The Banshees of Inisherin Review

The Banshees of Inisherin is an Irish dark-comedy/drama which sees Martin McDonagh, Colin Farrell, and Brendan Gleeson team up for the first since the excellent In Bruges.

Pádraic Súilleabháin (Farrell) is a farmer who lives on the small island of Inisherin. When Pádraic tries to invite his friend, Colm (Gleeson) to the pub for a drink, the older man seemingly ignores Pádraic. When Pádraic confronts Colm about his actions, Colm says he doesn’t want to be friends because Pádraic is too dull. A feud erupts which leads to Colm threatening to cut off his fingers, and Pádraic falling into a deep depression.

Martin McDonagh made an impression with In Bruges since it was a mainstream gangster film with a comedic edge that had a surprisingly dark reveal. It was an excellent film that had a great pairing of Farrell and Gleeson. Farrell excelled in that film and it helped change the public perception of the actor. So, it’s exciting to see this trio get back together.

The Banshees of Inisherin was a different beast to In Bruges. The Irish film was more thematic as it explored masculinity, male pride, and mental health. The Banshees of Inisherin was more like McDonagh’s previous film, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The Banshees of Inisherin and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri were ensemble films set in small, tight communities where the community turns against a person. In The Banshees of Inisherin there was a heavy look at the residents as well as the main characters.

The Banshees of Inisherin was a film about two men being pushed to the edge. Pádraic acts like a boy whose girlfriend broke up with him and does everything to win her back. He doesn’t take no for an answer, and he ignored the advice from his friends, family, and neighbours to just leave him alone. Colm took drastic action to get rid of Pádraic with some moments being utterly shocking. He was also a pretentious arse since his reasoning to end the friendship was an existential crisis. On a literal level it does lead to the question of why would Pádraic want to be friends with Colm but The Banshees of Inisherin was not a film to think about literally.

The pair did have a complicated relationship, even after their fallout. This was illustrated when Pádraic was beaten up in the street and Colm helped Pádraic home, but they didn’t say a word on their journey. As the film progressed Pádraic took more desperate action and ended up going down a darker path due to his feud with Colm.

Farrell’s reputation as an actor has changed from a potential blockbuster star to a respected character actor. His performance in The Banshees of Inisherin has already earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival and it puts him in a good position for an Oscar nomination. It would be deserved because his performance was so believable and Farrell shows how talented he is.

The Banshees of Inisherin was a film that tackled the themes of isolation and ostracization. This was shown through Pádraic, his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon), and their young friend Dominic (Barry Keoghan). All three were seen as outcasts in some way. The residents of Inisherin sided with Colm which fuelled Pádraic’s depression. Siobhán never married and had intelligential pursuits, leading to people seeing her as odd and people calling her unpleasant if she dared to stand up for herself. She was above the village gossip.

Dominic was also seen as an oddball and the village idiot. He did act inappropriately and asked Siobhán questions that a man shouldn’t ask a woman. Yet he was a deeper character, and he was the victim of his abusive father. Keoghan has been an actor on the rise and he got to showcase his talents again in The Banshees of Inisherin.

The Banshees of Inisherin has been advertised as a comedy and it certainly was earlier in the first half of the film. There were a lot of witty lines and exchanges during this portion of the film. Yet even during this comedic half there was an underlying darkness, like when Pádraic and Dominic found Dominic’s dad (Gary Lydon) naked and unconscious. As the film developed a more melancholic tone which emphasised Pádraic’s declining mental state.

The Banshees of Inisherin does play like a dark fairy tale. Colm’s threat to cut off his fingers brings to mind the Grimm fairy tales which had a dark edge to them and had a fair bit of body mutilation. The character of Mrs. McCormick (Sheila Flitton) gave the film a slight air of magical realism since she gave ominous warnings and seemed to have prophetic powers.

The film takes place during the Irish Civil War, yet due to the island’s remoteness it was unaffected. When Pádraic witnessed explosions happening on the mainland he said good luck to them, for whatever they were fighting for. Dominic’s dad got an offer to provide security at a public execution and said as long as he gets paid, he didn’t care if it was IRA men getting executed or performing the execution.

The Banshees of Inisherin was a hard-hitting film that managed to be funny whilst also exploring its characters and themes of mental health, existential crisis, and the dark underbelly of life in a remote community.