Wild Horse Nine Review – Dramatic Dark Comedy Delivers Solid Entertainment
- Details
- Category: Haute This Issue
- Published on Wednesday, 04 November 2026 14:49
- Written by Janet Walker
Wild Horse Nine, from Searchlight Pictures, presented at the 40th Anniversary of the AFI Film Festival, presents a dramatic comedy about two CIA agents, stationed in Chile, who travel on a trust-testing mission to Easter Island during 1973.
The film begins with CIA agent Chris (name), played by John Malkovich, being interview at the CIA headquarters in Santiago Chile. As the reporter asks about the successes of particular operations in South America, and other places, Chris begins to list a series of successes, which he quietly explains also includes Dallas in 1963.
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In his attempt to cleanse both his conscience and his soul, his confessions, which are not sitting well with the CIA bureau chief MJ, played by Steve Buscemi, so he send Agent Chris, and a younger agent, Lee, played by Sam Rockwell, to Easter Island to assassinate Chris.
Chris, we find out has a different agenda. He has been diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer, and as he struggles with his Catholic faith, and his belief that suicide would result in permanent damnation, he asks Lee to kill him, who is struggling with the idea of killing his partner, even though he is telling the world the most hidden CIA secrets, the idea of killing a friend, this friend anyway, is unsettling.
At the airport in Santiago, before the flight to Easter Island, Chris strikes up a conversation with two students, Monica, played by Mariana di Girolamo and Alicia, played by Ailín Salas, and as he beings to explain that he is here to destabilize their country and instigate a coup d'état to overthrown the first democratically elected president Salvador Allende, and when the appear shocked, Monica questions whether he is the CIA.
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As it happens all four end up on Easter Island, which is known for the more than 1000 stone statues of large warrior heads, that have somehow survived through eight centuries and the ravages of the elements.
Chris, who has surrendered to his fate, explains whenever possible 1963 was more than it appeared, and he can prove it. Between Lee and Chris bickering over who keeps the keys to the car, and why Easter Island, when he really would have preferred Venice, Italy, we begin to understand even though he knows his fate ends here, on this Island, he refuses to go gently into that good night and does whatever he can to prevent another innocent life to be caught up the CIA's webs.
Vacations, with the overshadow of this will be the last one for you, are stressful enough but for Chris and Lee, the need to retrieve the rifle, and any other evidence, and to stop MJ from interfering to ensure Lee carries out the mission, creates resolute moment for each.
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Chris meets up with Monica again. And she is young and full of idealism, the youth of her country have won a huge victory, and she is hopeful that her homeland will turn around. As their paths continue to cross, Chris explains as bluntly as possible and with enough clarity that she understands his words could be the future, and the one she left days before, the great victory will be short-lived, and the dark future for Chile, may actually be circling, like a vulture over the dead.
On top of everything, MJ arrives in Easter Island as he is tired of the delays. We see, as he is traveling, that the demons of the past are squeezing him, also, and he chases them away through heroin.
We know that Lee has a mission, and is young enough to continue with the Bureau, if he completes the task, but MJ and his goons are trying to tie up all the loose ends, and that means everyone who has talked to Chris will be silenced.
This ushers in the explosive ending.
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A once upon a time in the CIA, Wild Horse Nine delivers both excellent performances and manages to captivate audiences with an exceptional story, sprinkled with enough truths to cause audiences, and dedicated conspiracy theorists, to once again question the designed conclusions we are supposed to accept.
The ensemble cast is brilliant, and John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell stand out as buddies wrestling with consequences and penalties of their choices. Parker Posey and Steve Buscemi each deliver memorable moments as do Chilean actresses Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas.
A gripping and riveting dark comedic drama, Wild Horse Nine opens exclusively in theaters, November 6, 2026. See it.
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Country: U.S.
Language: English.
Runtime: 118 minutes.
Release Date: November 6, 2026.
Director: Martin McDonagh.
Producer: Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin, Anita Overland.
Executive Producer: Farhana Bhula, Cristian Donoso, Ben Knight, Peter Kohn, Juan de Dios Larrain, Pablo Larrain, Axel Gabriel Linari, Ollie Madden, Diarmuid McKeown.
Writer: Martin McDonagh.
Cast: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, Bastian Bodenhofer, Luciano Reinsos, Sofia Chacon, Laura Vila, Djure Gasic, Isabel Noriega Inzunza, Mireya Sotoconil, Mariana di Girolamo, Ailin Salas, Tongariki Teave, Paola Giannini, Jamie Omenaca, Mauricio Pitta, John Hefferman, Poppy O'Shaughnessy, Juan Carlos Brown, Moises Angulo, Ryan Robert Howard, Aron Hernandez, Francisca Munoz Munoz, Fernanda Cancino, Marcus Truman, Josefa Rencoret, Tom Waits, Pablo Bustamante, Francisco Castro.
Janet Walker is the publisher, founder, and sole owner of Haute-Lifestyle.com. A graduate of New York University, she has been covering international news through the Beltway Insider, a weekly review of the nation's top stories, for more than a decade. A general beat writer/reporter and entertainment/film critic, she is also an accomplished news/investigative news/crime reporter and submitted for Pulitzer Prize consideration "Cops Conspire to Deep Six Sex Assaults" in the Breaking News Category and was persuaded to withdraw the submission. Under the banner of her production company, HL Productions, LLC, Ms. Walker has completed five screenplays "The Six Sides of Truth," "The Assassins of Fifth Avenue," "The Wednesday Killer," "The Manhattan Project," and the sci-fi thriller "Project 13: The Last Day." She has also published "Unholy Alliances: A True Crime Story," and "Days, Times, Seasons, and Events: A Collection of Poetry & Prose," which can be purchased here. She is a member of the Los Angeles Press Club, the National Writers Union, and a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
