Watched this again and I underrated it a bit back then (previous score 8/10), mainly because Villeneuve’s subsequent two sci-fi films, even if more appealing to me on a story basis, reveals how superb his direction here is. I don’t know if it’s from the change of genre or Villeneuve’s speedier workrate, but while his signature somber tone helps ground and guide the more fantastical elements in Arrival and Blade Runner 2049, the direction doesn’t feel as burrowed deeper and layered as in Sicario and Prisoners. He’s more of a very sturdy, able sci-fi craftsman there, rather than an actual stylist here, whose visual helps fleshed out all the subversive corners and wrinkles of Taylor Sheridan’s script superbly. Also doesn't hurt that Emily Blunt still remains his best lead performance ever, and Roger Deakins’ cinematography one of the most spectacular, both of his filmography and of digital ones in general, helping undergird the oppressive menace in all its crisp beauty and terror so well. 8.5/10