The Banshees of Inisherin throws Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson into a tragicomedy that plays out like one of those memorable French or Italian movies that you would see on Mubi that would have you thinking about it days later. It’s an Irish fable about two friends who not so much have a falling out but more a disagreement, and this in turn leads to a sequence of events that spiral out of control. It’s quaintly set on a remote island that’s populated with a handful of people, most of whom frequent the local pub where a good part of the conflict and drama and gossip is centered around.

Images courtesy of IMDB

Martin McDonagh’s writing and direction very much plays out like it belongs on the stage or in the pages of a book, and whilst that might sound like it depreciates his effort on film it’s actually the opposite; he transcends what feels like a work of literature onto celluloid with fine precision in his use of blocking, the timing of the visuals (especially in the scenes with dark humour), and by letting the actors do what they do best (act) without distracting you with a fancy camera move or being too indulgent with a scene’s length. The performances from Gleeson and Farell are about as flawless as you’d expect from a couple of seasoned actors, but they show the script respect by not showboating or overacting their scenes and stay true to their characters with their many imperfections and stupidity. There’s good support from Kerry Condon as Farrell’s smarter sibling, and Barry Keoghan gives a standout performance with his childlike mannerisms as the local village idiot (on an island with many idiots) who, as far as I’m concerned, steals the show from everyone.

This is undoubtedly a fine film and it ticks a lot of boxes, but I felt it was overhyped in many ways: there was a lot of buzz about it on social media (there still is as I write this), and whilst I enjoyed it I didn’t love it to the extent that I would put it on my best films of the ’20s list. Maybe I wasn’t as invested with the characters and their motivations as I should have been. But in the scenes where there was a tragedy I felt that they lacked the emotional weight in how they really affected the people around them; I didn’t feel the loss or grief as much as say when Atrayu’s horse (Artax) drowned in the swamp of sadness in The Neverending Story (1984). That’s what I felt was missing in The Banshees of Inisherin. It’s a small gripe and it’s why I personally downgrade it from being great to just being good. So good, but not great would be my final summation. But I hope that Keoghan gets the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. It would be well deserved.