Martin McDonagh is back. Following The Banshees of Inisherin, which earned nine Academy Award nominations (without a win), took home three Golden Globes, and received four BAFTA awards from the British Academy, the filmmaker has definitively put to rest any doubts about his status as one of the most compelling voices in contemporary cinema. His next project is titled "Wild Horse Nine", and even at the casting stage, it already looks like something special.

What the Film Is About

The story unfolds shortly before the Chilean coup d'état of 1973. Two CIA agents—Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell)—are sent from Santiago to Easter Island on the orders of their handler MJ (Steve Buscemi). Amid the island's iconic stone statues, while the partners attempt to come to terms with their dark pasts and increasingly tangled present-day schemes, Chris unexpectedly grows close to two rebellious female students—jeopardising their entire "retreat" in this remote paradise.

It sounds unmistakably like McDonagh: a confined setting, characters haunted by pasts that will inevitably catch up with them, and a bitter irony permeating every line of dialogue. Easter Island instead of Inisherin—but the sense of having nowhere to escape remains the same.

Cast

McDonagh is assembling a strong ensemble cast—one that feels like a gathering of performers, each of whom alone is already a mark of quality.

John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell form a pairing long overdue. Rockwell has previously collaborated with McDonagh on Seven Psychopaths, and his performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri earned him numerous awards, making another collaboration only a matter of time. Malkovich as a CIA agent with a troubled past is already a compelling premise in itself.

Steve Buscemi replaces Mark Ruffalo, who was initially set to play the high-ranking intelligence official. If there is any regret over Ruffalo's departure, it is only slight—Buscemi feels like a natural fit for the role of the agents' handler, perhaps even a better one. It's that familiar archetype of "a man you can never fully trust," just with a different energy.

The cast also includes Tom Waits, a living embodiment of American underground culture, who plays Chris's brother; Parker Posey (Lost in Space, The White Lotus, Irrational Man) as Marge, Lee's wife; and Chilean and Argentine actresses Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas, known for their work in local projects.

Why It’s Worth the Wait

Martin McDonagh is a filmmaker who both writes and directs his own work, managing to be darkly funny while simultaneously pulling the ground out from under the viewer. In Bruges reflects on redemption, the afterlife, and honour, blending these themes with sharp Irish humour and the gothic aesthetic of the city. In contrast to the intimate scale of In Bruges, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri explores grief and anger, shifting the focus from personal guilt to social conflict and the transformation of rage. The Banshees of Inisherin is a story about a friendship that unravels slowly and painfully—like severed fingers. Each of McDonagh's films centres on people trapped in situations where there is no right way out—only varying degrees of bad.

As for Wild Horse Nine, it is already clear that McDonagh does not choose his setting at random: the CIA, an island at the edge of the world, and 1973—a period that is far more than mere backdrop. That year, Chile was shaken by a military coup that overthrew the left-wing coalition government, and President Salvador Allende took his own life. The coup led to widespread repression, with thousands killed or disappeared. In its aftermath, a harsh 17-year dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet was established—one that remains the subject of intense debate in Chilean society to this day. Public memory intertwines the trauma of terror and strict censorship with recognition of the country’s economic modernisation: Pinochet returned Chile to the sphere of U.S. influence during the Cold War, ended the attempt to build socialism, and implemented a neoliberal development model—the so-called "shock therapy."

If McDonagh has once again written the script in his signature manner, the film has every chance of becoming one of the most compelling and widely discussed cinematic releases of 2026. Delivering a visually strong and well-directed film is something he can be relied upon to do. Wild Horse Nine is scheduled for release in the United Kingdom on 5 November 2026, followed by the United States a day later.