Episode 328: Weapons Free

What It Covers

Philosopher Tamler Sommers and psychologist David Pizarro spend Episode 328 of Very Bad Wizards on two segments: first, assembling a 16-topic bracket for their listener-selected "VBW Madness" tournament drawn from 155 patron suggestions, then conducting a deep-dive analysis of Denis Villeneuve's 2015 crime thriller Sicario, examining its filmmaking craft, political allegory, and moral ambiguity.

Key Questions Answered

• •Perspective as narrative tool: Sicario restricts the audience entirely to FBI agent Kate Macer's point of view, meaning viewers only learn information as she does. This sustained ignorance generates tension more effectively than conventional thriller exposition. Villeneuve and cinematographer Roger Deakins reinforce this through frequent window-framing shots and close-ups of Kate's disoriented reactions, making confusion a deliberate aesthetic choice rather than a storytelling failure.
• •Budget versus visual ambition: Sicario was produced on a $30 million budget — considered modest given its cast of Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, and Benicio del Toro — yet achieves a visual scale that rivals far more expensive productions. The lesson for filmmakers and creative professionals: practical location shooting in West Texas and Mexico City, disciplined use of CGI only at the margins, and a cinematographer operating at peak skill can substitute for massive production spending.
• •Screenplay subtraction as craft: The original Sicario script included an opening scene showing Alejandro torturing someone, plus dream sequences revealing his backstory. Villeneuve removed all of it, keeping Alejandro opaque for nearly the entire film. Deakins confirmed this was the correct decision. Stripping exposition from a character increases audience investment — withholding information about motivation is often more powerful than providing it.
• •Infrared cinematography technique: The tunnel sequence near the film's end was shot using actual night-vision and infrared camera rigs rather than post-production effects. Deakins engineered a system where only Alejandro's character wears infrared goggles, giving that perspective a distinct heat-signature visual. To extend the visible footprint effect, the production heated the actors' shoes so thermal impressions lasted longer on the ground surface during filming.
• •Political allegory through character function: Kate Macer functions as a stand-in for the American public's naive understanding of the war on drugs — believing in legal process while repeatedly volunteering for operations that violate it. The task force's actual mission, revealed gradually, is to destabilize the Sonora cartel so a Colombian cartel can consolidate control, with the US government effectively managing cartel competition rather than eliminating it. The film presents this without didactic dialogue.
• •Listener tournament mechanics for content creators: Very Bad Wizards runs a biannual "VBW Madness" bracket where Patreon supporters at the $10/month tier vote across multiple rounds to select one topic from 16 options. The 16 finalists are curated from roughly 155 patron suggestions, with hosts narrowing the pool collaboratively on air. This format generates audience investment across multiple weeks, creates a recurring content event, and gives paying supporters direct editorial influence.
• •Avoiding visual clichés in border narratives: Sicario deliberately avoids color-grading Mexico with warm orange tones — a technique used in Breaking Bad and numerous other productions to visually code the country as foreign and dangerous. Villeneuve and Deakins keep both sides of the US-Mexico border in similar visual registers, reinforcing the film's thematic argument that corruption and violence are not geographically contained but systemic across both nations.