As the famous saying goes, we are all born to die. However, some people seem to think that they were born to kill, which is how we get the supposedly thriving industry of professional assassins, a vocation that apparently has deep roots in the global political landscape, although very few of us, thankfully, have any experience with that side of life. However, it’s a fascinating idea to think about how there are people whose entire raison d’être is to end the lives of people who are perceived to be a threat, eliminating those who are deemed to stand in the way of freedom, or whatever the most logical explanation could be. Someone who has seemingly been fascinated by the subject is Martin McDonagh, who has often written stories about professional killers for both the stage and screen, taking a vested interest in exploring the inner psychological state of people whose only purpose (or at least their primary motivation) is to end the lives of people considered to be problems. His most recent directorial outing is yet another version of this general idea, coming in the form of Wild Horse Nine, a bitingly funny and subversive satire that looks at the topic from a slightly different perspective. We are introduced to Chris Carlisle and Lee Chesterfield, a pair of pencil-pushing CIA operatives working out of Santiago in the early 1970s, and they are patiently awaiting the start of the planned military coup, which they know is only a few months away – mostly because they are part of the planning process. However, their focus is not on the impending overthrow of democracy, but rather a more pleasant trip to Easter Island, where they are taking what appears to be a short vacation, the reasons for which become very clear as soon as they arrive. Despite their best efforts to take in the surroundings, it soon becomes clear that, even on a remote island, the influence of the sinister powers that guide their lives is never too far out of reach, indicating that there is always someone observing their every move. Bitingly funny and profoundly heartbreaking (both the defining hallmarks of McDonagh’s work), Wild Horse Nine is a tremendously entertaining film with as much sardonic wit as it has deeply sincere intentions, being one of the director’s most challenging and captivating works, and a film that ultimately delivers a powerful and essential message, far more profound than we’d have initially expected based on a cursory glance.  

I once had a history teacher who famously said the last thing anyone living in a country undergoing any political problems wants to see is an American, since that is a sure sign that they are about to become the latest targets in the ongoing game of imperialism masquerading as diplomacy. Obviously this is a reductive (and certainly controversial) assertion, and not one that ever can be taken entirely seriously – however, there is some truth to the idea that there was a point when many Western superpowers felt impelled to become involved in the political systems of other countries, as a way to maintain order and prevent any potential conflicts emerging from the rise of possibly dangerous ideologies that could lead to further wars. McDonagh is evidently equally fascinated with the concept of political interventionism, since this is what anchors Wild Horse Nine and makes it such an intriguing and bold dark comedy. The film examines a pair of hapless CIA agents who are both evidently past their prime – one is dying, the other is so incompetent he might as well retire as well, to the point where the idea of them taking a sabbatical to visit the remote Easter Island is actually doing their organisation a favour, since it momentarily takes two of their more frustrating agents out of commission for a little while. From this, we find that Wild Horse Nine turns into a free-wheeling, off-the-wall political satire that takes a refreshingly honest and undeniably scathing look into the culture clash between the United States and the rest of the world, primarily in terms of showing the extent to which they will often go to spread a particular agenda, one built on freedom and democracy, but which many consider to be just as stifling as any of the regimes they feel determined to crush. It’s a challenging idea, and one that we don’t necessarily even have to endorse to find interesting, since there is always something to be said about a film that is willing to take a calculated risk by making a couple of profoundly provocative statements about the state of the world. It does help that Wild Horse Nine is a period piece, since this gives McDonagh the opportunity to put some distance between this story and the present day, exploring a particular moment during the height of the Cold War, making the film as much a political satire as it is a historical statement, which ultimately brings together some fascinating and challenging themes.

Yet, despite the very complex political discussion that forms the foundation for this film, Wild Horse Nine is surprisingly not solely built around these themes, and actually becomes much more about subjects far more profound and frankly daring than we would have initially expected. The foundation of the story is friendship, which is not surprising considering so much of the director’s work is formed from narratives that explore companionship in its various forms – in fact, every one of his plays and films can be considered to be about friendship in one way or another, evidently this being a concept that guides so much of his work. Unsurprisingly, the film succeeds wholeheartedly in showing the dynamic between the two lead characters, both of whom are wildly different from one another – but sometimes the more conflicting our personalities, the stronger and more ironclad the friendship. However, it is important to not make the mistake of thinking that this is only an upbeat and irreverent story of unexpected companionship between a pair of eccentric characters – McDonagh cobbles together what is very soon revealed to be a far more interesting character study about identity and mortality, additional themes that have formed the basis for some of his best works. One of the protagonists (and arguably the primary focus of the film) is a man who has been told that he doesn’t have much time left, and in an effort to make sure that his death is more remarkable than his life, decides to end it in a highly unorthodox manner, reflecting the life he chose to live. It’s a very philosophical film that touches on a few intimidating themes in a way that is unexpectedly very moving, exploring the inner state of the characters’ minds as they grapple with the harsh reality that everyone will eventually die, but that it will sadly come sooner for some than for others, which causes them to question whether it is worth letting nature take its course, or deciding to end it in a way that feels aligned with your personal choice. McDonagh doesn’t give the easy answers at any point, and often challenges the viewer to bring their own interpretation, which ultimately bears remarkable results, as Wild Horse Nine contains some extraordinary commentary on the nature of humanity, handcrafted by a director whose attention to detail and deep sincerity play into every aspect of the film in a way that is both challenging and very moving.

