Banshees of Inisherin
Director: Martin McDonagh
Writer: Martin McDonagh
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, Barry Keoghan (ugliest joker ever), Pat Shortt, Shiela Flitton
Reason for watching: new release and awards movies about friendship
***
Life can be a grind for the average joe. Wake up, work, come home, eat, sleep, repeat. If you are lucky you get to spend your time after work with loved ones or doing something you love. Those things matter a lot to us as they are keeping us going and getting us through that grind. With the bitterness of work comes the sweetness of time with friends and family or personal hobbies. But when you mess up that balance for someone by taking away the hobby or friendship, you could drive that man crazy.
Banshees of Inisherin revolves around two friends Padraic (Colin Farrell) and Colm (Brendan Gleeson). One morning Padraic goes to the pub to find that Colm no longer wishes to be friends with him. Baffled by this, Padraic tries to figure out what exactly he’s done to Colm to cause this rift, but each attempt at reconnection only furthers Colm’s resolve. With only his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and the town idiot Dominic (Barry Keoghan) as his support, Padraic cannot leave well enough alone and will not stop questioning Colm. Eventually, Colm promises Padraic that every time he starts a conversation with him, Colm will cut off one of his own fingers and leave it at his old best friend’s doorstep. Again the tension only escalates and makes life on the small island of Inisherin more difficult for all around them.
The best asset this movie has to offer is the dynamic portrayed by Ferrell and Gleeson. The conversations and feelings between the two make it believable that the two of them are lifelong friends. All this makes the central rift between the two of them even more important to us as viewers. Throughout the story I was transfixed just hoping that Colm would apologize and start hanging out with Padraic again. That kind of investment is hard to come by in an hour-and-forty-minute movie.
Supporting-wise Condon and Keoghan are doing some strong work themselves. When you tie this in with his work in last year’s The Green Knight and the much-maligned The Eternals, Keoghan is establishing himself as a versatile actor who can do many things. Condon feels like adding a talented all-star to a championship-level roster. Anyone who has seen her in Better Call Saul knows how capable she is of holding her own against generational actors. She brings a certain amount of grace and strength to a cast in need of a good female lead role.
As the story of Banshees unfolds on this little island against a gray and cloudy backdrop, its central question unfolds in-front of us: are you okay with your lot in life? We each have been dealt a hand in life that is ours to do with as we choose, and depending on what we value in this world we play “the game” very differently. Part of what drives that stake between Colm and Padraic is what the place worth on in their lives. Padraic enjoys the simple life: tending to the animals at his home, spending time with Colm and Siobhan, and walking around town. Colm realizes that in the latter stages of life he has done nothing noteworthy and wants to spend the rest of his life working to make that something. This difference between the two forces us to take a look at ourselves and ask how we have been using our life, and in the end will we be okay with that? It is a powerful question that warrants answering.
8/10
Until I see another one
PS - Spoiler alert: I think Gleeson’s character cutting off his fingers might be a metaphor about how the people who you invest in take parts of you with them but also it could just be a cruel, dark joke. McDonagh does that.