Official Trailer:

We have seen many movies on friendship. Kollywood heroes from love stories are always seen with 3-4 friends who play the Hanuman delivering messages. Or they reveal a key secret to the heroine that changes her heart. Most of the time friendship stories are about sacrifice, betrayal, separation, or breakup. In The Banshees of Inisherin, director Martin McDonagh gives us a fresh perspective on friendship that I haven’t seen so far in movies. What if your close friend on one fine day says he or she doesn’t want to talk to you anymore? Don’t want to see you or waste time with you. And doesn’t like you anymore. You haven’t changed but your friend has changed. Or the other way around, like Colm in The Banshees movie you prefer not to spend any more time with one of your friends. Director sets the conflict from the get-go and immerses us in the journey of the friends Padraic and Colm.

Inisherin is a sleepy village. Nothing much happens in the village. As Siobhan says it is a boring place, everyone is boring. Padraic is a nice man who is not able to accept and deal with loss of friendship with Colm. He makes multiple attempts to repair it by himself and through his sister Siobhan. Rather than helping, his attempts widen the conflict and strengthens Colm’s resolve. Colm realizes he is losing time in his life and doesn’t want to waste it with dull people like Padraic. Director’s brilliance lies in making us relate to both Padraic and Colm. We could relate to Colm’s decision to break the friendship with Padraic since life is too short to spend on relationships that don’t add value. But does it warrant his extreme behavior? We also relate to Padraic’s despair in not able to accept the breakup. But rather than understanding the concern of his friend he becomes more self-centered. Movie digs deeper into character’s imperfections and existential questions. We all have shades of Colm and Padraic. We are Padraic to some of our friends and we have friends like Padraic for Colm in us. It leaves us with mixed feelings and more questions. Therein lies the success of the director.

For a story of hopelessness, the narration lightens it up with witty dialogues and interesting support characters. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are brilliant as Padraic and Colm. Siobhan and Dominic characters shine out with excellent performances from Kerry Condon (Siobhan) and Barry Keoghan (Dominic). Cinematography and music elevate the mood of the movie. Civil war provides the required foil to explore the need for an identity, isolation, and ambition.  Like Martin’s earlier movie Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Banshees is another perfect fusion of humor and tragedy. The abrupt end makes perfect sense since there are no easy answers to existential questions.