‘Wild Horse Nine’ Lands 14-Minute Ovation At Venice World Premiere

Martin McDonagh’s first feature film in four years, Wild Horse Nine, premiered this evening at the Venice Film Festival, where it earned a rapturous 14-minute (almost 15) ovation from the audience in the festival’s Sala Grande. 

McDonagh, a Venice regular, was present at the screening with his lead actors, John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi and Parker Posey. 

There were plenty of laughs from the audience during the screening (as there had been at this morning’s press screenings) and the crowd showed their appreciation for the actors and filmmakers after the lights came up. Among those leading the applause were Phoebe Waller Bridge and Rockwell’s partner Leslie Bibb. Rockwell and Malkovich drew particularly loud applause with Rockwell mouthing ‘wow’ to the audience at one point.

The film has gone down well with critics and press were full of praise for the team at the press conference earlier in the day.

Set just before the 1973 Chilean coup, the film stars Malkovich and Rockwell as CIA agents Chris and Lee, who are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Buscemi). As the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris’ newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) threatens to send everyone’s trip to the remote paradise sideways.

Discussing his inspiration for the story during this morning’s official Venice press conference, McDonagh said he has long been fascinated with the CIA and the fate of the Chilean government under Salvador Allende.

“We know what the KGB are like, but we probably don’t question the CIA’s activities as much as we ought to,” he said. “That was one of the starting points. I’m always questioning, even in the less political films [I make]. I like to question authority or what we’re being told.”

There was also a lot of awards talk at this morning’s press conference, with multiple journalists predicting a lengthy awards run for the title. Malkovich was less interested in award talk.

 “I never feel in competition with any of them [actor, director and writer collaborators] because generally I love what they do,” he told journalists in the room. “The nicest thing is that the film gets attention, and this film has several terrific performers in it, and is beautifully written and beautifully directed, and that’s what matters the most to me. But thank you for your kind words.”

Searchlight has set a November 6, 2026 release date for the movie, which also stars Tom Waits.