“In Mexico, Sicario means hitman.”

These are the chilling words that appear on screen 40 seconds into the new trailer for the action thriller, Sicario, and pretty much sum up the incredibly claustrophobic tension created across the entire new two minute trailer for the film.

Starring Emily Blunt as an FBI agent recruited by an elite government agency to help in the increasingly brutal war on drugs along the US / Mexican border, this film looks like it will be pulling no punches in its depiction of the insane violence that has been waged by Mexican drug cartels against their enemies over the last decade of battle.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners) and a cast also featuring Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro as two CIA operatives with seemingly shady agendas when it comes to the war, this film looks like it’s going to be watch through your fingers cinema:

Sicario is in Australian cinemas September 17.