When you're a CIA operative assigned to Santiago, Chile to arrange a little coup, where do you go for a quick vacation? In Martin McDonagh's "Wild Horse Nine," getting away from it all means heading to Easter Island. Chris (John Malkovich) professes he's always wanted to see the big f****** heads, and his partner Lee (Sam Rockwell) tags along with mysterious motivations for what will prove to be a fateful trip for them both.
The movie makes no secret that Chris is in his twilight years, but is he losing it, or is he putting everyone on? Malkovich leaves ample room for both possibilities, and neither option fully explains Chris. He seems determined to be the boorish American in the room, pointedly calling Rapa Nui by the name given to it by early European explorers, Easter Island. Yet his encounters with Monica (Mariana di Girolamo), a student he keeps bumping into, reveal a growing sympathy. His boorishness could be an act, or it could be American exceptionalism at its haughtiest. Malkovich makes it difficult to tell where the performance ends and the conviction begins.
It's a brilliant, layered, darkly funny, and intense performance that rewards close attention and promises to reveal more on a second viewing. Malkovich should be a serious awards-season contender.
Rockwell is Malkovich's equal as Lee, whose motives are no easier to pin down. The two behave like an old married couple, and that lived-in chemistry makes the comedy land and gives the film's melancholy its weight. Steve Buscemi strikes a fine balance between menace and absurdity as MJ, their CIA superior. As Monica, di Girolamo helps bring Chris's journey into focus. Parker Posey and Tom Waits are literally phoning it in, but both make an impression long-distance, their sharp turns revealing more about Lee and Chris, respectively.
The espionage plot is clever, with dubious allegiances and betrayals throughout, building to a high-stakes showdown. The finale's central conceit invokes Chris's potential involvement in one of the most picked-over events in American history, and the conspiracy theories that surround it, in a way that seems primed to set Oliver Stone twitching. McDonagh pays off that invocation, and I won't spoil how.
Rapa Nui is a vibrant, beautiful setting, and cinematographer Ben Davis, who also shot McDonagh's previous two films ("The Banshees of Inisherin," "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri"), makes the most of it. The lush greenery and what Chris keeps calling the big f****** heads make for gorgeous images, and Davis frames the characters so the scenery never crowds out the story's rich dialogue.
McDonagh's screenplay is interesting without being opaque, and he directs with brisk pacing and a sure sense of place. McDonagh moves between past and present, revealing Chris and Lee's backstories at moments that sharpen our understanding of what they're doing - and why. The humor ranges from the lightly silly to the pitch-dark, all of it deftly delivered, and as the film grows more moving and smartly sanguine, it never leaves that comic range behind. Together, the writing and direction give the cast room to be funny without shortchanging the darker material. McDonagh received Middleburg Film Festival's Spotlight Director Award, and "Wild Horse Nine" finished as second runner-up for its Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.
Go for the moai, stay for the company. Funny, clever, and ultimately moving, "Wild Horse Nine" is a satisfying espionage caper with a complicated partnership at its heart. Rockwell and Malkovich make Chris and Lee as fascinating together as they are individually, finding the humor and hurt in a relationship neither makes easy to read. McDonagh gives the intrigue a satisfying payoff without pretending that people are so easily explained. Malkovich may never have been better, and Rockwell is every bit the partner he needs. It rewards a second trip.
_________________________________
Curious about what else Stuart saw at Middleburg Film Festival? Here's a sample of his other reviews from the fest:
"Wicker" - "A beautifully crafted, ribald fairy tale romance that balances humor, tenderness, and some surprising darkness."
"Misty Green" - "This gripping but uneven portrait of a talented actress sliding out of Hollywood's favor is anchored by a ferocious, natural performance from Rosalind Eleazar."
"Possible Love" - Lee Chang-dong's absorbing, meditative study of two couples from different strata of Korean society exposes questions of desire, class, and the limits of goodwill with nuanced performances, carefully composed images, and restrained music sustaining a sense of ambiguity throughout."
"Fjord" - "Finds unsettling power in the space between protecting children and understanding a family, with Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve in a drama where conviction is abundant but certainty is elusive."
"I Play Rocky" - "Anthony Ippolito's extraordinary transformation into Sylvester Stallone, plus a teriffic ensemble, makes this improbable story much more than a one-man show; delivers its own underdog triumph - and goes the distance."
"Gentle Monster" - "An awards-worthy performance from Lea Seydoux is at the center of this powerful portrait of the methodical unraveling of marital trust."
| Movie title | Wild Horse Nine |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2026 |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | This clever, darkly funny espionage caper grows into a surprisingly moving character study with sharp writing, assured direction, and gorgeous use of Rapa Nui. John Malkovich’s potential career-best performance is matched by Sam Rockwell in a complicated partnership that gives the film its heart —and rewards a second trip. |
