“Some things there's no moving on from. And I think that's a good thing.”

Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin is brilliant film that made me really connect with my Irish heritage, as well as being possibly the funniest film to come out of this year. 

It takes place in a rural Irish island off the cost of the mainland, during the middle of the Irish civil war. Pádraic (Colin Farrell) meets up with his best friend Colm (Brendan Gleeson), only to find out Colm doesn’t want to be friends with him anymore.

It isn’t as stripped back as In Bruges as this is a very polished work, but it’s not as ambitious as Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. The island of Inisherin is rich with character, and accurate in all of its Irish-ness. It shows it all with some gorgeous cinematography, some of the best I’ve seen from Hollywood films in years. The colouring is perfect and makes the island look magical.

The film is a lot darker than I expected, with its nihilistic themes and bloody violence, but it’s Martin McDonagh so I’m not suprised. And like all of his films I’ve seen, he perfectly blends the shocking violence with some amazing comedy. Every joke hits the punchline brilliantly and I couldn’t stop laughing the whole way through. Not even at jokes half the time, just at little Irish mannerisms or culture that I related to.

The characters are all incredibly memorable, largely due to their brilliant acting; each actor deserves a nomination. The main stars transform into different people completely. 

Colin Farrell gives heartfelt performance as Pádraic, creating a very lovable character and a hilarious one too. He doesn’t neglect the more serious sides to his character, and creates a darker side that is very interesting to watch. This is probably the best performance I’ve seen from him. Fantastic.

Brendan Gleeson perfects the grumpy old man persona as Colm. His role isn’t as written as boldly as the rest of the characters, but the silent power he holds in scenes make him really watchable.

Kerry Condon is brilliant as Pádraic’s sister Siobhán. She has a great amount of fire in her performance and reminded me of a lot of women in my family.

A performance that I’ve not seen that many people talk about is Barry Keoghan as Dominic. He is absolutely fantastic; eye catching in every scene he’s in. He turns what is viewed by the characters in the film as an annoying person into a lovable and hilarious character that steals the show.

It’s such a magical yet grim film. Definitely one of the strongest films to come out of this year. A must-watch.

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