Film Review: The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)

Inisherin is a (fictional) island off the coast of Ireland. It is 1923. The civil war (“A bad do, that.”) can be heard but, on the island, there is nothing to do but toddle off down the pub or gossip in the general store, saving up the details for confession. And, in this world, Colm, a grown man, has decided that he will no longer be friends with Pádraic. There’s no real reason for it, it’s just that he finds the amiable fellow dull and is worried that he’s going to waste his final years with chat and being nice, rather than creating works as memorable as Mozart. The Banshees of Inisherin is bleak, melancholic, gruesome and, at times, laugh out loud funny. It is also wise, tender, ridiculous and cruel.

Reuniting writer and director Martin McDonagh with his In Bruges stars Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin is, given some of the subject matter, a surprisingly amiable watch. Inisherin looks green and mostly pleasant. People move around either on foot or with the assistance of donkeys. So far so blarney. But, this being McDonagh, simple statements and plot directions move inexorably towards the macabre and the breathtaking. When someone says they will cut off their fingers if they are spoken to again then you know what will happen when they are spoken to.

Farrell is Pádraic. A simple man who is, yes, a bit dull. It is a superbly subtle performance as frustrations he didn’t know he had start to bubble away as his sense of self and fairness are eroded by the determined way in which Gleeson’s Colm cuts him out of his life. Gleeson’s rugged face and swept hair eloquently captures the existential dread that a fear of death, loneliness and being forgotten – that Colm can only admit to but masking it with a spoken desire to create things – has brought. As strong as those two performances are, the film is nearly stolen by Kerry Condon as Pádraic’s self-educated and outspoken sister Siobhan and Barry Keoghan as the policeman’s tragic son, Dominic, who can only escape from his own suffering via drink and impossible dreams.

The script is ridiculously quotable and contains so many lines that provoke a reaction whether that is a gasp, laughter or just a smile at how sharp it is. And, nicely, it’s a film that’s well-paced and neatly moves its story along inside two hours. There is nothing unnecessary on display. What there is, is a humane portrait of people struggling with their lot in life but having no control or understanding of what to do to really address that. With jokes. And shocks. There’s not a huge amount of similar fare out there right now.

As we move into awards season, it’s likely that The Banshees of Inisherin will be in the running for a fair number of them. Who knows how that will go. In a fair world, it will do well. But, as Pádraic knows, as he looks out for a friend with whom he can talk about his little donkey’s shit for the next two hours, the world is not always fair.