Collider argues that Taylor Sheridan’s 2015 film Sicario has returned to prominence on HBO Max and remains a stronger neo-Western than his television hit Yellowstone. The article says Sicario matters because it combines Sheridan’s social commentary with Denis Villeneuve’s direction to examine violence, power and US intervention in the drug war with greater restraint.

Emily Blunt plays FBI agent Kate Macer, who joins a CIA-led task force pursuing Mexican drug cartels and becomes disturbed by its violent methods after travelling to Juárez. The film is praised for its realistic tone, cinematography and portrayal of Kate’s growing disillusionment, while Yellowstone is criticised as more overt and less nuanced in its treatment of modernisation and cowboy culture.