movies will fill you with such a looming sense of dread as "Prisoners."

In this heist movie, a bank robbery gone wrong leads Doug (Ben Affleck, who also directs) and James (Jeremy Renner) to take a hostage named Claire (Rebecca Hall). They later release Claire, but Doug decides to still keep an eye on her — partly because he wants to make sure she doesn't know too much, but partly because he has fallen head-over-heels in love with her. Eventually Claire starts to return his feelings, but what she doesn't know is that Doug is her former kidnapper — and that Doug's boss is thinking of silencing her for good.

This film may be set in Boston instead of along the U.S.-Mexico border, but Affleck's 2010 thriller is cut from the same cloth as "Sicario." Both offer a nuanced portrayal of organized crime and explore why decent people might get roped into it. Fans of the intense car convoy scene from "Sicario" are also bound to enjoy the claustrophobic car chase sequence through the streets of Boston. And of course, if you were intrigued by Kate Mercer unwittingly falling in love with the man (Jon Bernthal) who was trying to kill her, then "The Town" has plenty more where that came from.

This 2012 movie does for the "war on terror" what "Sicario" did for the "war on drugs" by turning the topic into a taut thriller with no easy resolution. Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" chronicles the hunt for Osama bin Laden as seen through the eyes of fictional CIA agent Maya (Jessica Chastain). Although many people in the U.S. assume bin Laden is out of the picture, Maya believes he is still out there and still has influence. She must convince others to join her mission – a mission that ultimately takes almost a decade.

It's riveting to watch Jessica Chastain portray a determined young agent who becomes hardened by her mission. Fans of "Sicario" will appreciate the movie's unflinching realism, especially in the intense raid sequence shown in night vision. Even if "Zero Dark Thirty" gets some things wrong about the true story, it certainly remains true to the experience of this 10-year manhunt. If the film seems anticlimactic, that's by design; few movies capture the messiness of an international CIA operation as well as this one. Like "Sicario," this film interrogates whether the solution is as simple as catching the bad guy.

If you enjoyed "Sicario," here's another film about characters on the front lines who try to hold onto their integrity but ultimately get down in the muck with everyone else. Writer-director Alex Garland's "Civil War" imagines a queasy scenario where the United States has plunged into another civil war. The film follows two photojournalists attempting to cover the conflict: the disillusioned Lee (Kirsten Dunst) and the idealistic Jessie (Cailee Spaeny). As the pair cross the war-torn countryside, we see what price they are willing to pay in order to document the truth.

Just as "Sicario" makes the familiar seem alien to viewers (as with its opening image of bodies hidden in the walls of a suburban home), 2024's "Civil War" turns what we know upside-down. Watching the American heartland transformed into a war zone will rattle you to your core, while the film's deliberate pacing and foreboding atmosphere will also appeal to fans of "Sicario." This movie is light on action, but whenever the slowly-building suspense finally explodes into violence, it is too hypnotic for you to look away. Like "Sicario," the film raises the question of whether it is possible to witness such atrocities without becoming complicit in them.

In "Enemy," history professor Adam Bell (Jake Gyllenhaal) stumbles upon a man (also played by Gyllenhaal) who looks exactly like him. When Adam seeks out his doppelganger, the intrigue only deepens, especially since Adam's double is awfully interested in meeting Adam's girlfriend (Melanie Laurent).

The 2013 film's atmosphere of eerie menace immediately reels you in, and as a bonus, it somehow manages to make tarantulas seem even creepier than they are already. Gyllenhaal gives not one but two mesmerizing performances, using his body alone to help audiences distinguish these two virtually identical characters. 

"Enemy" may belong to a slightly different genre than "Sicario," but you can tell right away it's from the same director by the way he lets the story unfold. Denis Villeneuve teases you with small morsels of information and constantly keeps you guessing. Arguably, it's one of the best slow-burn movies out there. Like "Sicario," "Enemy" is a challenging movie, one that you may need to watch a second time in order to fully appreciate the film's confusing ending. But therein lies its genius.

"Syriana" is about the oil trade, not the drug trade, but otherwise it has a lot in common with "Sicario." Using a web of interwoven storylines, this 2005 movie from writer-director Stephen Gaghan (who also penned "Traffic") drills deep into the dirty secrets behind the oil industry. Its characters include an oil consultant (Matt Damon) who turns a personal tragedy into a business opportunity, an emir's son (Alexander Siddig) hoping to succeed his father and take his nation's energy industry in a new direction, and a CIA agent (George Clooney) who uncovers an unsettling conspiracy.

Just like "Sicario," the film enlists a star-studded cast to give an otherwise independent movie a more mainstream appeal. George Clooney plays the equivalent of Emily Blunt's character, a loyal government agent who uncovers just how deep the corruption runs. Although "Syriana" is not as taut of a thriller as "Sicario," it makes up for that by exploring the darker side of international politics. Neither film shies away from exposing the corruption and backroom deals behind U.S. foreign affairs. 

The film also finds empathy for people who might seem too faraway for the average moviegoer to even think about, which may remind viewers of poor Silvio (Maximiliano Hernández) getting caught in the crossfire in "Sicario." Whether showing Middle Eastern leaders trying to do what's best for their people or goat-herders on a highway, "Syriana" takes care to explore global issues on a personal level.

We don't blame you for assuming that a low-budget, PG-13 horror movie has nothing in common with "Sicario." Yet surprisingly, 2018's "A Quiet Place" is a good match. Both feature Emily Blunt in a leading role. Both eschew traditional action scenes in favor of a sense of dread that creeps up on the audience. And both take full advantage of the movie's soundscape to immerse viewers in their eerie, often hostile worlds.

In "A Quiet Place," most of humanity has been wiped out by alien creatures that will kill anything that makes the slightest noise. The survivors manage to scrape by, living in complete silence. The film follows a family unit — Lee (John Krasinski, who also directs), Evelyn (Emily Blunt), Regan (Millicent Simmonds), and Marcus (Noah Jupe) — after they have been struck by tragedy. Krasinski knows that less is more and uses this to masterfully build suspense. This near-wordless movie is pitch-perfect, showing that sometimes the most terrifying movie monsters are the ones you can't see — but rest assured that they can most certainly hear you.

This Oscar-winning neo-Western from directors Joel and Ethan Coen follows three characters: a Texas man (Josh Brolin) who stumbles upon a suitcase full of drug money and decides to keep it for himself, a dangerous hitman (Javier Bardem) sent to retrieve the suitcase, and a bewildered sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) who is powerless to stop the inevitable violence that unfolds.

"No Country for Old Men" has all the ingredients that made "Sicario" so powerful. It stars a bright-eyed member of law enforcement who soon finds themselves in way over their head, along with an inscrutable hitman who plays by his own rules (Bardem's character might well be the cinematic cousin of Benicio del Toro's sicario). Oh yeah, and Josh Brolin is in it, too. While Llewyn Moss is not quite as charismatic as Matt Graver, Brolin brings the same badass gravitas to the role. 

The 2007 film also boasts plenty of eerie shots of the American West that would be right at home in "Sicario." As in that film, the villain actually wins in this movie, because the world of "No Country for Old Men" is a land of wolves.

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