However, as much as McDonagh is interested in exploring the central friendship and how it functions as a means for these complicated men to feel a sense of belonging in a hostile world, he is also not intent on letting anyone off the hook – the brilliance of this film is how everyone in it is a complex, provocative character that has clear flaws, which form the foundation of so many of its most beautiful and evocative moments, since the entire story is built around self-reflection and the pondering of existence. This is where we discover that somehow, through the miracle of both exceptional writing and good casting decisions, the director facilitated one of the greatest performances of the decade, which comes on behalf of John Malkovich, who has never been viewed as anything other than a genius of the craft, but still finds ways to surprise us with his work in Wild Horse Nine¸ which may just be his strongest performance to date, which is certainly saying something considering his enormous body of work. It’s staggering how an actor is able to be so hilarious and heartbreaking in tandem, finding the time to be both touching and terrifying when required, and it all points to the perfect marriage between a director and an actor who knows precisely how to play absolutely every note, right down to the smallest and most seemingly inconsequential details. Malkovich has never been as easygoing and spontaneous as he is here, his comedic timing being absolutely astonishing, as is his ability to dive deep into the mind of a man who knows that he is dying very soon, and has to make the decision around whether to let it happen naturally, or through his own decision. However, a performance like this can only reach its full potential if it’s surrounded by actors who are equally as dedicated, and in his third on-screen collaboration with him, McDonagh finds the perfect sidekick in Sam Rockwell, who is similarly brilliant as the more level-headed partner and protégé of Malkovich, taking on the unenviable task of portraying the straight man to someone who is playing to the rafters, but he manages to make it work through simply relying on the same impeccable charm that has gotten him this far. It’s a wonderful performance from one of our most unheralded actors, and the pair are extraordinary, finding the perfect balance between these two characters and handling the often dense script with poise, humour and a never-ending supply of charisma that helps us understand exactly why they’re two of the absolute best in the industry.

Tonally, Wild Horse Nine is exactly what we’d expect from McDonagh – bitingly funny with enormously melancholic overtures. Something that I’ve noticed with him (in both his films and plays) is that his characters tend to age alongside him, and a lot of the themes in these stories reflect what any self-aware artist would be feeling about themselves. Twenty years ago, a story of mortality and reflecting on death may have been the foundation of one of his projects, but certainly not as intensely personal as we see here. Even just comparing this film to In Bruges, which also centred on the friendship between two eccentric assassins, we can see the very different emotional approaches that anchor each individual film. It’s an astonishing piece of filmmaking that knows exactly how to draw the audience in without ever seeming to be overly dense or predictable, which is one of the many merits that we can find defining so much of the director’s work. It’s bitingly funny, and has the kind of irreverent humour that is simply immovable as far as his writing goes – is it truly a McDonagh film if it isn’t filled with wall-to-wall wit, delivered with an abundance of vulgarity and a range of bizarre cultural references that will set any inquisitive viewer off on a conceptual treasure hunt? This is all part of why Wild Horse Nine is such an extraordinary film – it manages to be hilarious and complex on the surface, but has a very simple message at the core, which is communicated with the kind of offbeat elegance that we don’t often find in other directors’ work. It helps that McDonagh is able to explore more difficult themes like death and loyalty without even vaguely becoming overwrought – any opportunity to insert heavy-handed emotions is swiftly pushed aside and replaced by something much more compelling, the kind of quietly devastating emotion that would feel bleak if it wasn’t so actively engaging at the same time. There’s always method to the madness when it comes to the director’s work, and Wild Horse Nine finds him doing some of his best writing, handling difficult themes with the poise and sophisticated eccentricity that has always driven so much of his artistic vision. It certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s joined by a tremendous crew that helps him realise this story – Ben Davis’ cinematography captures the stunning beauty of Easter Island (filmed on location, being one of the rare films to actually make the effort to make use of this fascinating place as a setting), and the gorgeous score by Carter Burwell matches the emotional content perfectly. It’s a tremendously entertaining film that is as well-written as it is beautifully-constructed, being a truly astonishing achievement and challenging the viewer to think far beyond what we would expect possible from such a story.

The most difficult aspects of discussing a McDonagh film are often choosing how to start and end the conversation, since these are not works that lend themselves to easy analysis at the best of times, not because they are necessarily complex or challenging (they do have some deeper themes that do warrant a lot of thought), but rather because he makes films that challenge our understanding of the human condition, visceral and daring achievements that redefine what it means to be alive, presented in the form of pitch-black comedies that seem simple on the surface, but have depth and nuance the likes of which we rarely witness. Wild Horse Nine is certainly not an exception, to the point where even comparing it to the director’s previous works seems unfair, since it is both starkly similar in perspective and vastly different in terms of both the subject matter and what McDonagh is trying to say with it. However, it’s undeniable that he achieved something truly exceptional here, an offbeat dark comedy with as much vitriol for oppressive systems as it has sincere affection for the people who it perceives to be on the right side of history. It’s a remarkable film for so many reasons – the subject matter is complex and compelling, while also having a lightness at times that proves to offset the bleak nature of the story being told. We first think this is going to be a film about death, both natural and otherwise, but it soon reveals its inner foundation is more about the experience of being alive, celebrating the small part of existence that we usually take for granted, and only realise the importance of when we have very little time left. This is ultimately what McDonagh sets out to communicate more than anything else, challenging the audience to look further than we would in a more conventional dark comedy, and daring us to think a bit deeper about our own place in this strange and hostile world. It can be a bit intimidating at times, but a film of this nature that isn’t provoking the viewer is certainly not doing everything it can with the tools at its disposal. As one of our greatest living writers, McDonagh was never going to deliver anything that wasn’t worth watching – it simply just helps that Wild Horse Nine ended up being a beautiful, poetic existential odyssey that is as funny as it is haunting, oscillating between tones (helped by its cast, all of whom are extraordinary, but where it is Malkovich who proves to be the very definition of a revelation, an odd circumstance for such an established actor), and which all works towards making this one of the most compelling and deeply moving films of the year, and a personal peak for a truly extraordinary filmmaker, who has rarely been as daring as he was with this peculiar but captivating satire.