Martin McDonagh's latest film, Wild Horse Nine, premiered at the Venice film festival, bringing together Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich in a tale of two CIA operatives marooned on Easter Island in 1973. The film, which revisits McDonagh's signature blend of barbed bromantic dialogue and sudden violence, received a mixed response, with critics noting a dilution of comedy and charm in favor of blood and machismo.
McDonagh's signature formula returns
As with McDonagh's previous works, Wild Horse Nine centers on two morose men—one older, one younger—who spend their days trading insults and revealing the cracks in their friendship. In The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), the older man decides to cut ties with the younger; in In Bruges (2008), the older man harbors a dark secret. This new film, described as almost a retread or B-side of In Bruges, shifts the setting to the US with American characters and dialogue.
However, as seen in Seven Psychopaths (2012), McDonagh's Americanness can bring out less interesting elements: more violence, more strenuous sweary machismo, less comedy, and less charm. Yet the pairing of Rockwell and Malkovich offers something watchably acrid, with Malkovich delivering long speeches in his unmistakable nasal croon, often concluding with a pursed-lip pout that leaves audiences unsure of his irony or contempt.
Plot: CIA operatives on Easter Island
Set in Santiago, Chile, in 1973, the film follows Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Rockwell), two seasoned CIA operatives preparing to assassinate President Salvador Allende, a democratically elected socialist. Both are cynical and disillusioned, each reminiscent of G Gordon Liddy, accustomed to off-the-record work for which Uncle Sam will never publicly reward them.
Just before the operation, Chris heads to Easter Island on a semi-sanctioned holiday, and Lee, in affectionate exasperation, accompanies him as minder and pal. Chris is seriously ill with a self-administered morphine habit, and to the fury of their boss MJ (Steve Buscemi), he is writing indiscreet memoirs and talking to strangers about his black ops, including two young Chilean students played by Mariana Di Girolamo and Ailín Salas.
Drollery and cultural corrections
The film finds humor in the Easter Island statues, which the characters derisively call "heads," though they are repeatedly corrected by fellow tourists for not using the indigenous terms Rapa Nui for the island and Moai for the statues—a detail that feels more 2026 than 1973. Chris also expresses derision for civil rights liberal movements and a soft spot for the IRA against the British.
There are laughs and lively moments, but persistent violent flourishes coexist with sentimentality, which may not erase audience concern about Lee's wife and kids, whose wellbeing at the end seems heartlessly forgotten. Not a McDonagh classic, but with nice riffing from Rockwell and Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine screened at the Venice film festival.
