TIFF Review: John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell in Wild Horse Nine

Playwright-cum-filmmaker Martin McDonagh is back to challenge everyone’s media literacy with his latest film, Wild Horse Nine. Like his feature film debut, In Bruges, it’s a two-hander centered on bad men contemplating their bad deeds and wondering what is left at the end of it all. Wild Horse Nine stars John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as Chris and Lee, respectively, a pair of CIA operatives in 1973 Chile, laying the groundwork for the military coup that will put General Pinochet in power and begin a brutal dictatorship in that country.

Malkovich stars as the seventy-something Chris, whose whole life has been dedicated to misdeeds and mayhem. He’s killed dozens of people—that he’ll admit to—and his life’s work is destabilizing duly elected governments in the global south for the benefit of the USA’s agenda (and also maybe orchestrating the Kennedy assassination). He is objectively a bad man, as is his partner and protégé, Lee (Rockwell), who hasn’t killed as many people but is just as committed to destabilization and installing dictators as Chris.

Chris and Lee are Not Good, their actions make that clear, but because McDonagh affords them spectacular dialogue and musings about the nature of guilt, regret, sin, and the afterlife, people will probably assume we’re meant to like them. I don’t think we are, I think we’re supposed to see them as vehicles for McDonagh’s thoughts on Catholicism, Christianity, grace, and its limits. But because he does not explicitly judge them within the text of the film, I expect some people will struggle with this.

But determining how much grace equals forgiveness is part of the moral math of Wild Horse Nine. Chris is terminally ill and his mortality is his singular preoccupation. His life has amounted to nothing but destruction and chaos, but he loves Lee. Does that count for anything? He regrets falling out with his brother. He puts moths outside rather than killing them. He warns a pair of leftist Chilean students not to go back to Santiago before the coup. Does any of this add up to redemption? Probably not, but that line is different for all of us. Chris and Lee wonder if a Nazi who saves his mother could get into heaven, and decide they must be better than a Nazi, mustn’t they?

As is always the case with McDonagh’s films, the dialogue is phenomenal and Malkovich, especially, has a lot to chew on. He gives one of his all-time best performances as Chris, in turns irascible, charming, repugnant, morose, and reflective, but always funny. Chris and Lee go to Rapa Nui, or Easter Island as they call it, as a kind of bucket list trip for Chris, who wants to see the Moai, dubbed “big heads” by Chris, who never takes it well when someone tries to correct his language in favor of Indigenous names. But what moves him are not the mysterious Moai, but the wild horses who roam freely across the island.

Malkovich is matched by an equally good Rockwell, who essentially plays the straight man. As Chris is falling apart, Lee works harder to keep everything together, especially as Chris is freaking out their bosses by recording tapes for a memoir (Steve Buscemi stars as MJ, Chris and Lee’s irritated and irritating bureau chief). It puts Lee in the untenable position of spying on his friend, while also trying to hold their bosses at bay. Also giving a standout performance is Chilean actress Mariana di Girolamo as Monica, one of the students Chris alternately tries to impress and strike fear in her heart (to prevent her going back to Chile).

There’s no real absolution in Wild Horse Nine. Chris and Lee never really resolve their debate about grace and forgiveness. And given the horror they’ve put in motion in Chile, there’s no amount of saving moths that can make up for it. But between them there is a kind of peace, a valuing of each other and their friendship that would be wholesome if not for all the death. They’re bad men who do bad things, but they love each other, and that has to count for something. Doesn’t it?

Wild Horse Nine will play exclusively in theaters from November 6, 2026.