I was listening to an introduction to Wild Horse Nine, where the presenter discussed the connection between Martin McDonagh and The Coen Brothers. Having watched this excellent comedy thriller, I can understand what he was saying. McDonagh, who gave us the brilliant In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin, has a knack for creating off-beat characters with quotable dialogue and stories that never follow the norm, and you can see how people can see that connection with the brothers, with films like No Country for Old Men. He also enjoys bringing male characters to life in a quirky buddy-buddy movie. He is a prolific writer and once again, he scores highly with this.
1973, before the Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris and Lee have been long-term partners and have been sent by their chief, MJ, from Santiago to Easter Island. Chris, an older agent who has amassed damaging information over the years, is dying and wants to write a memoir of his time, which scares MJ and prompts him to have Lee watch him and report anything dangerous to the agency. Lee, however, has a different agenda.
Like In Bruges, this is the story of killers who have worked closely together, except Chris is at the end of his time. He is a problem for the CIA, as he has become forgetful, cannot control his talking and is such a liability that the agency has to keep an eye on him, not only through his partner, but his every move is monitored. McDonagh is in a playful mood here, ramping up the intrigue around Chris’s life, especially one event the CIA is desperate to keep from the outside world.
As with The Banshees of Inisherin, McDonagh captures the beautiful island, filled with the “big stone heads” of the statues, with a wonderful eye for the scenery. It becomes almost like a minor character in the story. He has also returned to using an animal as a major part of the tale. Remember the donkey from Banshees? This time it’s the wild horses, particularly one that becomes a metaphor for Chris. I don’t know how McDonagh does it, but the horse definitely is acting its socks off.
The script is cracking, brimming with wit and laugh-out-loud humour that, even in its darkest moments, works incredibly well. Long scenes between Chris and Lee are littered with memorable lines and plenty of profanity. Yet even when the pair are often in conflict, they understand each other, and Lee clearly admires his fellow agent. What McDonagh does so well is that, amid the often tough language, there is a level of pathos and poignancy that proves this relationship has grown through some pretty hard times.
As with his past films, McDonagh has gathered a strong cast. The always entertaining Posey Parker is terrific as Lee’s wayward wife, with a few scenes where she complains to her estranged husband on the phone, yet she is once again on fire and one of the underrated comic greats. Talking of Coen Brothers connections, alumnus Steve Buscemi is his usual quirky self as MJ, and Tom Waits makes a brief but fun appearance.
The excellent Sam Rockwell, who last won an Oscar in a McDonagh film, Three Billboards, delivers every time he appears; as Lee, he is more of the straight man who supports Chris’s central performance, and you couldn’t ask for stronger support. He is one of the best actors around, and he fails to play down his talent. He is totally believable as a CIA agent having to walk a tightrope between the agency and his friend. Yet this film really belongs to John Malkovich as Chris. Malkovich is always good, but here he is allowed to shine. He commands the screen with his presence and relishes in delivering every line with aplomb. It’s his finest performance in years, not only comedic but dramatic and I cannot see anyone else in that role and doing so brilliantly with it.
Wild Horse Nine is wonderfully funny, inventive, and a screen double act up there with the likes of Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau or Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. It does have some very offensive language, but if you can look over that, find a wild horse and ride to the cinema, it’s one of the best films of the year.
5 out of 5
Director: Martin McDonagh
Starring: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Posey Parker, Tom Waits, Mariana Di Girolamo, Ailin Salas, Paola Giannini, John Heffernan, Poppy O’Shaughnessy
Written by: Martin McDonagh
Running Time: 118 mins
Cert: 15
Release date: 4th November 2026
