Jon Bernthal & Taylor Sheridan’s 121-Minute Action Thriller Becomes One of Streaming’s Biggest Hits

While he might be known for his many neo-Western hits like Yellowstone, Taylor Sheridan is certainly no stranger to the action genre. He’s given audiences explosive favorites such as Special Ops: Lioness, and others, like Tulsa King, that might not be downright action shows, but definitely feature some hard-hitting moments. However, long before Yellowstone came along, Sheridan teamed up with director Denis Villeneuve to bring to life what is perhaps his best action thriller to date, which just so happened to feature none other than The Punisher himself, Jon Bernthal.

Bernthal Plays a Small but Key Role in Taylor Sheridan’s Action Thriller

Hitting theaters on Sept. 18, 2015, Sicario burst onto the scene to blow everyone away with its realistic action, tense atmosphere, and outstanding performances. Based on a script by Sheridan, Villeneuve helmed the feature film before taking point on the Dune franchise, and the upcoming reboot of James Bond.

Featuring many of the trademarks Sheridan would become known for later in his career, Sicario is led by Emily Blunt as Kate Macer, an idealistic FBI agent who is recruited to join a secretive U.S. government task force commanded by Matt Graver (Josh Brolin). Their mission is to target a powerful Mexican drug cartel, but Graver’s unconventional approach to things often puts the two at odds. Throw in Benicio del Toro as Alejandro Gillick, a former Mexican prosecutor turned assassin with ulterior motives, and Sicario becomes a movie that’s as powerful as it is bleak.

Scoring a near-perfect rating of 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, Bernthal also pops up in a supporting role in Sicario, playing Kate’s boyfriend, Ted. He might not have much screen time, but he makes the most of it by adding to Blunt’s arc, which in turn leads to one of the movie’s most disturbing moments.

Scoring Academy Award nominations for Best Cinematography, Original Score, and Sound Editing, Sicario failed to take home any Oscars, but it did win big at the box office. Produced for $30 million, the film made nearly 3x its budget, raking in a total of $84.9 million. Called everything from “visceral and unflinching” to “one of the most brutal, effective thrillers in recent memory,” even now, more than a decade on, Sicario remains some of Sheridan’s best work that people can’t get enough of, as is evident by its recent placement on the streaming charts.

‘Sicario’ Scores Big on Streaming

Currently available to stream in the United States with a subscription to HBO Max, Sicario has once again become a hit. People have been gravitating to it so much that it’s now the sixth most popular movie on the platform, sandwiched in between the ’90s favorite, Practical Magic, and another of del Toro’s films, the excellent crime drama No Sudden Move.

Revisiting the world of Sicario three years later, Sheridan also penned the script for the sequel, Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado. Directed by Stefano Sollima, it might not have been as well received as the first movie, but for those interested in watching the two movies back-to-back, you can check out the follow-up on its current streaming home of Starz, or wait just a little while longer for it to arrive for free on Tubi Sept. 1.