The Banshees of Inisherin
Available on: Disney+
This quaint, Chekhov-esque melodrama sees Three Billboards and In Bruges writer-director Martin McDonagh reunite Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell for a breakup movie that oscillates effortlessly between the hilarious and horrifying.
Set on the fictional island of Inisherin in 1920s Ireland, The Banshees of Inisherin concerns dairy farmer and simpleton Pádraic (Farrell) who, every day at 2pm, calls on his best friend Colm (Gleeson) so that they can head to their local and chat idlily over a pint of Guinness.
Sounds delightful, no? After all, this is a ritual shared by men across the globe. Time spent with friends at the pub is sacrosanct for many a soul, and McDonagh’s screenplay captures this perfectly. But the turning point of this narrative is Colm’s sudden decision to annul his friendship with Pádraic because, put simply, he has realised that he finds him dull.
As was the case in In Bruges, Farrell and Gleeson play a chalk-and-cheese couple – the former is a gentle but uninteresting soul, whereas the other is a deep thinker whose mind is preoccupied with culture and a fear of being forgotten when he dies. Naturally, Pádraic is devastated by the prospect of losing his best friend and spends most of the film trying to win back his affections.
The genius of McDonagh’s writing lies in the fact that he presents neither Pádraic nor Colm as the wronged party. This is because The Banshees of Inisherin is a deeply philosophical film, and so has little time for good or bad guys. Even when Colm takes the drastic decision to start mutilating his own hand to try and deter his friend’s efforts of reconciliation, we can appreciate the twisted logic that motivates the act.
Farrell and Gleeson are tremendous in the lead roles and are supported ably by Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan, while cinematographer Ben Davis also delivers a plethora of stunning shots of Ireland’s coastal landscape. McDonagh is once again being tipped for glory come award season, and it’s difficult to argue against this being a worthy winner of any accolade.
