In recent years, it seems that Martin McDonagh has become a polarizing figure, yet his feature films always have something to commend, and he has an unerring ability to coax excellent performances from his casts – even if something like Seven Psychopaths left me cold. The best thing about Wild Horse Nine is also the worst thing about it; it is exactly what you would expect a film about two CIA hitmen, written and directed by McDonagh to be.

Had he done something radically different, we may be critical of that too but even so, the set-up is so similar to In Bruges that it’s difficult to get too excited about the film, even if it is almost flawless. John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell play Chris and Lee, a mismatched pair of CIA hitmen, sent on a covert assignment to Chile. While there, they wax lyrical about their history together, the role of the US government in foreign democracies, the JFK assassination, heaven, hell, and moths. This isn’t any old mission; Chris’ health is failing, and Lee has a secondary mission to complete.

If this sounds like In Bruges, that’s because it is. You’ve got the older hitman and his younger counterpart; the subterfuge surrounding their presence in an unfamiliar location, and the sinister superior back home who is inevitably forced to intervene. Even the way McDonagh uses the local landscape to reflect his characters’ predicament recalls his earlier film. Where In Bruges utilised canals and Medieval architecture, here it is the monumental heads (or Moai) of Easter Island that loom over the action.

Despite this, Wild Horse Nine is a variation on a similar theme rather than a simple retread, and somewhat of a spiritual sequel. The film combines the mundane language and character work of Harold Pinter‘s The Dumb Waiter with the profane lyricism of In Bruges and the elegiac, road-movie aesthetic and bright colour palette of Takashi Miike‘s Bird People In China; an unlikely combination, yet a winning one, blending absurdist dialogue and political intrigue with a melancholy sense of the fragility of life.

Malkovich is brilliant as the terminally ill Chris, giving a performance that veers from philosophical to raging, in a way that only he can, frequently delivering pathos, laughs and drama, often in the same scene. Rockwell has potentially the harder role as the ‘straight’ man, he’s a beleaguered, constantly eating partner yet Sam offers subtle inflections, and little habits, which make Lee feel like a real person rather than another larger-than-life McDonagh creation.

Elsewhere Parker Posey turns up in a wonderful cameo as Lee’s wife, Steve Buscemi is brilliantly oily as their supercilious boss, and Ailin Salas and Mariana Di Girolamo offer steely turns as the two young women befriended by the agents, and they hold an authentic feeling, rather than the cliched mouthpieces such characters are often reduced to.

McDonagh knows exactly how to generate intrigue and laughter, scattering set-ups and pay-offs throughout the film with supreme confidence. His direction has improved considerably since his debut, and he proves a visual confidence, using a brighter colour palette than the washed-out cinematography of The Banshees of Inisherin. Collaborating with cinematographer Ben Davis, he contrasts the beautiful widescreen vistas of Chile with the grim brutalist landscapes of the CIA headquarters. The Super 8 footage recorded by Lee adds another texture, as well as recalling the JFK footage subliminally, reinforcing the sense of memory and mortality. McDonagh has faith in his audience too, dropping A Matter of Life and Death reference, and trusting the audience to pick it up: “She’s life and I’m leaving it.” It is a lovely moment, all the better for not signposting it.

If you like Martin McDonagh, you’ll enjoy Wild Horse Nine. This may sound like faint praise but it’s a compliment. Conversely, the reverse is also true – if you’re not a McDonagh fan, this may not convert you. While it doesn’t break his formula, as a spiritual successor, it is an unambiguous success. Funny, witty, moving, thrilling and anchored by two deeply humane performances at its core. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Wild Horse Nine is released in UK cinemas on 26 November from Searchlight Pictures