As 2026 nears its end, the year's best films are starting to come into perspective. Two blockbuster releases remain on the horizon — Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three — but otherwise, titles like Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, the acclaimed Andy Weir adaptation Project Hail Mary and the international darling La Bola Negra are among those being eyed as awards contenders come next year. However, Searchlight Pictures has one more heavyweight that has been garnering plenty of buzz on the festival circuit. It is finally set to hit theaters this Friday, coming off a Venice International Film Festival debut that earned a 13-minute standing ovation and plenty of flowers for its leading duo.
That film is Wild Horse Nine, the much-anticipated darkly comedic spy thriller return of writer-director Martin McDonagh. Coming four years after his Best Picture-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin, his latest sends audiences to Easter Island in 1973, shortly before the coup that overthrew President Salvador Allende in Chile. Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich lead as CIA agents Lee Chesterfield and Chris Carlisle, who are assigned to the tropical setting by their handler, MJ (Steve Buscemi), to take in the scenery. During their stay, however, they wrestle with their dark pasts as meddlers in foreign affairs and jeopardize their entire operation when they get a little too close to two rebellious students. With its wide release at hand, more reviews are rolling in and are now cementing it as one of the year's best.
As of writing, Wild Horse Nine has a stellar Certified Fresh Rotten Tomatoes score of 94% from 136 reviews. For reference, that ties it with The Odyssey, which is considered the heavy Best Picture favorite. Collider's Aidan Kelley was among those singing its praises in his 9/10 review, particularly highlighting the chemistry between Rockwell and Malkovich and calling it the latter's "finest performance since Burn After Reading." It seems likely that McDonagh may be in line to receive yet another nomination for the Oscars' top honors and, perhaps, keep his streak of Original Screenplay nods alive when Hollywood's biggest night rolls around.
What Are Critics Saying About 'Wild Horse Nine'?
The pairing of Rockwell and Malkovich was similarly hailed by other critics, but McDonagh's signature style of writing and direction also shone through in the melancholic spy thriller. Screen Rant's George Bate wasn't as enthusiastic about the movie in his 7/10 review, but he still hailed Wild Horse Nine for its showcase of the filmmaker's hallmarks and how the lead duo plays into them. "Their pairing is the capstone on a collection of traits that make this vintage McDonagh: a melancholic portrait of loss, witty and mildly objectionable humor, and a picturesque backdrop to soak it all in," he wrote. For Variety's Guy Lodge, Malkovich's presence even instills some new life into familiar themes the filmmaker has already explored in his previous features. "Malkovich — in his first collaboration with the writer-director — gives McDonagh's pithy, tangy dialogue just the sad, soulful eccentricity that it needs to live off the page."
Tom Waits and Parker Posey also star with Malkovich, Rockwell and Buscemi in Wild Horse Nine. McDonagh's latest rides into theaters on November 6.
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