Since making his feature directorial debut with In Bruges, Martin McDonagh has found a handful of phenomenal acting partners, with both Frances McDormand and Sam Rockwell winning Oscars for their collaborations and Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson returning for multiple outings. His signature combination of dry humor and dark undertones works very well with some of those performers, but his greatest muse may well be John Malkovich, who steals every scene he’s in as a veteran CIA agent preparing to be put out to pasture in more ways than one in Wild Horse Nine. Listening to him ramble for the entire film would be fully worthwhile, but, in typical McDonagh fashion, there’s a sneakily brutal underbelly just waiting to emerge once the laughter subsides.
It’s 1973 and Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are CIA agents heading off to see the famous moai (or, as they call them, big heads) on Easter Island. Chris has no filter whatsoever, blabbing to two Chilean college students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) in the airport about how they’re working to destabilize their democracy. Once they arrive and begin touring the island, a series of conversations and flashbacks reveals that Chris is dying and has asked Lee to kill him on this trip, though his memory is also questionable and he may not actually recall that particular detail. On top of that, their boss MJ (Steve Buscemi) is also determined to be done with the station’s number one liability, though he wants to make sure he hasn’t left any damning evidence of his and his country’s misdeeds behind.
Much of this film – and most of its first half – is just Malkovich talking, rambling about the things he’s done and the people he’s met but also veering into questions of whether moths get into heaven and explaining how dinosaurs will appear in the memoir he’s writing. Rockwell has the atypical role of straight man, who has to respond incredulously to Chris’ absurdities but also to do so in just the right way to encourage him to keep going and spew more hilarious nonsense. The deadpan delivery needed to make it all work is a skill all Malkovich’s own, and it’s maddeningly mesmerizing to listen to him spew a combination of irreverent comments and all too truthful insight into what he’s done and the limited, and mostly posthumous, consequences he expects to receive for it.
McDonagh is well-versed in writing dialogue for duos, and Malkovich and Rockwell take his material and seamlessly run with it. Buscemi is a fun addition, returning to a world similar to The Death of Stalin even if this character is considerably pricklier. Posey is entertaining as Lee’s wife and their dynamic is one defined by hate-hate that gives Rockwell an amusing opportunity to fire back in a way he doesn’t do as much when he’s opposite Malkovich. Salas and di Girolamo round out a relatively small cast with a distinctly different energy that contrasts especially well with Malkovich and Rockwell.
Easter Island serves as a hypotonic backdrop for this film, which also features memorable outfits that speak both to the era and Chris and Lee’s inability to remain incognito when they’re meant to blend in rather than make an impression. Its structure fits McDonagh’s established patterns in the best way, shifting from seemingly aimless comedic conversations to a more chilling acceptance of reality and a dark preview of things to come which reflect real-life events in which actual CIA agents are the same time were likely complicit. Wild Horse Nine ranks among McDonagh’s best films thanks to his reliable writing, the film’s smart aesthetic choices, and, above all, Malkovich’s unforgettable turn that makes the case that he should be getting roles like this all the time.
Movie Rating: 9/10
Wild Horse Nine makes its Canadian premiere in the Special Presentations section at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival and will be released theatrically on November 6th by Searchlight Pictures.
