Wild Horse Nine (2026)- BFI London Film Festival 2026

Review

118min

Genre:       Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller

Director:    Martin McDonagh

Cast:         John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Mariana Di Girólamo…and more

Writers:     Martin McDonagh

-Synopsis-

Shortly before Augusto Pinochet’s 1973 military coup, a pair of colourful bickering CIA agents are sent on a shadowy mission to Chile’s isolated Easter Island to test their loyalty and professionalism, only for their dark pasts to mix with present conspiracies and a bond with two young local students to throw their partnership and the mission into turmoil, in this period spy black comedy from the writer/director of ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’.

Having made a career exploring volatile and unlikely yet charming male bonds in extraordinary circumstances, and mining the black comedy depths of extreme situations with films like ‘In Bruges’ and ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’, Anglo-Irish playwright turned writer/director Martin McDonagh turns his attention to mid-20^th century Cold War American interventionism and CIA misdeeds to deliver another bold and subversive dark humour tale of unconventional friendship in the face if deception and paranoia, and a spy vs. spy black comedy period piece with timely undertones and something to say about American imperialism.

John Malkovich stars as veteran CIA agent “Chris”, a jaded and unfiltered American spy with a long and dark past and a worsening condition leaving him with few f**ks to give, stationed in 1970s Chile with his younger slightly more couth partner “Lee” (Sam Rockwell) helping the US undermine the numbered days of Salvador Allende’s elected Marxist regime, sent on a retreat and assignment to the mystical Pacific Island of Rapa Nui which will test their divided loyalties between each other and the agency, where they meet young leftist students “Monica” (Mariana Di Girólamo) and “Alicia” (Ailín Salas) with whom they form a strange bond. But their time looking at the “big heads” and awkwardly mingling with locals and visitors soon takes a perilous turn when their cold and colourful station chief “MJ” (Steve Buscemi) dials up the paranoia and steps up the pressure, showing up to put them on the path to a decisive showdown which threatens their partnership and some of the CIA’s deepest darkest secrets.

If you’re familiar with McDonagh’s previous screen or indeed stage work, you’ll probably have certain expectations from ‘Wild Horse Nine’. Plenty of absurdist moments and a dark humour treatment of serious subject matter, violence and extreme circumstances seamlessly blended with black comedy and an often wacky nature, all revolving around highly flawed and questionable yet charming and alluring characters engaging in outrageous observational debates and ridiculous random trivia, whilst delivering hilariously crude and clever rapid-fire dialogue . . . often at the most inappropriate times. Luckily for audiences then that those expectations are well met here.

With a title referring to stubborn old veterans becoming obsolete and no longer controlled by the system they once served, not to mention featuring plenty of actual wild horses as wildlife symbols of the film’s main protagonist and a sort of hoofed guardian angel, ‘Wild Horse Nine’ is mostly set and largely shot off the West coast of Chile in the legendary island of Rapa Nui, as McDonagh relies on his regular cinematographer Ben Davis (Doctor Strange, The Banshees of Inisherin) and his previous experience vividly photographing isolated island allure to capture the picturesque beauty of Easter Island as rarely ever seen in feature film.

It all combines well in the looks and design stakes with sterling production and costume designs to seamlessly recreate the Americas of the early 1970s, while the film’s style and energy circle is completed by yet another sumptuous, moody and melodic score from American composer and longtime McDonagh and Coen Brothers collaborator Carter Burwell (Fargo, In Bruges), which adds a subtle bittersweet quality to the narrative and blends well with a soundtrack of classic rock, pop and protest tunes.

With the film’s style elements well taken care of, the success of ‘Wild Horse Nine’ rests on its satirical politically savvy narrative and the strength of its characters, and luckily McDonagh can rely on two Hollywood heavyweights with an abundance of character and sheer charisma, as John Malkovich creates early Oscar buzz with his deft leading turn as a blunt and idiosyncratic, jaded and dying CIA stalwart loner with plenty of ghosts in his closet and red in his ledger. Meanwhile Sam Rockwell also shines as the comparative straight man of the piece, the younger and slightly more stable spook trying to keep his increasingly erratic partner in check whilst faced with a grim and personal decision, both biding their time undermining the Chilean government before its inevitable fall to a military coup . . . with a little help from their gringo friends.

They’re supported by a small but choice supporting cast led by the reliably good Steve Buscemi as their icy but idiosyncratic CIA boss who shakes everything up and proves the catalyst for a reckoning, and Chilean star Mariana Di Girólamo duly leads the homegrown flavour as a local activist student who tries to open their hearts and has her own eyes opened, proving the moral core of the piece.

Yet what really stands out with ‘Wild Horse Nine’ are its strong political overtones—no real surprise coming from Hollywood these days—weaving together a comedic critique of US foreign policy and 20^th century American interventionism fed by the time’s global anti-communist fervour, with the CIA as its ruthless tool of subversion and subterfuge, a period reflection but with a clear throughline to the current administration’s exploits. There’s also a deliberate and general anti-US sentiment seeded through the narrative, most apparent in the depiction of its two main protagonists imbued with stereotypical traits of the “ugly American” abroad; cultural ignorance, a lack of respect for other countries, and a sense of entitlement . . . all dialled up to 11.

It should come as no surprise that as Martin McDonagh’s most overtly political film to date, ‘Wild Horse Nine’ is probably his least personal or emotionally resonant and it ain’t his most chaotically charming or his funniest either, nor is it his most memorable, but the multiple Oscar-nominated screenwriter still comfortably manages to carve out a clever luridly playful narrative—including an imaginative JFK assassination throughline at its heart—using sharp dialogue and sterling performances to skilfully blend all its eclectic elements into yet another darkly delightful and sumptuous cinematic smoothie.

The Bottom Line…

A signature Martin McDonagh spy black comedy, unconventional friendship tale and scolding US foreign policy period critique, ‘Wild Horse Nine’ may not be the Anglo-Irish writer/director’s definitive effort but thanks to an inventive narrative, a bold outrageous streak and crisp droll dialogue delivered by two of Hollywood’s most unique and reliable talents, his latest proves yet another stylishly moody and hilarious quirky character romp.

‘Wild Horse Nine’ is out on the 4th of November in the UK and the 6th of November in the US.

Similar films you may like (Home Video)

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

A lifelong friendship on an isolated island off the Irish coast is unexpectedly ended when one shuns the other for an incomprehensible reason, and the other refuses to accept it, leading to a feud which takes a dark turn and pulls in the eccentric locals in this black comedy/drama meditation the difficult 20th century history of Ireland, from the writer/director of ‘In Bruges’ and ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’.

Directed by Martin McDonagh and starring Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson and Kerry Condon among others.

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