Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh's black comedy about two CIA officers sent to Easter Island, opens in the U.S. and U.K. on November 6. It arrives with a Venice acting prize, a 93% Rotten Tomatoes score from 90 reviews and a Metacritic score of 79.
Those are the numbers critics produce at festivals. The film has not yet been judged by an ordinary Friday-night audience, and the Rotten Tomatoes page lists no audience score yet.
A note on dates: our film page currently lists October 30. Searchlight's release date, per Wikipedia and the Rotten Tomatoes listing, is November 6.
The Basics
According to Wikipedia:
- Director and writer: Martin McDonagh, whose The Banshees of Inisherin was a Best Picture nominee.
- Cast: John Malkovich as Chris Carlisle, a veteran CIA officer, and Sam Rockwell as Lee Chesterfield, his protégé, with Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey.
- Premise: shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, the two officers are sent to Easter Island, where their pasts and present conspiracies surface.
- Distributor: Searchlight Pictures. The runtime is about two hours (117 minutes per Wikipedia).
- Premiere: in competition at the Venice Film Festival on September 3, with its North American premiere at Telluride.
Malkovich won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at Venice. McDonagh was nominated for the Golden Lion.
What the Reviews Say
Wikipedia reports 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from 89 reviews and 79 on Metacritic from 27 critics, "generally favorable." The current Rotten Tomatoes page shows 93% from 90, so the number is still moving.
The reviews we can point to by headline lean on the same two things. The A.V. Club's review is titled "peak Malkovich", IndieWire's calls it a "prickly CIA satire", and Film Focus Online's says McDonagh delivers "one of his finest films". Metacritic is lower than Rotten Tomatoes, which can mean the praise is broad but not every critic is equally enthusiastic.
We have not read every review and are not quoting scores for individual outlets we could not open.
What Is Still Unknown
- Audience response. The Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes has no ratings yet.
- Box office. Searchlight has not given an opening projection that we found.
- The competition. It opens the same day as Godzilla Minus Zero in North America. We cover that film in a separate guide.
Where It Fits in the Awards Race
In our fall awards analysis we named this film as the challenger to The Odyssey with the best realistic chance, citing Malkovich's Venice prize and McDonagh's record with the Academy. The reviews so far are consistent with that view, but a November release leaves only a short window to convert festival buzz into votes.
Editorial Take: A 93% score and a Venice prize tell you critics admire it. They do not tell you whether it is fun on a Saturday night, which is a different question and the one that decides box office. The Metacritic score sitting below the Rotten Tomatoes one is a hint that the enthusiasm is not uniform. If you like his earlier work, the early signals are good. If you want to be sure, wait for the audience scores to appear in its first weekend.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When does Wild Horse Nine come out? November 6, 2026 in the U.S. and U.K., through Searchlight Pictures.
Who is in Wild Horse Nine? John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits and Parker Posey, directed by Martin McDonagh.
What is it about? Two CIA officers are sent to Easter Island shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, and their pasts and a present conspiracy begin to surface.
Did it win any awards? John Malkovich won the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival. Martin McDonagh was nominated for the Golden Lion.
What are the reviews? 93% on Rotten Tomatoes from 90 reviews, and 79 on Metacritic from 27 critics, as of this writing. Both can change.
How long is it? 117 minutes, per Wikipedia. Rotten Tomatoes lists 1 hour 58 minutes.
Release dates and review figures come from the sources linked above and can change. Tracking what arrives next across movies, TV, games, music and books at incoming.to.