Wild Horse Nine Draws 13-Minute Venice Ovation, Enters Oscar Race

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 · Variety · Sep 3

A thunderous 13-minute standing ovation greeted Martin McDonagh’s “Wild Horse Nine” at its Venice world premiere, with the response immediately fueling awards momentum for the film and for star John Malkovich.
Set in 1973, the film follows two CIA officers sent from Santiago to Easter Island just before the Chilean military coup that toppled Salvador Allende; the audience also applauded twice during the screening.
Malkovich, Sam Rockwell and McDonagh joined the crowd after the screening, shaking hands and signing autographs, while Leslie Bibb and Parker Posey added to an emotional, celebratory reception inside the theater.
Venice has become a proven launchpad for McDonagh: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Banshees of Inisherin” both premiered there, won screenplay prizes and later collected seven and nine Oscar nominations.