Martin McDonagh premieres CIA dark comedy Wild Horse Nine at Venice Film Festival

Venice premiere and political backdrop

British-Irish filmmaker Martin McDonagh premiered his dark comedy Wild Horse Nine at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, 3 September 2026. The film is one of 21 titles competing for the Golden Lion award at the festival, which runs from 2 September to 12 September. Set in 1973 during the weeks leading to the military coup against Chilean President Salvador Allende, the production follows two American intelligence agents stationed in South America. McDonagh stated that while the script was written without direct reference to recent foreign policy developments, the themes align with ongoing discussions regarding covert interventions by the United States.

It's almost the perfect time for a film like this to come out, because it points out that these things have been happening via the CIA or the nastier American governments for quite a while.

Plot and character dynamics

The narrative centers on Chris, played by John Malkovich, a veteran CIA assassin diagnosed with terminal cancer whose memory is failing. Chris travels to Easter Island with his younger partner, Lee, played by Sam Rockwell, after years of conducting covert operations across multiple continents. Facing his own mortality, Chris decides to write a memoir documenting past operations, including the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état, the 1961 assassination of Congolese prime minister Patrice Lumumba, and involvement in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. His erratic behavior and willingness to discuss classified missions with strangers alarm his bureau chief in Santiago, MJ, played by Steve Buscemi, who orders Lee to kill Chris before the pair can leave the island.

Cast reflections on historical memory

The supporting cast includes Parker Posey, Tom Waits, and Chilean actress Mariana Di Girolamo, who portrays Monica, a student Chris meets at an airport with her friend Alicia, played by Ailín Salas. During the festival press conference in Venice, Di Girolamo described the 1973 coup as an unresolved chapter for Chileans more than fifty years after the event. McDonagh explained that he originally envisioned a story about a father and son who were both actors, before altering the concept to examine guilt, regret, and the long-term consequences of state-sponsored violence.

I think that it's important to keep talking about that in order to not forget. For us Chileans, I think that it's an open wound still, for us, it's something you grew up with. And it's good to keep talking about that.

Festival reception and critical response

Critical reviews following the screening emphasized the comedic chemistry between Malkovich and Rockwell, who previously won an Academy Award for McDonagh's 2017 release Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Malkovich praised McDonagh's precise script, describing the director as a skilled wordsmith. Commentators compared the structure of the film to McDonagh's earlier dark comedies In Bruges (2008) and The Banshees of Inisherin (2022), while identifying Wild Horse Nine as the filmmaker's most directly political project. The Venice Film Festival will announce the Golden Lion winner at the close of the competition on 12 September.