Martin McDonagh’s latest feature tells the story of two grown men in a love-hate friendship inhabiting a remote island and reckoning with their feelings, their mortality, and the manmade horrors unfolding around them. Sound familiar? If so, then you must be familiar with The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), McDonagh’s fifth feature film for which he earned three of his seven Academy Award nominations. And its true, his sixth feature film, Wild Horse Nine (2026), does bear a striking resemblance to Banshees, at least on paper. However, anyone who chooses to laugh this latest McDonagh entry off for that reason will be doing so at their own expense.

Despite the (frankly) shocking similarities between the recipes of McDonagh’s fifth and sixth features, Wild Horse Nine, will leave you with a markedly different aftertaste.

In this film, the two friends (portrayed by John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell) also happen to be CIA agents, serving their nation by, in Chris Carlisle’s (Malkovich) words, “destabilizing the democracy” of Chile following the democratic election of President Salvador Ellende. The two are granted a week of respite and Lee Chesterfield (Rockwell) chooses to help fulfill Chris’ dying wish by accompanying him to Easter Island to (again Malkovich’s words) “see the heads.” While on Easter Island, it becomes almost immediately clear that the CIA still has machinations for the pair’s weeklong getaway and both Carlisle and Chesterfield are forced to face their past, present, and future demons all at once.

Beyond the differences apparent in the respective plot synopses of Wild Horse Nine and Banshees, there is an even starker difference in the tone of these films. In Banshees, McDonagh opts for farse and surrealism, where Wild Horse Nine, being historical fiction, resides in the realm of realism and black comedy. The latter also features a sort of matter-of-fact approach to violence that evokes the Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men (2007) or Burn After Reading (2008) as well as past McDonagh features like In Bruges (2008) and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017).

The most significant, tonal difference between Banshees and this film, however, is the way in which each film handles the bleak realities of their subject matter. In Banshees, McDonagh takes the allegorical approach, leaving the horrors in plain view for the audience to discover but stopping short of addressing them directly. In Wild Horse Nine, McDonagh takes a U-turn. He forces the audience to swallow a concentrated dose of the bleakest, harshest truths imaginable in the form of spine-tingling monologues from John Malkovich, recited with his trademark deadpan delivery.

This time around, McDonagh refuses the high road. He masterfully uses his period setting and gut-busting dark comedy to disarm the audience before providing his critiques of western democracy (sometimes more than once) in no uncertain terms. It’s an approach that will not sit well with every viewer, to be sure, but I admire the approach, self-indulgent though it is.

Part of the reason I like the aforementioned tonal approach of the movie is that behind the anger, there is a palpable fear driving it. And that fear is beautifully conveyed thanks to a career-best performance from John Malkovich, whose Chris Carlisle is not only grappling with the atrocities he committed on behalf of the U.S. Government but also his own mortality, now inevitable due to a terminal cancer diagnosis. Malkovich’s character must come to terms with whether his existence is consequential or inconsequential and the horrifying ramifications of both possibilities. It’s heartbreaking, lovely, and unsettling all at the same time and the balance Malkovich strikes is nothing short of a master work.

His scene partner, Sam Rockwell, matches him in stride providing the perfect reactions with unexpected acting choices and superb timing. Audience members who are like I was and think they have seen all Sam Rockwell’s acting tricks will be pleasantly surprised.

So, if this sounds like a classic Martin McDonagh film, it is. It’s bleak, it’s existential, and it will have you cackling with strangers in a dark room for a couple hours. But don’t make the mistake of assuming this Banshees lookalike is not worth your time. Wild Horse Nine may not be visually flashy or pack the kind of action audiences expect from an international espionage thriller. Still, McDonagh reminds us why he’s among the best writer-directors around and his latest film is among 2026’s best.

8.7/10

Movie: Wild Horse Nine(2026)
Production Company: Blueprint Pictures, Film4 Productions, TSG Entertainment
Distributed by: Searchlight Pictures
Producer(s): Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh, Anita Overland
Directed by: Martin McDonagh
Written by: Martin McDonagh
Starring: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Parker Posey, and Tom Waits
Review by: Cam Wiggs