Brutal and bloody trailer for Emily Blunt's Sicario

To put it bluntly, Sicario has 'Oscar winner' written all over it.

Translating as ‘hitman’, the hard-hitting film stars Emily Blunt as an idealistic FBI agent plunged into the murky waters of an international drug war waged on the lawless borders of Mexico between cartels and one clandestine US government force.

When these covert US-led forces go after a nefarious cartel boss, they bring Blunt’s agent across the border to help take down the kingpin. It isn’t long before she’s watching the bodies pile up, washing off blood in the shower. Like we said, hard-hitting.

Tense, topical and violent, the highly charged trailer promises what could be an award-winning performance from Blunt – Variety hailed her performance as “mesmerising” when it debuted at this year’s Cannes Festival – along with other potential glory. Director Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners, Enemy), looks to have crafted quite the thriller.

Let’s hope he hits the target with cinemagoers when it’s released later this year.

Sicario is in UK cinemas from 6 November