‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ - London Film Festival Review

The act of a friend’s betrayal is a classic storytelling device. It’s Arthurian. It’s Shakespearian. It’s biblical. It’s a goldmine of cinematic drama across all genres, from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to Mean Girls. The fallout of these betrayals is usually huge. What are the economic implications of Mark Zuckerberg backstabbing Eduardo in The Social Network? What state will the Avengers be in when Iron Man and Captain America stop punching each other in that carpark? The Banshees of Inisherin features just such a betrayal of friendship, but it’s stakes are much simpler. There’s no economic, political or world ending implications. All that is at stake is the friendship itself.

In 1923, on the fictional Irish isle of Inisherin, two lifelong friends find themselves at an impasse when Colm (Brendan Gleeson) abruptly tells Padraic (Colin Farrell) that they can no longer be friends.

Martin McDonagh has spoken about how he’s been trying to reunite the pairing of Farrell and Gleeson, whom he worked with to brilliant comedic and poignant effect in In Bruges, for a while now. Getting them together for this particular story is really a stroke of genius. The whole crux of The Banshees of Inisherin relies upon you buying into the central relationship between Padraic and Colm, as it slowly begins to decay. Having seen the two have such fantastic chemistry on and off screen before, it almost serves as narrative short hand for the audience. Padraic and Colm are clearly very different to their respective characters from In Bruges, but you can certainly imagine that their years of friendship up to the point where the film starts have comprised of that same affectionate bickering.

Crucially, while the inciting incident of Colm breaking off their friendship catches Padraic completely off-guard, as an audience we get the immediate sense it may have been coming for a while. They are such completely different people. Farrell’s Padraic is simple, naive but happily so. He’d be quite content to live and die on Inisherin. He wants nor needs nothing more than to tend his animals and go to the pub for the rest of his life. Gleeson’s Colm couldn’t be more different. He’s an intense, cynical man grappling with his own mortality and the sense that he’s wasted his life. They are each other’s polar opposites. In fact, the only thing they seem to have in common is their friendship with each other. When Colm tries to strip said friendship away, the hole it leaves in both men’s life is seismic, creating some playful, but emotionally rich drama between the two.

Much of the drama is mined from the interactions between characters, which is testament to the quality of Martin McDonagh’s writing. His playwright expertise shine through here, especially in his dialogue. There is a rhythmic quality to the way that characters speak to each other, often finding themselves trapped in little pockets of conversations repeating their own words back to each other in disbelief. Not only does this have great comedic effect, but it’s very character revealing. You can completely believe that if Colm had found himself cornered into these aimless conversations for years on end, he would eventually snap and want out of it all. McDonagh’s dialogue may not be as showy or quippy as someone like Tarantino, but his dialogue is witty, sharp and a real treat to hear delivered by actors of this calibre.

Banshees also represents a step up for McDonagh’s direction, in what might just be his most accomplished film to date. There is some truly beautiful photography of the landscape, that is not only stunning to look at, but again serves to allow us a window into the psyche of his characters. You can feel Padraic’s love of the place in these shots. The beauty. The quiet. The simplicity. Yet, from Colm’s perspective, the same frames tell a different story. The boredom, the nondescriptness, the lack. In moments, explosions and gunfire from the Irish Civil war can be seen and heard across the sea on the mainland. These fleeting moments achieve a remarkable balance, as they feel both far away and trivial, in the view of Padraic, but also pressing, encompassing and fatal in the eyes of Colm.The cinematography manages to give you a glimpse into the minds of both your protagonists, often within the same frame. It’s a very subtle, but incredibly well realised story telling device.

The performances are pitch perfect across the board. Obviously, Farrell and Gleeson shine together. Farrell in particular is so impressive here, capping off what’s been a banner year for him. He plays Padraic with a real sweetness that is so effortlessly easy to root for. His comedic and dramatic chops are firing all cylinders here, in what is one of the most complete performances of his career. The cast is rounded out by two unsung turns from Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan. Condon, seen recently in Better Call Saul, is terrific as Padraic’s sister Siobhan, who feels stuck in the life that Padraic finds such contentment in. Keoghan’s Dominic is, a first glance, scampish and fairly detestable, but beneath his persona are layers of tragedy and isolation. His character is in many ways a microcosm of what Gleeson’s Colm fears his life will have been like if he doesn’t make the change.

The tonal balancing act of this film is so assured. It’s so wildly and consistently funny throughout. The constant butting heads of Farrell’s exasperation and Gleeson’s stone faced conviction is comedic gold. But layered into the laughs are moments of real profoundness. The looming presence of the Irish Civl War, a conflict acknowledged by characters as a fight that no one can remember why it started, or who’s fighting for what. The through line of abusive behaviour that goes unpunished on an island of such a small size. Colm’s internal battle with ‘despair’ and the lengths he will go to in order to prove his severity to Padraic. Like all great Tragicomedy, the laughs leave you open and susceptible for the darker moments like these to hit you right in the gut.

The Banshees of Inisherin is Martin McDonagh operating at the absolute peak of his powers. A darkly comedic Irish folk tale about friendship, loneliness and mortality. Constantly and genuinely funny, but without ever compromising the poignancy of the drama that it’s story is rooted in.

The Banshees of Inisherin is in UK cinemas from the 21st of October.