I’ll Be There For You

By TADHG CURTIN

That’s what friends are for... until they aren’t. A friendship comes to an impasse which leads to dire consequences in Martin Mcdonagh’s fantastic, blackly comic, and melancholic drama, "The Banshees of Inisherin" (2022).

I really admire the audacity of opening a movie about a friendship ending... at the end of the friendship. We haven’t seen our two main characters in better times, no flashback to before the fracture. We are only getting introduced to our main characters and the older of the two, Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) decides to sever his ties with the younger; lovable but simple Pádraig Súilleabháin (Colin Farrell). Not only are we trying to settle into this story, we, like Padraig, are completely thrown as to why, although the reason why is revealed later on.

Set in 1923 on the island of Inisherin during the Irish Civil War, "Banshees" evokes the austerity of early 20th century island life in "Peig" and the rural, communal idyll of "The Quiet Man". But darkness lurks beneath the surface which keeps the audience off balance. Throwing off the audience is something that Martin McDonagh does really well. It reminds me of Quentin Tarantino’s "Reservoir Dogs", for his movie debut, Tarantino made a heist movie where you never see the heist. Well here, we are trying to piece together a friendship right as its been ended. Tarantino has always been an influence on McDonagh. You see it in his dialogue and his dark humour. And as funny as "Banshees" is, it gets grim in places when it comes to blood.

The actors are given a rich tapestry to play with. It’s great seeing Gleeson and Farrell together onscreen again. It’s been 16 years since they teamed up for McDonagh’s In Bruges which also had a tremendous sense of melancholy. As a simpleton who is the son of a corrupt policeman, Barry Keoghan nearly steals every scene he is in. However, Kerry Condon’s recent Bafta win for her performance as Farrell’s sister Siobhan, has me conclude that as great as all the male leads are, I feel she is the movie’s MVP. She is a woman pointing out the absurd nature of how extreme the male ego can be, delicate one moment, violent the next. She is better than her environment and wants to escape it. But she loves her brother, and defends him.

In a lot of Irish movies, I usually feel there’s always the slight cringe of ‘Oirish’ paddywhackery but this is a universal story. You could set this anywhere around the world. However, the Irish catholic guilt that lurks in here does add to the proceedings. And I’m always a sucker for folklore, superstitions, the paranormal in general. It’s an interesting title that suggests one thing but, well, you’ll see. The movie sounds melancholic as well. American composer Carter Burwell gives it a beautiful sound; haunting one minute, hopeful the next.

"Banshees" lingers in the memory long after the end credits roll. It’s about many things; friendship, someone trying to better themselves, the idea of creating art as a way of being remembered, humanity’s capacity to be cruel to one another, traditions and folklore - good and bad. I don’t say this lightly but "Banshees" is one of the greatest Irish movies to hit screens in a long time.

Available to stream on Disney+ and to rent on YouTube.