Wild Horse Nine is a black comedy political thriller, written and directed by Martin McDonagh. It had its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September, and was released in the UK last Friday, 6 November 2026.

It is late August 1973, a fortnight prior to the coup d’état which saw Augusto Pinochet seize power from the incumbent democratically-elected Marxist President of Chile, Salvador Allende. CIA agents, Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are working in Santiago, where their job has been to destabilise the regime prior to the coup and to assist in its planning. Their work being complete, they have nothing to do but wait for the prescribed date, and so they decide to fly off to Easter Island for a vacation.

Chris is a very experienced agent, whose impressive résumé includes the Guatemalan coup d’etat, the Bay of Pigs invasion, the assassination of Patrice Lumumba and … the Kennedy assassination. However, he is now seriously ill and this has perhaps clouded his professional judgement: he has begun to make inappropriate comments about his work to strangers, in particular two female students in an airport lounge, and in addition he has decided the time has come to write his memoirs, which is a huge concern for his boss, MJ (Steve Buschemi). Lee, a much younger and less experienced agent, is there to ‘look after’ Chris for MJ, to try to keep a lid on his embarrassing behaviour. But he is also Chris’s best friend, and he has made him a promise, which he intends to honour.

And so, the stage is set for an extremely funny black comedy and as usual McDonagh does not disappoint. He has a real feel for the nature of male friendships, and in many ways this film takes over where In Bruges left off. However, the description says political thriller, and the film has a serious comment to make on the covert role the USA has played over the years in disrupting the democratic processes of other countries to further their own interests.

Rockwell and Buschemi are both great in their roles, but Malkovich is the real star of the show, and this is a performance more than worthy of an Oscar. In addition, look out for a nice cameo role for Tom Waits as Chris’s estranged brother Jim.

Wild Horse Nine is a wonderful film. Extremely funny, until the politics moves from funny to deadly serious, and with a take on male friendship which gives Of Mice and Men a run for its money. I caught the film three weeks ago at the BFI London film festival and loved it; I saw it again yesterday and it was just as good, despite me knowing the plot. If you only visit the cinema once this year, I recommend this film for your visit.