Wild Horse Nine.
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh.
On General Release from November 4th.
With a track record which includes In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh is rightly considered one of the most imaginative and compelling writer-directors working in contemporary cinema. He has an unerring knack of examining the darker aspects of human nature whilst retaining a distinctly comedic approach. It is, perhaps, too early to consider whether Wild Horse Nine is his best film so far, but it really is a great watch.
We start in Santiago, Chile, in 1973, just before the coup which toppled the newly-elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. Two CIA agents and their deeply unpleasant handler are knee-deep in the conspiracy. The action soon moves to Easter Island, with its famous stone heads, and unfolds in a pressure cooker of action and plot twists.
As we have come to expect with McDonagh the dialogue crackles along at a fearsome pace and is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. “I’m not an addict, I just like heroin,” says one character towards the end.
McDonagh secures great performances from all his cast but in particular from his three leads: Steve Buscemi as the Head of Station in Santiago and Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich as the two veteran agents trying to enjoy a holiday. Malkovich, in particular, appears to be having the time of his life, portraying a man who is simultaneously dying from cancer, losing his memory, trying to write his memoirs and confronting his guilty conscience. He cheerfully recounts the various assassinations he has been involved with (for the greater good) and is at pains to warn two young Chilean women (very well played by Mariana Di Girólamo and Ailin Salas) of the grim fate which awaits them and their country. Rockwell, meanwhile, is trying to keep tabs on his out-of-control wife at home whilst his colleague’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic.
One realizes that all of McDonagh’s movies are, to some extent, a contemplation of mortality. In each a significant character has died, or does die, and it is how other characters respond to this which provide the rich fabric of his films. Here there is no doubt that Malkovich’s character will meet his end; one is simply kept guessing as to whether it will be how he wished it or not. And as with The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh now extends his concern with mortality to the animal world: in that film Colin Farrell’s little donkey choked to death; in this one a wild horse befriended by Malkovich dies on the road.
Location, of course, becomes a character in its own right. Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as our two protagonists are forcefully reminded is the correct term, looks beautiful and, with its hundreds of silent stone heads gazing out towards the ocean, is patently not the place for violent big-world shenanigans.
In some places the script feels over-written. There is a repeated discussion about moths and a silly story of someone being hit by a potato, neither of which adds to the whole. However, this is a grown-up film which considers both personal morality and imperialist immorality, and does so with charm, comedy, action and some delicious surprises.
© Graham Buchan 2026
Wild Horse Nine.
Written and directed by Martin McDonagh.
On General Release from November 4th.
With a track record which includes In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Martin McDonagh is rightly considered one of the most imaginative and compelling writer-directors working in contemporary cinema. He has an unerring knack of examining the darker aspects of human nature whilst retaining a distinctly comedic approach. It is, perhaps, too early to consider whether Wild Horse Nine is his best film so far, but it really is a great watch.
We start in Santiago, Chile, in 1973, just before the coup which toppled the newly-elected socialist president, Salvador Allende. Two CIA agents and their deeply unpleasant handler are knee-deep in the conspiracy. The action soon moves to Easter Island, with its famous stone heads, and unfolds in a pressure cooker of action and plot twists.
As we have come to expect with McDonagh the dialogue crackles along at a fearsome pace and is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. “I’m not an addict, I just like heroin,” says one character towards the end.
McDonagh secures great performances from all his cast but in particular from his three leads: Steve Buscemi as the Head of Station in Santiago and Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich as the two veteran agents trying to enjoy a holiday. Malkovich, in particular, appears to be having the time of his life, portraying a man who is simultaneously dying from cancer, losing his memory, trying to write his memoirs and confronting his guilty conscience. He cheerfully recounts the various assassinations he has been involved with (for the greater good) and is at pains to warn two young Chilean women (very well played by Mariana Di Girólamo and Ailin Salas) of the grim fate which awaits them and their country. Rockwell, meanwhile, is trying to keep tabs on his out-of-control wife at home whilst his colleague’s behaviour becomes increasingly erratic.
One realizes that all of McDonagh’s movies are, to some extent, a contemplation of mortality. In each a significant character has died, or does die, and it is how other characters respond to this which provide the rich fabric of his films. Here there is no doubt that Malkovich’s character will meet his end; one is simply kept guessing as to whether it will be how he wished it or not. And as with The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh now extends his concern with mortality to the animal world: in that film Colin Farrell’s little donkey choked to death; in this one a wild horse befriended by Malkovich dies on the road.
Location, of course, becomes a character in its own right. Easter Island, or Rapa Nui as our two protagonists are forcefully reminded is the correct term, looks beautiful and, with its hundreds of silent stone heads gazing out towards the ocean, is patently not the place for violent big-world shenanigans.
In some places the script feels over-written. There is a repeated discussion about moths and a silly story of someone being hit by a potato, neither of which adds to the whole. However, this is a grown-up film which considers both personal morality and imperialist immorality, and does so with charm, comedy, action and some delicious surprises.
© Graham Buchan 2026
By Graham Buchan • added recently on London Grip, film • Tags: film, Graham Buchan