El Sicario: Room 164

Name: El Sicario: Room 164
Genre: Documentary
Released: December 23, 2011
Duration: 95 min
Rating: 76

2011

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 6 Critics

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EL SICARIO: ROOM 164

Movie Details & Credits

Not Rated

Doc & Film International | Release Date: December 23, 2011

Summary: A Juarez hit man speaks: he has killed hundreds of people,
is an expert in torture and kidnapping, and for many years
was a commander of the state police in Chihuahua. He even received some training from the FBI. He has lived in Juárez and has moved freely throughout Mexico and the US. At the moment, there is a contract on his life ofA Juarez hit man speaks: he has killed hundreds of people,
is an expert in torture and kidnapping, and for many years
was a commander of the state police in Chihuahua. He
even received some training from the FBI. He has lived in
Juárez and has moved freely throughout Mexico and the
US. At the moment, there is a contract on his life of $250,000
and he lives as a fugitive, though he is still free and has
never been charged with a crime in any country. The film
takes place in a motel room on the US / Mexico border.
The sicario is highly intelligent, very articulate and all too
believable. The film stems from Charles Bowden’s essay
The Sicario published in 2009 in Harper’s Magazine. (Doc & Film International)… Expand

Director: Gianfranco Rosi

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 95 min

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Awards & Rankings

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Critic Reviews

Slant Magazine - Jesse Cataldo

Dec 21, 2011

A lot of evil is laid on the table in El Sicario, and the film makes a big, if exquisitely subtle show, of theorizing that there's no way to explain how it got there. Read full review

The A.V. Club - Alison Willmore

Dec 29, 2011

El Sicario: Room 164 is an almost laughably simple, aggressively drab-looking film, but it packs a wallop. Read full review

Time Out - Keith Uhlich

Dec 21, 2011

Despite his repentance, you sense that this lost soul will be confessing his sins for all eternity. Read full review

New York Post - V.A. Musetto

Dec 29, 2011

The hit man's narration is compelling and frightening on its own. Read full review

Village Voice - Nick Pinkerton

Dec 27, 2011

Our subject retains a noticeable streak of pride in his expertise, though falters when discussing the killing of women. Hoping for his own salvation, the converted killer now claims the scales have fallen from his eyes, but his executioner's hood remains in place to the end - as does the mephitic air of timeless evil that hangs over El Sicario. Read full review

NPR - Mark Jenkins

Dec 30, 2011

The stories are horrific, if laced with Tarantino-style humor. Read full review

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User Reviews

helohe

Jan 13, 2012

A very interesting documentary. All of the film taking place in one room (except for some landscape shots). Only one narrator speaking about his life and his work as a hitman, torturer,.. for the drug cartel.

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