Wild Horse Nine Earns John Malkovich His Best Reviews in Years

Martin McDonagh is back with Wild Horse Nine, and it has already won John Malkovich the Volpi Cup for Best Actor in Venice. Searchlight Pictures opens the film in US and UK theaters on November 6.

Malkovich co-stars with Sam Rockwell, who reunites with McDonagh for a third time after Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

The story

In 1973, on the eve of the Chilean coup, CIA station chief MJ ships two of his men off to Easter Island. Chris Carlisle is a veteran spook with terminal cancer; Lee Chesterfield is his longtime partner and protégé. Amid the moai, old sins and fresh conspiracies catch up with them, and Chris’s friendship with two rebellious college students threatens to derail the entire assignment.

The cast

• John Malkovich as Chris Carlisle;
• Sam Rockwell as Lee Chesterfield;
• Steve Buscemi as MJ;
• Parker Posey as Marge;
• Mariana Di Girolamo as Monica;
• Ailín Salas as Alicia;
• Tom Waits as Chris’s brother.

Buscemi took over the role of MJ from Mark Ruffalo in March 2025.

The production

McDonagh shot on Rapa Nui starting in March 2025 before moving to Santiago, wrapping on April 28. Ben Davis is the cinematographer, Mikkel E.G. Nielsen edited, and longtime collaborator Carter Burwell composed the score. Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and McDonagh produced; the film runs 116 minutes.

The reviews

After Venice, the film played Telluride and San Sebastián and now sits at 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and 79 on Metacritic. The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney called Malkovich the real revelation, Variety’s Guy Lodge found him more engaged than he has been in years, and RogerEbert.com’s Matt Zoller Seitz gave it 3.5 stars. The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw was cooler at three stars, and IndieWire’s David Ehrlich graded it B-.

Release

Wild Horse Nine opens November 6, after a gala screening at the Tokyo International Film Festival.