VENICE, Italy — Wild Horse Nine has its world premiere Thursday at the Venice Film Festival, with writer-director Martin McDonagh centering his latest drama on the CIA and the 1973 military coup in Chile.
McDonagh said he drafted several early versions, including a father-son story and one about two actors, before realizing the film should confront a historical episode that had long gripped him. That shift reframed the project around a character wrestling with guilt and regret, moving it from a straightforward comedy to something deeper and more somber.
Starring Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich as CIA officers visiting Easter Island shortly before the 1973 coup, the film is among the most anticipated entries in competition for the Golden Lion. A theatrical release is planned later this year, and McDonagh’s strong awards track record has raised expectations.
His previous features, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin, also premiered in Venice and earned multiple Oscar nominations, including best picture. Three Billboards won acting Oscars for Rockwell and Frances McDormand.
Asked whether Wild Horse Nine could deliver Malkovich his first Academy Award after two nominations, he replied that the most gratifying outcome is for the film to draw attention. He added that a long career filled with remarkable collaborators keeps him from feeling competitive with peers whose work he admires.
McDonagh had sought to cast Malkovich on past projects, but schedules never aligned. This time, Malkovich made sure he could commit. He described the film as one that uses sharp humor to engage with two traumatic events, the assassination of John F. Kennedy and the Chilean coup, with grace, intelligence and balance.
Wild Horse Nine is one of the rare Hollywood productions to shoot on Easter Island, requiring the team to ship in cameras and period-accurate vehicles. Parker Posey, who plays Rockwell’s wife, traveled there to record off-camera phone dialogue and also appears on screen. She called the location a mystical place.
Another newcomer to McDonagh’s ensemble is Steve Buscemi, who joked that he had all but stalked the director at a previous Venice festival to lobby for a role. McDonagh said the production ranks among the best filmmaking experiences he has had.
At its core, the film explores the fraught bond between Rockwell’s Lee and Malkovich’s Chris, who grows increasingly tense, irritable and forgetful under the burden of clandestine actions tied to seismic world events.
Wild Horse Nine and the CIA
McDonagh said he set out to deliver a pointed look at the CIA and the harms inflicted by its operations around the globe. He noted that audiences often scrutinize foreign intelligence services but may not question the CIA as much as they should, adding that he likes to challenge authority in his work.
Though conceived as a historical piece about the 1973 Chilean coup, McDonagh said the film’s themes echo in current affairs. He pointed to contemporary events like the U.S. capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as reminders of how overt interventions can appear today. Watching the finished film, he said, it seems to carry commentary on present-day geopolitics, and he is eager to see how audiences respond.
One Response