Two CIA agents find themselves embroiled in a mission gone sideways in Director Martin McDonagh’s comedic political thriller, Wild Horse Nine.

Set against a real historical backdrop the 1973 Chilean coup d’etat, McDonagh’s film tells the story of veteran CIA officer Chris Carlisle and his protégé Lee Chesterfield who are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island, by their CIA bureau chief MJ.  Once there, the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, while Chris’s newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students threatens the trip to this remote paradise.

On November 1, after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, McDonagh discussed the making of Wild Horse Nine during a Q&A moderated by Director Steve Buscemi (The Listener), who also appears in the film.

During the conversation, McDonagh spoke about the part of directing that he enjoys the most.

“I do love the editing. After the film is done, before actually going into the edit, I’ll take two weeks and just watch every single take and note every single take, every look, every pause that’s going to be useful. So then when I’m in the edit with [editor] Mikkel [Nielsen], I’ll say, ‘Let’s go straight to take four for that line.’ It’s like a bible of best takes and best performances. Sometimes the line that you thought was most truthful, or the reading that seemed most truthful, isn’t necessarily going to make the scene the right scene. It’s all about combinations.”

McDonagh’s other directorial credits include the feature films, Seven Psychopaths and In Bruges. His 2018 feature, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and his 2022 feature, The Banshees of Inisherin garnered him a DGA Award nomination for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film and an Academy Award nomination for “Best Motion Picture of the Year.” In 2006, he won the Academy Award for “Best Short Film, Live Action,” for his film Six Shooter.

McDonagh has been a DGA member since 2011.