The Banshees of Inisherin- written and directed by Martin McDonagh

Colm and Pádraic are the best of friends. That’s why it strikes Pádraic as incredibly strange when one day, calling on Colm at his house at 2 o’clock to go to the pub, same as he always does, Colm ignores Pádraic’s knock at the door. Stranger still is when Pádraic later posts up beside Colm in the pub and Colm, not even turning his head to look at him, responds with a brusque, ‘Sit somewhere else.’

His fellow residents on the island of Inisherin are just as perplexed as Pádraic, each echoing the same question, and only possible explanation of Colm’s behaviour: ‘Have ye been rowin’?,’ to which Pádraic responds, ‘I don’t think we’ve been rowin’.’ Colm eventually reveals to Pádraic that it is, in fact, not due to anything negative that he has done to him to warrant him giving his best mate the cold shoulder; ‘I just don’t like ye no more,’ says Colm. Heart-broken, Pádraic continues to press Colm for more, until Colm presents him with a gruesome ultimatum; if Pádraic continues to try to talk to him, each attempt will result in Colm taking his pair of sheep shears and cutting off one of his own fingers, which he will then give to Pádraic, until either Pádraic gets the message, or Colm runs out of fingers. Needless to say, after that seemingly ridiculous threat, the situation proves to be quite serious, and only gets more serious, and gruesome, from then on.

In writing this summary of the film’s plot, and in doing so the introduction to this review, I have tried to recreate the fable-like nature of the film. If you presented the film as a fairy-tale bedtime story or even as a parable from the Bible, the characters and plot would fit perfectly; I can just imagine how it would go, ‘There once were two men who lived on an island…’ Just like a parable, and as with Martin McDonagh’s three previous films, The Banshees of Inisherin is not just simply about ‘what it’s about.’ The seemingly straightforward plot grapples with some of the biggest themes any art can aspire to communicate. Anyone particularly familiar with McDonagh’s stage work will recognize many of his motifs. The film even follows the same naming convention as two of McDonagh’s plays, also set in rural Ireland, The Cripple of Inishmaan and The Lieutenant of Inishmore. There was a planned conclusion to this trilogy called The Banshees of Inisheer, which remains unproduced and unpublished, but I think its clear what ended up happening to that particular project.

In the character of Colm, played beautifully by the indefatigable Brendan Gleeson we have someone who sees themselves as being in the twilight of their years, himself stating that he reckons he only has just over a decade left in him before old age has its way and death comes for him, as it will for all of us. Because of this, Colm is in a constant state of existential despair, his impending and inevitable death always on his mind. This manifests in the current situation he finds himself in; he’s spent his whole life dedicating time to being friends with Pádraic, being nice, being a ‘good guy,’ when he could have been creating a great work of art, something he’ll be remembered for. In Colm’s case, this is playing and composing music on his violin. The way Colm sees it, he’s been wasting valuable time being nice, when he should’ve been putting time into being a great artist, with a capital G.

Colin Farrell delivers a heartfelt and relatable performance as Pádraic. His on-screen chemistry with Gleeson is something McDonagh fans have been desperate to see since their previous collaboration with the director on 2008’s In Bruges, and doesn’t disappoint. With the film featuring some breathtaking shots of the landscape, McDonagh ensures we are very much on-side with Pádraic regarding his advocating for life’s simple blessings and his home’s natural beauty in the face of Colm’s all-consuming desire to be remembered by the world beyond the island at the cost of his personal relationships and connections.

Regarding the film’s other performances:

• • Kerry Condon stars as Pádraic’s sister, Siobhán, who represents one of the only supportive figures in Pádraic’s life, proving to be the lone voice of sanity bearing witness these two mens’ behaviour and despairing at finding her hard-won wisdom falling on deaf ears.

• • Barry Keoghan gives an incredible performance as Dominic, a troubled youth who Pádraic seems to tolerate only because he pities him and believes him to be the simple, unintelligent title-holder for Dullest Person on Inisherin. The beautiful subtleties in Keoghan’s performance show that this is far from the case.

One of the things I took away from the film is the selfishness that can come from certain states of being: The selfishness of despair and depression, when you shut out the very things and very people that could just as easily bring you out of it. There is a self-pitying and self-indulgence to the act of not so much ‘meditating on’, but of ‘wallowing in’ the deep, existential despair that comes with accepting the reality of your own death, which is what Colm is choosing to do. This connects nicely to the fact that Colm is a creative, and it mirrors the selfishness and self-indulgence that Colm thinks one needs to engage in in order to be a great artist. He believes that his friendship with Pádraic has been a huge waste of valuable mental energy and, most importantly to Colm, time. He believes he must sacrifice the time he would be spending with his friend to better spend it creating a great piece of art, and McDonagh shows us that this couldn’t be further from the truth.

Another aspect of the film that I thought was especially brilliant to further support the themes of the story was McDonagh’s choice of time period in which to set the events of the film. Taking place in 1923, Pádraic and Colm’s miniature conflict is mirrored by the Irish Civil War taking place on the mainland. The islanders hear cannon fire and spot explosions and clouds of smoke across the water at several points in the film, with their reactions being ones of disassociation, resignation and, perhaps the saddest of all, confusion. Thus the question remains the same for both conflicts, whether its historical or personal, two former friends or a divided nation; with the two sides having once been so close, why can’t they just sit down and talk it over?

If you’ve watched the above trailer then I don’t have to tell you that the film is consistently laugh-out-loud funny, with some incredible comedic writing and delivery. What it doesn’t capture, however, is the true darkness that the film takes on in its latter half, so it is worth warning you about it here: If you yourself are prone to bouts of melancholia or existential dread like Colm, then this film will definitely bring it out in you or at the very least instil a bit of it in you if it wasn’t there to begin with.

With heart and humour, The Banshees of Inisherin masterfully uses symbolism and allegory to communicate the themes it sets out to grapple with: yes, life is short, prone to darkness, and deeply sad, but it can also be beautiful, fulfilling and very, very funny. Provided you don’t lose sight of what is really important: being one of the good guys.