New Story, Same McDonagh
The works of Martin McDonagh hold a special place in my heart. Since In Bruges, I have been a fan of his work and directorial style. The masterful blend of humor, heart, and violent, foul-mouthed shenanigans has worked on me for decades, and I will always mark my calendar for new McDonagh. So of course I was fully seated for Wild Horse Nine from the minute it was announced, and I’m happy to report that it’s a hit – another feather in his cap of what he does best. If the worst criticism you can lay upon this new outing is that it’s too similar to arguably one of his best, then you’ve got a winner on your hands.
The In Bruges comparisons to Wild Horse Nine are valid, but I’d argue that McDonagh isn’t going back to the well to draw the same ideas again. Rather, it’s him reflecting on himself and approaching his younger self with a wiser, more introspective lens. So while on paper they’re virtually identical, Wild Horse Nine works to mine new ideas from familiar stories. It’s wholly centered in McDonagh’s wheelhouse, but like his older lead looking back on his life with regret and weary eyes, the filmmaker seems to be doing the same for himself and his career.
Wild Horse Nine delivers a laugh-out-loud buddy comedy with a somber, almost heartbreaking core. Painted in pitch black humor, a heavy dose of anti-fascism and incendiary critiques of American government throughout history, Wild Horse Nine is a taut comedic thriller with a lot to chew on beneath its simple surface. McDonagh excels at making light of untouchably dark subject matter without ever belittling the impact, and his latest outing is no different. In fact, I’d argue this is him at his most dialed in, improving on his early work with his later stage development. It’s not his best work, but it is the best deployment of his strengths as a storyteller.
CIA Tales, Buddy Comedy, and Island Sightseeing
Set in the early 70s in Chile right before the historically violent coup orchestrated by the CIA, Wild Horse Nine follows two CIA agents Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) who take a trip to the Easter Islands ahead of the military takeover brewing in the background. Chris is on his way out and Lee is just getting started, and two have many ulterior motives for the trip. While Lee is being asked to keep a handle on Chris by his superior (a wonderfully comedic Steve Buscemi) Chris wants to write his memoirs that may expose classified CIA operations that he was apart of. What should be a peaceful get away starts to grow into government conspiracies and twist reveals, all of which will test the trust and friendship between Chris and Lee.
When things start to become clear and the all is revealed, Wild Horse Nine escalates into a rip roaring cat and mouse explosion of violence, betrayal, and major running gag payoffs. There’s an underlying sweetness between Lee and Chris that really shine bright, developed through their sharp, stuttering banter back and forth as they sightsee and interact with locals. McDonagh’s script crackles in these moments, particularly when it’s just Chris and Lee looking at ancient statues they call The Heads or talking about how Chris actually wants to go Venice or even Chris just going off on a random rant that may or may not be true.
Malkovich is the North Star That Makes it All Work
Sam Rockwell’s reaction work remains unmatched, as his comedic timing and face contortions make Lee a hilarious sidekick and completely layers a character who is slightly underdeveloped on paper. The real shining star is Malkovich, who turns in a career best performance and instantly solidifies a spot on the Best Actor nominee list for 2026. He’s undeniably great, flexing his comedic chops while also injecting Chris with reflective nuance and layered meditation. Wild Horse Nine doesn’t work nearly as well without Malkovich at the center. He’s electric and charming and even disarming at times, letting us into a very complicated life nearing its end and making its more emotional beats hit harder.
McDonagh’s injection of Americana and downright nastiness that comes with that is a feature not a bug (at least for me), smartly framing the US’ past misdeeds as a cautionary tale for our current state – one that shows we haven’t learned much of anything in our long, tumultuous history. One could argue that Irish eyes aren’t necessarily the best to sledgehammer US foreign policy, but Wild Horse 9 stands on the right side of things in the end and the outside looking in approach highlights how what we’ve done influences what we’re doing. It’s not at the forefront of story, but Wild Horse Nine IS a political thriller as much as it’s a buddy comedy- the humor and heart of the characters is much more front and center – but the setting and purposeful script still interrogates all of those big ideas in the background.
Final Thoughts
I’m hard pressed to be so down on something this anti-fascist and this emotionally charged. Wild Horse Nine is genuinely funny, violent, charming and affecting film that, while it may retread a lot of things we’ve seen from McDonagh already – still delivers a genuine crowd pleaser and dark horse awards contender. Is it the best McDonagh has to offer? No, and even being high on it I’d put it right smack in the middle of his filmography. I don’t think that qualifies as a full on disappointment; being in the middle of a generationally great run isn’t a bad place to be. And needing every outing to be the best thing ever from a beloved filmmaker is a little too high of a bar to clear.
I get it, McDonagh doesn’t really miss, making it really easy to get after Wild Horse Nine for its regression and retread of better work from nearly 2 decades ago. But it’s a fresh water well all the time, so drawing from what you know best to tell an old story in a new way isn’t the worst iterative take on yourself and your art. Wild Horse Nine nails what it needs to in order to work. It’s funny, it’s sad, its heartfelt, it’s charming, it’s thoughtful and affecting. All things McDonagh does best, and while he may have done all of them in better films before, he’s still great at doing them.
If the lessons in Wild Horse Nine are to love horses, cherish moths, see the heads and stop fascists, I think we should probably listen to what McDonagh has to say. He may be on to something.
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