As soon as I heard The Banshees of Inisherin was the latest movie from Martin McDonagh, I knew I was all in with this. The Banshees of Inisherin is the fifth movie he has written and directed and the second time he has had Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as his lead actors. I know we are just starting this review off, but this is so far my favorite of all his movies!
How to Download The Banshees of Inisherin
You should be able to download or stream the film from a digital platform such as HBO Max or Disney+. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and check the current availability. To see more of Colin Farrel, check out also The Batman (2022), Artemis Fowl (2020), or Dumbo (2019). On the other hand, if we want more films with Brendan Gleeson, look no further but see The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018), Paddington 2 (2017), or Assassin’s Creed (2016).
The Movie Review
The combination of Farrell, Gleeson, and McDonagh was awesome in the movie, In Bruges so I was excited to see what this movie had to offer. This is a black comedy and it is one of the best movies of the year. I will admit that after watching it I was not exactly sure what happened, but it stayed with me and I started to forge my own thoughts and opinions on what I had seen.
Set on a made-up Irish island called, Inisherin towards the end of the Irish Civil war, we have two “friends” Padraic (Farrell) and Colm (Gleeson) as our main two characters. They are joined by Kerry Condon as Siobhan Súilleabháin and Barry Keoghan as Dominic Kearney who makes up the rest of our main cast.
Colm and Padraic are two very different people. Colm is the elder of the two and a musician with big dreams, Padraic is a good-hearted man who may not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but people agree he is a nice man. However, Colm just starts ignoring Padraic, saying that he is sick of wasting his time with him and that he no longer wants to talk to him.
Of course, Padraic is confused and hurt by this and he along with his sister Siobhan tries to get Colm to talk to him again so that they can become friends. Dominic also gets pulled into this, but he has other motives as he has a thing for Padraic’s sister. The movie does a great job of showing how interfering, close and annoying these small island/village dynamics can be.
The movie is pretty weird! Colm is dead set against having Padraic back in his life and he is willing to go to extreme lengths to keep it this way! I do not want to go into spoiler territory here, but it is pretty shocking what happens as things just escalate to a crazy level! Like McDonagh’s other movies, this is thrilling stuff, but it is not without its humor and you will be smiling as much as you are wincing and looking on confused.
With a fantastic script that is excellently performed by the actors, it is impossible not to be pulled into this story, even with the absurdness of it all. I feel if you have enjoyed his other movies, you will enjoy this just as much. I saw this in the theatre and it is the kind of movie that I need to see again to fully appreciate.
I cannot recommend The Banshees of Inisherin highly enough, I suggest you check it out in your theatre now before Avatar takes everything over! It is a fantastic story with some very interesting and likable characters. It is the kind of movie that once you have seen it, you will want to talk to someone about.
