Wild Horse Nine (dir. Martin McDonagh)

by Jack Martin | Nov 4, 2026

Certificate: 15

Running Time: 117 mins

UK Distributor: Searchlight Pictures

UK Release Date: 4 November 2026

WHO’S IN WILD HORSE NINE?

John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Parker Posey, Mariana di Girolamo, Ailín Salas, Paola Giannini, Samuel Wayt

WHO’S BEHIND THE CAMERA?

Martin McDonagh (director, writer, producer), Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Anita Overland (producers), Carter Burwell (composer), Ben Davis (cinematographer), Mikkel E.G. Nielsen (editor)

WHAT’S IT ABOUT?

In 1973, two CIA agents (Malkovich and Rockwell) have a wild experience in Chile…

WHAT ARE MY THOUGHTS ON WILD HORSE NINE?

There’s a worrying sense throughout Wild Horse Nine that Martin McDonagh is retreading his own filmmaking path. His debut feature In Bruges was a dark comedy about two deadly professionals facing their own mortality in a rather mundane part of the world, and so is this one. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri explored themes such as guilt and redemption with Sam Rockwell in a key supporting role, and so does this one. The Banshees of Inisherin was a look at the fragility of the male ego within a vital historical setting, and… well, you get the idea. As for Seven Psychopaths, it’s honestly been too long since I’ve seen it to draw any real comparisons, but I think my point has already been made without them.

However, while it may appear on the outside that Wild Horse Nine is simply following the McDonagh playbook to almost insulting degrees, not only does this film forge its own formidable path as a strong narrative in its own right, but the film is in many ways a culmination of everything the filmmaker has done up to this point. It is his most mature and refined piece yet, a collection of his most outstanding traits from those other films that have been reframed as a profound meditation on life, death, and the eccentricities in between.

It takes place in early 1970s Chile, with the imminent deposition of the country’s democratically elected socialist President Salvador Allende being carefully planned by locally stationed CIA operatives. Two of them, veteran agent Chris Carlisle (John Malkovich) and younger hothead Lee Chesterfield (Rockwell), have decided to spend a week on Easter Island, exploring the sights of those famous head statues and taking in the vast coastal wilderness with wild horses roaming free in every other direction. The thing is, though, that Chris is terminally ill with signs of advancing dementia, and has thus adopted a decisively give-no-fucks attitude, whether it’s openly admitting to nearly everyone that he and Lee encounter that they’re CIA agents conspiring to undermine the local democracy, or planning to dictate a memoir potentially exposing some of his biggest secrets whilst on duty (though currently, it’s mostly just a bunch of rambling nonsense about dinosaurs and such).

Naturally, as is often the case in a McDonagh film, there are some rather morose facts about these characters and their deeper motivations, including the emotional reason both Chris and Lee have travelled to Easter Island in the first place, that are slowly revealed over the course of the narrative, with flashes of dark comedy and amusingly straightforward dialogue that often reads like a more violent Harold Pinter play. But here, McDonagh approaches it all with a more tender soul than usual, exploring these familiar themes and concepts from a perspective of someone who has become a much different, slightly wiser person than when they began their filmmaking journey. There is certainly a playfulness but also a poignancy to how the story unfolds here, with the characters talking about things such as death, sex and regret in ways that make them feel like well-rounded people instead of vessels for shock value, which helps the viewer to better identify with them as some rather surprising revelations come to light (without giving away spoilers, I am genuinely curious as to what JFK conspiracists will make of this film).

Beyond that, Wild Horse Nine is also an evolution for McDonagh as a technical filmmaker, as his direction here is not only solid but tonally consistent, with moments of humour and suspense giving way easily to shocking outbursts of violence which he, along with cinematographer Ben Davis and editor Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, present with a clear and often striking flow. His assured and confident direction also benefits the actors, some of whom give the best performances in any McDonagh film to date, most notably John Malkovich who proves himself to be more than a natural with McDonagh’s prose as he applies his signature deadpan delivery to some outrageous dialogue that only an actor of his sardonic nature can enliven. This is honestly the most I’ve ever liked Malkovich in anything, because while I never disliked the actor I also hadn’t been as convinced of his emotional range before seeing him in this film, where he really gets to sink his teeth into a morally complex and vulnerable character which almost feels tailor-made for the actor’s sentimentality, and he sells it exponentially.

The film is a great acting showcase all around, with Rockwell proving to be a great foil against the more unhinged Malkovich, while Steve Buscemi gets one of the film’s funniest lines and deliveries as the pair’s beleaguered CIA boss, and although a few faces like Parker Posey and Tom Waits are somewhat underutilised, they leave enough of an impression in their limited screen time. But as strong as the acting is, Wild Horse Nine is McDonagh’s show through and through, for the filmmaker has delivered one of his most satisfying and emotionally resonant films to date, one that certainly has you laughing but also on the verge of tears as you watch these three-dimensional characters contemplate their mere existence in manners that can be deeply effective and profoundly universal. As the movie puts forth, we are all bound to die one day, so it’s important to take a look at ourselves beforehand and see if we had put our limited existence to good use, and if not then see if there’s still time to make things right, even if it isn’t necessarily for ourselves.

Hopefully, with his latest feature, McDonagh can rest easy knowing that he’s put his unique talents as a storyteller and filmmaker to very good use indeed.

SO, TO SUM UP…

Wild Horse Nine is filmmaker Martin McDonagh’s most mature film to date, as he tackles a number of deeply complex existential topics with his trademark humour and emotional poignancy, led by an excellent cast that includes a career-best John Malkovich.