WILD HORSE NINE Special Screenings

Martin McDonagh’s (IN BRUGES, THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI) new film continues his exploration of the complexities of male friendship, this time between two CIA agents, Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell), who travel to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) shortly before the end of Salvador Allende’s government in 1970s Chile. Heavily involved in the preparations for the Pinochet-led military coup, the agents embark on a journey marked by regretful memories and multiple threats, including surveillance by their own institution and the silent, looming presence of death. 
McDonagh’s signature dark-comedy style delivers extremely hilarious dialogue, as well as a beautiful meditation on memory and guilt set against the stunning backdrop of the Moai sculptures and the political effervescence of Chile under Allende. The stellar cast is rounded out by Steve Buscemi as MJ, the local CIA boss; Tom Waits as Chris’s brother; and Mariana Di Girolamo (EMA) as an idealistic Chilean student who befriends Chris, helping him break through some of his emotional and professional barriers. Malkovich, in an endearingly nuanced and humorous turn, embodies Chris with a blend of sadness, selective memory loss, Catholic stubbornness about the afterlife and existential dread. –Natalia Ames