It’s true, Martin McDonagh’s latest, The Banshees Of Inisherin is the best film of the year. An engrossing affair from start to finish, the reunited Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell are in fine, career-best form in this extremely funny and often touching new work, which is full of tons of addictive charm and constant wit.
Farrell is Pádraic Súilleabháin, a well-meaning but slightly ‘dull’ character living on a lightly popular island off the west coast of Ireland. It’s the 1920s, the Irish Civil War taking place on the mainland, constantly echoing in the background. Gleeson is Colm Doherty, Pádraic’s best mate, but one who has suddenly got fed up with his friend, and has now chosen to blank him. Gone are their daily visits to the local pub, along with their lengthy chats on ‘nothing in particular’, Doherty keen to see out the days he has left by playing his fiddle and composing music.
Pádraic is slightly upset by his friend’s new outlook, bewildered by his actions, and confused as he hasn’t seemed to have done any wrong. Over the course of the film, Pádraic aims to fix his relationship, aided by his sister, Siobhán (Kerry Condon), who longs for more from life also, and much younger Dominic (Barry Keoghan), keen to make a place for himself in life on the island, despite having issues of his own to deal with – notably his abusive policeman father.
What follows is two hours of cinematic bliss, Pádraic carrying out his mission in a story so brilliantly written it’ll have you howling with laughter in the aisles one minute, and sobbing with sadness and underlying misery for the characters the next.
McDonagh hit gold a decade or so ago with the superb In Bruges, which also paired Farell and Gleeson, and this re-teaming of the trio with a much different story works just as well – if not more so. The chemistry between the two characters, despite the two not talking for most of the film, is cinematic dynamite and McDonagh crafts a story with a brilliantly written, very witty, and clever screenplay that has his customary black comedy running all of the way through, the filmmaker balancing comedy and drama perfectly.
Every member of the cast is excellent. Away from the two leads, Condon is excellent as Pádraic’s equally-tormented sisters, while Keoghan nearly steals the show as Dominic, the slightly horny twenty-something who has some issues going on in the background. His story is both funny and heartbreaking, two emotions the viewer feels throughout the story from many angles.
‘Three Billboards’ might have shone an international beam of light on McDonagh, and while that film garnered Oscar attention, ‘Banshees’ shows off his brilliance and, in my mind, is a much superior film that’ll linger in the memory for days after. We’re expecting golden statues to be waved in the direction of all involved once again come early 2023.
The Banshees Of Inisherin is now on general release.
The Banshees Of Inisherin
Summary
Absorbing, funny and deeply sad – Martin McDonagh continues to prove his brilliance with one of the best films of the year.
