Wild Horse Nine is the LIFF 40th Anniversary special film preview

We’re delighted to announce that Martin McDonagh’s highly-anticipated Wild Horse Nine will be the LIFF 40th Anniversary special film preview. Already a top favourite of critics and audiences at Venice and Toronto film festivals, Wild Horse Nine is a gripping dark comedy thriller from the writer-director of The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which was the hugely popular closing film at LIFF 2017. The preview will be presented in the first few days of the 40th Leeds International Film Festival, 29 October to 15 November 2026.

Wild Horse Nine is set shortly before the 1973 coup in Chile. CIA agents Chris (John Malkovich) and Lee (Sam Rockwell) are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ (Steve Buscemi). Amongst the Island's iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris's new bond with a pair of rebellious students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailín Salas) threatens to upend everyone’s trip to this remote paradise.

The full programme for LIFF 2026 is online from 1 October. Passes will also be on sale from this date. Tickets are available to book from 8 October.