Sicario: not what we expected
From Story Nerd by Melanie Hill, Valerie Francis
May 27, 2026 · 39 min · Season 18 · Episode 1803
About this episode
The episode explores the unexpected character dynamics and narrative structure of the film Sicario.
Sicario presented us with a few surprises this week. Valerie thought she’d be analysing a hero, but Kate is an underdog. She’s not presented as a typical underdog, nor does she have the typical underdog resolution. On my end, the logline for the movie misses some essential information. I try a new method of creating a premise that clarifies the conflict and story climax, and it delivers a surprising discovery about the real antagonist. -M
People in this episode
Host: Valerie
Topics covered
- film analysis
- character study
- underdog narrative
- story structure
- antagonist
Keywords
- Sicario
- film analysis
- underdog
- narrative structure
- antagonist
- character dynamics
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Sicario
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