THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN

The miracle of this Irish variant on classic Greek tragedy is that it manages to spin a surprisingly layered, deeply moving tale out of the simplest of premises.

I like my comedies dark and they don’t come much darker than Martin McDonagh’s wonderful new film The Banshees of Inisherin.

The miracle of this Irish variant on classic Greek tragedy is that it manages to spin a surprisingly layered, deeply moving tale out of the simplest of premises: out of nowhere one half of an inseparable duo decides to call it quits on their friendship, seemingly without logic or reason.

McDonagh clearly intends this as an allegory for the feuding factions that have caused so much unnecessary suffering in Northern Ireland for the past century yet The Banshees of Inisherin never hits you over the head with it, which is perhaps the movie’s greatest, enduring asset.

That, and the fact that the film regularly had me laughing out loud – two confessional scenes are a particular delight – while McDonagh also coaxes brilliant, funny and touching performances out of the four main actors: Colin Farrell, Brandan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan and Kerry Condon.

The new year might be less than one week old, but it’ll take a very special film to knock this film from the top of my end-of-year list, I’ll tell you that.

release: 2022

director: Martin McDonagh

starring: Colin Farrell, Brandan Gleeson, Barry Keoghan, Kerry Condon