Before that, McDonagh was already a huge name in theatre thanks to plays like The Beauty Queen of Leenane and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, both of which saw him garner comparisons to Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. Now, 2026’s upcoming comedy thriller Wild Horse Nine looks like it could easily be one of the year’s best movies, and a fitting comeback four years after The Banshees of Inisherin proved a huge critical success. However, the gun-toting thriller is also a reminder to check out McDonagh’s Seven Psychopaths, his most underrated movie to date.
Wild Horse Nine Is A Perfect Reminder To Watch Seven Psychopaths
McDonagh’s In Bruges received a lot of critical acclaim upon release, and its success allowed McDonagh to produce the ambitious Seven Psychopaths in the years that followed. The movie stars Colin Farrell as the alcoholic screenwriter Marty, whose unstable friend Billy becomes a thorn in his side as he attempts to pen a draft of the titular screenplay. Before long, a convoluted dognapping plot involving Woody Harrelson’s mob boss Charlie and Christopher Walken’s quirky Quaker Hans causes the lives of all four men to intersect with bloody, and bloody hilarious, results.
While McDonagh’s other movies have received much more acclaim from reviewers and awards attention, 2012’s hidden gem is arguably the writer’s real masterpiece. Upon a re-watch, In Bruges feels very indebted to Martin Scorsese’s movies, while Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’s handling of race derails its potential, and The Banshees of Inisherin’s depiction of the Irish Civil War is outright clueless. In contrast, Seven Psychopaths sees McDonagh operating in his comfort zone and excelling as a result.
Seven Psychopaths Is Still Martin McDonagh’s Most Underrated Movie
Effectively a character study of two very flawed men and their messy attempts to make their lives meaningful, Seven Psychopaths has a complex, ambitious meta-narrative that allows the movie to comment on the crime genre, the aestheticization of violence, and the writer’s own ideas about fame, storytelling, and morality. Despite how heavy this might sound, Seven Psychopaths is also McDonagh’s funniest film, with an unpredictable script and a handful of moving moments that are genuinely unexpected.
Sam Rockwell is dazzling as the troubled, tragic Billy, while Farrell proves he can play a deadpan straight man as the irascible Marty. With stellar supporting turns from Harrelson, Abbie Cornish, and Tom Waits, Seven Psychopaths is a thoughtful, original exploration of violence and masculinity that doubles as an all-time great crime thriller and a hilarious, if thoroughly unconventional, buddy comedy. Regardless of whether or not Wild Horse Nine lives up to its potential, its trailer’s arrival is still a great reminder to check out Martin McDonagh’s most underrated movie to date.
