In Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario (2015), the dinner table scene featuring Alejandro and the cartel boss’s family strips away all conventional thriller tropes. The tension is suffocating because the power dynamic is absolute. Villeneuve uses wide shots and a cold, ambient score to emphasize the clinical nature of the confrontation. The horror of the scene comes from the calm, methodical execution of vengeance, forcing the audience to confront the dark reality of the drug war.