The Banshees of Inisherin [DVD]

Product Information

Colm's attacks on Pádraic's niceness can be seen as the militant IRA’s stance on the Free State’s naive acceptance of the British Empire’s offer of becoming their dominion with the British monarch as head of state. You will feel the embarrassment, the bafflement that Pádraic feels because the viewer is made to experience it all through his point of view. Depressed by a sense of time slipping away, and determined to do something creative with whatever years he has left, Colm has decided to cut Pádraic out of his life, ridding himself of the “aimless chatting” of “a limited man”.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - IMDb The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - IMDb

Pádraic asks his smarter sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon), with whom he shares the home from which she constantly has to eject his beloved donkey (“animals are for outside! Go in for the acting and you will not be disappointed, however the overall story might let you down.Film buffs and tourists can sample a pint in JJ Devine's pub, where Colin, Brendan and Jenny all strutted their actorly stuff when filming the Oscar-nominated film, which has been rebuilt in County Galway. There is a long-held belief that if an actor makes you hate them for playing a villainous role, then they’ve done their job well. A stunned Padraic, aided by his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) and troubled young islander Dominic (Barry Keoghan), endeavours to repair the relationship, refusing to take no for an answer. But Pádraic's repeated efforts only strengthen his former friend’s resolve and when Colm delivers a desperate ultimatum, events swiftly escalate, with shocking consequences.

The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - Release info - IMDb The Banshees of Inisherin (2022) - Release info - IMDb

From a screenplay by Martin McDonagh, the film is produced by Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, and Martin McDonagh. It manages to take something absolutely prosaic as two friends fighting over seemingly nothing and delivers a rare slow-burn story that packs in allegories of war, politics, the supernatural, and the human condition all in one go. If you don't mind a slow, sad story, The Banshees of Inisherin is worth watching thanks to gorgeous scenery and some terrific acting.

Although Pádraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) have been lifelong friends, they find themselves at an impasse when one abruptly ends their relationship, bringing alarming consequences for both of them. Just as Sheila Flitton’s crone-like neighbour Mrs McCormick comes increasingly to resemble Bengt Ekerot’s embodiment of Death in Bergman’s The Seventh Seal, so McDonagh’s acerbic dialogue circles the subject of impending obliteration in tragicomic fashion.