The Banshees of Inisherin

Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri) made a comeback with this treasure of a tragicomedy, a shimmering story of friendship, feuds, and Irish individuality.

On a remote island off Ireland’s coast, life produces few surprises. While a civil war of increasingly senseless violence reverberates on the mainland, sleepy days on Inisherin are characterized by lifelong pals Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm’s (Brendan Gleeson) late-afternoon travels to the pub. Until one day, when it does not occur. McDonagh presents an undulating swell of a story, one that locomotes from hoot-inducing black comedy and a delicate ode to respectful love to a movie about fiery anger that’s lost picture of its actual purpose.

Farrell and Gleeson dazzle throughout the movie. But the movie also centers on scintillating arrangements by Barry Keoghan as an inchoate but benign pest and Kerry Condon as Padraic’s sister, the Island’s sagest citizen who longs for something more. As heartbreaking as it is hilarious, The Banshees of Inisherin is arguably the finest work from this major filmmaker.

While hilarious at times, with laugh-out-loud moments, the whole understanding of this Irish comedy-drama is spiked by a dark undercurrent. The Banshees of Inisherin, the movie, continually surprise the viewer, leading the viewers down some disturbing paths. All the while there’s a sadness that exists, working in perfect harmony with the film’s more surrealistic elements. The film reunites writer and director Martin McDonagh with his two leads from In Bruges, and the trio’s talents once again shine. Both Farrell and Gleeson are in top form and comfortable in their surroundings.

This movie is available at the Box office these days, are you going for it?