Farrell and Gleeson Refine Friendship in The Banshees of Inisherin

Friendships can be tricky.  Just like a romantic relationship that goes left, when a friend kicks you to the curb and you have no idea what you said or did to cause the discord – it really stings.  Leaving you with the question of whether or not you can get back on track or was this friend part of a season whose time is long past.

Set in 1923 on the fictional island of Inisherin, just off Ireland’s west coast,  every day, Pádraic (Colin Farrell) calls on his pal Colm (Brendan Gleeson) to go for a pint. One day, when Colm doesn’t answer the door and later refuses to sit with him at the pub, Pádraic is dumbfounded.

As he proclaims, “I just don’t like you anymore” and that he’d rather save his energy for composing music, instead of wasting the days away, Pádraic is dumbfounded. Unwilling to accept that their friendship is over, Pádraic continues confronting Colm, until Colm posits a gruesome ultimatum. The result of this standoff soon involves the whole village, with no one able to predict the lengths to which this feud will go.

Brimming with conflicts vast and intimate coupled with a reunion of Farrell and Keoghan, Director Martin McDonagh strikes a balance with interpersonal drama, keeping audiences in fits of laughter while recognizing the all-too-human nature of these brilliantly drawn characters.

However, it’s the performance of Brendan Gleeson that will leave audiences with their mouths agape.  The commanding presence of how Colm is crafted easily places Gleeson on any list citing one of the most magnificent performances of 2022.

Being one of the few women on screen in this flick, Kerry Condon as the supportive, yet heartbroken Siobhán Súilleabháin is a force to be reckoned with providing a layered performance with will light you up from the inside out.

The Banshees of Inisherin is enchanting, poignant, and relentlessly entertaining while leaving one with the inspiration to redefine what constitutes a real friendship and those are are simply associates for a season, reason or a lifetime.