THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN Review

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The stars of Martin McDonagh’s cult hit In Bruges, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, reunite for McDonagh’s latest project, The Banshees of Inisherin. Set on a desolate island off the coast of
Ireland in 1923, the film tells the darkly comic and at times quite bloody story of two friends whose
friendship comes undone when one of them decides he doesn’t want to talk to the other again
because his friend is “dull.”

Though the film is very much in Irish English instead of a more universally accessible — but also
pretty flavourless — standard English, this could become a niche hit for Searchlight, especially since
the reputation of In Bruges has grown over the years and McDonagh made the Oscar magnet Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, in the mean time. It premiered in Venice in competition.

The Banshees of Inisherin tells the story of the end of the friendship of Padraic (Farrell) and Colm
(Gleeson), who both live on the fictional island of Inisherin. The Civil War was still raging in Ireland
but on the island, life seems to continue almost as normal, with only the occasional shot heard or
smoke or fire seen on the mainland. (Indeed, there’s really no reason for the film to be a period piece at all.) One day, Colm decides he’s had enough of Padraic’s “aimless chatting” and would prefer to dedicate himself to something that might actually survive him, like writing a tune for his fiddle. “Are you dying?” is his former pub buddy’s first question.

Padraic, who is a bit of a simpleton, though one with a good heart, is indeed baffled by this decision, which seems to have fallen from the sky. He can’t accept it, which leads Colm to some drastic measures to try and get his former friend to really stop talking to him. Measures that are bloody and extremely nonsensical, especially given the fact that he wants to use his newfound free time to write music.

The latest comedy-drama from Martin McDonagh, which reunites the stars of ‘In Bruges,’ Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, is darkly entertaining but never quite believable.