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The Banshees of Inisherin
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The Banshees of Inisherin

Circa 1923 with the lrish Civil war in the background Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farell) makes his daily walk to call on his best mate Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) to go to the pub. At first there’s reply then he sees that he’s being ignored. Confused Pádraic goes to the pub, via a visit to his sister Siobhan (Kerry Condon) with whom he shares the house. Asked where Colm is there leads to ping-pong conversation of ‘have they been rowing’?
A frank conversation later and Colm makes it clear that he no longer wants to talk to Pádraic. No cooling off period just ends it there and then. Pádraic is bemused, broken and unable to take no for an answer forces the reasons out of Colm.
Colm is feeling the cold of his mortality and that there’s more to life than what he sees as meaningless chatter with Pádraic. He’s composing and conducting lessons with music students; he feels enriched.
Pádraic meanwhile, content with his routine cannot accept this, pushing, (despite several warnings) Colm too far into acts of self-mutilation. This all observed by the nominal village idiot Dominic (Barry Keoghan) who while not having an academic mind, has an instinctive one, as when told that the pair are not talking comments: are they twelve?
Bringing Farell and Gleeson back together writer and director Martin McDonagh has provided them with a powerful script and careful character studies. The dark shadows of depression and mortality hanging over both them.
Colm, not backwards in declaring he’s wasted his life, craves more while Pádraic is on the surface happy to carry with a routine that sees him share his life with his sister and beloved donkey, though masking that he has his own doubts about where he is. The pairs’ relationships are perfectly layered with events logically escalating until they drive each other to extremes.
Pádraic’s feeling of isolation is compounded later when his sister gets a job and goes to the mainland. She too, an avid reader is frustrated by her life – something that Pádraic is completely unaware of despite their sibling closeness – has ambitions away from the island. Pádraic’s world is collapsing around him and the genial soul has no real idea why or what to do.
The many subtleties of the story are teased out by some wonderful acting from the entire cast. The viewer is drawn in coming to understand these people and their darkly comic world. If there has to be a stand out its Keoghan, who provides some darkly comic touches as well as insight into the squabbling pair and the community. He’s the classic outsider who doesn’t fit the mould, misunderstood and outcast.