Going into Martin McDonagh’s wonderful new film, Wild Horse Nine, audiences might be ready for another riff on the director’s In Bruges. Save for the presence of two assassins spending time together in a foreign land, McDonagh’s latest work has deeper subtext and a sharper-edged political commentary.
Wild Horse Nine is a film of wit and earned cynicism that reveals a devastatingly profound emotional core. The two leads are trained killers, but each man is far from a soulless machine waiting quietly for their next assignment. These are men who have accepted their respective lots in life. For them, there is to be no clean retirement. These aren’t bad men, just U.S. operatives following orders and keeping their political opinions to themselves. As for their souls, that is for the universe to decide.
The setting is 1973. C.I.A. agents/killers Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are spending time on Easter Island while awaiting final orders regarding an upcoming coup against the current Chilean socialist government.
Chris and Lee are longtime partners and as close to being true friends as such a job allows.
Lee is somewhat married to a serially unfaithful wife, Margie (Parker Posey), who resides back home in the states. The story doesn’t spend a lot of time with their relationship, but the few scenes (long distance phone calls) between the characters say more than ten pages of dialogue. It is no coincidence that the combined skills of Rockwell and Posey give their scenes a proper weight.
Chris is older and more soulful. These days, he has become more philosophically attuned to his mortality.
Chris is dying and has only months to live. It was his request to come to Easter Island, as he claims to have always wanted to see the lands. Perhaps, this could be where he will die with dignity; cast into the ether surrounded by the beauty of historic scenery.
John Malkovich has always been a strange actor. Certainly one of our finest, his acting style belongs to the category of offbeat-but-fascinating performances where one finds discussions of “out there” thespians such as Timothy Carey and Christopher Walken.
In the 1984, Malkovich announced his skills a big way, co-starring in two of the year’s major critical and commercial successes; Robert Benton’s Places in the Heart (which earned him his first Oscar nomination) and Roland Joffe’s The Killing Fields. The actor was a standout amongst seasoned actors such as Sally Field and Sam Waterson. He followed with the striking television adaptation of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (going toe to brilliant toe with Dustin Hoffman) and the co-lead in Stephen Frears’ popular Dangerous Liasons adaptation.
Malkovich worked with filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg, Bernardo Bertolucci, and Michelangelo Antonioni. He has received two Oscar nominations (for the previously mentioned Robert Benton picture and for his incredible work in Wolfgang Petersen’s In the Line of Fire), but American cinema rarely knows what to do with him. Malkovich is an intensely dedicated performer and the past twenty or so years has seen a decline in the type of film where an actor of his unique talents can truly shine. Too many films have wasted his presence, save for one or two per decade.
Martin McDonagh’s screenplay for Wild Horse Nine gives Malkovich his most interesting character since the 1993 Petersen film. The actor dances with McDonagh’s dialogue, savoring every dialectic beat and enunciation as if he were ingesting his final meal. The performance isn’t one of a somber soul who concedes his final days. Chris is designed and performed with a more zen-like outlook. The character has lived a long and full life. While Chris’s career and “accomplishments” must stay in the shadows, he accepts his fate and gets on with the living.
Malkovich portrays Chris as a character who wants to be at peace with himself and the world. The performance is mannerism free and there are times when the actor seems to be baring his own soul. With sharp delivery full of wit and truth, John Malkovich gives the performance of the year and, perhaps, his career.
The film spends time embracing the locations (Ben Davis’s cinematography is stunning) and takes the audience along for Chris and Lee’s intoxicating journey of self-reflection. Each time the two men sit down for dinner or walk through the Easter Island landscapes, they speak about work and life and legacy. Every conversation between Chris and Lee is absolutely captivating and could have gone on for hours without losing any interest.
While Chris (and soon, Lee) gain deeper insight into their respective personalities, there is still an aura of distrust. The men are on edge and it seems that deception may be afoot. Chris is no longer sure about Lee while Lee is skeptical of everything Chris says and does on the trip. Their boss at the C.I.A. (The always perfect Steve Buscemi) is no help, as he seems to be playing both men against one another, or is he? Is the past closing in on Chris or could it be his fading mind scrambling the facts?
Along with the picture’s creative wit, Martin McDonagh has fun with viewers’ expectations. A point comes when no one can be trusted and viewers must realign their allegiances . Even the inclusion of Chris and Lee’s interactions with two female university students, Monica (Mariana di Girolamo) and Alicia (Ailín Salas) who captivate Chris’s mind, brings a connection that cannot be trusted.
Wild Horse Nine is a marvelous motion picture that sees Martin McDonagh at his most idealistic. The filmmaker has a lot to say about America and its involvement in the political instability of other countries. His commentary is pointed and educated.
Most important, McDonagh has crafted a finely tuned and expertly performed work about life and companionship that ranks as the director’s finest and one of the very best films of 2026.
Wild Horse Nine
Written & Directed by Martin McDonagh
Starring John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, Mariana di Girolamo, Ailín Salas
R, 118 Minutes, Searchlight Pictures
