The Banshees of Inisherin (2022, R)

*Premise spoilers.*

I saw (and loved) Martin McDonagh’s In Bruges in 2008, which also starred Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson. Both films feature a potent mix of comedy and drama, a bit of the old ultraviolence, and Farrell and Gleeson playing two men with a complicated, contentious relationship. Given all these similarities, I was impressed with just how different the two films are. The Banshees of Inisherin is just as great as In Bruges, but in a way that’s entirely its own.

In a small village on a small island off the coast of Ireland, where folks read about the civil war in the newspaper but aren’t part of it themselves, Pádraic is happy with his simple life. He tends the animals each day, has meals with his sister Siobhan in the house they share, and goes down to the pub with his best friend Colm. But today, suddenly, Colm has decided they’re no longer friends. He makes it clear that he’s done with Pádraic, and when the understandably confused Pádraic pushes back on that, Colm goes to extreme lengths to ensure he’s left alone.

This is the sort of movie that seeps into your skin as you watch it. It perfectly captures every facet of life on Inisherin: the bleak pastoral beauty, the simple pleasures, the relentless monotony, and the stifling nature of passing every day with the exact same people, who all know each other’s business. In a place like this, I get why Colm would decide he’s fed up with Pádraic, but it’s just as evident why that would put Pádraic in an impossible situation. Even before you address the emotional toll of losing his best friend without warning, the logistics of it are maddening. How’s Pádraic supposed to stay out of Colm’s life when they know all the same people, use the same dirt road, and drink in the same pub?

A deep sadness permeates the film, equal parts Colm’s morose grouchy boredom and Pádraic’s bewildered heartache. All the major characters feel stuck in some way or another, and as Colm raises the stakes, people get increasingly desperate for Pádraic to finally accept what’s happening between them. And yet, at the same time, the film is darkly, slyly funny, with laugh-out-loud reactions and circular dialogue that gets more amusing every time it’s repeated. Threaded through it all is the backdrop of the civil war, the seemingly endless fighting that’s happening on the mainland.

In addition to Best Picture, Best Director, and the Best Original Screenplay (the latter two both being for McDonagh,) all four of the main actors are nominated for their work. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are both up for Leading Actor, which is a great testament to how tricky it is to truly determine what “best acting” looks like. The two men are equally terrific but doing entirely different jobs here—Farrell offers up a Pádraic who’s sympathetic, maddening, and more than a little ridiculous, while Gleeson finds both the beauty and the sadness in a Colm who at first feels absurdly entrenched in a meanspirited decision. Kerry Condon, who’s up for Supporting Actress, is wonderfully solid and world-weary as Pádraic’s pragmatic sister Siobhan (I couldn’t figure out where I knew Condon from, and it turns out she voiced Tony’s suit A.I. F.R.I.D.A.Y. in a number of Marvel films.) And Barry Keoghan, who I know best as Druig from Eternals, is both delightfully daft and quietly heartbreaking in his Supporting Actor-nominated performance as Dominic, a fellow villager who tries to fill the void Colm left in Pádraic’s social circle.

Warnings

Violence, language, sexual references, drinking/smoking, and thematic elements.