Wild Horse Nine (2026)

2026 has seen many veteran actors give career topping performances and Malkovich is definitely on that list with his turn as a somber CIA agent (who may or may not have killed Kennedy) looking back at the end of his life. Yes this is a comedy, in the way that McDonagh makes comedies, films that make you laugh out loud while holding some pathos in your heart at the same time. Flanked by Rockwell, being... well, Rockwell, in the way only he can, Malkovich is stunning and makes Wild Horse Nine a gripping if somewhat lean, story of regret and making peace with that regret. 

You could stop reading here and just know that this is a lovely little film that I recommend seeing and will likely go down as one of Malkovich's best roles despite him having many good options to choose from. From here on out I talk about aspects of the movie that do not appear in the trailers and are best experienced in the film so if you haven't yet seen it save the rest for after you have. 

*Spoilers* McDonagh sets his story on Easter Island, a place of relative peace and isolation in a world of violence and clashing ideologies. Malkovich plays a CIA agent who has been responsible for a lot of evil in the world who is dying and has asked his friend, Rockwell's CIA agent, to end it for him on his own terms. The two bicker and engage with the question of "what have we done?" in a way that feels honestly truthful. Chris doesn't necessary express a self-hatred for his past, and perhaps still justifies for himself that in the end the terrible things he did were for a higher purpose. Yet he still struggles and perhaps begins to doubt. This isn't about his existential fear of some moral reckoning but more an lack of certainty. He passes along some rather extreme but perhaps astute advice to a young woman who aligns herself with very different goals than he and in the end choses to die with the closest thing to a friend he has by his side. 

It is quite a touching little story with the emphasis on little. This isn't a critique. I like the film didn't try to turn this into something bigger than it was. It keeps the story intimate and while the climactic scene might push the edge a little more than it earns, it remains at the end of the day a very small story. 

And it's damn funny. McDonagh is one of the best at this sort of humour and he was smart to cast Rockwell and Malkovich together here cause they make it all work so beautifully. It is the sort of film that makes you really laugh and perhaps thats because there is real weight to what you are watching and not just a series of silly scenes. I relate to his humour because I feel McDonagh finds humour in real emotions, even when his characters are some what extreme examples of types of people. 

Wild Horse Nine

Starring: John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, Parker Posey, Mariana di Girolamo, Ailin Salas

Writer/Director: Martin McDonagh