2022 ( UK | USA | Ireland ) ( Comedy, Drama )
Starring: Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon
Director: Martin McDonagh
Good storytelling has magic, and when Martin McDonagh tells you a story, you know you’re in the hands of a real magician. Tragedy and comedy are perfectly paired in this latest jet-black offering from Martin McDonagh, which, like the writer-director’s previous film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2018), seems a strong contender for the Oscars’ best picture race.
Colin Farrell plays Padraic, a kindly if rather simple soul who lives on a remote smallholding with his much smarter sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and takes cheerfully for granted daily outings to the pub with his old friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson), for a pint and a chinwag. Unfortunately for Padraic, Colm doesn’t want to be friends any more. Colm is a melancholic, thoughtful fellow, assailed by ‘a tremendous sense of life slipping away’. All he wants to do is compose and play his fiddle music, and Padraic’s incessant chatter is a distraction he can bear no longer. At first, the islanders and Siobhán believe the two are simply rowing with each other, but Colm makes a chilling ultimatum – for every time Pádraic bothers him, he will cut off one finger of his hand…
The Banshees of Inisherin is a sweet, funny, poignant, all-around enchanting ode to the Irish people. It transports you to a place and time, introduces you to a cast of lovable characters, and packs a profound message about the meaning of life.
(1hr 54min)