‘The Banshees Of Inisherin’ Film Review: McDonagh’s Most Thoughtful, But Least Fun Movie Yet

The Banshees of Inisherin is a dark comedy-drama film which was written and directed by Martin McDonagh. It stars Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon and Barry Keoghan.

McDonagh is known for some of the most acerbic and demented dark comedies of the past years, on the stage and in film. His films In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri had equal parts biting satire, funny jokes and unique characters.

Banshees, his latest film, is just as funny, tragic and strange as McDonagh’s previous works, buoyed by the sublime performances by Farrell and Gleeson. The story, set alongside the backdrop of the Irish Civil War in 1923, chronicles the sudden decision by musician Colm Dougherty (Gleeson) to cut off his drinking buddy Pádraic Súlleabháin (Farrell) as a friend for being too “dull.”

In seeking to tell a much more pared back and emotionally-raw story of, for lack of a better word, a brutal friend breakup, McDonagh absolutely succeeds. He also, however, lost a pervasive sense of fun and chaos present especially with In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths that was always so intoxicating. There are still some lines in here that will make you laugh out loud, but the Drama is laid down thick in this comedy-drama outing.

The island of Inisherin where the story is set is a gorgeous community that is well mapped out through the story. The characters’ small houses dotting the landscape, the beaches and the rolling green hills provide some stellar imagery, and you never tire of seeing Farrell’s character guiding his cows around the island roads visually, even if there are dragging moments in the story here and there.

Another strange rub was the soundtrack. While there are some amazing moments of in-world music with Gleeson’s character playing fiddle and a couple of strong soundtrack moments, some of the default tracks used here were extremely repetitive and hypnotizing – not in a good way.

While Farrell and Gleeson were absolute standouts in the film, Condon and Keoghan did a very good job but sorely lacked scene variety to really settle into the roles. Pretty much everything about their characters was understood about their characters at the end of their first scenes, and there was very little interest in their side stories compared to the main relationship

Fans of McDonagh will know how his films can employ violence, but this movie’s lurch into that still manages to shock those who are used to his worlds. These sequences were absolutely fascinating and an interesting observation on suppressing emotion, but some more spikes of emotional catharsis in there could have tied it more together.

According to an interview with The New Yorker, McDonagh originally wrote this film as a stage play, which makes sense given its pared-back pace, small cast and locations and emphasis on dialogue. This was plenty impactful as a film, but it does lead one to wonder if it would have been better served in the medium of theater, and how McDonagh retooled it for screen.

Banshees itself has some of the most incredible single moments of filmmaking and screenwriting of the year, but they didn’t add up into an entirely satisfying whole. The lack of plot satisfaction could be intentionally baked in, it’s about a man who is being spurned and isolated from the people who he once treasured after all. McDonagh is certainly more mature and philosophical than ever in this latest film, but he also sacrificed the unique joy his films have had to get there.