They’re playing HANDBALL!!!

This movie should have won so many more awards than it did. It is a masterpiece in filmmaking and a textbook in directing, editing, and acting. The border crossing and the dinner scene both left me shocked and speechless. The way the movie switched, I’m not going to give it away, was genius and totally unique. I can’t praise this movie enough. It’s one of my all time favorites.

Fine, I'll watching Sicario again. The poor 4k disc is getting worn out at this point.

There is more meaning in the soccer game - the boy is the son of the corrupt cop who got shot at the end of the tunnel and the boys mother/wife of the cop who turns around to see where the gunfire is coming from, so they are part of the story not just random people.

The paved highway is actually the Mexico side, we can see the border patrol vehicle on the left. The shot is just west of El Paso & Juarez

Something you missed in the handball scene is the motorcycle sitting there waiting for a rider to hop on and tell people that the Federales are moving.

I watch it over and over again, I am Mexican, born and raised, I have never nor ever want to be to Juarez. We call that game “frontón” instead of handball or raquetball

Denis Villeneuve and Roger Deakins were one hell of a duo

the soudtrack is critical too

That scene of the two roads on both sides of the border,  the paved side is actually Mexico, and the dirt side is US, the dirt roads is where the border patrol patrols along the border fence.

9:00 I think the cartel guys have their widows down because they don’t have AC

Everything Denis directs is so damn good. I liked the second movie but I could immediately tell he was missing. He has such a unique style

That bit about the border crossing and endangering the civilians…. My interpretation was one of their level of precision vs the cartel’s willingness to endanger the general populace

The song that plays here "the beast" is one of the greatest songs ever to sell the mood of the situation they are headed into. Almost like Juarez is a living animal laying in wait for it's prey. Slowly inhaling and exhaling gradually increasing in volume and intensity as the attack draws near! 10/10 ❤

Very good analysis! You asked for viewer's interpretation. Regarding the dog barking prior to the shootout, it  reminds me of numerous earlier movies where a dog's barking precedes menacing violence - perhaps an attack on a village, house, and ranch/farm.

Yeah, this is my favorite scene of the whole movie. Makes you feel like you are in the car with Emily... One of my fav movies (top 20) of all time

The scene in which Granger meets the Secretary also has borders. The Secretary has a white shirt, dark tie, and separates the room in two. As Granger and the Secretary talk, they both have half of their face well lit, and the other half in the dark. This to me feels like a transition from light to dark.

You bring up a good point: Hollywood loves to change the color gradient to sepia to depict when a scene is taking place in Mexico. The film Traffic did this as well as Breaking Bad.

Sicario doesn't change the color graident, making it feel much more realistic. At the same time the film is showing how the lines between Mexico and the US are much more blurred than we'd like to admit, thus showing the viewer that the lines between good guys and bad guys in the war on drugs is also blurred and not neatly defined.

The film leaves one feeling not as if there's a clear demarcation of good and bad people in this war.. only people who are essentially both sides of the same coin.

Having been in this part of Juarez a plethora of times, I can also say that the things you see in these scenes are not just filmmaker stylistic decisions/choices - but they are grounded reality. The cartel members having their windows down can certainly serve as a symbolism of removal of the borders, but it is a reality that in the border crossing many cars over-heat and don't have working AC, forcing many people to find ventilation any way they can. Having that many cars jam-packed in the same spot also generates lots of heat. Also, seeing the chaotic structure of the streets of Juarez doesn't necessarily mean its impoverished but is a display of the contrast between cultures. Juarez is the 9th most populous city in Mexico and has an insanely diverse socioeconomic population. The way streets and buildings are built are very different from the US. As much as there are parallels in these shots, there's also stark contrasts. I dig your analysis, keep up the good work!

The windows on the cartel vehicle were down most likely because the AC didn't work.  And if you look at the other passenger cars waiting in line, all of them are down.