9
Disney+

Between this and Three Billboards, there is a good argument to be made that Martin McDonagh is the best filmmaker around right now- at least, insofar as existentialism and social commentary mixed with humour of the most jet-black variety is your bag. It very, very much is mine. Colin Farrell is simply magnificent in this; initially heartbroken and bewildered after being cruelly and unceremoniously dumped by his best friend for (apparently) no discernable reason, Farrell takes the audience on a journey to the dark side and back again which always feels perfectly in character throughout. It's a showy role that quite obviously attracts audience sympathy in spades, but Farrell handles it with grace and complexity. And speaking of complex, Brendan Gleeson has a much trickier role: his cruel behaviour towards his former friend (whose only crime is being a bit boring) should make him the villain of the piece- especially since very little of the film takes place from his point of view. And yet it is testament to both Gleeson's performance and McDonagh's writing that his character retains audience empathy, his self-loathing, the frustration and bitterness he feel about his life etched into his every movement. It is a deeply, desperately bleak and sad film, and yet it is pleasingly uncynical, and indeed in places even susprisingly hopeful (the ending especially, which is wonderful). Crucially, McDonagh always writes like he actually likes his characters, or at the very least sees their perspective, which imbues his films with complexity but never with pointless nihilism. At the end of the day, these are inherently decent people trapped in a shitty environment, and Banshees is ultimately about not only the realisation of this, but also the painful, sometimes violent working through of those feelings to find something, not better per se, but at least that they can live with.

Plus, it's just really feckin' funny.