Sicario Day of the Soldado VFX Breakdown

Sicario Day of the Soldado VFX Breakdown


Sicario: Day of the Soldado (released in the UK as Sicario 2: Soldado, also known as Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado and Sicario 2) is a 2018 American thriller film directed by Stefano Sollima and written by Taylor Sheridan. A sequel to 2015's Sicario, the film features Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin, and Jeffrey Donovan reprising their roles, with Isabela Moner, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, and Catherine Keener joining the cast. The story relates to the drug war at the U.S.-Mexico border and an attempt by the United States government to incite increased conflict among the cartels.

Day of the Soldado was released in the United States on June 29, 2018, by Sony Pictures Releasing under its Columbia Pictures label, while it was distributed internationally by Lionsgate. The film is dedicated to the memory of Jóhann Jóhannsson, the composer of the first film, who died in February 2018. It received generally favorable reviews from critics, who called it a "brutal-but-worthy" follow-up to the first film, and praised Brolin and del Toro's performances, although some disliked the pacing and lack of reason for a sequel. The film was also criticized by some for its perceived negative stereotypes of Mexicans and Muslims

A suicide bombing in a Kansas City retail shop kills fifteen people. The United States government responds by authorizing CIA agent Matt Graver to apply extreme measures to combat Mexican drug cartels, who are suspected of smuggling the terrorists across the border. Graver and the Department of Defense decide the best option is to instigate a war between the major cartels, and Graver recruits black operative Alejandro Gillick for the mission. Gillick assassinates a high-profile lawyer of the Matamoros cartel in Mexico City while Graver and his team kidnap Isabel Reyes, the daughter of the kingpin of their rival, in a false flag operation.


Graver, Gillick, and their team take Isabel to Texas and stage a "rescue" with the DEA and local police to make her think she was kidnapped by her father's enemies. Gillick bonds with Isabel and the team makes plans to transport her back to Mexico, intending to leave her in territory controlled by her father's rivals in order to further escalate the conflict. However, the Mexican police escort for their trip back across the border double-cross them and attack the American vehicles. Graver and his team kill dozens of Mexican policemen to escape the ambush.

Isabel flees the scene amidst the chaos and Gillick goes after her alone. Meanwhile, the American government determines that at least two of the suicide bombers in Kansas City were actually domestic terrorists, not foreign nationals and thus were not smuggled into the United States by the cartels. In order to quell tensions with Mexico, the Secretary of Defence orders the CIA to abandon the mission and erase all proof of American involvement by having Isabel killed as part of the cover-up. Graver in turn orders Gillick to kill Isabel, but he refuses and turns rogue to keep her alive. Graver assembles his team to hunt them down in Mexico. Gillick and Isabel move to enter the United States disguised as illegal immigrants, as it would be illegal for the CIA to execute Isabel on American soil.

Miguel, a young Mexican-American "coyote", recognizes Gillick from a previous encounter in a parking lot in Texas. He alerts his boss and Gillick and Isabel are captured. Miguel is forced to execute Gillick. He shoots Gillick and the gang leaves him for dead. Miguel is disappointed with the gang and abandons them shortly. Graver and his team track down the Mexican gang and Isabel with the help of a GPS transmitter inserted into her shoe, and kill all the gang members. Graver takes pity on Isabel and decides to bring her back to the United States and put her in witness protection rather than following his orders to kill her. Meanwhile, Gillick wakes up finding the bullet went through his cheek, takes one of the gang members' cars and drives for the border. One year later, Gillick has recovered from his injuries. He finds Miguel and asks him if he wants to become a sicario.