Updated

Updated · Deadline · Sep 3

Wild Horse Nine Wins 14-Minute Venice Ovation as Awards Buzz Builds Before Nov. 6 Release

Updated

Updated · Deadline · Sep 3

Wild Horse Nine Wins 14-Minute Venice Ovation as Awards Buzz Builds Before Nov. 6 Release

Q: What dark secrets does Martin McDonagh uncover about the CIA in his highly anticipated new thriller?

McDonagh’s film portrays the CIA as deeply implicated in decades of covert interference, political violence and regime change, with *Wild Horse Nine* using fiction to dramatize what he has called “the awful things they’ve done all around the world.” Set in Chile on the eve of the 1973 coup against Salvador Allende, the thriller centers on two CIA agents involved in efforts to undermine a democratically elected government. Through John Malkovich’s character, Chris, the film links that operation to a broader record of U.S. intelligence interventions, including Guatemala in 1954, the Congo and Patrice Lumumba’s killing, and the Bay of Pigs. Several reports and reviews also say the film goes further, suggesting Chris carries knowledge of, or involvement in, the assassination of John F. Kennedy. What McDonagh appears most interested in uncovering is not a single secret operation, but a pattern: the CIA as an institution that carried out destabilization abroad while keeping its role obscured. He has said the agency’s actions are not scrutinized as much as they should be, and the film reflects that view by showing agents wrestling with guilt, secrecy and the human cost of covert missions. So the “dark secrets” in *Wild Horse Nine* are the CIA’s alleged hand in toppling governments, enabling assassinations and manipulating democratic outcomes, especially in Chile, presented through a tragicomic spy story rather than a documentary claim of newly revealed facts.

3 articles · Updated · Deadline · Sep 3

14 minutes and 44 seconds of applause greeted Wild Horse Nine after its Thursday world premiere in Venice’s Sala Grande, marking a rapturous reception for Martin McDonagh’s first feature in four years.
John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi and Parker Posey joined McDonagh at the screening, where laughs carried through the film and Rockwell and Malkovich drew especially loud cheers after the lights came up.
Critics and press had already responded warmly earlier Thursday, fueling awards talk around the film, though Malkovich downplayed competition and said the priority was attention for the movie and its ensemble.
Set on Easter Island just before Chile’s 1973 coup, the film follows two CIA agents confronting past and present conspiracies; McDonagh said his interest grew from questioning U.S. intelligence activity under Salvador Allende.
Searchlight Pictures has scheduled Wild Horse Nine for a Nov. 6 release, extending momentum from Venice into the fall awards corridor.