Martin McDonagh's new film Wild Horse Nine, starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as CIA agents adrift in 1973 Chile, opens in cinemas on Wednesday, 4 November. The early word from critics, led by RTE.ie's review, is that the Anglo-Irish writer and director has delivered one of his most entertaining films yet, and possibly an awards season contender.
The premise is a strange one, which is exactly what you would expect from the man who gave us The Banshees of Inisherin. Malkovich plays Chris Carlisle, an eccentric, melancholic CIA operative riddled with terminal cancer and Catholic guilt over a long and amoral career. Rockwell plays his partner Lee Chesterfield, who has his own reasons for tagging along when Chris insists on a trip to Easter Island, 3,500km out into the Pacific, to see the famous stone statues before he dies. What follows is part comedy caper, part political thriller, and part meditation on guilt and redemption.
What is Wild Horse Nine about?
The action unfolds against the backdrop of the CIA's campaign to undermine Salvador Allende's government in Chile in 1973. Chris and Lee carry out the dirty work of US foreign policy, in the words of the RTE.ie review, with all the exacting efficiency of accountants. Back in Santiago, Steve Buscemi's bureau chief MJ slowly loses his mind worrying that loose cannon Chris is about to betray everyone, not least through the tell-all memoirs he is writing after a lifetime of murder and mayhem.
McDonagh regulars will recognise the shape of the thing. Two men, stuck in a beautiful and remote place, struggling to communicate with each other while a contemptuous boss closes in with an ulterior motive. According to RTE.ie, it is hard not to see the film as a companion piece to McDonagh's 2007 debut feature In Bruges, with something of the scattershot violence and nervy energy of Seven Psychopaths thrown in. There is even a dinner scene with an English couple that recalls the famous American tourists scene from In Bruges.
John Malkovich's performance and the Oscar race
Malkovich won best actor for the role at the Venice Film Festival in October, and RTE.ie suggests he looks like the only competition to Andrew Scott in Elsinore for next year's Oscar. His singsong accent recounts a long and wicked life as an agent of chaos across the globe, reeling off his exploits in a line that has already entered McDonagh lore: Guatemala '64, Congo '60, Dallas '63.
There is a moment that will land particularly well with Irish audiences. Chris has a fond regard for the IRA, whom he worked with in Belfast, and the film does not shy away from the moral mess of his career. As he tells Lee at one point: I've killed people in countries you can't even spell. He spends his nights recording confessions into a Dictaphone, listening to Hank Williams, taking morphine, and worrying about the moths circling his hotel bedroom. After a life of covert operations and plausible deniability, he is now in the business of carefree confession.
What the critics are saying
The reviews arriving this week have been strong. Comic Basics reports that Wild Horse Nine has earned fresh praise on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling the CIA comedy a double act for the ages. The outlet also notes McDonagh has said the historical piece, rooted in the events of 1973 Chile, has taken on unexpected resonance with current events, and that the idea reportedly came after he visited Easter Island years ago while seeking inspiration for his next project.
IGN's review describes the film as a great hang, with beautifully nuanced performances from Rockwell and Malkovich, and argues that grounding the story in historical events adds an extra layer of thematic depth beyond what In Bruges attempted. In Bruges confined its moral reckoning to the personal, IGN notes, while Wild Horse Nine widens the frame to the political.
Film Authority agrees the film is not Martin McDonagh by numbers, pointing to the Easter Island setting as a genuine first: we have seen the big heads, as they are casually called in the film, but never spent a whole movie there. Like the tourist town of Bruges, the statues form a memorable background to a bloody drama.
Why it matters
Beyond the buzz, the film is a well-timed critique of US foreign policy, with all the twitchy paranoia of early seventies movie-making. It is a story about the people who did the West's dirty work in Latin America and elsewhere, and about what happens to a conscience after decades of it. The statues and the wild horses that roam the rugged landscape bear silent witness to the moral quandaries of two men sent to break a country.
Non-sequiturs stick out at awkward angles and plot tangents abound, but being led up the garden path has rarely been this much fun. There is also a bolt out of the blue cameo by Tom Waits at his gnarliest, which gives McDonagh a chance to flex the John Ford visual chops he explored in The Banshees of Inisherin.
FAQ
When is Wild Horse Nine released in cinemas?
Wild Horse Nine opens in cinemas on Wednesday, 4 November 2026.
Who stars in Wild Horse Nine?
John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Buscemi lead the cast, with a cameo from Tom Waits. Malkovich won best actor for the role at the Venice Film Festival in October.
Is Wild Horse Nine connected to In Bruges?
It is not a sequel, but critics widely regard it as a companion piece, sharing themes of guilt, redemption, and two partners in crime at the mercy of a boss with an ulterior motive.