The prologue of the film indicates the word «Sicario» is either Hebrew or Mexican for «hitman», but at its core, the film postulates the ever - shifting goalposts of federal law enforcement (both American and Mexican) while slowly revealing the broken conscience of both States —
as if someone thought to
remake Soderbergh's Traffic and shoot it over the template of Michael Mann's
Heat; all awash in dust motes, artillery and desert sunsets.